On Sept. 5, the team finally retired the little Rally Mantis Jr, to a nature center, where he will live out the rest of his months in luxurious comfort according to Mike Swanson, Vice President-Communications & Broadcasting.
The original Rally Mantis joined the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 6, when they were losing to the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. At the end of the fourth inning, right fielder Billy Burns noticed a praying mantis in the trashcan, and thought it would be a good idea to put him on his hat. He let him sit there for a couple innings, but the mantis refused to move. This little guy, would soon become what MLB.com would call a legend.
The Royals came back to beat the Blue Jays 4-2 and then, the next day, the little mantis was still in the Royals dugout. The Royals defeated the Blue Jays 7-1 that day.
The little Rally Mantis would continue to make headlines all throughout the baseball world, especially as more and more teams suddenly started finding their own mantises at their respective ballparks.
For six days the Rally Mantis worked miracles for the Royals, but when they took their lucky little mantis with them on a road trip to Minnesota to face off in a three game series against the Twins, the mantis had stopped moving. Burns, the self proclaimed caretaker for the mantis, spent the whole night looking up mantises on Google trying to find anything to keep him alive. The next day, things seemed to only get worse.
“He’s dying!” designated hitter Kendrys Morales said according to the Kansas City Star.
That night, the Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 7-3, as the Rally Mantis worked his, what fans would consider magic, one more time. The Royals knew they had to say goodbye, but it did not make things any easier. Under the Rally Mantis, the Royals went 5-1 (a win percentage of .833%). Burns made a tribute video to the Rally Mantis, and tweeted it out on that Friday morning.
Although the Royals mourned the loss of their good luck charm, it was not but one week later when the Twins came to Kansas City for another series that yet again, Burns found another mantis in the dugout. He would soon be named, to no one’s surprise, Rally Mantis Jr.
“I want to take care of him,” Burns said. “He’s apart of the team now.”
Fans began to adopt their new mascot, with the support of Rally Mantis Jr, the Royals had 12 wins while only losing six.
What caused the Royals to go on their winning streaks? Was it the mantis, or rather the idea of him? Whichever the case may be, the Rally Mantis Jr and his predecessor, Rally Mantis, will be something the fans will not soon forget.