Did this really happen, or did I imagine it?

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 2:40 PM PST

The Coliseum, Opening Day, 2002 season. Sometime after Joe Satriani played the national anthem with the stadium PA turned off, but before the F-18 flew by at the wrong moment to scare the crap out of the crowd with its afterburners, a big hawk came flapping over the western lip of the stadium bowl, carrying a dead critter in its claws. The bird was clearly having difficulty with its heavy load, and lost altitude as it flew on a path roughly from the visiting bullpen to the left-field bleachers. When the hawk got close to the left-field wall, it realized it wasn't going to make it over the other side of the bowl, so it dropped the dead critter on the warning track and flew over Mount Davis.

The crowd went silent. Tejada crossed himself and the left fielder (was it Justice?) backed away in horror. A groundskeeper came out with a shovel and scooped up the critter. It seemed like an omen of some kind, but I've never heard of any baseball superstitions having to do with birds of prey dropping their lunch in the ballpark.

But... nobody else seems to remember this incident, even the people who were there with me at the time. Was this all a dream? A hallucination brought on by too many Coliseum Dogs? Does anyone remember this? If so, just what was that critter? I was in section 320, so I didn't have a good view of the critter.

Poll

What was that dead critter?

The coal-black heart of Bud Selig

22 votes

Possum

7 votes

Nothing, take it easy on pregame glue-huffing in the BART lot

27 votes

Very Large Rat

16 votes

Cat

1 votes

Fish

1 votes

74 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

It Happened

I was at the game, but I don't remember it being opening day. It was pretty cool.

Marc

by Zepp on Jan 25, 2005 3:44 PM PST reply actions

WOW

Wow, Satriani played the National Anthem? I bet that was sweet.

by Brian Durack on Jan 25, 2005 4:00 PM PST reply actions

football

Better than that kid at the Eagles/Falcons game on Sunday. He did a pretty bad job, to the point where I'm actually surprised Philly fans didn't start booing him.

by RichardP on Jan 25, 2005 4:03 PM PST up reply actions

Uh, no, not so sweet

He played the anthem all right, but all the audience ever heard was this tinny, distant noise from his monitor amp- the Coliseum people never switched him up to the big PA system. Satriani heard himself on the monitor amp- 3 feet in front of him- and figured everything was cool, but when he was playing the last few notes, Steele came on the PA and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please rise for the national anthem." Even from my nosebleed seat I could see Satriani turn around with a "huh?" look on his face. That was part of what made the critter-dropping thing so weird.

Remember, there's no "I" in "Anarchy"

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 4:17 PM PST up reply actions

haha

I remember we were tailgating and were jocking the fact that satriani was gonna do the anthem. So we didnt want to miss it, had to pass on the last round of beers before the game, only to get in there and NOT hear anything. Very odd - didnt see the hawk though.

The Coliseum owes me a round!

by pickinmachine on Jan 25, 2005 4:23 PM PST up reply actions

And that reminds me

How many games do the A's play before which the Coliseum crew plays a recorded national anthem? Half of them? You'd think they'd have no problem finding 81 singers or musicians who'd be willing to perform it live. Hell, get the BART Bridge Bad Sax Guy if the only alternative is that stupid "Ricochet" tape. Give the audience free kazoos and we'll do it.

Remember, there's no "I" in "Anarchy"

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 4:43 PM PST up reply actions

Yes!

I was there and saw it, too! We were in upper reserved, first-base side, so I was clear across the field and didn't get a good view, either. But I did see the hawk struggle, it was inching ever closer to the ground with each wing flap. Finally it must've said screw it, cut its losses and dropped the critter.

I thought from the size of it, it must've been a rabbit. But now that I think about it - it probably was a rat. One big-ass rat.

Wow. I, too, was a few sheets to the wind that night, so it's good to know I'm keeping it together.

by RiverCats4Ever on Jan 25, 2005 4:15 PM PST reply actions

I'm glad someone else saw it

I thought maybe it was just a weird nightmare. Like that one I had the previous fall, where Jeremy Giambi didn't slide...

