Twitter announcement stirred mixed controversy
— LAKE ELSINORE — Just hours after the ‘slap heard round the world’ from Will Smith to Chris Rock broke the internet, Lake Elsinore’s own celebrity mascot from the Storm made his mark in the cyber world as well.
Via Twitter, in a very vague and cryptic post Monday, March 28, the Lake Elsinore Storm announced that Thunder aka ‘The Big Green Dog’ was going into retirement. Immediately, fans took to the internet to offer well wishes, posted memories and many gave thanks to the official mascot of Lake Elsinore’s professional baseball team. Of course, some fans also saw a potential Tom Brady-like PR stunt on the horizon due to the post coming so close to April Fools’ Day.
For the past 21 years, Thunder has been the larger-than-life bright green fur-covered pooch that always loves to be the life of the party at Storm home games, so the sudden retirement announcement made no sense. But the Valley News went with it, as did Storm personnel.
“The decision was tough,” Justin Jett Pickard, who manages Media Relations for the Storm, said. “Thunder loves this game and this community. He came in and had a fantastic off-season but did not feel like he could give it 100% this year and we respected his decision.”
By mid-week, Thunder had yet to make an official announcement via any social media channel he owns, but he also actually has not posted anything in almost 14 dog years, so deciphering whether or not this was a publicity stunt, or a Tom Brady-ish type of retirement, only time would tell.
As the world awaited an official statement from Thunder, whoever would take over for the Big Green Dog, would have some big shoes to fill. No seriously, according to the Storm website, Thunder wears one of the world’s largest pair of shoes!
Things stayed quiet as the end of last week neared. Jackpot, the score-keeping bunny rabbit, who has been with the Storm since their inception in 1994, making him the longest employed mascot in Storm franchise history, made no statements and Mini Thunder, aka “Mini T,” who is Thunder’s younger brother, also never provided a statement.
Even job offers were coming in for Thunder. Former Storm Assistant General Manager Allan Benavides, who is currently the General Manager of the Eugene Emeralds, offered him one online and started the campaign behind the hashtag #BringThunderToEugene.
Finally, as the month or April emerged with Fools’ Day in tow, Thunder took to Twitter and announced he could no longer sit in the stands (after 5 days) and would return for his 23rd season as the self-proclaimed California League Mascot of the Year for 19 straight seasons. Well played Thunder and company, well played.
The 2022 Lake Elsinore Storm season, with Thunder, his friends and who knows what else, begins with their opening home stand against the Visalia Rawhide starting Tuesday, April 12. Lake Elsinore opens up on the road Friday, April 8, against the 66ers at San Manuel Stadium in San Bernardino. Visit www.stormbaseball.com or contact the Lake Elsinore Storm, the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, at 951-245-4487 for more information.
To follow all the action on social media, Thunder’s Twitter is @ThunderTheDog, his Instagram is @biggreendog and the Lake Elsinore official accounts are @Storm_Baseball on Twitter and @LakeElsinoreStorm on Instagram.
JP Raineri can be reached by email at sports@reedermedia.com.
