Goat lives his dream by getting loose in a minor league outfield

Usually when an animal delays a baseball game by running onto the field, it’s a little critter like a squirrel, a cat, or a possum. So when an animal stops a game, you don’t expect to see anything too large frolicking around the field. But on Thursday night at a minor league baseball game, a goat blew away everyone’s expectations by getting loose and taking a tour of the outfield.

The State College Spikes were at home facing the Batavia Muckdogs, and as you might expect during a minor league baseball game, there are hijinks of all sorts. Every time the Spikes score a run, the Nookie Monster (a friend of Spikes mascot Ike the Spike) bursts from his home in the outfield wall to dance and celebrate. That’s how the goat got loose. The Spikes scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Nookie Monster came out to dance, and the goat zipped through the hole in the wall.

This wasn’t just a random goat, of course. State College is in the middle of Pennsylvania among mountains and farmland, but there aren’t just goats roaming the streets. The goat was part of the between-innings entertainment, which on Thursday was Cowboy Monkey Rodeo.

[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]

The goat was pretty casual for awhile, leisurely trotting around the outfield without a care in the world. He went past a Muckdogs outfielder who seemed too stunned at the presence of the goat to even move. Then he halfheartedly followed the goat until the little guy trotted right into a gathering of grounds crew members.

For a minute it seemed like the goat would go quietly, but it wasn’t to be. They had to grab him by the horns and make him walk back behind the outfield wall. According to the announcers, the Nookie Monster actually ran out to help herd the goat, but sadly none of that was caught on camera. So, so sadly.

It’s hard to blame the goat. A huge, open field of lush, green grass? That’s got to be a goat’s dream.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

– – – – – –

Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher