A rat with an attitude problem became the unexpected star of Tuesday night's game at Wrigley Field, delighting Cubs fans and comedian Tom Papa, who had a front-row seat to the spectacle.
Papa, sitting down the first-base line, watched as a rodent roughly the size of a half-gallon milk jug strutted across the diamond during the eighth inning with what he describes as pure cockiness.
"He made a very questionable decision to run directly in front of everybody who could have caught him," Papa said, comparing the moment to spotting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.
The rat climbed atop a Cubs-branded baseball bag, then sprinted across the Phillies dugout, scattering Philadelphia players. The crowd erupted as the creature vanished beneath a Reynolds Wrap tarp, disappearing into what Papa imagines is a tunnel system.
The Cubs won 7-4, extending Philadelphia's losing streak to seven games. Papa is convinced the rat delivered good fortune to Chicago, which spent a decade as "Rattiest City in America" before Los Angeles claimed the title last year.
Wrigley Field officials said rodent abatement is standard practice at the 112-year-old ballpark and that they take health and safety seriously. The groundskeepers made no serious attempt to capture the intruder.
Wrigley has hosted animal visitors before, including the "Wrigley Rally Rat" in 2018 and a Canadian goose that planted itself in center field during a game against San Diego.
Papa, in town hosting NPR's "Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me!," has christened the newcomer "Dave," though "Scoots" works as a nickname. He declared it the perfect night, combining stellar baseball, a legendary ballpark and a brazen rat.
"That's when magic happens," Papa said.