NEED TO KNOW
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A rescue kitten has been living at the Gwinnett Stripers’ stadium after being found abandoned nearby in August
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The cat, named ChipPurr Jones after the Braves legend, “threw” the first pitch during the team’s Sept. 15 game
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Gwinnett Field was full of cats for the game, which doubled as a special “Purr in the Park” charity event
A Minor League Baseball team enlisted the help of a special guest to “throw” the purr-fect first pitch!
On Tuesday, Sept. 15, a rescue kitten named ChipPurr “CJ” Jones traded the litter box for the pitching mound to help kick off the Gwinnett Stripers’ game at Gwinnett Field just outside of Atlanta.
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In footage of the ceremonial first pitch captured by the MiLB team — a Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves — the tiny, orange feline trots up to the mound before the game. His treat-wielding handler, Stripers Marketing Manager Tricia Wurmstein, is the one leading the cat to the pitch, according to Today.
Rescue kitten ChipPurr Jones ‘throws’ the first pitch at a Gwinnett Stripers game on Sept. 15
Credit: Gwinnett Stripers
For the moment, Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” blasted on the speakers, and the crowd went wild as the fluffy feline made his way across the field to toss the first pitch. Once he arrived at the mound, his tiny body was eclipsed by the pitcher’s plate. Of course, ChipPurr didn’t actually interact with the baseball at all, but nobody seemed to mind that the feline’s “pitch” had to be imagined.
ChipPurr has become an unofficial mascot for the Braves-affiliated team since August, when a member of the Stripers’ staff found the kitten abandoned by a nearby road.
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He now lives at the stadium, where he has a toy-filled “apartment” to himself, which Wurmstein monitors via a camera, according to Today.
“One of our staff members happened to just be driving to work and saw him literally in the middle of the road in traffic,” the marketing manager/cat handler told the outlet. “So he got out of his car, scooped him up, and then brought him.”
Wurmstein added, “I was like, ‘Yep, we will be keeping this cat.’ “
Rescue kitten ChipPurr Jones at the Gwinnett Stripers’ game on Sept. 15
Credit: Gwinnett Stripers
After the animal was discovered, the MiLB team asked fans for name suggestions before hosting a poll on X to select a winning moniker in late August. Fan suggestion ChipPurr “CJ” Jones — a punny nod to Braves legend Chipper Jones — won in a landslide vote.
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And while the spotlight was on Jones during his pitching mound moment, the tiny orange rescue wasn’t the only cat at Gwinnett Field that Tuesday evening.
The unconventional first pitch was part of the Stripers’ “Purr in the Park” charity event, which included a pet supply donation drive for a local animal shelter and invited fans to bring their own cats to the park. Each item donated in the drive was worth one voucher for a free hot dog, according to the team.
Rescue kitten ChipPurr Jones ‘throws’ the first pitch at a Gwinnett Stripers game on Sept. 15
Credit: Gwinnett Stripers
And while ChipPurr was off-leash, fans who brought their cats to Gwinnett Field for the event were required to keep the pets on a leash, harness, or in some carrier.
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“Honestly, it went so much better than I anticipated,” Wurmstein said of CJ’s effort. “He was ready for the moment.”
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While “Purr in the Park” did not have a happy ending for the Stripers, who lost 8 to 6 to the Indianapolis Indians, ChipPurr will have one with Wurmstein, who told Today she will be bringing him home to join her other cats soon.
Read the original article on People
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
