The San Diego Padres were four outs away from taking Game 2 of their NLDS series against the Los Angeles Dodgers when a goose flew on to the field. Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux hit a single soon after to bring the tying run to the plate.
The situation didn’t improve for the Padres when closer Josh Hader came in, as the reliever walked the next batter to put men on first and second. But Hader eventually found his way out of the jam, getting catcher Austin Barnes to fly out to end the eighth inning. San Diego went on to win 5-3.
According to the Los Angeles Audubon Society, the goose on the field was a Greater White-Fronted Goose.
Margaret Rubega, an ornithologist and evolutionary biology professor at the University of Connecticut, confirmed this with uSports.
These geese migrate south through California in the fall, and the bright lights of the stadium likely distracted it as it traveled in the night sky.
Though the goose’s impact on the game turned out to be negligible, it is undeniable that the Dodgers seemed to be going quietly until it appeared. It remained on the field for Lux’s single before the Dodger Stadium grounds crew began a lengthy effort to detain the animal and escort it off the grounds.
It’s frivolous to claim that allowing the goose to stick around would have led to a Dodgers win, but it wouldn’t have been the first bird-related interference in MLB history.
Pitcher Randy Johnson famously killed one during a preseason game in 2001, and in 2009, Cleveland won on a walkoff hit against the Kansas City Royals after a flock of seagulls distracted Coco Crisp trying to field the ball in center field.
Animal-related curses are also relatively common in baseball, though they’re typically reserved for the Chicago Cubs. The Curse of the Billy Goat began in 1945 when a local Chicago tavern owner had to leave the Cubs’ World Series game due to the odor emanating from his pet goat. He vowed that the Cubs wouldn’t win anymore, and they didn’t for 71 years. In the midst of that cursed period for the Cubs, they also blew a lead in the 1969 N.L. Pennant race after a black cat ran past their dugout in a game against the New York Mets, who went on to win the World Series that year.
Through two games, the Dodgers and Padres are tied with one win apiece, and the teams will now travel to San Diego for the next two games of the series. They’ll be traveling south down the coast of California, making it ever so slightly more possible that another flying visitor can follow them down to Petco Park.
