Ribbie and Roobarb

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ribbie and Roobarb were a pair of mascots used by the Chicago White Sox in Major League Baseball from 1981 to 1988 at Comiskey Park. After the Sox were sold in 1981 to an ownership group headed by Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn, the new owners – who were eager to draw on the 1970s popularity of such mascots as The San Diego Chicken – hired the design firm responsible for creating the Phillie Phanatic to create a new mascot for the Sox.

They debuted the pair of furry mascots in September 1981, but the fans never accepted the two, ridiculing them throughout their tenure with the team – both because of their ludicrous appearance, which had no apparent connection with the team, and also because they were seen as an attempt to eliminate Andy the Clown, who had performed unofficially at Sox games since 1960. "Rhubarb" is longtime baseball slang for a heated on-field argument; Ribbie comes from the acronym RBI, for runs batted in. Often reports will say ribbie instead of RBI to describe it.

Fans openly mocked Ribbie and Roobarb, with even children gleefully attacking them. The team stopped using Ribbie and Roobarb after the 1988 season.

After thirteen seasons without a mascot, the Sox had decided to have a new mascot: Southpaw in 2003.

[edit] Quotes

"We took some shots from people ... Even little kids thought it was hilarious. They'd ask for an autograph and the next thing you knew you'd get a fist in the back or a kick in the leg." - "Roobarb", speaking anonymously in a Chicago Tribune interview, October 20, 1992
"For most of the 1980s, the patrons at Comiskey Park ... were asked to endure the 'antics' of baseball's least appealing mascots, Ribbie and Roobarb. One looked like the dim-witted son of Oscar the Grouch, the other like a chartreuse anteater with a genetic flaw." - Bruce Buursma, Chicago Tribune, June 3, 1990