The finalists shuffled into the room. A boombox sat on the table in front of them. Once they had all filed in, one of the seated Phillies staffers reached forward and pressed play.
Dance, they said.
Gregg Murphy danced. Recalling the moment now, he breaks into a two-step with snapping fingers, a move reserved for dads on wedding dance floors.
Stop, they told him.
He stopped.
Following the retirement of the original Phillie Phanatic’s inahbitor, Dave Raymond, in 1994, the Phillies needed someone with all the energy, coordination, and nonverbal communication skills that the job required.