Cleveland’s Birds Take Home Field Advantage Very Seriously

Here’s a fun one for the sports fans out there: Last week during a divisional tilt between the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals, the game was tied going into the bottom of the 10^th inning. With the winning run at second base, the Indians needed a double to head home with a victory. Shin-Soo Choo hit a weak single to center, a playable ball for center fielder and breakfast cereal Coco Crisp that, as long as he kept it in front of him, would allow the winning run to only get to third base, still giving the Royals a chance to eek out a victory. That was the plan at least, until the ball hit a seagull. (Head over to the MLB website to watch the video.)

The ball ended up going by Crisp, the winning run ended up scoring, and the gull ended up hobbling away. Oh, and this is all very legal by the way:

“Center fielder Coco Crisp raised his arms in frustration, but there was no arguing the play. Umpire crew chief Mike Reilly confirmed that any ball striking one of the in fair territory is in play.

“They’re in play — whatever it does off that bird,” Reilly said.

Good thing the Royals are used to losing, because this was one of those endings that would have most fans looking towards the sky and asking “Why us?” Royals fans know the answer: Because they’re Royals fans.

Let’s hope this is just the start of teams training armies of kamikaze to give up their body for the win. How great would it be to see something like this on a daily basis?