The Bullpen    

T U C S O N, Ariz., March 26, 2001 — A pitch by Randy Johnson hit and killed a dove flying in front of home plate.

The lethal pitch (1.509 MB) came during the seventh inning of the Arizona Diamondbacks' 10-5 victory against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.
The bird flew over the catcher Rod Barajas' head and landed a few feet from the plate amid a sea of feathers.
"I'm sitting there waiting for it, and I'm expecting to catch the thing, and all you see is an explosion," Barajas said. "It's crazy. There's still feathers down there."

On August 4, 1993: "Oversize 26-year-old punk Robin Ventura battles 46-year-old future Hall of
Famer Nolan Ryan in the funniest fight in Major League history... Ventura gets hit in the arm
by a Ryan curve, drops his bat, and immediately charges the mound. Ryan smiles, takes two
steps to the left, and casually puts Ventura in a headlock, delivering six consecutive uppercuts to the young man's head... When asked about Ventura's mad dash, Ryan said, 'I think
he had a change of heart when he got there.'"

- Source: Maxim, Aug. 2001

“If he commits a crime, he won’t get a pardon from this governor.”

-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Bartman screws the Cubs. (1.784 MB)

The legend of the Rally Monkey began June 6, 2000 as the Anaheim Angels were losing to the San Francisco Giants. Video crew members were pulling out all the stops in their attempt to whip up some crowd support.

They came across a video clip (1.017 MB) from the 1994 hit movie "Ace Ventura, Pet Detective," staring Jim Carrey, that showed a monkey jumping up and down. They superimposed the words "Rally Monkey" over it and flashed it on the JumboTron. The crowd roared.

The Angels rallied, scoring two runs in the last inning to win.

 

Asheville Tourists manager Joe Mikulik goes bonkers in the South Atlantic League. Mikulik was suspended for seven days and fined $1000.