Baseball Stadiums: 2015 MiLB Mascot Mania Recap

Baseball's Hot Stove season is heating up with trades and free agent signings.  A few weeks ago I recapped the stadiums (MiLB and MLB alike) that I visited during the 2015 season, and I felt it was appropriate to recap the mascots I saw during the past season.

I went to 17 games during the 2015 season, including a handful of return visits to stadiums.  I visited nine new ballparks during the season, but only got pictures with five mascots.

The mascot I most wanted my picture with was Gnate the Gnat of the Savannah Sand Gnats.  In May, the Sand Gnats announced that they would relocate to Columbia, S.C. (read story here), and in August announced they would be renamed the Columbia Fireflies (read story here).  So when I visited Savannah in June it was a priority to get my photo with Gnate before his retirement (read about my visit here).

Me with Gnate the Gnat at Grayson Stadium.

On the same trip to Savannah I visited Augusta where I saw the GreenJackets (read about my visit here) and got my photo taken with Auggie.

Me with Auggie just before the game started.

Although I placed a priority on getting my photo taken with Gnate the Gnat, my first trip of the 2015 baseball season led to me the Gulf Coast where I watched the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and enjoyed my first shrimp and grits at a baseball game (read about my visit here).  I also got my photo taken with Kazoo, a ubiquitous sea creature.

Me with Kazoo on the third base concourse.

While in Georgia this past summer, I made it a point to visit all four of the state's Minor League Baseball teams.  In 2014, I visited the Gwinnett Braves and got my photo with their mascot, Chopper (read about my visit here).  So after my trip to Augusta and Savannah, I only needed to visit Rome to watch the R-Braves and see all of Georgia's Minor League teams in one season.

As the game entered the 10th inning I was able to snag a photo with Romey, the team's anthropomorphic mascot.

Me with Romey as the Braves begin their extra-inning rally.

I finished my Minor League trips with a visit to Nashville, Tenn., in early August when my girlfriend moved to the Music City.  So I had the opportunity to visit the Nashville Sounds in their new ballpark, First Tennessee Park (read about my visit here).

After relocating from Greer Stadium south of downtown, the Sounds retired their former mascot Ozzie the Cougar with Booster, who is a hot chicken.  Nashville is noted for its hot chicken, which allows the team to incorporate a local tie into their mascot.

Me with Booster after entering the stadium.

So with five new photos of me and mascots, I now have 27 pictures of me with Minor League mascots since 2011.  Those 27 pictures represent 21 teams, as some teams like the Dayton Dragons, which has three mascots, have multiple mascots.