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PHILADELPHIA — Tommy Lasorda lost his cool. The Phillie Phanatic nearly lost his head. Sports fans across the world lost their minds 36 years ago at the sight of the cartoonish clash that involved the portly Los Angeles Dodgers manager, a life-sized mannequin beaten in effigy and the potbellied Phanatic. This was no staged bit, unlike the Phanatic's habitual taunts of the visiting team that exist to this day. On Aug. 28, 1988, Lasorda attacked the Phanatic at Veterans Stadium. Lasorda turned and ran after the Phanatic, grabbing the creature by the neck and tossing him to the ground. Lasorda tried to strip the jersey off the Phanatic before he whacked him in the head with the mannequin for good measure.
