The Mets caught a baby raccoon in their clubhouse weight room when they arrived at Citi Field on Sunday to take on Los Angeles Dodgers.
Before the game started, they found the adorable intruder - which was docile and cooperative, according to reliever Bobby Parnell, since it entered a cage without incident.
Bobby Parnell says the raccoon -- a baby -- ran into a cage and has been apprehended.
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) July 26, 2015
What is more interesting about this raccoon sighting is the fact that the Mets had a cage on hand, because this isn't the first time that they saw an animal in the clubhouse.
The startling takeaway is that there was a cage that just happened to be available. "I guess they have a problem," Bobby Parnell joked. — Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinESPN) July 26, 2015
"I guess they have a problem," Parnell said with a laugh.
ESPN reporter Adam Rubin first reported the incident on Twitter as the baseball team dealt with their unexpected guest.
In 2012, the then-Mets closer Frank Francisco labeled the New York Yankees "chickens," which made it to the headlines. Fellow reliever, Tim Byrdak, bought a chicken from Chinatown for $8, naming it Little Jerry Seinfield, and let it loose in the clubhouse.
"Yeah, but that was intentional," manager Terry Collins said, ESPN reported.
The chicken was was then given to a sanctuary in Watkins Glen, N.Y.
Meanwhile, the unnamed baby raccoon was released in a unpopulated area of the Queens borough.
Breaking: raccoon in mets weight room has been captured and released into the wild, mets announce
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) July 26, 2015
