It took 15 crew members to finally corral the squirrel in the seventh inning. Rick Osentoski / Imagn Images
July 28, 2026 Updated 10:03 am EDT
In Monday’s 8-5 Detroit Tigers loss to the Orioles at Comerica Park, the moment that evoked the biggest cheers from the crowd had nothing to do with the stakes of the game.
In the seventh inning, a black squirrel appeared on the field and ventured from left field to foul territory just in front of the third-base coaches’ box. The squirrel eventually ran to the grass in front of the pitcher’s mound, then hung out in the dirt near first base.
The squirrel is breaking ankles out there 😭 https://t.co/VHSj8H0MbB pic.twitter.com/dkE6jld78m
— MLB (@MLB) July 28, 2026
By the seventh-inning stretch, with the Comerica Park video board and fans locked in on the squirrel, the entire Tigers grounds crew stormed the field in pursuit of the rodent.
The chase featuring at least 15 people extended into deep right field, where the squirrel proved elusive, juking and sprinting past members of the crew. The squirrel briefly hopped in (before flipping out) of Orioles outfielder Leody Taveras’ glove. Still, it remained on the loose.
At long last, a member of the grounds crew corralled the squirrel in a white towel and took it off the field through a door in the right-field fence.
Home-plate umpire Bill Miller then turned on his microphone. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to thank the grounds crew,” Miller said. “Let’s give them a round of applause.”
By the top of the eighth inning, the Tigers’ mascot put up a sign that read: “Free the Squirrel.”
Jul 28, 2026
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