Excellent Baseball Man Decorates Hat With Live Bird

Yesterday Jesus Cruz of the Peoria Chiefs was strolling to the dugout after a successful start when he was met—attacked?—by a small bird. Unflustered, Cruz made the most of the moment, by capturing the little fellow and turning him into a brief but bold fashion statement:

Cruz, it turns out, is a friend of nature and a good baseball man, even if he does ply his trade in the disgusting St. Louis Cardinals organization:

“It’s not very often something like that happens. I was just thanking God for everything and the bird in hand, too, and thanking him for a good game.”

[...]

“I was happy to see the bird flew away [because] I thought he was hurt,” Cruz said. “When the bird landed, I just picked him up because I like animals and I took advantage of that.”

Cruz got the win, but more importantly, he earned the trust and loyalty of harmless woodland creatures everywhere.