Youppi! has worn a lot of identities in Montreal, but his path to Canadiens fame started long before he ever set foot at the Bell Centre. The orange mascot first became a fixture with the Montreal Expos, spent 25 years with the club, and then found himself without a team when the franchise moved to Washington in 2005 to become the Nationals.
That move nearly carried Youppi! along with it.
Instead, Washington introduced its own mascot, Screech the eagle, and the former Expos character was left in limbo. The Canadiens stepped in on September 16, 2005, announcing that Youppi!
would become the team’s first official mascot. In doing so, he became the first mascot to appear in two major sports leagues in North America.
Long before that switch, Youppi! had already built a reputation as a one-of-a-kind sports character.
He was created by Bonnie Erickson, the American puppet designer known for work with The Muppets and for creating Miss Piggy. His bright orange color was a nod to former Expos player Rusty Staub, who fans called “le Grand Orange.”
Youppi! was introduced to the Expos in 1979, first leased to the organization and later purchased, and made his debut in the team’s 2-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on April 14.
His most famous moment in baseball came in 1989, when he became the first mascot in MLB history to be thrown out of a game. During the 11th inning of a matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Youppi!, dressed in a nightgown, lay on top of the opposing dugout and irritated manager Tommy Lasorda.
Lasorda, who had also had an altercation with the Philadelphia Phillies mascot a year earlier, complained to the umpires. Claude Hubert, the man inside the Youppi!
costume that night, recalled, “The umpire Bob Davidson saw Lasorda arguing with me and took the decision to say, 'OK, Youppi!, you're out of the game.” Youppi!
eventually returned after the crowd kept chanting for him, though he was restricted to the Expos side of the dugout. Montreal lost 1-0 in a 22-inning game, but the ejection became the night’s lasting image.
The Expos’ later years were turbulent. Jeffrey Loria bought the team in 1999, and after a difficult stretch that included a near-revocation from the MLB in 2001, the club relocated to Washington at the start of the 2005 season.
Even then, Youppi! remained a sought-after figure, with as many as 10 suitors reportedly interested in buying him from the Expos.
The Canadiens ultimately landed the rights in 2005, with reports putting the price in the six figures.
Since then, Youppi! has become much more than a mascot in Montreal.
He is one of only three mascots with a display in the Baseball Hall of Fame, alongside Phillie Phanatic and Famous Chicken. In 2020, he was also inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame, making the Canadiens the first Canadian sports team to receive that honor.
Today, Youppi! is part of the fabric of the city and a familiar presence at Canadiens games, where his constant attempts to bother the opposition only add to the Bell Centre experience.
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