At the Rockies home game on Monday, April 10, "Dinger" — the team's mascot and resident purple triceratops — was doing his thing on top of Colorado's dugout in between innings when a Modelo-sipping madman from the crowd decided to attack him mid-dance, according to the Denver Police Department.
The scoundrel, identified as Kenneth Sonly, 45, attempted to hit Dinger with a double-leg takedown as fans watched in shock. Obviously, with it being 2023, the entire thing was caught on video and posted to social media, with cops later launching an assault investigation and full-on manhunt for the Dinger hater.
"Denver, do you have any information that can help locate or identify this suspect?" the police department tweeted on Thursday night, along with a photo of the man that showed him holding a 24-ounce Modelo.
A police bulletin showing the Dinger attacker
Denver Police Department
As crazy as this all sounds, this is not Dinger's first brush with madness. The resurrection of dinosaurs in the form of Dinger has actually seen many highs and lows:
Dinger's Arrival
As much as some people dislike Dinger, it's hard not to appreciate his origins.
During the construction of Coors Field in the early 1990s, dinosaur bones — which scientists suspect belonged to an herbivore — were discovered, inspiring the Rockies to make their mascot a triceratops.
While the triceratops is not the state fossil (that title goes to the stegosaurus) the first triceratops to ever be discovered was found in the Denver Basin in 1887, according to UCHealth.
As the legend goes, however, bones weren't the only thing workers dug up during construction: During a home game at Mile High Stadium on April 16, 1994, fans were told that scientists had discovered an egg beneath the stadium. Two "medical professionals" brought the egg out on to the field and assisted as it began to hatch. And from out of the egg came none other than Dinger.
Dinger's Brush With Cancel Culture
This event was certainly one for the history books.
At a Rockies home game on August 8, 2021, Lewis Brinson — a Black player for the Miami Marlins — was up at bat when a fan in the crowd began shouting what fans believed was the N-word over and over, loud enough to be heard on the TV broadcast. The event generated national controversy and even prompted the Rockies to release a statement, in which they pledged to investigate the incident and track down the offender to ban him from Coors Field.
There was only one problem: The fan, who never identified himself out of fear of internet retaliation, was actually shouting the word "Dinger" and trying to get the mascot's attention for a photo.
Indeed, review of footage from the incident shows the fan clearly gesturing toward the problematic triceratops, and no one — not the batter, the umpire or anyone in the stands — seemed to be expressing any sort of concern.
Dinger's Hall of Fame Birthday
For his twentieth birthday — which took place on Easter Sunday — the Rockies created a Dinger bobblehead showing the holiday-themed mascot hatching out of his egg just like he did two decades earlier at Mile High.
The souvenir wound up being one of the Rockies' most famous pieces of Dinger memorabilia, and was later sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum for historical documentation.
The Easter celebration wasn't the first time Dinger has put on his holiday best for a game: he's also been known to dress up for Valentine's Day and other important dates.
Dinger's Near Demise
In what could go down as one of Dinger's most tragic moments, Denver police say they have launched a "simple assault" investigation in hopes of tracking down the mascot's beer-chugging assailant.
Video of the attack on Monday night shows Dinger getting down on the team's dugout during the seventh-inning stretch before he's sneakily set upon.
The Denver police say they are working with the Rockies to investigate the incident. If the suspect is brought in, he could be charged with a "Simple Assault," according to DPD communications manager Doug Schepman. But the final determination of charges would be made by the Denver City Attorney's Office, he says.
As to whether the suspect could be extradited to face possible charges if he happens to be from out of state, Schepman tells Westword, "We don't want to speculate on this."
As far as a motive goes, all we can do is speculate. But ultimately, fans shown in police photos — drinking Modelo tallboys and tackling mascots may call into question the Rockies' April 13 decision to extend alcohol sales from the seventh inning to the end of the eighth.
