Resident cat interrupts minor-league baseball game

April 15 : A minor-league baseball game in Florida was put on hold after the stadium’s resident cat wandered onto the field.

The cat, known as Henley the Eighth, stepped onto the field at a Lakeland Flying Tigers game on Thursday night and caused the game to briefly come to a halt in the seventh inning.

“Delay in the game as Henley, the stadium cat has come in as the pinch runner,” the Flying Tigers Twitter account joked.

Henley, who Flying Tigers assistant general manager Dan Lauer told MiLB.com was the stadium’s eighth resident cat, was escorted back to her four kittens after her brief journey out to the field.

“Randomly in between batters, she just kind of slowly walked out onto the field,” Lauer said “The batter in the on-deck circle walked toward her, and she sped up. When she was past him, she just walked casually toward home plate. The ump stopped the game as soon as he saw.”

According to Lauer, Henley has lived in a box near the grounds crew shed outside the stadium for about eight months and said that her four kittens have been claimed.

He also speculated that the timing of her appearance on the field may have had something to do with a single that ended the Flying Tigers’ chance at a no-hitter a half-inning prior.

“I think she was excited about it,” Lauer said. “It was a combined no-hitter, of course, because of the rain delay [in the fourth]. We went from no-hitter to no-litter.” UPI