Saturday, August 30, 2003
By BILL SULLIVAN
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
NILES -- It takes a different breed of person to play the role of a team mascot.
But when Julie Shaffer heard the Mahoning Valley Scrappers needed a last-minute fill-in to play the role of Scrappy, she came running.
Monday and Tuesday she was in the Scrappy costume at Cafaro Field, and hopes to play the part for three games next week when the Scrappers conclude the season.
The original Scrappy this summer went back to college earlier this month, and Shaffer, 35, had her opening.
"I used to be the Crew Cat in the second year of the Columbus Crew team in Major League Soccer," Shaffer said.
"I like mascots."
But, she's played way more challenging roles.
"I actually give birthday parties to homeless children," Shaffer said.
"It could be a bear, it could be an alligator. It could be whatever I go and rent that week."
A native of Warren, Shaffer now lives in Columbus but maintains a house in the Mahoning Valley.
Shaffer heard of the local vacancy and contacted Jimmy Riley of the Scrappers media office.
It was an easy sell to land the job.
Between duties on the field and in the stands, Scrappy stopped for a water break and answered some questions.
Yes, she drank the water from a bottle, not from a bowl.
"This is a lot easier," she said of the Scrappy mascot assignment.
"I actually got chased by Ohio State football players being the Crew Cat so this here is all tame."
Any irony in being a [Crew] cat one time and a [Scrappy] dog another?
No, Shaffer said she is just happy to be a part of the show.
Before going back to her rounds, Shaffer asked if her maiden name could be mentioned in this story.
It's Barker. Scrappy is a Barker, she said.
sullivan@vindy.com