Hawk Attacks Girl, Fenway Deemed Unsafe for Anyone Named A-Rod

I have a feeling we're going to set a record today for "most times my friends email me a story." Red-tailed hawk, Fenway Park ... if only there was organic beer involved, it would be the perfect The Green Miles story.

So there's this red-tailed hawk that's been coming to Boston's Fenway Park for years now. One would think an empty ballpark would seem like great habitat to a hawk - high rafters to nest in, lots of pigeons and sparrows for easy prey.

They've usually been able to shoo her away before it nests, but this year she and her mate managed to build a nest near the press box above home plate. Unfortunately, the egg rolled out of the nest and is no longer viable.

But the hawk doesn't know that, so she's still protecting her roost. And when a tour group came through yesterday, the hawk dive-bombed a teenager who happened to be standing nearby. Amazingly, a Boston Globe photographer happened to be there and captured the whole thing. The girl only got a small scratch and wildlife officials removed the nest.

Since the teenager wasn't seriously hurt, I think we're free to laugh at an amazing coincidence. Her name? Alexa Rodriguez:

Could it be an omen for Yankee Alex Rodriguez, who once got a catcher's mitt shoved in his face during a scuffle with Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek at Fenway in 2004?

"I deal in science, not mythology," [assistant director of Fisheries and Wildlife Tom] French said, refusing to make any baseball predictions based on the feisty hawk. "Although you could say she has done a good job protecting her home plate."

In hindsight, the hawk should've been moved sooner, but I don't think it was the worst outcome of the situation. If the hawk was this unsettled by one tour group, what would her reaction have been when 39,000 people filled the place Tuesday afternoon for the home opener?