Watch: Minor league game interrupted by turtle delay

A turtle MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY / USA TODAY NETWORK

Watch: Minor league baseball game interrupted by turtle delay

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 5/11/24

Saturday's Single-A baseball game between the Bradenton Marauders and the St. Lucie Mets had a brief delay in the top of the second inning when an uninvited guest was making their way – very slowly – across the outfield.

No, it was not a fan streaking across the field. It was a turtle.

"Is that a squirrel? Or a rodent? ... It's a turtle!"

A curious creature makes a mad dash across the outfield grass during @stluciemets/@The_Marauders action pic.twitter.com/rlH3UJCaje
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) May 11, 2024

The best thing about this sequence is the outfielders not knowing what to do with it at first before trying to close in as the turtle tried to escape.
Eventually a player came out of the Bradenton bullpen, picked up the reptile and held it up like a trophy before sprinting off the field with his new friend.

While the turtle caused only a very brief delay this was the second time in a matter of weeks that wildlife brought a baseball game to a halt. It was only a couple of weeks ago in Arizona that a Diamondbacks game was delayed for several hours after a swarm of bees had taken up residence in the netting behind home plate.

Fortunately this delay was a lot easier to fix. Also a lot faster.

More must-reads: