Chief Noc-A-Homa - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Chief Noc-A-Homa was the original mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

of the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

from 1950s until 1986. The name was used for the "screaming Indian" sleeve patch worn on Braves jerseys. From at least the early 1960s, while still in Milwaukee County Stadium

Milwaukee County Stadium

Milwaukee County Stadium was a ballpark in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1953 to 2000. It was primarily used as a baseball stadium for the Milwaukee Braves and Brewers, but was also used for football games, ice skating, religious services, concerts and other large events...

, until the early 1980s at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium, this mascot "lived" in a teepee in an unoccupied section of the bleacher seats.

The name was intended to be a playful variation of "Knock a Homer

Home run

In baseball, a home run is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to reach home safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team in the process...

." The mascot's job was to exit his teepee and perform a dance whenever a Braves player hit a home run.

Broadcaster Curt Gowdy

Curt Gowdy

Curtis Edward "Curt" Gowdy was an American sportscaster, well known as the longtime "voice" of the Boston Red Sox and for his coverage of many nationally-televised sporting events, primarily for NBC Sports in the 1960s and 1970s.-Early years:The son of a manager for the Union Pacific railroad,...

, completely missing the point of the mascot's name, once referred to him in a way that sounded more like Japanese: "NO-KAH-HAH-MAH."

In the late 1970s, when the previously mediocre Braves became contenders again, a peculiar superstition arose. When football season approached and the portable bleachers needed to be opened up for the Atlanta Falcons

Atlanta Falcons

The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, the teepee was typically removed... and at that point, the Braves would typically start to lose. Superstitious fans claimed that disrupting Noc-A-Homa's home was the cause of their downturn, rather than the team just not having enough depth to sustain first place for the season. After this happened several years in a row, though, the story began to take on a semblance of truth.

The rumor reached a fever pitch in 1982, when the Braves were in first place with a seemingly insurmountable lead. Needing additional seating for sellouts, the Braves removed the teepee and sold tickets to the seats normally supporting it. The Braves promptly lost 19 of their next 21 games and fell to third place. When Braves management put the teepee back in place, the Braves went back to first place and ultimately won the Western division that year.

Late in Noc-A-Homa's duration, Hopewell, Virginia native Kimberly Ann Calos was introduced as "Princess Win-A-Lotta"
The best-known Noc-A-Homa was Levi Walker, Jr., an Ottawa native and an Odawa Indian. In 1986, Walker and the Braves mutually agreed to end their relationship due to disagreements about pay and missed dates. Walker petitioned the club to revive his role during the Braves' 1991 magical pennant run, but the Braves' management declined. During the late 1970s, the Braves also had a green mascot called Bleacher Creature

Braves Bleacher Creature

For the New York Yankees fans, see Bleacher Creatures.The Braves Bleacher Creature was a mascot for the Atlanta Braves major league baseball team during the late 1970s. It featured a green shaggy skin with a Braves cap and logo on top. The word Braves was written across its chest in big red...

.

Noc-a-Homa was eventually replaced as the mascot by the characters Homer and Rally. This has not, however, circumvented the introduction of other Native American-inspired traditions for Braves fans, such as the "Tomahawk Chop," adapted with the arrival of Florida State University

Florida State University

The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...

multi-sport star Deion Sanders

Deion Sanders

Deion Luwynn Sanders , nicknamed "Prime Time" and "Neon Deion", is a former National Football League cornerback and Major League Baseball outfielder who currently works as an NFL Network analyst...

from Florida State's popular war chant.

See also