There will be no typical FeFe or Ferrous sighting at the Lehigh Valley IronPigs game on Saturday. Instead, the two mascots will have some company from a mythical Pennsylvania creature.
The squonk, known for its insecurities and disintegrating into a puddle of its own tears when spotted, will be on site at the IronPigs game as part of a team alternate identity.
What is a squonk?
The squonk is a cryptid — an animal claimed to exist but largely disputed by science. With physical features resembling a pig, the squonk has saggy, boily skin and webbed toes. It was first mentioned in a 1910 book by William T. Cox, who wrote of folk creatures present in the Great Lakes during the height of the logging industry.
But more notably, the squonk has been referred to as the saddest cryptid, as Cox discovered: “Because of its misfitting skin, which is covered with warts and moles, it is always unhappy,” he wrote in his book “Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods.”
“His one and only defense mechanism is to cry so much, he dissolves into a puddle of tears,” explained Lisa Russell, co-organizer of the annual Squonkapalooza festival, which is held every summer in Johnstown.
Russell, who in 2022 wrote the children’s book “Why So Sad, Squonk?,” said seeing the sad squonk can teach people confidence and self-esteem. At Squonkapalooza, she watches hundreds of guests celebrate the cryptid, highlighted by a compliment contest where guests try to cheer up the squonk.
“A woman sang him a song that was like five minutes long,” Russell recalled of one of the contest participants.
The IronPigs hope to bring some squonk love to Coca-Cola Park, hundreds of miles east of western Pennsylvania, where squonks are assumed to live in the hemlock forests. Players on the field will don Lehigh Valley Squonk apparel during the game against the Rochester Red Wings, which starts at 6:35 p.m.
“We want all squonks to know they’re welcome here,” said Sam Jellinek, broadcaster and media relations manager for the IronPigs. “They don’t need to hide.”
There may be plenty in attendance — some merchandise sold out quickly after the event was announced in late April, Jellinek said.
The team rebranding has been in the works for over a year. A squonk mascot will throw out the first pitch and distract opposing players on the jumbotron, yet much of the mythical creature’s plans Saturday are unknown.
A squonk’s mark across the Keystone State
That’s because western Pennsylvania resident Jason Oswalt, a cryptid enthusiast who will dress up as the squonk in the Squonky Tonk Man costume, is new to Lehigh Valley minor league baseball.
“I’m not going to yell, because the squonk really doesn’t talk,” Oswalt said, but he is open to “stupid gestures, anything to get them looking at me.”
When Oswalt learned of the squonk from his wife and friend, he felt he could relate to the creature.
“I love nerdy things, I love video games, I love reading sci-fi novels, I love that stuff,” Oswalt said. “When I was going to school, that wasn’t cool.”
Oswalt eventually collaborated with the other Squonkapalooza co-organizer, Joe Fogle; the pair agreed that if Fogle made a squonk costume, Oswalt — who co-owns 3D printing and design company Geek Foundry — would design a T-shirt for the festival.
Oswalt said that while in costume, he has never received any judgment from guests at Squonkapalooza.
Victoria Ritter, a youth services technician at Bethlehem Area Public Library who hosts a recurring Cryptid Club series with local youth, featured the squonk at an April club meeting. Children got to design their own squonks with dry clay.
“They were pulling their own personality into the craft,” Ritter said. “So they’re like, ‘Something that makes me happy might make the squonk happy.’ ” Among the creations included a dry clay pepperoni pizza, a perfect fit for the squonk because it was one of the kids’ favorite foods.
Ritter said multiple children at the event made clay animals for the squonk, “so it had a pet, so it wasn’t alone.”
Emily Doyle, head of reference and adult services at Bethlehem Area Public Library, hosted her own adult-themed Cryptid Club squonk event; there, guests got to learn about the squonk and its connection to the logging industry. But when the attendees got to envision their own squonk in a craft, Doyle said the adults got to steer away from perfectionism and be creative, as many acknowledge a squonk is not perfect.
“I think the squonk has brought people joy, and it’s nice that something that is considered so ugly — that he cries all the time — is out there bringing people joy in this weird way,” Russell said.
Oswalt said that the squonk can teach people to “just treat people how you want to be treated.”
“It really is bringing your own child to the forefront for the first time,” Jellinek said of the IronPigs’ alternate identity. “And you hope it’s well perceived, and it kind of mirrors the story of squonk coming to the public. Seeing that people love it, it’s been really, really cool.”
Andreas Pelekis is a freelance writer.