They debuted the pair of furry mascots in September 1981, but the fans never accepted the two, ridiculing them throughout their tenure with the team—both because of their ludicrous appearance, which had no apparent connection with the team, and also because they were seen as an attempt to eliminate Andy the Clown, who had performed unofficially at Sox games since 1960. "Rhubarb" is longtime baseball slang for a heated on-field argument; Ribbie comes from the acronym RBI, for runs batted in. Often reports will say ribbie instead of RBI to describe it.