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Kansas City Royals' Michael Massey Pulls a Randy Johnson, Blows Up a Bird

Michael Massey reportedly hit a bird and caused it to explode in mid-air during batting practice on Friday, setting the tone for the Kansas City Royals' game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Sam Connon

Sep 19, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey (19) gets set during batting practice before a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium.
Sep 19, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey (19) gets set during batting practice before a game against the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium. / Peter Aiken-Imagn Images
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The Kansas City Royals hadn't even started their game with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and yet their lineup was already doing damage at PNC Park.

As reported by MLB.com's Anne Rogers, second baseman Michael Massey hit a bird during batting practice Friday evening. The bird exploded on contact and required a member of the grounds crew to scoop it off the field with a shovel.

No footage has been shared of the incident, but MLB.com's Alex Stumpf posted a photo of the deceased bird getting removed from the infield grass.

Of course, this brings to mind when Randy Johnson hit a bird with a pitch during a Spring Training game on March 24, 2001. Like Massey, Johnson famously blew up the bird, resulting in a viral video clip that has persisted for over two decades.

Per Baseball Savant, Massey's average exit velocity this season is 89.4 miles per hour, placing him just above league average. Batting practice data is obviously not taken into account, though, so it remains to be seen how fast Massey's deadly line drive was actually traveling.

Massey is batting .259 with a .744 OPS and a 1.4 WAR this season, all of which are career highs. He has racked up 13 home runs, 13 doubles, 40 RBI, 41 runs and 74 hits through 85 games, having missed a full month between May and June.

The 26-year-old infielder is batting .286 with a .919 OPS since Sept. 4, helping the Royals post a 5-2 record in that span. With Kansas City still looking to lock up one of the three AL Wild Card spots at 80-67, Massey's contributions have proven critical to their playoff push.

Massey is starting at second base and batting fifth in the lineup against the Pirates on Friday night. First pitch from Pittsburgh is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. ET.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a Staff Writer for Fastball on the Sports Illustrated/FanNation networks. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's All Bruins, 247Sports' Bruin Report Online, Rivals' Bruin Blitz, the Bleav Podcast Network and the Daily Bruin, with his work as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for Sports Illustrated/FanNation's New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk.

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