Rally Squirrel and the 5 Best Rally Tools in Major League Baseball

Although some seem silly, rally tools have long had an impact on inspiring teams and their fanbases. 

Just look at how much the creation of the rally squirrel energized the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals on their way to one of the most unexpected championship runs in recent memory. 

That said, let's take a look at the five best rally tools in all of MLB.

5. Tampa Bay Rays' DJ Kitty

In late 2010, the Tampa Bay Rays began showing this video of a cat deejaying on their Jumbotron during games to rally the club. The clip immediately went viral, taking on a life of its own, racking up hundreds of thousands of views and inspiring many parody videos.

Unfortunately for DJ Kitty, even it couldn't push the Rays over the top against the Texas Rangers in the 2010 ALDS, but still its legend continued to grow.

Early in the 2012 season the Rays adopted the DJ Kitty as an official mascot.

4. Atlanta Braves' Tomahawk Chop

The historic Atlanta Braves tomahawk chop originated in 1991 when Deion Sanders joined the Braves. Sanders played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, whose fanbase is famous for the Seminole Chop. 

The chop caught on with Braves fans and has been done whenever the Braves start a rally since.

The tomahawk chop is such a significant rally tool in baseball because of its longevity and how almost every Braves fan in the stands participates in the chop.

It truly unites the fanbase and can make Turner Field a daunting place for opponents.    

3. Cleveland Indians' Drummer

In 1973, John Adams, hoping to create noise from the bleachers—where there were no seats to bang on—brought a bass drum and played it during a game.

Adams has continued to drum, with the hope of instigating rallies, during almost every Indians home game since (that's almost 40 years!) and created a sound that will always be synonymous with Indians baseball.

Adams, who is considered an Indians icon, not only inspires rallies but also a fanbase, thus, similar to the tomahawk chop, creating an experience at Jacobs Field that can be had nowhere else. 

2. Los Angeles Angels' Rally Monkey

Credit the Los Angeles Angels' rally monkey for starting the trend of unofficial animal mascots in MLB.

In case you don't know, the rally monkey was introduced in 2000 with a video of a dancing monkey being played on the Jumbotron during the ninth inning of a game in which the Angels were trailing by a run against the San Francisco Giants. The Angels came back and won, and rally monkey video clips became commonplace at Angels games. 

But the reason the rally monkey is one of the greatest rally tools in all of baseball is its influence on the Angels' 2002 World Series title run.  

Much credit was given to the monkey for the Angels' late comeback (they trailed 5-0 in the seventh inning) against the Giants in Game 6 that forced the championship-deciding Game 7, which the Angels won. 

1. St.Louis Cardinals' Rally Squirrel

The St.Louis Cardinals' rally squirrel came to be through a couple of unexpected appearances by squirrels during the team's division series matchup against the Philadelphia Phillies.

One of those appearances featured a squirrel running in front of Roy Oswalt when he was about to deliver a pitch in Game 4 of the series. Oswalt threw a ball, and the Phillies unsuccessfully argued that the pitch should not count because of the distraction. 

From there, the rally squirrel blew up in popularity among Cardinals fans and the teams players, and when the club completed their improbable World Series run, a toy rally squirrel was present in their celebration after the game.

The most fascinating portion of the rally squirrel story—and the one that makes the squirrel the best rally tool in baseball—is the fact that the team's championship ring has the squirrel engraved on it.