Chicago Cubs manager Mike Quade spent a few minutes before and after Tuesday’s news briefing discussing the flock of the seagulls that descended on Wrigley Field during Monday’s game.
Typically, the gulls arrive near the end of Cubs’ games to eat the leftover peanuts, popcorn and nachos in the empty seats. But Monday they arrived during the third inning and distracted Marlon Byrd while he was making the game-ending catch in center.
“It looked like it was going hit a bird,” Byrd said afterward. “Got to play the elements.”
Asked what he’d like the Cubs to do about the birds, Byrd replied that there’s nothing you can do about it and it didn’t bother him that much, though he did crouch to make the catch.
“I was trying to get as low as possible, just in case (the ball hit a bird),” he said. “When you have stuff flying in front of you and you’re trying to catch a little ball, it is (distracting).”
Quade asked if anyone knew someone at the National Audubon Society that could explain the birds' behavior. Coach Bob Dernier told him he never saw any birds on the field when he played for the Cubs in the 1980s.
“It makes me laugh,” Quade said. “But I would like some signs, or someone to tell me what triggers these animals.”
One theory is that the seeding of the new sod to make the grass grow is attracting the seagulls.
“That’s good,” Quade said. “But you’ll see them, they’ll come in on a day like (Monday) and then you’ll go three days without seeing them. They’re not here every single day. Look, I’m on the water all day long, I love fishing. I watch ‘Animal Planet’ and wildlife shows, and so now this is my (question): ‘What is making them do this?’
“The other question is have we seen any contact with (a bird and) a ball. I don’t remember it in my five years. I haven’t seen it, but it’s coming. It’s coming.”
So what’s the ruling?
“If it hits a bird and you catch it, he’s out,” he said with a laugh. “If you hit a bird and it deflects over it, then the ball is in play.”
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