Rally Monkey (Oct. 11th story)

[Ed Keer]

I assumed that the rally monkey was take-off of David
Letterman's various monkeys (I recall a Late Night
Mankey Cam or somehting like that.) Any proof of a
connection with Letterman?

Ed

--- Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
> Here's the "rally monkey" story that was on AP and
> Yahoo! and all over the
> place, from October 11th:
>
>
>
> Toy monkeys have replaced Mickey Mouse as the most
> popular plush celebrity in
> town, where the <A
>
HREF="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/ana/">Anaheim
> Angels</A> face the <A
>
HREF="http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/min/">Minnesota
> Twins</A> in the AL
> championship series this weekend. The Rally Monkey
> has become the unofficial
> team mascot. ``You kind of liken him to a baseball
> role player. He only comes
> out when he's needed,'' Angels' entertainment
> manager Peter Bull said.
> ``Ultimately, the Rally Monkey is the belief that we
> can come back.'' The
> Angels are owned by The Walt Disney Co., but none of
> the studio's creatures
> ever became allied with the team. That paved the way
> for this monkey
> business. Rally Monkey was born on June 6, 2000, on
> the stadium's giant video
> monitor, when the Angels were playing San Francisco.
> Trailing in the sixth
> inning, the Angels' staff played some video from the
> 1994 movie ``Ace
> Ventura, Pet Detective'' that featured a monkey
> jumping up and down. Then
> they flashed the words ``Rally Monkey'' on the
> screen. The crowd roared, the
> team went on to win -- and the monkey became the
> mascot. Today, fans haul
> Rally Monkeys to the stadium and keep them under
> wraps unless they are
> needed. Then they pop up everywhere -- out of
> pockets, purses and from under
> hats. Rally Monkey has become so popular, he's
> appeared on ESPN, had a banana
> drink named after him and even spawned a Web site
> where devotees can post
> messages. The monkey's success has even spawned
> knockoffs, including the <A
> HREF="http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/ind/">
> Indianapolis Colts</A>' ``Touchdown Monkey.''
> Building on the appeal, the Angels
> filmed ads featuring Katie, a white-faced capuchin
> monkey featured on NBC's
> ``Friends'' and in the movie ``Outbreak.'' Katie was
> replaced this year by
> Abbie, a 6-year-old capuchin monkey who held the
> ``Rally Time'' sign during
> the Angels' pivotal comeback in Game 3 of their
> first-round series against
> the Yankees. The monkey went 27-11 this season in
> games when the Angels
> trailed. The monkey's lifetime record is 57-41. ``He
> doesn't go beyond his
> boundaries. He has a time and a place to come out,
> and he does when he's
> needed,'' Bull said. The Angels' staff tried
> bringing a live monkey to Edison
> Field. But the Angels lost, prompting pitcher <A
>
HREF="http://bigleaguers.yahoo.com/mlbpa/players/5/5995/">Jarrod
> Washburn</A> to accuse
> management of ``making a mockery of the game.''
> Minnesota center fielder <A
>
HREF="http://bigleaguers.yahoo.com/mlbpa/players/5/5884/">
> Torii Hunter</A> even admitted Rally Monkey is a
> ``star.'' ``Every time we go to
> their place, in the eighth or ninth inning, they
> always have a movie with him
> in it,'' Hunter said. ``I forget I'm playing, I
> crack up. I turn and watch
> the whole show.'' On the Net:
http://www.rallymonkey.com


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