By TOM BONE
Staff reports
CHARLESTON — —
The Bird is flying the coop.
Andrew Hill has been entertaining Bowen Field baseball crowds for four summers as the Bluefield Orioles mascot, but Wednesday was his last night in his familiar suit.
Hill is moving 700 miles north to a full-time job with the Adirondack Phantoms of the American Hockey League, a minor-league affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Bird will live on, however. A replacement for the man inside the suit is expected to be ready to go when the Orioles return from a long road trip on Aug. 9.
Hill will have the unique title of Director of Fun and Community Development in his new job. He will be in charge of season ticket sales and booking player appearances, but a primary assignment is to perform nightly as the new, yet-unnamed mascot of the club, located in Glen Falls, N.Y.
“It's brand new, so I'll be in there, hands-on, naming the character and creating it,” he said before Tuesday’s baseball game in Bluefield. He said the man who first performed as the popular Phillie Phanatic, Dave Raymond, is building the suit.
Hill said, “The fact of moving 700 miles away is a little daunting, but I am excited to get started and get the program up and running.” The Phantoms season starts Oct. 8.
In college, Hill was Roar the Mountain Lion at Concord University. In that role he was runner-up in the national mascot championship of the Universal Cheerleaders Association. In high school, he was the Shady Spring Tiger. Now, he is moving up the mascot ladder.
Hill said, “It's a full-time job, so my focus will be completely on building that character. Being able to make a living doing what I love is great.”
Even if it’s in a sport he still has to learn about.
“Hockey is new to me. We don't have it around here, so I'm going to be very fresh to it,” Hill said. “There's different things you can do on the ice that you can't do on a baseball field, and vice versa.”
Looking back, he brought up the “phenomenal” support he’s enjoyed locally. “The fans in this area are great; they've always been very supportive, and shown a lot of love,” he said. He has learned in his last two mascot roles “the importance of giving back to the community, and being part of it.”
A highlight of his career so far has been “the response that I got from when Baby Bird went streaking,” Hill said. The mascot once pulled off his white baseball uniform to reveal a black padded body suit for a trip around the park.
He said, “I keep hearing about it over and over. People will walk up to me and say ‘When are you going to streak again?’ That’s great!”
Asked about what his “dream job” would be, Hill said, “I’m a big (Jacksonville) Jaguars fan, so I’d like to be Jaxson De Ville — if I had my choice. But I’m excited about this Phantoms job.”
— Contact Tom Bone
at tbone@bdtonline.com
