Yes, It's Hot in Here explores the entertaining history of the mascot from its jester roots in Renaissance society to the slapstick pantomime of the Clown Prince of Baseball, Max Patkin, all the way up to the mascots of the slam-dunk, rock-and-roll, Jumbotron culture of today. Along the way, author AJ Mass of ESPN.com (a former Mr. Met himself) talks to the pioneers among modern-day mascots like Dave Raymond (Phillie Phanatic), Dan Meers (K. C. Wolf), and Glenn Street (Harvey the Hound) and finds out what it is about being a mascot that simply won't leave the performer. Mass examines what motivates high school and college students to compete for the chance to wear a sweaty animal suit and possibly face the ridicule of their peers in the process, as well as women who have proudly served as mascots for teams in both the pro and amateur ranks. In the book's final chapter, Mass climbs inside a mascot costume one more time to describe what it feels like and, perhaps, rediscover a bit of magic. “A witty and wild ride narrated by a sharp writer with a big heart and beautiful soul.” — David Ritz, bestselling author of The Man Who Brought The Dodgers Back to Brooklyn “As a professional fantasy sports analyst, I usually overlook the impact mascots can have on a player's performance. But after learning that AJ Mass, a former Mr. Met, once inspired Bret Saberhagen to pitch a five-hit shutout and that his performance once distracted Braves slugger Fred McGriff to the point he was nearly decapitated during infield practice, perhaps I shouldn't. Yes, It's Hot in Here is a fascinating and fun look at a part of the sports world that everyone is aware of but few people really know.” — Matthew Berry, New York Times bestselling author of Fantasy Life “Mass, a nice Queens boy and current writer for ESPN.com, lifts the proverbial and physical mask to explore what he calls the "certain weirdness" of being a major league mascot. The result is a memoir-cum-Mr. Met-genealogy which traces the roots of the character and the intersection of his own turn in the role through a taxonomy of mascotdom, from the royal courts of Renaissance Europe to keg-saturated college campuses. It is studded with profiles of mascots Mass has known and those he has searched out, the quiet practitioners of the art of mugging for a crowd in an anthropomorphized animal suit.” — Gelf Magazine AJ MASS is a professional fantasy football, baseball, and college basketball analyst for ESPN.com. In 1994, he became the first person to don the Mr. Met suit since the mascot was retired by the Mets in the 1960s, and he played Mr. Met through the 1997 season. His first book, How Fantasy Sports Explains the World: What Pujols and Peyton Can Teach Us about Wookiees and Wall Street, was published in August 2011. He lives in New Jersey. CHAPTER ONE Approach the President and We Go for the Kill Shot I CAN FEEL THE ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR. Actually, I don't only feel it, but see it and smell it as well, and I'm trying my best to stay out of its way. The Shea Stadium I'm entering on the evening of April 15, 1997, is not the same one I left the night before. A bevy of carpenters and electricians is busy installing metal detectors at every possible entryway, and the smell of newly installed outlets--acrid burning metal--causes me to pull my jacket up over my nose and mouth to avoid choking on the fumes. Sparks dance above the large, boxlike devices, whose unexpected presence produces the illusion that I have taken a wrong turn on my way to the stadium and somehow ended up at LaGuardia Airport instead. Finally, the craftsmen finish their work and run off, presumably to yet another checkpoint, where another juiceless machine requires their magic touch. On a normal game night, I'd simply wave to Officer Murphy, who works the door, and jump on the elevator that takes me to the press level. This is definitely not normal, though. I wait patiently in a steadily growing line for close to twenty minutes before finally getting a chance to flash my Mets' identification card and get frisked by the cops. Yes, tonight is no ordinary game at Shea Stadium, as President Bill Clinton is going to be in attendance. It's going to be a long, eventful night. Only twelve thousand fans managed to make it out to Shea last night to see the Mets lose to the San Francisco Giants 3-2. The allure of a Dave Mlicki versus Osvaldo Fernandez pitching matchup obviously wasn't enough to overcome the home team's awful start to the season. While I didn't actually keep track, I think I managed to shake hands with each and every person in attendance by the time that game was over, possibly even by the sixth inning. Tonight's game would be a different story, though. The game is sold out, but not because fans are all aflutter over Armando Reynoso taking on Ismael Valdez and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Certainly the Dodgers always draw well in New York, given their Brooklyn roots, but that alone doesn't account