The San Diego Chicken

**The San Diego Chicken** is a sports mascot played by Ted Giannoulas.

## History

### The KGB Chicken

The character originated in an animated television commercial for KGB-FM Radio in San Diego. Writer, cartoonist, and actor Brian Narelle was working for Odyssey Productions and offered to animate an acrobatic chicken as part of a commercial contract bid. Narelle went on to direct and animate the commercial as well as create cartoon art for the campaign.

In March 1974, Giannoulas was hired to wear the first chicken suit. The Chicken's first appearance was a KGB promotion to distribute Easter eggs to children at the San Diego Zoo. After his first appearance, Giannoulas thought he could get into baseball games free, so he , and he was allowed to wander throughout the stands at Padres games. If someone said "lay one on me," The Chicken would "lay" an egg containing a prize via his leggings. Padres' attendance, which had been the lowest in the league, doubled that summer.

While continuing to perform at more than 520 San Diego Padres games in a row, The Chicken began to add appearances at concerts and sporting events, including San Diego Clippers basketball games.

Conflict emerged between KGB Radio and Giannoulas, and he was fired 3 May 1979. Another unnamed employee was hired to don a chicken outfit at a Padres game. Fans, many of whom were aware that Giannoulas was not in the outfit, booed the chicken loudly, forcing him off the field. After a lawsuit was decided in Giannoulas's favor in June 1979 by Judge Raul Rosado, Giannoulas was allowed to continue to perform in a chicken costume, although not the same one as the original.

### The Famous Chicken

The Famous Chicken emerged from an egg Friday, 29 June, at a "Grand Hatching" as the sound system played the introduction to "Also sprach Zarathustra" in front of 47,000 people at a Padres game at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Beginning in 1981, Giannoulas co-starred in the Saturday morning children's television series *The Baseball Bunch*, alongside noted Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench and Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. The local Emmy Award–winning series ran for five seasons and featured The Famous Chicken as the comic foil to Bench as he attempted to mentor a fictional baseball team of Little League-aged children. In his 1984 review of the show, *Miami Herald* sports writer Bob Rubin praised Giannoulas' contribution to the series, writing, "The Chicken may be the most gifted physical comic since Curly, Larry, and Moe."

The success of the Famous Chicken helped lead to mascots becoming widespread throughout professional sports, particularly Major League Baseball. The Chicken was named one of the hundred most powerful people in sports for the 20th century by *The Sporting News*. The pop culture publication *Spy* referred to Giannoulas as the Laurence Olivier of sports mascots, and *The New York Times* called him "perhaps the most influential mascot in sports history."

## Gallery

### Trading Cards

1979 Family Fun Centers Dean's Photo San Diego Padres #4Reverse1980 Family Fun Centers San Diego Padres1982 Donruss #531 error (no TM)1982 Donruss #531Reverse1983 Donruss #645Reverse1984 Donruss #651Reverse1984 Smokey the BearReverse1985 TCMA #29Reverse1986 National Sports Collectors Convention #7Reverse1992 Donruss Triple Play #138Reverse2003 Donruss - Anniversary 1983 #19Reverse2016 Donruss #151Reverse2016 Donruss SilhouetteReverse2016 Donruss Optic #165Reverse2016 Donruss Optic Aqua #165Reverse2016 Donruss Optic Back to the Future Signatures Blue #BTFTGReverse2016 Donruss Optic Blue #165Reverse2016 Donruss Optic Holo #165Reverse2016 Donruss Optic Orange #165Reverse2016 Donruss Optic Pink #165Reverse2016 Donruss Optic Purple #165Reverse2016 Donruss Optic Red #165Reverse2017 Donruss Triple Autograph Material #832017 Donruss Optic Studio SignaturesReverse2018 Donruss #221Reverse2018 Donruss Holo Blue #221Reverse