The Canada goose that parked itself in the Wrigley Field outfield Monday night, now that was funny.
The Norway rat that jumped off a bag of balls in the eighth inning Tuesday night, skittered across the shoes of Phillies manager Rob Thomson, sprinted the length of the visitors’ dugout, dashed past the photographers’ well and disappeared behind the Reynolds Wrap tarp rolled up along the wall?
Funny might be a stretch, particularly for an unnerved Phillies bench, players jumping back in surprise. “Scared a little bit,’’ said Phillies catcher Rafael Marchan, unhappy to be so close to the trespassing rodent. And a camera operator stationed next to the dugout was rattled, saying he hated rats.
Cubs management was anything but amused.
When the Sun-Times called asking to speak with Patrick Meenan, senior vice president of operations, the call was routed to media relations.
“We take the health and safety of our guests seriously,’’ the Cubs said in a statement that was released to those outlets who made inquiries. “As an open venue in a big city, rodent abatement is something we do year-round. We understand how important it is for our fans to have a positive experience and keeping our ballpark clean and safe is always a top priority.’’
The statement was issued “on behalf of the Cubs organization.’’
But while one official said the team preferred the focus be on the team’s winning streak — the Cubs were bidding for their eighth straight win on Wednesday — the rat was a singular sensation.
A cellphone video posted on X by Marcus Leshock, a WGN-TV feature reporter on the station’s morning show, was viewed nearly two million times, according to the reporter, and retweeted all over cyberspace.
Thomson took it in stride. No, he said, he’d never seen a rat on the field during a game.
“He ran right, almost right over my toes,” Thomson said. “I could see him over there, sitting on that ball bucket, and I knew he was gonna
