Toward the end of the national anthem, sung by Minnesota rapper Dessa just prior to the Twins’ home opener on Thursday, a bald eagle was set aloft in center field at Target Field. The plan was for the eagle to circle Target Field and land on the outstretched arm of a handler waiting on the pitcher’s mound.
Well, you know what they say about best laid plans of mice, men and bald eagles.
The majestic bird and symbol of America, named Challenger, needs a better GPS system, or perhaps an ophthalmologist. He missed his mark before the Twins’ 4-2 victory Thursday over the Seattle Mariners. Missed it by a lot.
Challenger is no novice at this sort of thing. He has performed at hundreds of major events such as the World Series, the Daytona 500, the BCS Championship game and presidential inaugurations. He had been perfect more than 400 times, circling events and landing just as the Star Spangled Banner or another patriotic song is wrapping up.
Much like Cal Ripken’s Iron Man streak of consecutive games ended, so has Challenger’s streak of perfect landings.
Challenger landed nowhere near the pitcher’s mound. He never even left the outfield, flying toward Mariners starting pitcher James Paxton, who was standing in left field, and landing nearby for a moment. Then took flight again.
Paxton might have been mistaken for a small tree, lending credence to a bad eyesight theory, because Challenger landed on Paxton’s back.
There’s another theory, tossed out by a member of the Twins’ public relations department, that Challenger may have mistaken Paxton’s glove for his landing spot. Challenger’s handlers do wear a protective leather sleeve on their arms.
But a baseball glove mistaken for a protective sleeve?
And besides, Paxton said his glove was on the ground in front of him during the anthem. Challenger’s eyesight really may be going. He is, after all, getting up there in years. At 29, Challenger is the same age as Paxton but, for an eagle in captivity, that makes him a senior citizen.
It’s always tough when the great ones struggle, and Challenger isn’t just a great one. Among bald eagles, he is the greatest one. According to the American Eagle Foundation website, eagles.org, “Challenger’s image is on a Tennessee specialty license plate and on specialty coins issued by the the U.S. Mint. No other specific animal has ever had its image placed on a coin minted by the U.S. Mint.”
Meantime, Challenger’s handlers were said to be devastated and unavailable for comment.
As for Paxton, a bald eagle on your back beats a monkey on your back any day, right?
“That’s true,” Paxton said.
Challenger sunk his talons into Paxton’s upper back and right shoulder, and well, here’s how Paxton remembers it: “It landed right in front of me and then took off and started flying toward my face. I didn’t run. I figured I’m not going to outrun an eagle. I ducked so it wouldn’t fly into my face. It landed on my shoulder. I thought if I got up slowly it could balance on my shoulder. Then it fell off. The guy came and got him.”
Paxton dealt with Challenger much better than President Trump handled another bald eagle named Uncle Sam, who, while perched on a desk, pecked at the president’s hand and frightened our commander in chief something awful.
“That was classic,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said of Paxton’s interaction with Challenger. “I tried to imagine being in his position, being that calm.”
Though he’s a lefty and Challenger landed on the right side of his back and shoulder, Paxton still had the perfect excuse in case he pitched a lousy game: A talon-related injury.
It didn’t go down that way — at least not through the first five innings, when Paxton held the Twins scoreless. Then in the sixth, Joe Mauer singled and Miguel Sano followed up with a home run. And Paxton was done.
A delayed talon-related injury, perhaps?
“I was fine. It didn’t really phase me,” Paxton said. “I’m not going to blame the eagle. It was not a well-executed pitch (to Sano). That’s definitely the first time I had an eagle land on me. The talons, I don’t think punctured me. They were kind of sharp. Nothing hurts.”
Except maybe Challenger’s pride.
“I guess the eagle got confused,” Paxton said.
Unfortunately for Challenger, there apparently are no mulligans when you mess up a choreographed flight. And he wasn’t given a chance to redeem himself during the seventh-inning stretch and rendition of “God Bless America.”
Then again, Challenger has had just one screw-up in more than 400 attempts. Nobody, er, no bird of prey is perfect.