The Colorado Rockies mascot was tackled at Coors Field during a game against the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday. According to 9News in Denver, the Denver Police Department is currently investigating the incident as an assault.
Dinger, the well known purple dinosaur that has cheered on the Rockies since they started play in 1994, was dancing and entertaining the crowd on top of the home team's dugout when he was caught off guard and tackled by an individual wearing jeans, a hoodie and white shoes. Fans who witnessed it were shocked. Twitter user Corina shared a video showing the incident, and it soon went viral on social media.
"Boooo, drunk guy. (love) you, Dinger!" Corina wrote.
The man who took down the beloved mascot was apparently not detained right away. His face is was not caught on camera by the viral video because he was facing the other way, and it's unclear how many other videos and photos there are available.
The Rockies organization chose to have a dinosaur as a mascot because fossil fragments were found while Coors Field was being built. Allegedly, the bones were never identified as a specific species, but it was decided that Dinger would be a triceratops because fossils of that species have been found in the area.
Other than the attack on Dinger, Monday was good for the Rockies as they pulled off a 7-4 win over the Cardinals. However, they lost the following two games of the series on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Rockies (5-8) will now hit the road to take on the Seattle Mariners this weekend.
