Inside The Voyage: The Story Of Orbit

The Spurs’ Coyote, Gritty with the Flyers, Benny the Bull… What do they all have in common? Well they’re all names of mascots, and usually these characters are the easiest way to recognize a franchise. Now I’m sure they all have a background story, but here in Great Falls, the Voyagers Mascot is well, out of this world. “Orbit is the face of this franchise. We alway say Great Falls has one celebrity, and that’s Orbit.” When you visit Centene Stadium, there are three things you’re guaranteed to see: the team, supportive fans, and Orbit - the friendly mascot of the Great Falls Voyagers. But how did an alien make his way to Great Falls? “Orbit just showed up here one day in the mid-thousands and he’s been around the ball park ever since,” said Voyagers General Manager Scott Reasoner. “He’s really tough to get rid of and in the winter he causes a little bit of problems but he’s great around the ball park.” And it was at the ballpark where he discovered his love for the game, which has kept him right here in the Electric City. “Someone had hit a home run and it went so far that it came up to our planet,” said Orbit. “I ended up loving baseball so much that I ended up staying.” Originally from Planet Baseball, Orbit has now dedicated his time on Earth to learning the sport, while bringing smiles to fans one game at a time. “We have to watch him every now and then,” said Reasoner. “Make sure he’s not getting too crazy shooting off different streamers that we have to pick up by hand for 7, 8, 24 straight hours. But obviously Orbit cares about the fans and cares about baseball and cares about the Voyagers. He loves going to schools, parades, anywhere there’s a crowd - Orbit wants to be there. He’s not exactly a loner.” And thanks to his work on the diamond, the entire universe can now enjoy America’s pastime. “We do now have a baseball league in space,” said Orbit. “So on my planet we do have the Voyagers down there. But instead of mascoting, I do play.” So how long can we expect Orbit to stick around Centene? “My guess is thousands of years,” said Reasoner. “Where he’s from, time is a little bit different, so we don’t expect him going anywhere for at least a few millennia.”