There is no technical term for a group of mascots. Like, for example, a school of fish. A murder of crows. But perhaps there should be—and it ought to capture the manic energy generated by, say, a half dozen furry-suited characters running wildly through an empty stadium concourse, even without fans to interact with. Maybe a chaos of mascots. A tumult of mascots.

That energy was on display before a recent game at T-Mobile Park, as the Mariner Moose prepared to celebrate his 36th birthday. The Moose’s mascot party guests (and their human handlers) arrived on a section of the vacant upper concourse that was already set up for birthday activities. Then they immediately set about doing, well, mascot stuff: stepping behind a podium to give fake press conferences, grabbing kids’ coloring pages from a table and coloring them, giving lots of big jumping hugs to anyone in sight, including the Ivar’s concession staff.

We were on the scene to document the events and interview some of the handlers.

What makes a mascot unique? 

“I think a lot of [what makes each mascot unique] is just in the character that the clubs and organizations themselves have built out. With Sammy specifically, he’s geared a little bit more towards youth while still finding a balance for the older fans that come to matches. But he’s just he’s just happy to be involved with anything.” —Chris Lanphear, Sammy the Sounder (born 2019), Seattle Sounders

What’s the hardest part of the job? 

“The hardest part is keeping up with all the crazy stuff he’s doing. You always find yourself in places you wouldn’t expect. Harry is a college mascot. It’s a little different—he’s got a different age range that he’s targeted toward. But overall, he’s just a really lovable guy.” —Brynnan Cruz, Harry the Husky (born 1995), University of Washington sports

What makes a good mascot? 

“Passion. Rhubarb is a bit of a goofball. He can be a menace at times. He’s playful. He keeps it light. But you never know when a hat might get taken off, some snacks taken away—always returned of course. He can be a bit all over the place.” —Spencer Logan, Rhubarb (born 1995), Tacoma Rainiers

What’s the craziest thing your mascot has ever done? 

“He got chased by a bear last summer. That’s probably the most trouble Buoy has gotten into. We were up in Alaska for some community events, and were fishing in the river and the bear got nice and close. Thankfully there were people who were with us who were trained to be able to scare the bear away. But that’s the most trouble Buoy’s gotten into.” —Hailey Robinson, Buoy (born 2022), Seattle Kraken 

What is the most rewarding thing about working with a mascot?

“I think it’s really special that Doppler is (I think) the first nonbinary mascot, at least in the WNBA. That’s something that really matters to us, just having that representation. I think it really matters, and people definitely recognize it, which is really special.”—Grace Karlsvik, Doppler (born 2000), Seattle Storm

What about the most challenging thing? 

“Probably crowd control. Just because obviously everybody’s going to want a picture with Doppler, everybody wants to say hi. But that’s not always possible. So sometimes you do have to be the bad guy to cut off the line or say no to a picture. That can be difficult for me.”—Karlsvik