(Minor League) Pitcher Reportedly Aims At, Hits Osprey With Baseball (Beaned the bird?)

WKMG-TV/DT Orlando ^ | 4.23.03

[mhking]

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A minor league pitcher in Daytona, Fla., faces possible animal cruelty charges and jail time for allegedly beaning an osprey with a baseball before a game, according to Local 6 News.

Witnesses said that Daytona Cubs player Jae-kuk Ryu threw several baseballs at an osprey known as Ozzy as the bird nested with its mate and several little chicks at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

Ryu eventually hit Ozzy during a pre-game practice and knocked it off the top of a 40-foot light pole in left field. The bird landed in a pile of feathers, according to the report.

When the bird was inspected, its eye was gushing blood, according to a St. Lucie Mets trainer.

After word spread about what the Ryu reportedly did to the bird, angry phone calls and e-mails have poured into the park, according to a park manager. Most e-mails are suggesting that the pitcher should be punished for his actions, Local 6 News reported.

Ryu, who has 22 strikeouts so far this season, was unavailable for comment.

Ozzy was being treated at the Animal Clinic of Edgewater and is expected to survive.

Anyone who wounds or kills an osprey can be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $500 and 60 days in jail.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

[mhking]

"Hold muh beer 'n watch this!" PING....

If you want on or off this list, please let me know!

[Paul Atreides]

That guy needs to quit beaning birds and watch a good movie....

[Alberta's Child]

Shades of Dave Winfield in Toronto.

[LasVegasMac]

why do we get so many multiple posts?

LVM

[mhking]

I don't understand...you mean so many HMB posts at once? I grab 'em in batches...

[Paul Atreides]

why do we get so many multiple posts?

mhking cloned himself.

[Porterville]

Awwwweee, did somebody kill a widdle birddy??? Big deal..I'd shoot it myself if it was crapping on my stadium, bird of prey or not...my property comes first.

And when people are dying all over the world, this is what the leftist Greens worry about, dead birds that crap.

[wheathead]

where were the marines...why didn't they protect it???

[kylaka]

They ought to make the dude go an look up close and personal at what he did to the bird. Maybe even pitch in in the recovery to the tune of 100 hours or so.

[gov_bean_ counter]

When this bird finally comes too and charges the mound, things could get ugly.

[dagoofyfoot]

This is what the leftist Greens worry about, dead birds that crap


Just because we're conservatives, does that mean it's open season on anything that moves?

You're exactly the kind of person that liberalism hates about conservatism.

I look at nature and I see Gods's intelligent design at work. I love the outdoors and all that's in it, but that doesn't mean I would place animals above people.

You my friend sound like you have some real issues...they always say that serial killers start with the torture and killing of animals.Get a freakin' life!

[kylaka]

There's no one more conservative than me, but I have to say you seem to embrace the moron's point of view, more eloquently
than I've ever seen on this forum. You got all the deductive logic of an amoeba.

[Alberta's Child]

With a name like Jae-kuk Ryu, I'm guessing he was hunting for supper.

/sarcasm off/

[vetvetdoug]

If the bird had been a pigeon I'd applauded the effort. Since it was an Osprey, a bird of prey that has had a hard time surviving in suburban areas and at one time endangered specie, I am with the tree huggers on this one. Mu Shu Phu Ky Rho should have to get a princely fine from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

[PLMerite]

Obviously this guy's home training neglected the part about "leave the animals alone."

I hope he gets the jail time. Time off the field would make a bigger impression than the money.

[blam]

"When the bird was inspected, its eye was gushing blood, according to a St. Lucie Mets trainer."

I'd like to make the pitcher gush some blood. I wonder how funny that would be? It's wrong to kill or hurt something 'just because you can.'

[Frank_2001]

I thought they preferred dogs;)

[Porterville]

I'd shoot the amoeba too, I don't care about a damn bird that isn't even on the sensitive species list. Hell it nest in industrial lighting. They want to make an issue of this??? Yawn, tent the stadium, call Terminex and kill all the pest, I don't care. Report about the people dying in other parts of the world and feel more passionate about the people being butchered in Zimbabwe. You grow up on a ranch or the city??? Oh the city...I see, well I understand when a widdle rat or birdy dies it is just heartbreaking. Meanwhile I'll shoot duck, pheasants, and deer, with a 30-30 or a baseball.

