As the baseball regular season comes to a close, teams eliminated from playoff contention have to find creative ways to keep fans engaged during meaningless games. September call-ups can be a fun peek into the future, but there other interesting ways to fill the bleachers if you’re, say, the San Diego Padres — currently in fourth place.
When Padres pitcher Tyson Ross records a strikeout, a glorious image — cleverly appropriated from the Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out! — appears on the Petco Park scoreboard. This isn’t the first time the Padres have added some flair to their scoreboard animations. Back in August, they introduced every player as a professional wrestler.
Ross has registered 205 strikeouts this season, good for No. 10 among all Major League pitchers. Tyson may not have the potency of Mike Tyson circa 1988, but he strikes a healthy fear in opposing batters when he takes the mound. Just look at what he did to that tiny, video game character.
Ross looks to be a Nolan Ryan-esque when he’s mowing down batters. Charge the mound at your own risk.
(via Imgur)
