With Mariners pitcher James Paxton holding his hat over his heart, an eagle landed on his shoulder during the national anthem.
Paxton, a Canadian with the nickname Big Maple, played it cool as talons clung to his shoulder – even standing up straight with the bird at one point before it flew away.
The patriotic scene in Minneapolis sparked awe across Twitter before the Minnesota Twins game.
The eagle’s name is Challenger. Usually, the eagle does the pre-game fly-in ceremony, but it decided to go rogue when landing on Paxton.
Oh, just an 🦅 landing in a Big 🍁.@James_Paxton, totally fearless. pic.twitter.com/8xHYBTwNhC
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 5, 2018
National Anthem Eagle went rogue and landed on James Paxton, take that Canada pic.twitter.com/yEpPr2BSGo
— Starting 9 (@Starting9) April 5, 2018
Eagle at Twins opener attempts to abduct Mariners pitcher James Paxton pic.twitter.com/pzswZ7HPZu
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) April 5, 2018
Well. Now we know. pic.twitter.com/jqBq9yxQtN
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 5, 2018
CBS Sports note that Challenger is apparently an esteemed member of the American Eagle Foundation and has taken his talents to five World Series, plenty of other huge sporting events and even Disney's Animal Kingdom), so Thursday's slip-up was pretty out of the ordinary for him.
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