Watch a group of professional athletes flee in terror from a single runaway squirrel
If you've ever walked into the kitchen at night and seen a mouse scurry under the stove, you know the feeling. It's not exactly fear, but a general sense of uneasiness that follows you throughout your home for the next couple days or weeks.
This creature is basically harmless and likely not much larger than your big toe. Yet, it is uniquely capable of disrupting sleep and distracting you from your favorite TV show with glances toward the kitchen.
You'd think big, strong professional athletes would be better. They're not.
On Monday, a squirrel ran onto the field as the Twins were playing the White Sox. Even the sight of the rodent was enough to grip grown men and profession athletes with fear:
The sense of dread was one thing, but it wasn't until the squirrel sprinted toward the dugout that true panic ensued. People were (almost) literally diving for cover:
Things got even crazier when the beast took a hard right and slithered under the fence into the dugout.
You'd think the dugout was flooding or the floor had turned into lava. Nope. Just a tiny little squirrel running around somewhere down there making burly baseball men jump out of their shoes.
Based on these reactions, it's surprising the game didn't get called off, or at least postponed for everyone to regain their composure. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, the Twins squandered their pre-squirrel lead to lose, 6-4.
So, next time the specter of that mouse you saw two days ago keeps you up at night, take solace in the fact that rodents can even throw tough and stoic professional athletes off their games. Granted, that won't make you sleep any sounder, but at least your fear will no longer be compounded by embarrassment. That's progress.
Eric Chesterton is a writer for MLB.com. He is an appreciator of the stolen base, the bunt against the shift and nearly every unconventional uniform design. He eagerly awaits Jamie Moyer's inevitable comeback.
