An adorable stray kitten who interrupted a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals at Busch Stadium on Wednesday, August 9, has gone missing.
With bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning, fans all but lost faith that St. Louis could secure a win against Kansas City. But everything changed when a feisty four-legged feline darted onto the field from the visitors’ dugout (on the third-base side) and zoomed into the outfield.
Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain looked amused, with a hand on his hip as the determined feline jetted past him.
Lucas Hackmann, a member of the Cardinals’ grounds crew, sprinted onto the field to collect the stray, but was met with opposition as the feline got scared and resisted.
The game, while only briefly delayed, took a surprising turn in the Cardinals’ favor.
On the first pitch after the game resumed, St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina hit a grand slam off Kansas City pitcher Peter Moylan — in what turned out to be a game winning victory.
Here’s our little hero, the Rally Cat (although the grounds crew guy might say differently). #STLCards pic.twitter.com/OrR2IFAv8d
— FOX Sports Midwest (@FSMidwest) August 10, 2017
The internet was immediately abuzz, dubbing the now famous feline #RallyCat on Twitter.
“Come here often?” – Lorenzo Cain.
“I dabble in baseball.” – #RallyCat. pic.twitter.com/ZmWyEn9UNr— MLB (@MLB) August 10, 2017
But after a series of events the feline disappeared.
Hackmann, who was taken to the hospital shortly after removing the cat from the field, told SportsCenter on Thursday that he brought the furry friend to the main concourse in the stadium, leaving it near the Stan Musial statue.
Cardinal ushers who were tending to the four-legged pal lost control when “a fan grabbed it and claimed it was hers,” and abruptly left despite the ushers’ attempt to ask questions.
According to reports, the woman lost track of the cat in Citygarden, a park in St. Louis.
The Cardinals addressed the incident in a statement via Twitter on Thursday: “We are hopeful someone will find the cat and contact us so we can properly care for it. Our grounds crew is working on developing a stray animal protocol to ensure the safety of both crew and animal should this happen again.”
#STLCards official statement on the #RallyCat: pic.twitter.com/rCimmnq6hO
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) August 10, 2017
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