Daytona Cubs Player’s Pitch Brings Osprey Down

Daytona Cubs Player's Pitch Brings Osprey Down

By JAY STAPLETON
STAFF WRITER

Last update: 23 April 2003


DAYTONA BEACH -- It took several tries, but a Daytona Cubs pitcher knocked an osprey from its perch with a baseball during pre-game practice, witnesses said.


"The Ospreys, Ozzy & Harriet, March 2003"

Jae-kuk Ryu could face animal cruelty charges for the incident Monday night at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.

"The bird's eye was gushing blood," said Chad Efron, a trainer with the Class A Port St. Lucie Mets. "I started yelling at (Ryu). I got all fired up."

The bird, which had been nesting with its mate and a brood of fuzzy chicks on a 40-foot light pole over left field, fell in a pile of feathers. It was being treated for a serious eye injury Tuesday.

Cubs management had little to say about the way the bird they call Ozzy was injured. But witnesses who saw the Cubs player apparently intentionally hit the osprey were outraged.

"He laughed when he missed," Efron, 26, said. "Then he acted like he was sorry when the bird was laying there."


Link to the Entire Article


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WHAT A CREEP!


Note: In Florida, unlike many other states, the Osprey is not endangered but is designated a "Species of Special Concern."