Giants Announcer Absolutely Nailed Play-by-Play of Pelican Flying Around Oracle Park

Tim Capurso | May 12, 2024

A brown pelican landed in the outfield at Oracle Park during the San Francisco Giants' 5—1 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday. / Screengrab Twitter @NBCSAuthentic

The bird was the word at Oracle Park during the San Francisco Giants' 5—1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, as a pelican flew into the ballpark and decided to take in some weekend baseball while sitting in the outfield during the fifth inning of Saturday's game.

The pelican simply sat in the outfield and watched Reds outfielder Will Benson hit a pop fly to shallow left field that was caught in diving fashion by Giants outfielder Heliot Ramos. Giants announcer Dave Flemming perfectly incorporated the pelican into the broadcast, commenting that the bird was "unimpressed" by Ramos' catch.

That's when the pelican suddenly decided to take flight, prompting Flemming to spread his broadcasting wings with a perfect call of the moment.

The power of the pelican pic.twitter.com/ZDoP1tyiPG

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 12, 2024

"Here she goes, taking off," Flemming announced. "Kind of flying low right by Tyler Fitzgerald. Up over the bleachers. Up over the garden. Circling back around, still flying over the field. Now up over the left field bleachers by the coke bottle and turning back."

Flemming nailed it.

Which is also what the Giants' social media team did, as they posted a pelican pun onto their account on X, formerly known as Twitter, to celebrate the team's victory.

Yes we peli-can pic.twitter.com/uAE5U5EzsF

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 12, 2024

But perhaps the best reaction came from Giants pitcher Mason Black, who was on the mound when the bird decided to crash the game.

"I didn't really think too much of it," Black said. "I didn't know what the protocol was. Are we going to get that thing off the field, or just let it hang out? So it was funny."