Watch: College Baseball Game Delayed as Bald Eagle and Osprey Battle over Prey
There was quite a baseball game between the Eagles and the Ospreys on Saturday, as the two teams from Jacksonville …
… wait, that’s not quite right. Let’s try that again.
A baseball game between Jacksonville and Jacksonville State on Saturday was interrupted by a bald eagle and an osprey getting into a nature documentary-worthy fight over a fish.
The osprey flew into John Sessions Stadium carrying the fresh sushi in potentia in its talons, but before it got a chance to dine, the eagle flew in behind it and tried to grab the fish for itself.
The osprey dropped the fish in the avian melee, but before the eagle got a chance to swoop in and grab its ill-gotten prize, one of the Jacksonville players, Connor Stevens, ran out onto the field with a towel, wrapped up the fish, and pulled it off to … well, probably not “safety”, since the fish had doubtless been out of water for a fair while and had been dropped from great height by a bird, not generally regarded as a survival situation most fish are prepared for.
If nothing else, the fish found itself potentially turning into a postgame meal for the ultimate apex predator, the undefeated champion of the nature show, the heavyweight champion of the animal kingdom: the human.
And in case the poetic justice were lost on anyone, of course Jacksonville University’s team name is the Dolphins, so ending up the ultimate beneficiary of a fish meal fit the scene perfectly.
The play-by-play man for the TV broadcast handled the situation with aplomb.
A moment to be marked in baseball history forever!
An Osprey with a fish in his claws, was threatened by a pursuing bald eagle, causing the osprey to drop the fish behind second base. The fish was recovered by a Dolphin and removed from the field.pic.twitter.com/KF1F5N3GBV
— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) February 24, 2019
The Dolphins won the game 5-2 and took the series as well, so it turned out to be a fun night out for the fans.
And the play-by-play guy got himself into the annals of great stories involving flying animals at sporting events.
Maybe we can get him on the call the next time a bat shows up at an Indiana Pacers game …
Mark Boyle's Full Play-by-Play of the Bankers Life Bat Chase by Pacers Sound on SoundCloud – Hear the world’s sound https://t.co/Sg3YcDCIpv
— jlanich (@jlanich1) February 8, 2019
… or a San Antonio Spurs game:
On this date in 2009, @manuginobili snatched a loose bat in the middle of a game ? pic.twitter.com/kxQjkX7SB8
— ESPN (@espn) November 1, 2018
In these sorts of moments, all you can really do is just shake your head and consider the humor of the situation.
Or, considering it was a college game, you can ask the existential questions of the universe, like the one Gabe Fernandez of Deadspin raised Sunday afternoon:
Does a fish count as an impermissible benefit by the bald eagle under NCAA rules?
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