Rabies shots for Spur who batted bat

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: November 3, 2009 - 8:38 AM

San Antonio Spurs guard Manu Ginobili has begun a series of rabies vaccine shots after swatting down a bat during Saturday Halloween night home victory over Sacramento.

"Yes, I am safe. I thought it was pretty fun at the time," Ginobili said to reporters shortly before practice Monday. "Now it is not."

Ginobili said his first round of shots gives him "12 CCs of vaccine in my body right now," and four more vaccination sessions yet to go.

The bat swooped onto the court late in the first period, scattering players and stopping play. It flew away, then returned, briefly. Ginobili knocked it down with a bare hand, picked it up and carried it off the court to thunderous cheers. A trainer then emerged to squirt sanitizer on Ginobili's hand.

Ginobili said he could feel the bat moving in his hand.

"I wasn't scared," Ginobili said. "I guess I misjudged the situation."

And the fate of the bat? "It flew away," he said, "so the bat won."

--Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482