Large Alligator hangs out in dugout before minor league game
Imagine showing up to work and finding an unwanted visitor waiting in your office.
Kind of a scary thought, because that unwanted visitor can come in many forms. An annoying co-worker, for example. A job evaluation with the boss that you weren’t prepared for. Perhaps there’s even a 10-foot alligator that’s just chillin’ under the desk, waiting to say hello.
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Wait, what?
Yeah, that’s who stadium employees and players for the Port Charlotte Stone Crabs — Class A Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays — were greeted by on Friday. The 10-foot gator was just hanging around under the visitor’s dugout at Charlotte Sports Park, which would later be occupied by the Daytona Tortugas.
The gator was first discovered by groundskeepers Scott Bertini and Shane Cabral, who were sitting in the visitor’s dugout after helping to roll the tarp onto the field during a rainy afternoon in Port Charlotte.
It’s not known how the gator found its way into the stadium or more specifically how it navigated its way into the dugout. But there it was, presumably hungry, and perhaps in the mood to watch some baseball.
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Unfortunately, the alligator was not afforded that opportunity.
Sending the gator back home, or hopefully some place close to home, was definitely the best way to handle this. We know there are some crazy mascots in the minors, but a live alligator probably isn’t the best thing to have roaming the stadium freely.
With that said, we fully expect a gator bobblehead or rally gator merchandise to be born from this. Where there’s something unique, there’s always an opportunity to market something new.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
