Have you ever witnessed a skunk scurrying around a baseball field? No? Well, both the Harrisburg Senators (the Washington Nationals' Double-A affiliate) and the Bowie Baysox (the Baltimore Orioles' Double-A affiliate) have. Twice.
On Tuesday night, the Senators and the Baysox were in the sixth inning of a 2-1 game when, during a 2-1 count, time was called because a skunk entered the field of play. Video shows Baysox pitcher Alex Pham stepping off the mound and looking down the right field line as the skunk appeared, taking off toward second base as if it was attempting to steal.
SKUNK ALERT ??
For the second time this year, the @BowieBaysox + @HbgSenators are interrupted by a rather smelly visitor: pic.twitter.com/B26WVidGPD
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) September 13, 2023
Understandably, none of the groundskeepers wanted to get too close to the skunk while it ran around the infield. Instead, they tried to shepherd it off the field from a distance while players on the field watched in bewilderment. Soon enough, the skunk went all the way across the field, arriving at the Baysox's bullpen — where it sneaked through an opening in the fence and left the playing field for good. From there it went through the bullpen, into the Harrisburg field's "Kid Zone" and was last seen, in the Harrisburg announcer's words, "somewhere down there, near a bouncy house."
The most absurd aspect of this skunk scenario is that it had happened before. In May — the last time that the Baysox were in town to play the Senators — another game was delayed because a skunk streaked across the field. While Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is known for its booming skunk population, what are the chances that two of them would invade the Senators' field — in the middle of a game — in one year? Not to mention that the Senators were playing the Baysox both times. Miracles like these are why we love sports.
Luckily, neither skunk was harmed in either instance, and neither skunk sprayed during their two minutes of fame. Or was it the same baseball-loving, fame-seeking skunk both times? If it was, we can't blame it for spending two evenings at the ballpark.
