Scooter debuted in the 2004 baseball season on April 16, during a game between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. While Fox Sports television chairman David Hill called Scooter "really cute and really terrific", the character has garnered few positive reactions otherwise, with "Sports Illustrated" writer John Donovan warning "purists everywhere, grab the barf bag," and "Sports Illustrated" media writer Richard Deitsch using Scooter as an example of "how technology does not always help society." "The Sporting News" reported polling their staff with the question "What best summarizes your feelings for Scooter, Fox's talking baseball?": 45% of responders chose the answer "Send him to a slow, painful death." Despite most reactions, Scooter would still be used in televised baseball games until after the 2006 World Series.