When the Phillies decided they wanted a new mascot in the late '70s, they placed a call to the reigning master of kooky, otherworldly characters, Jim Henson. But after the Muppets creator heard their pitch, he told them who they really wanted was Bonnie Erickson.

Erickson had been a costumer and designer for the Jim Henson Company, where she crafted beloved characters like Miss Piggy. She struck out on her own — well, with her husband Wayde Harrison — after six years in the Muppet workshop to start a firm. Harrison/Erickson, Inc. was brand new when the Phillies came knocking, but the commission would lead to a decadeslong career as the creative mind behind over a dozen mascots, several of them for Philadelphia institutions. MORE: What to stream: 'Alien: Earth,' 'Love Is Blind: U.K.,'

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