Major League Baseball history will be made this holiday weekend—by a grump. The Internet star, Tardar Sauce, also known as Grumpy Cat, will take Chase Field to throw the ceremonial first pitch at Monday’s Diamondbacks game.
A cat giving the first pitch may seem impossible to most people. No one knows exactly how this feline will master the throw, but Grumpy seems to have it all under control, according to Tabatha Bundesen, Grumpy Cat’s owner.
“You will have to come and see, but you might be surprised at how strong her pitching paw really is,” Bundesen said.
When it comes to recreational sports, Grumpy Cat is just like any other cat.
“Tardar Sauce is not as athletic during the day, unless cat napping is a sport,” Bundesen said. She mentioned that Tardar Sauce, like most cats, is more active at night.
Grumpy Cat was just fitted for her own Madame Tussauds wax statue, which will be debuting later in the year, according to Time Magazine’s website. The cat also has her own trademarked coffee “Grumpuccino” and 2 books, “Grumpy Cat: A Grumpy Book” and “The Grumpy Guide To Life: Observations made by Grumpy Cat,” available on her website and also in select bookstores.
It is certain that this cat has dubbed herself a superstar amongst the animal kingdom, primarily for her distinct look. Though the cat may look grumpy—but what cat doesn’t?—Tardar Sauce isn’t just praised for being famous but for being recognized as a great companion to Bundesen.
“She really is the sweetest cat I’ve ever had,” Bundesen said. “When we are traveling together, she always claims the pillow right next to mine. It’s super sweet.”
When asked for advice on how fellow cat-lovers could better their photo skills with their own cats, Bundesen responded.
“Photographing cats is like sports photography; cats are on the move, so you [have] to continuously shoot.”
Though this cat—described by Bundesen as “born for the camera”—may clearly outnumber others in the amount of memes and photos liked, reblogged and retweeted, it is not the only trending cat on the Internet.
The San Francisco Giants, which will play against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday, actually has its own version of Grumpy Cat named Skeeter, who is owned by Giants major league player Matt Duffy.
“If you go online and search Matt Duffy and Skeeter, you’ll see Skeeter, who’s this absolute gigantic cat,” said Shana Daum, the vice president for public affairs and community relations for the San Francisco Giants.
Duffy took a photo of Skeeter and himself playing video games and posted it to his Instagram months ago. Photos of Skeeter and him have been trending since, according to Daum. Like Grumpy Cat’s “Grumpy Mondays”, Duffy captions #fatcatfridays on his Instagram pictures featuring Skeeter and him.
Skeeter happens to be a bigger cat, which is quite fitting given that a “Giants” player has a “large” cat. Daum laughed at the thought and said, “It’s fun to have these great prominences; our fans like cats, too.”
Josh Rawitch, the senior vice president of communications for the Arizona Diamondbacks, also expressed his joy at the growing trend of felines in baseball. “We are really excited to have one of the Internet’s sensations be a part of our first pitch ceremony on Labor Day,” he said.
Tickets to the game range from $15 to $50, and there is a limited availability, so it is important to get yours soon, Rawitch said. Grumpy Cat will be available for a meet-and-greet session to those who purchase the tickets using the promo code ‘GRUMPY’ according to the team’s site.
Bundensen even stressed, “The most important thing I want to get across is the only way to get these Grumpy Cat meet-and-greet tickets is to go to Dbacks.com/grumpy. [With] the regular tickets, you won’t get the meet and greet.”
The history of baseball is vast, and no one can be sure if this is the first cat to ever throw the honorary first pitch for a major league baseball team.
“We are anxiously awaiting how she will throw that first pitch,” Rawitch said. ”Whether its throwing, cat-ching or just licking the ball we are going to find out. It’s a first, we believe, for the Diamondbacks, if you don’t count our mascot, which is a bobcat,” Rawitch said. “This is maybe a first for Chase Field.”
Whether it’s nine innings or nine lives, who’s counting? It seems that this cat will bring many cat lovers and fans to the game on Monday. Grumpy may impress the crowd with a strong paw and leave all the dogs out there with their jaws dropped.
“We got the Wildcats, our mascot, the bobcat, and now we got Grumpy Cat all part of the Diamondbacks,” Rawitch said.
The game is set to start on Monday at 1:10 p.m. For tickets and more information visit Dbacks.com/grumpy.
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