PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As indestructible as the beloved Phillie Phanatic has seemed over 46 years, the big, furry green “flightless bird” – as the original best friend of the Phanatic, Dave Raymond, described him – isn’t impervious to some much-needed maintenance.
“The Phanatic got a lot of boo-boos,” Raymond explained, “and so did his best friend. It was kind of a little different to mend and heal the Phanatic than it was to mend and heal his best friend.”
One of the Phillie Phanatic’s first healers, or seamstresses, was Nancy Trainer of Oreland, Pennsylvania.
“It got torn,” Trainer said of the mascot’s penchant for wear and tear. “It had things in it.”
And of course – it had an odor that reeked.
“I put a little fan in it to cool it off a little.”
Trainer, 79, was hired by the Phillies in the early years of the Phanatic to do repairs. She knew former Phillies Promotions Director Frank Sullivan from her Oreland community.
Chris Long, who worked with the Phillies for nearly half a century – most notably as director of entertainment – was the liaison between the organization and Trainer.
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“We needed somebody to do some of the small repairs on the costume without having to send it up to New York and then wait for it to be repaired and bring it back,” Long said.
“Sometimes I would get $15 for fixing it,” said Trainer, who remembers she would get a call from Long that the suit was on its way. That was the cue to stop what she was doing, put her sewing machine on the dining room table and get ready to fix the big green guy.
Trainer, a mother of five and grandmother to nine, was from a family of eight children growing up. She and her sister Sally learned to sew from their grandmother.
Not only did she do minor repairs on the Phanatic himself, but she also made many costumes for him in the likeness of Boy George, Michael Jackson and Prince. According to Raymond, that required a lot of attention to detail from “the flair of the performer” to the proper size tailored to the Phanatic’s unique shoulder and belly widths. Trainer had the added challenge of making eye-catching costumes that didn’t add weight because the Phanatic’s large frame was already a lot to carry around.
“She was a lovely person and a very good person to work with,” Long said. “And she took pride and care in what she did. And she made sure that it was done correctly. And we were trying so hard to keep the Phanatic looking the best that it could be and she certainly contributed to that.”
‘The kids went nuts’
Trainer helping repair the Phillie Phanatic was more than simply a Phillies fan getting to do something cool. Oreland, where she has lived for 57 years, went bonkers for her side gig.
“The Phanatic bus would pull up in front of the house,” Trainer remembers. “Oh my God, the kids went nuts knowing the Phanatic was in Oreland.”
There was also, apparently, much interest in trying on the Phanatic’s costume. Trainer’s daughter, also named Nancy Trainer, was one of the kids who were super pumped to dress as the Phanatic.
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“It was just so cool because how often do you get to say that one of the biggest mascots is at your house all the time,” daughter Nancy, 51, said. “When you’re a kid, it’s so cool.”
Younger Nancy even said they have polaroids (remember those!) of them standing in costume.
“We probably shouldn’t have been doing that,” she said. “But it was here! We were kids.”
A endless lifespan for a ‘flightless bird’
Trainer hasn’t worked on the Phanatic costume for several decades now, but the memories of doing so are clearly enjoyable to her and her daughter.
“He is a Philadelphia icon,” said younger Nancy. “You can’t watch [Phillies home games] without seeing the Phanatic.”
“I think he’s cute, really,” said Trainer.
Long, who saw the Phanatic come to life back in 1978, said she’s glad to see the big, green guy is still going strong.
“It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the fans in Philadelphia took to the Phanatic,” Long said.
And Raymond, who has spent many years working in the mascot industry, credits what he called a village of Phillies employees from the early days for setting the Phanatic up for a great future that doesn’t appear to be stopping anytime soon.
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“That’s why the Phanatic is going to last for hundreds and hundreds of years,” Raymond said. “Thankfully, the lifespan of a flightless bird from the Galapagos is probably into the thousands of years. We’ll find out. But, he’s not going anywhere.”
And part of that village was, of course, Nancy Trainer, who spent tireless hours making sure the Phanatic was stitched for success.
“It was so nice that they even asked me to do it,” Trainer said. “I’m sure there are so many people that sew in Philadelphia, but Frank [Sullivan] knew that I did it and I thought it was great and wonderful that he even asked me to do it.”