Phil Schaefer says he remembers the photographic moment, not because of the radio promotion, but because he was wearing a suit.
“Big Victor,’’ a 22-foot Styrofoam Indian stood between the fence and right field at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for several seasons. Victor turned his head, blinked his eyes and waved his tomahawk when a Braves player hit a home run. And in this 1967 photo, the mascot is with Braves announcer Ernie Johnson, who was the marketing director for the Braves at the time, WSB Radio sports director Phil Schaefer and an unidentified man in Indian dress carrying a rifle.
“We were always doing stupid things,’’ said Schaefer, a local radio legend who covered the team for 39 seasons and two weeks ago was honored at the Masters for covering his 49th consecutive tournament in Augusta. “This was all about a contest to name the big Indian. Victor, as in victory, won. I remember that day because I rarely wore a suit to the stadium, and I actually (recently) came across a photo I had taken that day with Phil Niekro. I was was wearing the same suit.’’
Victor only lasted a few years and was taken down after a storm damaged his right arm. “Don’t forget Victor also took a couple of home-run shots to the noggin while he was standing there helplessly behind the right-field fence,’’ said Bob Hope, the Braves’ public relations assistant at the time.
When Victor was retired, the Braves still had Chief Noc-A-Homa and his tepee in left field. Noc-A-Homa dressed in a Native American costume and visited the mound before each game to do a dance before watching the game from his tepee. He danced and set off smoke signals when the Braves hit a home run.
“Things were different back then,’’ Schaefer said.
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