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Paxton and eagle featured in Yankees commercial

Ladner native has some fun with last year's memorable encounter
Delta Optimist
Paxton
Ladner's James Paxton and the New York Yankees had some fun with last season's infamous eagle encounter as part of the team's 2019 TV commercial campaign.

The New York Yankees and James Paxton are having some fun with his memorable encounter with a bald eagle.

It last year's season-opening series in Minnesota when an eagle, that was brought in for a fly across the stadium during the national anthem, landed on Paxton instead. The 30-year-old Ladner native, who was then a member of the Seattle Mariners, never even flinched.

“I wasn’t going to run,” Paxton said afterwards. “I figured I’m not going to outrun an eagle, so we might as well just see what happens.”

Since then, the hard-throwing lefty was traded by the Mariners to the Yankees who have used the memorable moment as part of their 2019 season-opening commercial campaign.

Paxton will make his Yankees regular season debut on Saturday at home against the Baltimore Orioles. He has enjoyed an excellent spring going 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 19 strikeouts over 17 innings.