SAN FRANCISCO — Two activists who rushed the field during the fourth inning of Friday’s Giants-Dodgers game did little to raise awareness of animals, but at least one of them raised awareness of Angel Pagan‘s WWE-caliber takedown prowess. See for yourself:
Pagan dropped him!!!!!! #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/27zM33XAKo
— childish_blacktino (@marcel_emerson) October 1, 2016
A closer look reveals the man extending a white flower to Pagan, the Giants’ left fielder, who for a moment appears ready to receive the “gift,” then changes his mind:
#bodyslam #pagan #dodgers #giants
A video posted by squirlstogy (@squirlstogy) on
Update (11:30 p.m.): Pagan said, tongue in cheek, that he wasn’t aware of his tackling skills before tonight.
“I was just trying to protect myself and protect my teammates,” he said. “The guy was getting close to my teammates, so I just felt he was handing a flower to each and every one of us. It came to my attention to, ‘oh, hand me one’ — to do that, because the guy had good speed. It was going to take a long time for him to be taken down.
“My teammate could be in danger. You never know what they’ve got on their bodies. I didn’t want to harm him. I just wanted to make sure I help the security people.”
The same activist tried to hand a flower to Buster Posey, but the Giants’ catcher stiff-armed him away.
“Anytime somebody comes onto the field, you’re a little uneasy,” Posey said. “I think he should have been charged for a flop.”
The second activist, a woman holding a bunch of the same white flowers, was escorted away by security guards near the Dodger dugout. She was not tackled.
A group called Direct Action Everywhere claimed responsibility for the incident in a press release. “The activists intended to draw attention to a piglet named Miley the activists rescued from the farm that supplies the famed ‘Dodger Dogs,’ Farmer John,” according to the release.
Much to their dismay, Pagan came in like a wrecking ball.
“That’s Angel,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s going to help the cause.”