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Billy Buck is back

BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO | The mysterious Mr. Buck, enchanting father, Brett Surerus, grandmother, Ceil Surerus, and  baby, Jackson at Fiske Field Sunday.
BEVERLEA WALZ PHOTO | The mysterious Mr. Buck, enchanting father, Brett Surerus, grandmother, Ceil Surerus, and baby, Jackson at Fiske Field Sunday.

With the kickoff of the Shelter Island Bucks 2014 campaign Sunday at Fiske Field, another Island mystery has come to light.

The true, beneath-the-antlers and above-the-hooves identity of Billy Buck, the team’s mascot, is unclear, according to Bucks General Manager Dave Gurney.

Or else he just wasn’t saying. Was it kind of like not outing the guy who plays Santa Claus, so kids can still dream there really is a jolly old elf?

Billy — who ever he (she?) is — was a happy presence at Opening Day Sunday, interacting with fans and cheerleading the Bucks on to an 8-0 win over the North Fork Ospreys.

Billy joins the Riverhead Tomcats mascot, who is back in action, along with mascots for the North Fork Ospreys and Sag Harbor Whalers in the Hamptons Collegiate Baseball League.

It can get pretty lively between the larger-than-life team representatives, Mr. Gurney noted. He pointed to a YouTube video of mascots “duking it out” on the field.

But Billy seems to be more of a lover than a fighter. He was captured kissing babies and generally enchanting the fans at Fiske Field.

“Billy is very active,” Mr. Gurney said. “He dances to music and cheers on the crowd.”