SEATTLE — Usually on the Fourth of July, we’re sending fireworks into the sky. But on the morning of the Fourth of July this year, the sky sent a preemptive strike towards the earth – more specifically T-Mobile Park, the home of the Seattle Mariners.
In the hours before the Mariners took on the Pittsburgh Pirates in a July 4 afternoon game, something fell from the sky right behind a ROOT Sports crew member: a salmon.
Where did it come from? According to Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs, who was on the Seattle Sports radio call with Angie Mentink and Gary Hill Jr., it fell out of the grasp of a falcon that was being pursued by an eagle.
T-Mobile Park, as you may know, is only a few blocks east of the Puget Sound’s Elliott Bay, which is a great place to go fishing if you’re a bird of prey.
“The salmon almost landed on this poor guy’s head,” Rizzs relayed during the second inning. “… And then seagulls came in and went after the eagle. There was a little battle going up there above the ballpark.”
A few minutes later, Mentink shared video on social media of the suddenly-appearing fish at the ballpark, though the angles don’t allow us to rule out the possibility that it was really just a strong toss from one of the fishmongers at Pike Place Market.
Ok this is the video that Rick Rizzs and I were just talking about on the radio— A Falcon dropped a salmon here at TMobile Park while being pursued by an Eagle on 4th of July—we have salmon dropping out of the sky here! pic.twitter.com/Mej3lye4Tt
— Angie Mentink (@AngieMentink) July 4, 2025
Alright, how many other pop culture, Seattle-specific or America-related references should we get in here? I’m efforting something related to the Monty Python fish-slapping dance, though I think I need to keep workshopping it.
Oh, OK – we should definitely relate it to another eagle incident from Mariners history, when noted Canadian pitcher James Paxton found himself the landing spot for an eagle during opening day festivities in Minnesota. That just provides a good chance to point out that while eagles are something of an American icon, apparently they’re actually more prevalent north of the border.
At this point, maybe we need to start a new Fish & Fowl category here at SeattleSports.com. If nothing else, it will give a good spot to post recaps of the Mariners’ Salmon Run races.
©2025 Cox Media Group
