PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Now stepping into Citizens Bank Park … Hailing from Harleysville, Pennsylvania … It’s not Apollo Creed … It’s not Uncle Sam … No, it’s Tony “Tornado” Penecale!
If you read this far and are wondering what the hell is going on, this is the story of a former amateur boxer turned ambassador of Philadelphia sports fans. When Penecale goes to Phillies games every now and then, he dresses in an outfit emblematic of Creed and Uncle Sam.
Penecale’s red, white and blue hat with gold trim has a giant Phillies “P” on the front. He wears a tall, sleeveless top with a similar color design. His shorts have the patriotic feel with white stars and his socks and shoes are part of the theme as well. Oh, and we can’t forget about his American flag-style glasses either. Then, underneath the sleeveless top is a blue Phillies shirt. Not to mention, Penecale carries around a custom made wrestling-style belt and wears Phillies “P” earrings.
He doesn’t mess around.
“I was like, ‘This can’t be real,’” said Stu Robinson, who is a co-worker of Penecale.
But, it is. Robinson saw so for himself at a Phillies game in June.
“He’s an honorary mascot for sure,” Robinson said. “Obviously we have the Phanatic, but yeah, he’s an honorary mascot.”
The 46-year-old Montgomery County native who is a client relations representative for Independence Blue Cross embraces the role of entertainer in the left field plaza by the statue of late, great Phillies announcer Harry Kalas.
“I’m a natural entertainer,” he says.
This is something that has brought joy to the last 10 years of his life as he brings a smile to the face of complete strangers who share the common interest of rooting for the Phillies.
‘Challenge accepted, buddy. You up your game.’
The Philadelphia Eagles opened the 1976 season at the despised Dallas Cowboys. It wasn’t a good game. The debut of the Dick Vermeil-era was a bad 27-7 loss to the defending NFC Champions in Texas Stadium. Penecale’s mother went into labor about a half hour later.
“So apparently I was fired up from the start,” he says.
Fast forward to January 25, 1981 — a four-year-old Penecale remembers his father, Tony Sr, yelling.
“Like I saw him yelling and of course I started yelling.”
The Eagles were having a putrid Super Bowl XV against the Oakland Raiders. They lost 27-10. The Penecale’s had a big Eagles banner on their front yard to mark the occasion of the team’s first trip to the Super Bowl.
Penecale remembers a lot of bad words and a big knife that cut that banner down.
“And I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Fast forward to July 3, 1999 — a Saturday night ballgame at Veterans Stadium between the mediocre Phillies and Chicago Cubs. Penecale goes to the game with many family members, including his mother and aunt. In the spirit of Fourth of July patriotism, Penecale wanted to wear an Uncle Sam hat he won at a carnival and paint his face red, white and blue. His mother and aunt thought that was silly.
“And they said, ‘If you do something so ridiculous, we do not want to be seen or sit next to you.’ I said, ‘Well, I was just joking, but now I’m going to do it,’” Penecale recalled.
He did, which he regretted because the paint dripped in the hot weather. Yet, it was the birth of an important part of Penecale that has evolved over the years.
Fast forward to before the 2008 season, he found a sequined Uncle Sam hat at Party City. It turned out to be a good luck charm, but understandably the $6 hat fell apart as time went on. Not to mention, during the 2010 season, Penecale and his family made a trip to see the Phillies play the Cubs at Wrigley Field. When there, he ran into a Cubs fan wearing the exact same hat – except the opposition had accessories on the hat while Penecale did not.
“And he goes, ‘Mine’s better. My hat is better than yours. You need to up your game,’” said Penecale.
What was Penecale’s response?
“‘Challenge accepted, buddy. You up your game.’”
Whether or not the Cubs fan ever added to his outfit is unknown, but Penecale took his attire to another level.
The outfit that taught Penecale how to have fun again
The Phillies were National League East Champions from 2007 through 2011, which included going all the way in 2008. It was one of the two golden eras of Phils baseball. They were really good in 2011, winning a franchise record 102 regular season games, but were upset in the NLDS to the eventual 2011 World Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
This was a tough time for Penecale.
“At the time, I was working a job that was not a fun place to be,” he said. “And I was really frustrated in that ‘11 season was disappointing when they were so good then they lost in the first round of the playoffs, and I said, ‘man, I gotta learn to have fun again.’ I said, ‘My life is not fun.’”
So, Penecale finally took up the challenge of the Cubs fan from 2010.
He got connected to a woman from Mexico online who made the type of outfit he was looking for. She made him a new Uncle Sam hat that was better quality than the Party City hat, and added in a fancy top for him to wear to compliment the look. However, it was lined in a felt velvet that would stick to him at the end of games, so while it was an upgrade, there was room for improvement.
Move ahead to February 2018, and Eagles center Jason Kelce puts his stamp on the history of Philadelphia sports with his legendary Super Bowl LII championship parade speech, while wearing a Mummer’s outfit from the Avalon String Band. James May of the James May Costume Company was the designer behind that outfit, as noted in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.
Penecale got connected to May, who about a year later agreed to upgrade his Phillies outfit to what you see today. May is proud of the outfit, including the sequin, the embroidery and the glitz that it possesses.
“I have to say it’s a very, very well-made, beautiful outfit representing our country and he does such a great job with it and he does a great job with the fans and I think he should be complimented and he’s underpaid,” May said with a laugh.
Why might May say that?
Well, because Penecale doesn’t work for the Phillies. But if you saw him at a game, you might think differently.
A happy go lucky, generous, energetic character who is part of the CBP experience
Robinson says Penecale’s Phillies outfit isn’t his only costume. Penecale has come to work dressed as Elvis, Hulk Hogan and even in a blazer that has pumpkins on it.
“His personality outside of being a Philly sports fan is basically the same,” said Robinson. “He’s the main character in the room.”
He’s a character with character.
While Penecale isn’t employed by the ballclub, that doesn’t stop him from being a part of the ballpark experience when he is at the game.
Penecale’s friend Mike Fiordimondo, who is a gameday employee of the Phillies as an usher, called him a happy go lucky and generous down to Earth guy.
“Tony’s got a phenomenal, friendly way about him,” said Fiordimondo. “He loves people. The way he carries himself as far as being Tornado with taking pictures with the little kids, anybody comes up to him … He’s always fan-friendly.”
Fans, young and old, will come up to “Tony Tornado” — as his friends call him because of his boxing days and wrestling fandom. He says he’ll take about 100 photos a game when he’s at the ballpark. Last postseason during Game 4 of the NLCS, it was even more.
Brett MacMinn, one of the founders of the Phillies fan group – the Phandemic Krew – called Penecale part of the ballpark experience.
“A lot of people when they go to games, they’re not going to sit there for all nine innings,” MacMinn. “And the Phillies do a great job of having stuff to do. But having somebody like Tony or [The Philly Sports face paint guy Jamie Pagliei] … having them there adds a little something to the experience. Kids especially know who these people are and they get very excited to like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s Tony Tornado! I gotta get a picture!’ It’s just an extra bonus at the ballpark.”
In the end, Penecale brings joy to his fellow Philadelphia sports fans and this costume has brought happiness back to his life over the past decade.
“I’ve had a blast.”