J. Ogden Armour, a meatpacking magnate and one of the club's earliest shareholders, donated a juvenile black bear to the team in 1916. Cubs President Charles Weeghman named it Joa after Armour's initials, and officials built a den at Addison Street and Sheffield Avenue so Joa could "greet Cubs fans."
The bear debuted on June 20, 1916, when the Cubs hosted the Reds. Naturally, it was a rainout.
"Joa was on exhibition in a cage just south of the grandstand yesterday and produced no change in the luck that has attended North Side exhibitions most of the season," a Tribune sportswriter observed.
Like a lot of mid-season call-ups in Cubs history, Joa did not last. He was shipped to the Lincoln Park Zoo that September in exchange, as the baseball parlance goes, for cash considerations. (Zoo records hint that Joa was had for $20, but no one can say for sure.
When he died, so did the Cubs' lone, live-mascot experiment.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The Chicago Cub's first, and only live mascot.
Posted by
Wade G. Burck
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4 comments:
Wade, it's absolutely ridiculous that the bear cub was kept in that bare cage on the street with only a tree in it, and they called it a "den". As you keep saying, it's good that a lot of things have changed and improved.
Mary Ann
Mary Ann,
They didn't know any better, and animals were a novelty back then. I have personally never liked/approved of using animals as "mascots".
Wade
Wade, I have to agree. The refuge I volunteered at in the '90's used to talk about wanting to use their beautiful male lion as a mascot for the Detroit Lions, having his cage rolled out as the players came out of the tunnel at the beginning of the game. The next time that Joe and I went to a game I paid particular attention to the noise level at that point, and realized how stressed and frightened the lion would be. Fortunately it never happened.
Mary Ann
Mary Ann,
The stress and noise level is something, that would not be a factor. If it was initially it would be gotten over in short order. I just don't like the use of exotics for that purpose. The Denver Broncos with the horse, or the Army goat, or the Colorado bison, find. I just personally don't like exotics used for that purpose.
Wade
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