[Migraine]

They ought to make the dude go an look up close and personal at what he did to the bird. Maybe even pitch in in the recovery to the tune of 100 hours or so.

Yep. It worked on Mayberry when Opie shot a bird w/ his beanflipper -- Sheriff Taylor made him go out and deal with the carnage. Then Barney showed him how to communicate with the orphan birdies.

[Alberta's Child]

Maybe he's a secret weapon developed by the North Koreans to shoot down a V-22 Osprey.

[dagoofyfoot]

I'd shoot the amoeba too

Sir, it's time for your prozac, again.

You really are a freakin' idiot

[dalereed]

If nothing else it should get him promoted to the majors!

Strike 3, you're out!

[Billy_bob_bob]

That was the pitch on that famous video, right? It's obvious (if I've got the right pitch) that Dave Winfield was just trying to strike out a batter when a kamakaze dove decided to swoop right into the wrong spot at the right time. From what I saw it was a surprise to everyone concerned.

This is a very different case. This Jae-kuk Ryu strikes me as being a real creep. Probably compensating for some "deficiency" of some sort or another, like having an extremely tiny penis or something like that.

[The Other Harry]

Awwwweee, did somebody kill a widdle birddy??? Big deal..I'd shoot it myself if it was crapping on my stadium, bird of prey or not...my property comes first.

And when people are dying all over the world, this is what the leftist Greens worry about, dead birds that crap.

You have no idea what you are talking about.

[kylaka]

You better check your knuckles often. It seems you are suffering from oxygen deprivation from a loss of blood.

Some time ago when the earth was all dirt, that wasn't a problem. These days, concrete and asphalt rips those knuckles up pretty good as you drag them along, getting from here to there.

[The Other Harry]

Some time ago when the earth was all dirt, that wasn't a problem. These days, concrete and asphalt rips those knuckles up pretty good as you drag them along, getting from here to there.

Good one!

I have seen a pair of nesting osprey in Chesapeake Bay. No one with an IQ over 40 would want to harm them.

[The Other Harry]

The general manager of the Daytona Cubs can be reached at:

buckrogers@daytonacubs.com

(And, yes, his name really is Buck Rogers.)

[afuturegovernor]

A little extra infomation from another source...

Animal control officials are hopeful the bird can recover enough to rejoin his mate -- whom fans and players call Harriet -- and help care for their young. "The (other bird) is calling for the mate now," Baum said.

This player was wrong and did something totally stupid. I don't care if I get called a neo-con or a Rino or something because of it. Sometimes I think the only real difference between Paleo-cons and Neo-cons are the way they carry themselves. I don't think its conservative or macho to do something stupid like this.

[Alberta's Child]

You're thinking of the Randy Johnson pitch a few years ago. Dave Winfield was an outfielder -- he was arrested in Toronto for killing a seagull during pre-game warmups back in 1983.

[Porterville]

Dead son weeping mother in Turkey...did you hear about them today???

Or the dead Columbian boy who was killed by FARC rebels?? Where is your passion for him??

Or the starving Ethiopians who are facing their biggest food shortage in 20 years???Passion??Where is the passion? Spent on a bird??

Or the Estimated 2 million starving in North Korea, where is your outrage??? Worried about a bird???

Sir, I feel you have misplaced passions. To worry about an animal and applaude the media for the story when your fellow man is dying horrible deaths around the world...is equivalent to fiddlin' while Rome burns, my peachy Nero... stupid is as stupid does, Mama always said...

P.S. yes I am an idiot, but I place my passions in the concience of God and not in the hands of the Left

[kylaka]

I've got nesting Bald Eagles about a half mile from me, and they're doing just fine. I was kinda pissed though when the township turned down permiting a new power plant (totally clean natural gas fired) because of the birds. There is a big difference between reason and logic, and fanaticism that seems to infect both sides of the enviromental argument most of the time.

[Exigence]

Awwwweee, did somebody kill a widdle birddy???

Needless cruelty is never justifiable and is not funny. I'm sorry that you found it so. I hope you don't have children.

[Porterville]

Mindless lemmingism will end you up running off a cliff...never a virtue.

