Mascots
The Nashville Sounds' mascot is an anthropomorphic cougar named Ozzie. He has yellow fur and wears the same style of uniform as the team, but with no hat. In addition to the team's current home and alternate uniforms, he also wears Sounds home uniforms from the past few seasons. Ozzie has been the team's mascot since 1997.
The first Sounds mascot was introduced during the team's inaugural 1978 season. Homer Horsehide, whose name was selected in a naming contest, resembled their major league affiliate's mascot — Mr. Red of the Cincinnati Reds. The character was human in appearance, with the exception of an oversized anthropomorphized baseball in place of a human head. The mustachioed mascot donned a uniform identical to that of Sounds players.
Prior to Ozzie, a lime-green dinosaur named Champ was the team's mascot. His short-lived time as a mascot began in 1995 and ended in 1996. Following altercations with team management and league personnel during games, Champ, vis-à-vis his performer, did not return for the 1997 season.
When Amerisports Companies LLC took control of the team in April 1997, they decided that a mascot was needed. Since the group also owned the Class A Kane County Cougars minor league team, which had an extra mascot uniform, the surplus cougar outfit was sent to Nashville. After building a fan following during Ozzie’s first season, team management decided to make him the permanent mascot. Initially, the Ozzie costume was identical to the brown cougar costume which is still in use by Kane County, but was replaced by the current yellow outfit in 1998.
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