A snake in the Dodger dugout causes quite the sssstir

LOS ANGELES -- Brent Honeywell once encountered an alligator in a Minor League dugout, so when he discovered a snake slithering across the steps at Dodger Stadium during Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the righty reliever barely batted an eye.

“I’ve seen all kinds of stuff in the dugout before,” Honeywell said. “But when I walked off, I saw it was just a snake there. I don't think [Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehmann] saw it. …

“I was hoping it was a rally snake. We pushed some [runs] across after that."

The Dodgers’ unlikely serpentine visitor appeared after Honeywell wrapped up the top of the fifth inning of L.A.’s 7-3 loss to the Mets. No, this wasn’t the D-backs in town for an NL West rivalry series nor a practical joke with a rattler on a string -- this was a real, live reptile, although hardly big enough to be a serious threat.

“We’ve had ‘Snakes on a Plane,’ ‘Snakes on a Train’ and the latest Hollywood hit: ‘Snake in the Dugout,’” quipped FOX play-by-play commentator Joe Davis.

What's perhaps even more unlikely than a serpentine visitor to the home dugout is the fact that this is not the first time Honeywell has had a reptilian encounter on a baseball field. Back in 2015 when he was a prospect in the Rays' system, the right-hander walked into an empty clubhouse before a game in Port Charlotte, Fla., and thought he was being pranked. But it turned out everyone was in the visiting team's dugout admiring a 10-foot alligator hanging around under the bench.

"I got out there, and he's up in the corner -- nobody could get him out of there," Honeywell said. "But that's what we need every now and again -- to see some crazy stuff like this."

The NLCS snake was bundled into a towel and removed by a member of the Dodgers’ grounds crew, but maybe that "crazy stuff" Honeywell mentioned could become the latest postseason catalyst -- like the Padres’ “rally goose” (against these same Dodgers) in 2022 or the Cardinals’ “rally squirrel” against the Phillies in 2011.

Even if it didn’t manage to spark a Dodgers comeback as the Mets evened the series, a snake in an MLB dugout -- during a postseason game, no less -- certainly is quite a sight.

“It’s the playoffs,” Honeywell said. “You’re bound to see anything.”