On Monday, Angels right-hander Jered Weaver pitched the opposite of effectively against the Athletics. The Angels still managed to cling on to a 10-7 win. One highlight, though, was the sudden act of mercy displayed by Mr. Weaver's breaking ball when confronted with an interloping dragonfly. Let us now let the color pictures tell the rest of the story ...
Whew.
All of this, of course, is evocative of that time in 2001 when eventual Hall of Famer Randy Johnson felled a winged beast with a pitch. So this is like that, minus a lot of velocity and loss of life. Fortunately, though, our dragonfly survived, and even if he hadn't insects are much lower on the "animal deaths we care about hierarchy" than are adorable birdies.
There is a joke to be made about whether a Weaver breaking ball in 2016 has the faculty necessary to harm an insect. We'll not be making that joke, though.
