A man comes to the baseball game with an alligator. Sounds like the start of a joke, but that’s exactly what happened in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love and, well, crazy fans (just ask about Eagles fans and Santa Claus, keyword: snowballs). And a lot is possible in Philly – but even there you can’t get into the stadium of the local Major League Baseball (MLB) team with an alligator.
Phillies fan Joseph Henney had this experience with his alligator Wally on Wednesday evening (local time) when he wanted to enter the stadium for the home team’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The approximately 1.50 meter long animal was not allowed into the stands.
Henney said he adopted Wally from Florida in 2015. “He was like a little puppy,” he joked to the York Daily Record in 2019. Of course, Wally has his own pages on Insta and Tiktok.
Denied entry as a “companion alligator”.
The Philadelphia Phillies supporter described his special pet as a “service animal” – but he was still not allowed entry. This was prohibited by the access rules to Citizen Banks Park in South Philly. Special support animals such as guide dogs are allowed in, but alligators or other animal species are not allowed. Henny is said to have brought his Wally with him to smaller baseball games in the region, US media reports.
A reporter from Fox 29 posted a photo of the fan with the alligator on X, which of course immediately went viral. “Are you kidding me? Yes, an alligator, I’ve never seen anything like that,” he captioned the photo. And as it happens: many people thought the idea was just great, others thought it was totally stupid. This was the unsurprising quick analysis of the infamous “network”.
Wally is his “emotional support alligator,” Henney said of his loyal croc companion.
In terms of sport, the Phillies narrowly won the home game with 7:6, and the team has already secured their ticket to the playoffs. The Phillies will then also have to survive the championship round without Alligator support.