Baby kangaroo steals hearts instead of bases at Rangers' High-A affiliate game
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Waggy Wednesdays aren't just for mammals at the ballpark. In Hub City, they're apparently for marsupials too.
A 10-month-old kangaroo named Roxy took in her first baseball game alongside a plethora of the usual tail-waggers during the High-A Rangers affiliate's 4-1 victory over visiting Greenville at Fifth Third Park on Wednesday.
"She is loving it," owner Morgan Meeks told Spartanburgers broadcast and media relations assistant Andrew Selover midway through the game. "She took a little bit of a nap, but we gave her her bottle, and now she's enjoying every second of it."
Roxy looked sharp in a Spartanburgers bandanna, but Meeks was particularly mindful of the cooler temperatures at the game. The kangaroo snuggled into the pile of blankets brought to the game to keep her warm in the 55-degree environs, peering out occasionally to see the action.
Roxy isn't the only kangaroo in the family, by the way. There are seven more at home and an additional four heading to the Meeks homestead. That inspired Hub City broadcasting and media relations manager Ian Unsworth to call for a kangaroo parade in the future a lot like the one the assembled doggos get to have prior to the game on Waggy Wednesdays.
Lest Roxy's appearance seem like it came out of left field, though, Hub City does seem to have tangible connections to her origin story. The Spartanburgers have a Joey in their midst -- right-handed pitcher Joey Danielson.
But perhaps even better than that was Antonis Macias' first homer of the season with the club's new good-luck charm in attendance. The 21-year-old outfielder from Mexico played in the Australian Baseball League during the 2024-25 offseason.
"It was just fate," Meeks said. "She helped him."
Roxy's visit came as a complete surprise to the Spartanburgers, who hosted cats at Tuesday's game and always enjoy having a dazzling array of dogs in their midst. So what member of the animal kingdom would they like to have grace their concourse next?
"I predicted that we'd have a peacock in two Wednesdays," Unsworth said, adding he and Selover already have some ideas in that regard. "We have a friendly wager going. ... I'm gonna make a few calls, needless to say."