Zac Gallen echoes Randy Johnson, warmup pitch hits chicken in Oakland
When an Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher does one thing solely Randy Johnson has executed in franchise historical past, it is assumed it is an amazing pitching achievement.
Besides what occurred Wednesday.
Pitcher Zac Gallen was throwing a warmup session within the outfield of Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum previous to the crew’s afternoon sport in opposition to the Oakland Athletics, because it’s his off day. However throughout certainly one of his pitches, a reported curveball nonetheless, a chicken flew proper via the trail of the ball, and sadly, was hit midair.
A Bally Sports activities Arizona’s digicam captures your entire sequence.
The precise-hander reportedly “could not wait to inform everyone” concerning the incident, and the chicken “is now not with us” in accordance with Bally Sports activities Arizona.
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Diamondback pitchers hitting birds
Seeing an Arizona pitcher hit a chicken brings again reminiscences of when the Hall of Famer Johnson did the same.
22 years in the past, Johnson was pitching throughout a spring coaching sport in opposition to the San Francisco Giants, and throughout the seventh inning, a chicken flew proper in entrance of house plate throughout a pitch and was hit by the ball. That chicken additionally died, because the catcher on the time, Rod Barajas, stated “all you see is an explosion” and then-Giants second baseman Jeff Kent went on the sphere, picked up the chicken and took it again to the dugout. It’s unknown what occurred afterward.
When Johnson described what occurred in an interview with Fox Sports Arizona in 2016, he stated it was “a blur.”
What number of occasions has a chicken been hit throughout a baseball sport?
Whereas Gallen’s incident occurred earlier than the sport, his and Johnson’s hit on birds aren’t the one time it is occurred in skilled baseball.
Former New York Yankees outfielder Dave Winfield killed a seagull on a warm-up throw on Aug. 4, 1983 in Toronto. Ontario police arrested Winfield after the sport and charged him with animal cruelty, however costs have been later dropped. In 2014, Jonathan Maciel was pitching for the West Michigan Whitecaps, the Class-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers, when he appeared to hit a black bird. A grounds crew member went out and picked up the chicken’s physique.