Fans watching the baseball game Monday night between the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies got quite a treat after a praying mantis decided to hitch a ride on the head of center fielder Victor Robles.
The little green critter landed on the Nationals player’s hat while he was in the dugout in the bottom of the eighth inning and remained up on his cap even after Victor took his spot in centerfield for the ninth inning. The clip was shared by Sports Illustrated in a piece published Tuesday. (RELATED: Nationals Star Max Scherzer Would ‘Love An Explanation’ For Why More Fans Can’t Attend Games)
WATCH:
Whatever you do, don’t tell Victor Robles that he’s playing CF with a praying mantis on his head.@Victor__Robles // #NATITUDE pic.twitter.com/o3P0yE68cC
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 3, 2021
Victor Robles has a praying mantis on his head and he doesn’t realize it lmfao pic.twitter.com/jnkgACx7Km
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 3, 2021
The insect stayed there even through two more Philly batters. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
They literally panned the camera back to him after two more Philly batters and it’s still there pic.twitter.com/8ywsJvK6Ij
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 3, 2021
UPDATE: The Phillies just took the lead and the praying mantis has moved to the brim of Victor Robles’ hat pic.twitter.com/ranpJyo4eN
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 3, 2021
It is unclear exactly when the Nationals player realized the little guy was up there on his head. Robles, at one point, though, signaled to his teammates and the bug that the Nationals completed one out and had two more to go to end the top half of the inning.
Find yourself a teammate like @Victor__Robles pic.twitter.com/tZWaF3UcIT
— MLB (@MLB) August 3, 2021
And despite all the comments from the announcers in the booth about how the praying mantis might be helping the team, the Nationals ended up falling to the Phillies 5-7 after going into the ninth inning with a 3-2 lead.