Remember, there's no "I" in "Anarchy"

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 4:20 PM PST up reply actions

ha!

I remember Je. Giambi scoring on a slide at home that night, and we were all screaming, hoping the demons had past.

Oh, but we were only just beginning to see a whole set of new ones ...

by RiverCats4Ever on Jan 25, 2005 4:43 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah, I'm sure glad I woke up from that nightmare

Uh... hold on a second...

Remember, there's no "I" in "Anarchy"

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 4:44 PM PST up reply actions

Although he would have just tied it

So it wouldn't have been a sure A's win even if Jeremy had scored.

Remember, there's no "I" in "Anarchy"

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 4:48 PM PST up reply actions

I was there too!!!

I had forgotten all about that. Definitely one of the strangest things I've ever seen at the ballpark.

I rememeber it a little different. Everyone in my area noticed the hawk, and as it headed for the left feild stands and started losing height, the crowd sorta started rooting for the hawk, only to let out a big "ohhhh!" when it lost it's meal.

Good times indeed!

"Fear leads to hate, and hate......leads to the Darkside."-Yoda

by Force on Jan 25, 2005 5:14 PM PST reply actions

Bizzare

Wow, funny that this comes up out of the blue like that.

I remember massive amounts of confusion with the lack of a PA system and the botched flyover that nearly sent me into cardiac arrest. As for the bird dropping whatever it was that it dropped, I didn't have a really good view but that definitely capped off the strangest series of events I've seen at an A's game.

Go Beach.

by Dirtbag Pride on Jan 25, 2005 5:28 PM PST reply actions

It wasn't a hawk...

it was actually an owl. I was sitting down the left field line and saw the big ol' sucker come swooping in and drop it's dinner not too far from our seats.

by MooseKnuckle415 on Jan 25, 2005 7:00 PM PST reply actions

Breakfast?

by MooseKnuckle415 on Jan 25, 2005 7:02 PM PST up reply actions

An owl.. that makes sense

But what was the critter? And how did the owl manage to lift it over the wall on the west side in the first place?

Remember, there's no "I" in "Anarchy"

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 8:12 PM PST up reply actions

Yes, yes!!

It was a big white owl!!!!!!!

"Fear leads to hate, and hate......leads to the Darkside."-Yoda

by Force on Jan 27, 2005 4:55 PM PST up reply actions

Speaking of the botched flyover

I don't want to start another topic, but I wouldn't mind getting some speculation going on what kind of plane will be doing the flyover for Opening Day 2005. Since the Bay Area wasn't gung-ho for the war or W, I must assume the military will give us some low-budget plane, while the Red State teams will get big formations of the latest gold-plated hardware. Maybe we could get a pool going on what we'll get. My guesses:

C-5: My personal favorite. It's huge and loud beyond belief and doesn't have "blowing up villages" as its primary mission. I think we got a C-5 for the '98 Opening Day flyby.

F/A-18: This one's a dime a dozen, sort of the Ford Taurus of military aircraft- I think we're even giving it to countries like Chile and Zambia now. But it's still modern enough to not be considered an insult.

A-10: They aren't using them in combat any more, so they might dust one off over Travis AFB and use it for the A's flyover.

F-16: Another once-badass/now-outdated fighter plane. Sort of the Honda Prelude of military aircraft.

P-3: They look cool with those magnetometer submarine-detection stingers on the tail, and they probably still have a few parked over at Moffett. But they lack loudness.

Mig-21: Just to diss our blue-state ass, they'll get one of those junker 50s Russian planes and let it sputter by. It will probably have primer paint and a coathanger for a radio antenna.

The Ron Goode Toyota Cessna: Why not? It's gonna be hovering over the stadium anyway.

Remember, there's no "I" in "Anarchy"

by AlamedaAphid on Jan 25, 2005 8:23 PM PST reply actions