The Arizona Diamondbacks were able to get one of their best wins of the season on Tuesday, but not before something bizarre caused a lengthy delay.
A bee swarm on the netting behind home plate at Chase Field caused Tuesday’s Los Angeles Dodgers-Diamondbacks game to be delayed for roughly two hours.
Players and fans waited for a beekeeper to remove the colony. Players tried to keep busy in the indoor batting cage and clubhouse to kill time while they waited for the bees to be removed.
Diamondbacks vice president of operations Mike Rock knew they had a problem on their hands prior to Tuesday’s game.
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“She doesn’t usually call me about that time. I knew something was odd,” Rock told reporters. “She said we have bees landing on the net right behind home plate. I said, ‘How many?’ And she said, ‘Hundreds — no way, thousands.’ And I knew we had a problem.”
As the Diamondbacks wondered what they could do to play Tuesday’s game, Rock made a call to the Blue Sky Pest Control’s Phoenix office. Matt Hilton eventually saved the day. Hilton, a branch manager for Blue Sky Pest Control’s Phoenix office, received a call while watching his 6-year-old son’s tee ball game on Tuesday. The tee ball game was at Surprise Stadium, where the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals play their spring training games and located 23 miles away from Chase Field.
“Well, we know that this was really important to get these games going, and so when we hear that there’s bee issues out at [the] Diamondbacks’ stadium, we [snaps fingers] tried to get at it right away,” Hilton told reporters. “We were happy to deploy really quickly and come get this game going.”
Hilton had a 30-minute commute to Chase Field, receiving a hero’s welcome when he made his way to the ballpark. But as a cart drove him to the scene, Hilton explained that they would need some extra time in order to safely remove the bees before starting the game.
As Hilton sprayed the bees with non-pesticide and placed them in a vacuum, he played along with the crowd, pumping them up as he did his job.
“I wasn’t [expecting that],” Hilton said. “I thought I was just going to do my thing and cruise out. But it was fun because of the thousands of people cheering for you. It was a little nerve-racking, I’m not going to lie — a lot of pressure to get this game going.”
Eventually, the bees were removed. Bonnie Tyler’s hit song “Holding Out for a Hero” played throughout Chase Field as fans showered Hilton with “M-V-P!” chants.
Hilton had one more thing to do before leaving: throw out the first pitch. He kept his beekeeper suit on for the occasion.
“Minor leagues to the big leagues now,” Hilton said. “It’s pretty cool.”
Hilton’s son also seems to understand that his dad was a hero to some people after leaving his tee ball game early.
“I think he was probably a little bummed that I left a little early,” Hilton said. “But I think he’s OK with it now.”
The bees weren’t killed, either. After being placed in the vacuum, they were taken off-site, according to the Los Angeles Times.
As for the game itself, Christian Walker homered twice, including a two-run drive in the 10th inning that gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a 4-3 win. But all anyone could think about was the bee delay.
“It was weird, but props to the guys for shutting it down and then getting it back on and being ready to play,” Walker said.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts applauded Hilton for his handling of the situation.
“I’ve never seen something like that, but I’m happy we got the game in,” Roberts said. “It was a crazy situation, but I thought that the Diamondbacks and that [bee keeper] did a nice job of taking care of the situation in a timely manner.”
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo also had a fun time with the situation on Tuesday, but he also wanted Walker to end the game as soon as possible when he came up to the plate in the 10th inning.
It’s one of those fun baseball moments,” Lovullo said. “I told him to hit one to the [expletive] moon. I said you’re locked in, nobody’s a better hitter on this field at this point in time.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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