Tara the Cat already proved she has a good roundhouse kick, but how’s her curveball?
Now known as the “Hero Cat,” Tara will serve up the ceremonial first pitch for the Bakersfield Blaze’s Tuesday night game, a minor-league baseball team for the Cincinnati Reds.
Tara became famous this week after she came out of left field to defend one of her beloved family members – four-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo – as he was viciously attacked by the neighbor’s dog.
Home surveillance video shows the dog sneak around the family’s SUV and pull Jeremy off his bicycle before Tara pounced on the dog, shooing him away. Jeremy was pretty banged up by the attack and had to get 10 stitches on his leg.
The now-viral video has pushed Tara into the elite group of Internet-famous cats, providing her all sorts of opportunities.
Philip Guiry, the assistant general manager for the Blaze, approached the Triantafilo family to make sure the team got a chance to honor “Bakersfield’s Internet-famous cat.”
“I was afraid that the cat wouldn’t be famous by Tuesday, but that’s apparently not the case,” Guiry said. “Sometimes, an Internet cat is all you need.”
The team is currently taking suggestions on how they’ll pull off having a four-legged feline throw a ball, but Guiry said they have a few good ideas.
“We’ve got some tricks up our sleeve,” he said. “We’ve considered getting a hold of David Blaine to see if he has any good ideas.”