Expert: Tom Schott - 9/17/2011

Question
Hi Tom,
Why does the Oakland A's have an elephant on their (left) sleeve?
Thanks,
Nancy

Answer
Nancy,

It's a good question. Years ago, way back near the beginning of the 19th century, when Connie Mack first stood up the Philadelphia Athletics in the American League, NY Giants manager John McGraw remarked that the team was a "white elephant," i.e., something worthless. Instead of a term of derision, Mack took it as the team's trademark. The Oakland A's, descendants of the Philadelphia A's, retain it.

See: http://www.philadelphiaathletics.org/history/elephant.html

And also this snippet from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland_Athletics:

Elephant mascot

After New York Giants' manager John McGraw told reporters that Philadelphia manufacturer Benjamin Shibe, who owned the controlling interest in the new team, had a "white elephant on his hands," Mack defiantly adopted the white elephant as the team mascot, and presented McGraw with a stuffed toy elephant at the start of the 1905 World Series. McGraw and Mack had known each other for years, and McGraw accepted it graciously. By 1909, the A's were wearing an elephant logo on their sweaters, and in 1918 it turned up on the regular uniform jersey for the first time. Over the years the elephant has appeared in several different colors. It is currently forest green. The A’s are still sometimes, though infrequently, referred to as the "Elephants" or "White Elephants."

The elephant was retired as team mascot in 1963 by then-owner Charles O. Finley in favor of a Missouri mule (it was also rumored to have been done by Finley in order to attract fans from the then heavily Democratic constituents of Missouri by replacing the traditional Republican mascot to one associated with Democrats). In 1988, the elephant was restored as the symbol of the Athletics and currently adorns the left sleeve of home and road uniforms. The Elephant Mascot returned briefly in the mid-'80s, under the name Harry Elephante. In 1997, the elephant returned, taking its current form: Stomper.