What is the Arizona Diamondbacks mascot?

If you've been watching the Arizona Diamondbacks run through October, you might be rubbing your eyes trying to determine of the human-sized bobcat running around the stadium is real or some sort of hallucination.

That bobcat is very real.

Not only is the bobcat not a figment of your imagination, it's the official Arizona Diamondbacks mascot. Sports teams and mascots used to go hand-in-hand, but it feels like they've taken a backseat to other aspects of the entertainment side of catching a game.

As it turns out, they're still very much a part of the action.

What is the Arizona Diamondbacks mascot?

Described as 'furry but fiery', the Diamondbacks mascot is known as D. Baxter the Bobcat.

It's truly amazing stuff the more you dive into it.

Mascots have gotten more and more outlandish over the years, with Gritty following in the footsteps of the Phillie Phanatic. D. Baxter deserves to be in this conversation, though, as he's been around longer than Gritty has and helped pioneer this new age of mascot we're living in now.

First of all, let's appreciate his name, which is a throwback to when mascots needed to have some punny relation to the team they're associated with. The D-Backs having D. Baxter as a mascot is next-level stuff that harkens back to a bygone era.

Why a Bobcat, you might ask yourself.

When D. Baxter was birthed into this world back in 2000, the Diamondbacks played at Bank One Ballpark -- BOB, for short. Apparently, Jay Bell's son is the one who cooked up the idea that he should be a bobcat, though, as the legend goes he told his dad the team should have a bobcat as its mascot.

No boardroom of executives using mined data from fans to try and feed an aglorithm to come up with a mascot -- a child came up with this. That's so impossibly awesome that it's almost hard to believe it a the true origin story.

So the next time you're watching on television -- or at Chase Field for a game -- keep as much of a lookout for your new favorite mascot who sounds like he also owns a law firm.

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