On October 6, 2023, the official Madison Dodger was introduced to the school at the pep rally. The mascot is a german shepherd, wearing all Madison gear. The high school has never had a mascot before, and has not officially associated with the dog in years. Many students don’t know that our mascot is a dog. Why is it a german shepard? Why is it named Dodger?
During the 19th century, Geraldine R. Dodge inherited wealth from the Rockefeller Standard Oil fortune. She took all the money she acquired and put it back into the town of Madison. She gave thousands of dollars back to help improve the town’s facilities. However, the one thing that was more important to her than the town of Madison, was her dogs.
Dodge loved german shepards; she owned well over 100 of them. She bred them, entered them into dog shows, and sold them back to the community. Her love of dogs is one of the main reasons she donated to help fund and establish St. Hubert’s Animal Shelter. A place for all animals to live and find a better home. Her love of german shepards was well known, but less and less people know about it now. Nowadays, people like Mr. Cecala are making a conscious effort to promote and teach people about Madison’s background. In his MadTalk, a public television broadcast, Cecala said, “she gave back as much as possible, and that’s one of the reasons why we named our team mascot after her and her family.” The school is beginning to integrate the dog mascot back into jerseys, merchandise and now our new mascot. Thanks to her, our mascot is a german shepard, but why are we the “Dodgers”?
Following her numerous donations, Dodge wanted there to be a place for kids to go and play in town. She donated land and equipment to have a playground and grass field built which is what we know today as Dodge Field. During this time, the high school was the middle school building which meant there were no fields for the sports teams to play their games on. “The Madison High School football team originally played their football games at Dodge field,” Mr. Cecala said, “hence the nickname, ‘The Dodgers.’” A popular Madison myth is that Dodge had a favorite German Shepard named “Dodger.” Mr. Cecala explains that Madisonians “like to believe in Madison folklore that we are named after her favorite German Shepherd which she named after her own family.” Although this may be a myth, it is a backstory that many Madisonians can rally behind to create a sense of pride and keep the Dodge name alive in the making of the mascot.
Whether you believe in the myth or not, it is always important to remember the name, Geraldine R. Dodge, and the fact that she gave back to the Madison community whenever possible. She embodies what a Dodger truly is and without the Dodge family, we wouldn’t be able to say “Today is a great day to be a Dodger.”