Why Birds Hate Baseball

clayj · Jun 7, 2006

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13188250/

Remarkable though it may seem, yet another bird (a seagull this time) flew right into the path of a pitched ball in a baseball game in Buffalo, NY. Amazingly, it survived... unlike the dove that Randy Johnson turned into an explosion of feathers back in 2001 when one of his fastballs had an encounter with a really unlucky bird.

nbs2 · Jun 7, 2006

clayj said:
Amazingly, it survived... unlike the dove that Randy Johnson turned into an explosion of feathers back in 2001 when one of his fastballs had an encounter with a really unlucky bird.

Hmm....Jason Childers is not on the Bulls Roster as of just now....wonder what happened (he wasn't called up that I can tell).

Anyhow, I imagine that he doesn't have the power of Mr. Unit. But at the risk of being called out by PETA....man that video is fun to watch....

Lau · Jun 7, 2006

I thought this was going to be about girls not liking sport.

devilot · Jun 7, 2006

Lau said:
I thought this was going to be about girls not liking sport.

Me too.

Shamus · Jun 7, 2006

I think its amazing that any birds get hit at all. The odds of it colliding with a flying ball are pretty slim.

skoker · Jun 8, 2006

I was actually at this game (I'm a rather large Bison's fan), you should have seen the look on everybody's faces for like a half hour. When they told us that it flew away, everybody had a good chuckle about it though. The best part was when the ump's couldn't figure out what was going on

UKnjb · Jun 8, 2006

Lau said:
I thought this was going to be about girls not liking sport.

Me too - and also thought it would somehow involve comparing it to cricket in the same post.

Sharewaredemon · Jun 8, 2006

Anyone read the comment about the guy who hit a bird in 83?

In 1983, Dave Winfield, then with the New York Yankees, threw a ball that hit a seagull at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Winfield was charged with cruelty to animals, a charge that was dropped the next day.

WTF?

Jaffa Cake · Jun 8, 2006

Sharewaredemon said:
Anyone read the comment about the guy who hit a bird in 83?

Yeah, I thought that seemed a bit odd too. Maybe he actually threw the ball at the bird on purpose, out of frustration or something? Still, the charge was dropped so maybe not...

clayj · Jun 8, 2006

When Randy Johnson exploded the dove back in 2001, even the PETA folks realized there was no point in complaining... there's no way a pitcher could intentionally hit a bird that small and moving that fast with a baseball. (An ostrich or emu, maybe... and only if it was standing still.)

I'm sure a few PETA members groused (pun absolutely intended) about it and thought about demanding that MLB ballparks install all-around-and-all-over netting to prevent birds' flying in and getting hit by 100 MPH baseballs, but they were told "shut up, you idiot" by their fellow PETA members.

BTW, here's the video of the Randy Johnson avian atomization. (WARNING: May be disturbing to bird lovers... but it's mercifully quick.)

Sharewaredemon · Jun 8, 2006

Jaffa Cake said:
Yeah, I thought that seemed a bit odd too. Maybe he actually threw the ball at the bird on purpose, out of frustration or something? Still, the charge was dropped so maybe not...

Either way (throwing it on purpose or by accident) it's funny.

In a cruel way, but still funny (to me).

aloofman · Jun 8, 2006

Jaffa Cake said:
Yeah, I thought that seemed a bit odd too. Maybe he actually threw the ball at the bird on purpose, out of frustration or something? Still, the charge was dropped so maybe not...

I believe he was making a long throw from the outfield. Like the others, the bird just happened to get in the way. I think actually charging him was kind of reflexive, and once they realized the circumstances the charges were dropped. Besides, Winfield later led Toronto to the World Series, so I think all has been forgiven by now.

Jaffa Cake · Jun 8, 2006

aloofman said:
~snip~

Ah, I see. Thanks for clearing that up.

iTwitch · Jun 8, 2006

Animals? I saw a bunny try to cross the track during the Indy 500 several years ago. Needless to say he didn't survive the encounter with Al Unser Sr.'s car.

You'd think they'd stay away from human infested places?

