Athletics' loss vs. Mets capped off with story about opossum in visitor's booth

Opossum takes over Mets broadcast vs. A's originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea

The Oakland A's bizarre Friday showing against the New York Mets continued beyond the diamond.

Returning to Oakland Coliseum for the first time in over a week, the A's outhit the Mets 13-11. That proved futile at the end of the day when New York routed the home team 17-6, thanks to a franchise-record 17 walks from the Oakland bullpen.

But the Athletics' losses started well before the first run.

Early in the second inning with the score tied 0-0, commentators for the New York-based network SNY explained that they were displaced from the regular visitor's booth by a opossum. According to Gary Cohen, they first learned about the intruder last September, but were reminded of its presence earlier this season when the opossum emerged from the walls while the broadcast team for the Los Angeles Dodgers was visiting.

The A's reportedly tried to catch the animal -- unsuccessfully -- throughout the first month of the season. The invasion reached a fever pitch week this week when they returned from a seven-game stretch on the road to be greeted by a stench so bad that the SNY crew was forced to relocate.

"I went to the booth and people grabbed me, almost tackled me and pushed me into this booth," Ron Darling said.

The booth wasn't completely abandoned, however. The SNY cameraman had to hold down the fort in the opossum's home.

The A's later allowed 17 runs and picked up their 11th loss of the year.