Are Dodgers about to be cursed by another bird?

The moment produced pause, puns and fun on the fly. Oh, and reminders of a similar intrusion that immediately preceded the Dodgers’ demise in last year’s National League Division Series, writes Steve Henson of the Los Angeles Times.

David Peralta lifted a towering fly ball down the left-field line in fowl, er, foul territory Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers that nearly struck a duck. Or was that a goose on the loose? Turns out either name is accurate.

Consensus from those using the nifty phone app Picture Bird: Birds Identifier is that the enormous creature — Dodgers broadcaster Joe Davis joked that it was a pterodactyl — gracefully circling through Dodger Stadium was an Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), an African member of the duck family Anatidae. Breeding populations in the United States have been established after the popular ornamental bird escaped captivity in several states, including California.

Dodgers — and Padres — fans might recall when a goose made a rough landing in shallow right field at Dodger Stadium during the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NLDS last year. So, while the presence of the goose Wednesday night might prove birds of a feather do indeed flock together, a more ominous connection was made on social media.

The Dodgers had won an astounding 111 regular-season games and Game 1 of the 2022 NLDS, yet they ran out of juice after taking a gander at the goose, losing three in a row to the Padres for an unceremonious postseason exit.

For the record, last year’s bird was identified as a greater white-fronted goose by Travis Longcore, president of the Los Angeles Audubon Society. Geese of all sorts have overrun nearby Echo Park Lake, so Dodgers fans shouldn’t be surprised by more sightings.