[kylaka]

Oh yeah, and BTW there is a big difference between telescopic gunsights, and microscopic gunsights and the weapon you choose for each. Be careful you don't shoot yourself in the foot trying to get that Amoeba.

[Exigence]

I have seen a pair of nesting osprey in Chesapeake Bay. No one with an IQ over 40 would want to harm them.

That explains Porterville's reaction...

[afuturegovernor]

I agree with your sentiments. I'm a conservative that believes that hurting animals for no purpose or no reason is stupid. I don't think conservatives have to be angry all the time to prove themselves. That sort of warped thinking doesn't represent me.
These were two harmless birds that the local fans had even given names to.

[Exigence]

This makes as much sense as your mother telling you to clean your plate because children in China are starving. One has nothing to do with the other -- and anyone with an IQ of 40+ "gets" that.

Defending needless cruelty -- not hunting for food in a humane way, needless cruelty -- is not admirable. Quite the opposite. It's disgusting. So are those who would defend it or downplay it as "unimportant."

Compassion is what sets mankind above the animals. Where are you on that hierarchy?

[Exigence]

Mindless lemmingism will end you up running off a cliff...never a virtue.

Yes. I agree. I hope you stop being a lemming and engage some "minded" thinking -- soon.

[Porterville]

Your right, I'd just gas the little buggers, don't care, don't care, don't care....placing such a high value on a birds life, and a desire to harm a young man at the age of 22 is blasphemous and ignorant and you should be ashamed of yourself for wanting him to be punished to such a harsh extent as large fines and jail time....shame on you and your shameful mindset; he killed a bird, a bird. You ever kill a bird?? A snake??? A deer??? A fish?? A bug??? You ever destroy a young man's spirit??? I bet you've destroyed a young man's spirit before, bravo, you truely are the brave a moral of this realm.

[Porterville]

So what should happen to Ryu, in your compassionate wisdom??? A large fine?? Jail time??? Release of contract???

[Blue Jays]

Good Evening All-

As a pro-hunting, pro-RKBA citizen of this country, this athlete's behavior towards the osprey is stupid and cruel. People who find this reasonable/acceptable need a check-up from the neck-up.

~ Blue Jays ~

[The Other Harry]

P.S. yes I am an idiot, but I place my passions in the concience of God...

I am not unconcerned about the children who are starving in North Korea. Not at all. But because those children are starving does not make what that pitcher did any more justifiable. It was wrong.

God made those osprey too, you know.

The way God made them, the babies need two parents. One to watch over the babies while the other goes off fishing. They take turns.

I'll leave you to think about that.

[Porterville]

Where is your passion??? I'll leave you to think about that.

[The Other Harry]

So what should happen to Ryu, in your compassionate wisdom??? A large fine?? Jail time??? Release of contract???

All of the above.

At a minimum, I hope he gets to see the inside of a jail cell and loses his job.

[Exigence]

So what should happen to Ryu, in your compassionate wisdom??? A large fine?? Jail time??? Release of contract???

Getting fired -- plus whatever penalties the law defines. You do remember that, don't you? The law? Sound vaguely familiar...

Or maybe having to spend a weekend with you. I have a feeling you're birds of a feather... which flatters neither of you.

[Porterville]

Well then I know I tottaly disagree with you and know exactly how you feel about your fellow man. How is that mountain top on which you stand??? Is the view beautiful...man 22 year old males must be a tasty dish to see them destroyed. What does it taste like?? Chicken???

[green team 1999]

this is wrong,the bird was not hunted for food,just hit for fun,reckless,random violence with no regards for life of the animal,this is a sin.

did the kids have to watch this act of violence?

this is going to be really bad news for that player,days from now.

[green team 1999]

"The (other bird) is calling for the mate now," Baum said.

oh,great now what happens if the mother leave the little ones alone and something happen to them?
who will be responsible?

[The Other Harry]

Well then I know I tottaly disagree with you and know exactly how you feel about your fellow man. How is that mountain top on which you stand??? Is the view beautiful...man 22 year old males must be a tasty dish to see them destroyed. What does it taste like?? Chicken???

There are no dots there to connect, so don't try to connect them. A respect for nature does not imply a lack of respect for humanity.