It was on this day in 1983 that
the infamous seagull incident took place at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto
during a game between the Blue Jays and the New York Yankees. As the Jays came
to bat in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Yankee outfielders were warming
up, tossing the balls around as is common practice between innings.
A lame seagull had been
struggling along the Exhibition Stadium AstroTurf for pretty much the entire game.
As the balls were being tossed in before the start of the inning, Yankee centre
fielder, Dave Winfield, fired his in the general direction of ball boy, Jeff
Pinchuk. Winfield’s throw hit the AstroTurf and skipped right into the seagull,
fatally wounding it. As Pinchuk has pointed out in many interviews since the
incident, it was clearly an accident; Winfield was just firing the ball to him
and the seagull just couldn’t get out of the way.
However, the police officer on
duty down the right field line, Wayne Hartery, decided that Winfield had done
it on purpose. After the game, Hartery made an absolutely asinine decision to
arrest Winfield for cruelty to animals. Winfield, the constant classy person
that he is, co-operated and accompanied Hartery to the police station where he
was booked and his bail was set at $500.
The Blue Jays management,
appalled by what transpired, posted the bond and general manager, Pat Gillick,
personally drove Winfield to the Hamilton airport where the Yankees flight was
being delayed as they waited for the beleaguered New York outfielder.
Thankfully, common sense prevailed the following day and the charges were
dropped.
This incident, as funny as it
sounds now, was probably the dumbest thing to happen in any game played in
Toronto in the 40-year history of the Blue Jays.
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