Mascot suits fit father, son

Ribbie, the pig, is really Mikey Springstead, a 10-year-old boy with shaggy brown hair and puppy brown eyes.

When your father is a mascot, it kind of ruins the whole Disney experience at a young age.

[...] you also end up being able to trail your father through the tunnel the ballplayers use, and you get to watch people flock to him for photos and autographs.

Before Springstead became SouthPaw, he was Rowdy the River Rat for more than a dozen years and also has served as the Diamond Dog (Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs), Kid Quest (Albany Conquest) and Wolfgang (Albany Attack lacrosse).

Would Michael Springstead, the sixth-grade teacher at Loudonville Elementary, start playing air fiddle with the band outside the stadium gates?

[...] his sixth-graders sang the national anthem at a River Rats game, and he asked the River Rats front office if he could wear the Rowdy suit.

People ask to drive the Zamboni or go out on the ice, but no one ever wants to wear the suit.

In the years after, he'd take Mikey down to the locker room to see the players, and the kid got one-on-ones with Batman and SpongeBob when they'd come in for promotions.

Mikey was hanging around the locker room in early July when he picked up Ribbie, a mascot for Helmbold's, the brand of hot dogs served at Bruno Stadium.

[...] he can't wear the suit without projecting the image the ValleyCats want.

Springstead knew Mikey was fascinated by mascots, but he wasn't the type of kid who'd want to play air guitar along the third-base line or hold a "Sorry, SouthPaw, Ribbie's No. 1 now" sign on the dugout.

He's the kid you'd have to coax to approach other kids and ask if they wanted to play.

Springstead never thought he'd be explaining the finer points of dugout dancing etiquette to his 10-year-old, who dreams of working Disney as the Beast from "Beauty and the Beast."