BAKERSFIELD — Hero Cat, who became famous for saving a central California boy from a dog attack, threw the first pitch Tuesday night at a minor-league baseball game -- or at least she tried.
There was a failed attempt to have Hero Cat, aka Tara, "throw" the pitch using a baseball attached to a fishing line before the game between the Bakersfield Blaze and the Lancaster JetHawks. Tara might have been nervous, so her owner, Roger Triantafilo, helped the cat throw the pitch as he held her. Four-year-old Jeremy Triantafilo, wearing a Blaze cap and a shirt that read "Lucky Every Day," threw the game's actual ceremonial first pitch.
The cat was captured on security camera on May 13 when she pounced on a dog that attacked Jeremy. The video, which has garnered 21 million views on YouTube, shows the dog biting and attempting to drag the boy. Within seconds, Tara leaps out and chases the canine away.
Jeremy needed 10 stitches in his left leg. Roger Triantafilo said he edited the video and posted it on YouTube for family and friends to see and that he never anticipated the flood of attention.
Tara, who followed Triantafilo and his wife, Erica, home from the park one night, has been smothered with love since her heroics.
"We've just given her a lot of love, kept her in the house and paid a lot of attention to her," he said.