Sharewaredemon · Jun 8, 2006

iTwitch said:
Animals? I saw a bunny try to cross the track during the Indy 500 several years ago. Needless to say he didn't survive the encounter with Al Unser Sr.'s car.

You'd think they'd stay away from human infested places?

Maybe Darwin knew more than he let on?

Counterfit · Jun 8, 2006

The seagull should have taken first base.

iTwitch said:
Animals? I saw a bunny try to cross the track during the Indy 500 several years ago. Needless to say he didn't survive the encounter with Al Unser Sr.'s car.

You'd think they'd stay away from human infested places?

I saw video of a human crossing the track at the start of a GP in the late 70's (it's the opening scene for a documentary narrated by Stacy Keach. The scene was cut from the U.S. release). They got clipped. I don't think I have to explain how that ended.

Abstract · Jun 8, 2006

Shamus said:
I think its amazing that any birds get hit at all. The odds of it colliding with a flying ball are pretty slim.

Apparently the sky isn't that big.

Sharewaredemon said:
Anyone read the comment about the guy who hit a bird in 83?

WTF?

Haha, yeah, I remember that. It's a pretty famous Blue Jays fact in Toronto. Dave was fined $7500 for cruelty to animals.

dmw007 · Jun 8, 2006

clayj said:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13188250/

Remarkable though it may seem, yet another bird (a seagull this time) flew right into the path of a pitched ball in a baseball game in Buffalo, NY. Amazingly, it survived... unlike the dove that Randy Johnson turned into an explosion of feathers back in 2001 when one of his fastballs had an encounter with a really unlucky bird.

Ouch, that must hurt- colliding head on with a baseball...poor bird.

2nyRiggz · Jun 8, 2006

Unlucky birds if i do say so....cracked in the head with a ball doing 100MPH....damn.

Bless

dmw007 · Jun 9, 2006

2nyRiggz said:
Unlucky birds if i do say so....cracked in the head with a ball doing 100MPH....damn.

Bless

Ya, definitely not the most pleasant thing to have happen to you.

PlaceofDis · Jun 9, 2006

wow, i'm surprised it happens as often as it does, but then again there are a lot of pitches, and a lot of baseball games so its bound to happen sooner or later at some point.

mpw · Jun 9, 2006

Shamus said:
I think its amazing that any birds get hit at all. The odds of it colliding with a flying ball are pretty slim.

They do an annual parade here each summer, 2nd Thursday in August and it's never rained in 100+ years regardless of the weather the rest of the week, called the Battle of Flowers with various floral floats and dancers etc.

At the end of the parade a couple of years ago they did a lowlevel flypast with a Dakota I think which dropped petals over the crowd, only some seagulls flew into it's path and the VIP stand had bits of seagull raining down on it too.

I remember seeing it first hand and being amazed how half a seagull spins down to the ground like a sycamore seed.

I may have it on video, I'll check when I'm home.

killuminati · Jun 9, 2006

Ew that's sick. It's amazing that it ever happens though, the odds of it happening seem so small.

It reminds me of that Washington Pittsburgh game where a pigeon flew on the ice and was often standing right in front of Kolzig. I was sure that he was gonna get blown apart by a slap shot or at least skated over and cut in half.

jdechko · Jun 9, 2006

I'm not big into baseball, but does anyone know what the ruling on that would be?

aloofman · Jun 9, 2006

jdechko said:
I'm not big into baseball, but does anyone know what the ruling on that would be?

My guess is it would be ruled as some kind of intereference, the ball would be dead and runners can't advance. Probably ruled as no pitch, basically a do-over.

Why Birds Hate Baseball

macrumors 604

macrumors 68030

Lau

Guest

Moderator emeritus

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68000

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68020

macrumors Core

macrumors 604

macrumors 68020

macrumors 68020

macrumors Core

macrumors 6502a

macrumors 68020

macrumors G3

macrumors Penryn

macrumors G4

macrumors 603

macrumors G4

macrumors Core

Guest

macrumors 68020

macrumors 601

macrumors 68020

Our Staff