Survey Ranks Billy the Marlin as One of MLB's Worst Mascots

From a half-man, half-dolphin that loves to distract field-goal kickers to a seemingly always-on-the-verge-of-committing-a-crime ibis with aggressive bushy eyebrows to a Sesame Street-looking fireball character with a basketball for a nose, Miami has itself a crop of mascots that are equal parts creepy and endearing.

And then there's Billy the Marlin, the longtime mascot of the Miami Marlins and star of childhood nightmares. The mascot you'd least like to wake up to find quietly standing at the foot of your bed. The mascot that's changed his appearance so often we're beginning to think he's running from a dark past in Arkansas.

For years, Marlins fans have seemed indifferent to the team mascot with a deadly weapon on his face. But someone finally asked how people feel about him — and the anonymous answers were predictably harsh.

A survey by the gambling news site Play USA found that Billy the Marlin was the third-worst mascot in baseball, and that Marlins fans, more than almost any other fanbase, dislike him.

I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Billy.

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To determine the ranking, Play USA surveyed more than 2,000 baseball fans across the U.S., asking them to rate every official Major League Baseball mascot on a scale of 1 to 5. Ratings were then averaged for each mascot.

The survey found Clark the Cub from the Chicago Cubs, Paws from the Detroit Tigers, and Dinger from the Colorado Rockies were the biggest fan favorites, while only Slider from the Cleveland Indians and Swinging Friar  from the San Diego Padres finished lower than Billy.

But there was some good news for the Marlins mascot: He didn't make the list of most obnoxious MLB mascots. That award, predictably, went to the Philadelphia Phillies' notorious troublemaker, the Phillie Phinatic.