Fielder Crasher At PNC Park Cites Divine Inspiration For Entering Pierogi Race

Image via KDKA Pittsburgh

This week the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Lexi Belculfine reported on an interesting young man named Luke Emory Oyler, who recently gave the crowd on hand to watch the Pirates at PNC Park a little extra entertainment.

And free of charge too! Kinda like fireworks night.

Field crashers are nothing new in baseball. It’s so commonplace at this point that most of them don’t attract much, in any, interest outside the ballpark. Maybe a little fleeting fame on YouTube, but that’s the extent of it.

That’s because most of them are just bad decision-making bros, lacking in vision and not lacking in consumed alcohol. Oyler, on the other hand, wasn’t acting on impulse or fueling his escapades with liquid courage.

Quite the opposite, in fact—this was a man with a plan. A plan…for Jesus. 

Oyler told the PG that he had been thinking about jumping on the field for days prior to the game. Although he didn’t make the decision definitively until he arrived that day and saw how close his seat was.

This is what a pierogi race looks like.

The moment came at the end of the fifth inning, of what turned out to be the longest baseball game ever played in Pittsburgh, as the “highly anticipated” pierogi race was about to start:

He leapt onto the field at PNC Park, dodged security in the outfield and crossed the finish line about three seconds behind Oliver Onion, the bow tie-and-glasses-clad pierogi.

Sure, Mr. Oyler wanted to finish alongside the mascots or maybe set the world record for time spent evading security, but as far as he’s concerned, it was winner Cheese Chester who lagged behind.

“Jesus says, ’The last shall be first, and the first last,’ so by his rules, I was in first place.” Mr. Oylser said.

Apparently he was guided by a higher power and was powerless to stop himself. Said Oyler, “I guess my soul decided to brake the mold and jump into the limelight to show people not all believers are these mundane, frozen, chosen who don’t have any fun.”

Image via Matt Freed/Post-Gazette

Inspired by the New Testament, Oyler doesn’t regret a thing, adding, “If my stupidity brings one person to the love of Jesus Christ, then I have served a greater purpose and the consequences are well worth it.”

The consequences, in this case, go beyond getting pancaked and roughed up by event security. Oyler is likely to face upwards of $2,000 in fines and may end up with a lifetime ban from PNC Park.

This is what another pierogi race looks like.

Click here to read the full post on the PG—it includes a little more information about Oyler, which is definitely worth exploring. I promise.