Wally was introduced to the Fenway crowd 23 years ago today

Earthbound64

Member
SoSH Member
I still can't believe he actually caught on.
Remy must have been paid a ton to advertise him and bring people to him like he did.

And, yes, there was a significant amount of booing. For quite a while.
For a number of years, it felt like you hardly ever saw the full-size besuited creature, but that his base was built almost entirely from Remy's adventures with the doll version.
 
Last edited:

brs3

sings praises of pinstripes
SoSH Member
May 20, 2008
5,200
Jackson Heights, NYC
I love Wally. When my kid is a little older, he'll totally love Wally, and my MFY lovin' wife won't have a Yankee mascot to lure him away from the Sox.
 

ngruz25

Bibby
SoSH Member
Sep 20, 2005
18,972
Pittsburgh, PA
In 1997, the Sox also introduced two alternate hats. One was red with a blue bill. This was similar to the 70's hat, except the "B" was white instead of blue. The second was white with a blue bill. You can see a few kids wearing the white hat in this video. I think it was a giveaway as this was "Kid's Day" or something. The Sox wore the white hat for this game and maybe one other game before it was abandoned. The red hat made it a few more games, I believe. Both never saw the light of day after 1997.

Since 1997, the blue "hanging Sox" hat that was worn a few years back is the only other alternate hat the Sox have worn, excluding one-off event hats and throwbacks.
 

tims4wins

PN23's replacement
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
37,061
Hingham, MA
In 1997, the Sox also introduced two alternate hats. One was red with a blue bill. This was similar to the 70's hat, except the "B" was white instead of blue. The second was white with a blue bill. You can see a few kids wearing the white hat in this video. I think it was a giveaway as this was "Kid's Day" or something. The Sox wore the white hat for this game and maybe one other game before it was abandoned. The red hat made it a few more games, I believe. Both never saw the light of day after 1997.

Since 1997, the blue "hanging Sox" hat that was worn a few years back is the only other alternate hat the Sox have worn, excluding one-off event hats and throwbacks.
Don’t they still wear the blue hat / red brim? Or at least I think they did for a while when wearing the home red jerseys? Maybe I am wrong and the red brim is just BP / spring training?
 

Zososoxfan

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 30, 2009
9,209
South of North
FWIW, my Cubs fan nephews (sister married a Northsider) consider the Sawx their AL team. I look forward to introducing my kids to Wally one day. +1 for Wally from me.
 

scotian1

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 19, 2005
16,324
Kingston, Nova Scotia
When the Red Sox made their first visit to Nova Scotia with the 2007 World Series Trophy in Jan, 2008 Wally came with the other two Sox executives. It was an unusually warm Jan day with the temp close to 50 F. Our second day began at the IWK Children's Hospital where Wally met with many of the young patients, we then travelled to the main hockey arena in town ( seating for 10,000) and thousands of people were waiting including many young families. Wally posed for photos with everyone and got so warm I had to take him out to the main arena so he could cool down. After a few minutes one of our group came out and said; Wally we need you back in the lobby, the kids are balking and refusing to go ahead without you there. So Wally got back in costume and went back in to greet the youngsters and get the line to see the Trophy moving. He had more to do that day as well; a visit to a school in a minority section of the city and another public viewing on the other side of Halifax that drew close to 2000 people, All the time Wally was great with the children and never complained. I believe this kind of thing was repeated numerous times around New England as well. This past year we travelled to Fenway with a young cancer patient and her Mother. Giving the Sox advance information about this Wally spent a half inning with her making her experience so much greater. I have no complaints about the concept of Wally and I applaud those who have played that role.
 
Last edited:

DennyDoyle'sBoil

Found no thrill on Blueberry Hill
SoSH Member
Sep 9, 2008
42,288
AZ
I love Wally. Then again I don’t even hate the wave and I sing during Sweet Caroline so I guess my stripes are showing.

Wally is my second favorite monster. After Grover.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 23, 2009
20,676
Maine
I'm indifferent to Wally. Didn't really care when they introduced him, don't really care about him now. He is what he is.

But that "introduction" was lame and stupid and lame and it deserved any booing it got. You want a guy in a suit running around the stadium every game making the kids happy, do it. No need for a backstory or a convoluted debut.
 

Mueller's Twin Grannies

critical thinker
SoSH Member
Dec 19, 2009
9,386
I can't hate on a strange wall monster that's just trying to feed his strange wall monster family.

Didn't they try to make his family a thing too?
 

StuckOnYouk

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2006
3,538
CT
My god, that original green monster video is one of the most embarrassing things I've ever seen.
 

rymflaherty

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2010
3,420
Norfolk
Remy, and his Wally doll in the Adirondack chair, is what got the Monster over with me.
Before that, it was something my friends and I just made fun of.
 

YTF

Member
SoSH Member
At the ripe old age of 36, I hated it. It was a gimmick, a sell out and some sort of bastardization of a franchised steeped in tradition. A dark day for the team of Cy Young, Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski and The Imposible Dream. The idea that the keepers of one of the most iconic ball parks and uniforms in all of baseball were introducing a big, green muppet as a representative and ambassador was an embarrassment. Now at 59, who cares? He's like an old chair that sits in the corner that no one even knows is there.
 

Toe Nash

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 28, 2005
5,600
02130
Stuff to make going to a game more exciting for kids like Wally and the stuff in the RF concourse is good. Fenway in the 90s had a certain charm but it wasn't exactly kid-friendly. Kids have short attention spans and Fenway should be a family experience, and having more families there helps sell out the stadium and pay the bills so we can sign our homegrown stars (whoops).

Sweet Caroline and the wave are way way worse because adults, who should know better, are so into it. Adults should be able to watch a game for three hours without needing special entertainment. If they can't, there are plenty of other things in the city for them to do and other people who would take their seat.