The Phanatic's long-lost brother

I can't decide what's more surprising: that the Yankees had a mascot named Dandy who I never heard about, or that I agree with George Steinbrenner about something (that mascots don't belong in baseball).

Although, my anti-mascot stance has weakened after being around the Phanatic so much.

Kudos to the Wall Street Journal for unearthing this nugget about the Yankees secret mascot, who was cut from the same cloth as the Phillies iconic green furball. I know I was just a toddler when this thing roamed the upper deck at Yankee Stadium, but I can't believe he didn't become part of Yankee lore. To me, he's more impressive than that mystique and aura crap New Yorkers used to toss around.

But the Yankees consider him a bigger dud than Hideki Irabu, Eddie Whitson and Carl Pavano:

The biggest bust in Yankees history was 7 feet tall, made $40 every home game and spent most of his brief career in the upper deck.

From 1979 to 1981, the Yankees employed a mascot named Dandy. He was big and blue and a spectacular failure—a historical oddity for a proud franchise that has collected 27 world championships but would just as soon forget he even existed. Which, to be fair, isn't terribly difficult to do.

"It's one of the sadder stories," said Wayde Harrison, who created Dandy with his wife, Bonnie Erickson.

The story is worth a read.

Not so dandy: I fully expected Roy Halladay to dispatch the Empire in his Cy Young matchup against CC Sabathia, but he struggled. In the 7th, Yankees 6, Phillies 3.

Red Sox: Clay Buchholz fared a little better than Doc, but he better step it up if he wants to fulfill all the All-Star buzz that has been surrounding him. In the 6th, Red Sox 6, Diamondbacks 3. In the battle of the Drew brothers, slight edge to Stephen who is 1-3 with a run and a stolen base. J.D. is 2-3 with no extracurricular stats.

[Photo credit: Wall Street Journal]