Fanatics Without Number
Mascots having fun outside the Good Morning America set. Photo by Arturo Pardavila III under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.
The Phillie Phanatic, the official mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball club, is well named. Enthusiastic local fans have been called fanatics – plus less admirable names – for many years. About 1700, Andreas Rudman, Swedish Paster of Gloria Dei (Old Swedes’) Church, described Philadelphia this way … “(for here there are fanatics almost without number. Because there is freedom of conscience, here they have gathered together, of every opinion and belief.)”
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