The tenacity of Phillies fans has been on full display during the MLB playoffs, and the city has already set its sights on Diamondbacks mascot Baxter as its next victim as Philadelphia gets ready to host Game One of the National League Champion Series this weekend.
Back in 2012, the staffer running the Twitter account for the mascot, whose full name is D. Baxter the Bobcat, ramped up the trash talk against the Phillie Phanatic.
“‘Your no Phanatic” they say… I say.. He’s no @DBacksBaxter,” they wrote.
Phillies fans found the post on X (formerly Twitter) in less than an hour after the team finished off Atlanta in Game Four of the NLDS. And by 11 a.m. ET, the Philadelphia Inquirer had an article up.
That comes after Phillies fans took their matchup with Braves mascot Blooper pretty personally in the second round.
Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Stephanie Farr chronicled the feud between Blooper and the Phanatic as well as Braves and Phillies fans by extension.
Picture the poor intern or entry-level social media person who worked for the Diamondbacks back in 2012 and ignited all this with a tweet. The original post is from April 23, meaning the Baxter tweet came from a typical, innocuous regular season matchup with Philadelphia. The Phillies took two of three in the series.
Philadelphia may be the favorite to beat Arizona and return to the World Series. But mascot beef worked for the Phillies once, and the city is rallying around the Phanatic once again as he aims to own Baxter and clinch a spot in the Fall Classic.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.