Tiny kitten found next to Braves dugout, finds new home with Fick

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Posted 5:20AM on Wednesday, July 9, 2003

NEW YORK - Robert Fick had a simply purrfect day at Shea Stadium. The Braves first baseman hit an RBI single, scored two runs and his team won. Oh, he also found himself a new pet. Atlanta was taking the field for batting practice Tuesday night when Fick saw something furry in the grass right outside the third-base dugout. ``I was wondering what it was,'' Fick said. A tiny gray kitten had been discovered in a camera bay next to the Braves' bench, caught up in a tangle of wires and debris, and no one knew what to do with her. ``She barely had her eyes open and she kept falling over when we found her,'' said Keith DeSantis, a cameraman for the MSG Network. ``She was probably only a couple of days old, at most.'' Pretty soon, Fick's focus turned from hittin' to the kitten. A noted cat lover, Fick got down on his knees and began petting her. His mitt was much bigger than the feline. ``I thought it was someone's pet. It was playing with a bat,'' Fick said after the Braves' 5-3 win over the New York Mets. ``When they said it didn't belong to anybody, I said I'd take it.'' And he quickly came up with a fitting name for the kitty: Shea. Fick and his wife, Jennifer, have a couple of cats. The Braves will head to Chicago after Wednesday's game, but Fick said his wife was going home and would take the kitten. While Fick jogged onto the field for pregame practice, a cardboard box was brought for the kitten. Some paper strips were put in the bottom of the box to let her nestle - she fell asleep right away. A clubhouse attendant then took the box and put it inside the Braves' locker room before the game. ``I've just got a soft spot for animals,'' Fick said. He's not the first person to have a soft spot for Shea, either. While some critics complain the park is dirty and noisy, Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin liked the place so much he made it part of his daughter's name - she's Brielle D'Shea. Late last season, four cats were found at Shea near the tunnel leading from the visitor's dugout to the clubhouse. Three cats were seen in the same spot recently, but Fick's pet was the only one that could be located. The most famous cat at Shea showed up a long time ago during a pennant race. On Sept. 9, 1969, the NL East-leading Chicago Cubs visited New York. As Don Kessinger stepped into the batter's box to lead off the game against Tom Seaver, a black cat came out from beneath the stands and stared at Kessinger. The cat then headed toward the Cubs' dugout, where it raised its tail and hissed at manager Leo Durocher. ``I knew right away we were in trouble,'' Cubs star Ron Santo said later. ``I wanted to run and hide.'' Seaver and the Miracle Mets went on to a 7-1 victory, closing within a half-game of the Cubs, and later breezed past them on their way to winning the World Series.