While most of their work gets done in the hours leading up to the game, members of a Major League Baseball grounds crew are always on hand, ready to tend to any field needs that may pop up during a game. Typically, that just means dragging the infield in the middle of the game to smooth out the dirt, but sometimes they have to leap into action for other reasons.
One of those is hustling the tarp onto the field to protect the dirt when a rain delay hits, and this is the most frantic moment they face. They are up against the clock trying to get the field covered before it gets oversaturated, and despite having drilled it over and over, sometimes disaster strikes in the haste of trying to get the tarp unfurled.
On Monday night in Cincinnati, we saw just that happen when a poor member of the Reds grounds crew slipped and fell midway through pulling the tarp on the field and ended up just getting trapped underneath to the delight of the Giants broadcast crew who broke the entire thing down in detail.
This grounds crew member was eaten by the tarp
pic.twitter.com/G0m80IQHO2
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 18, 2023
The cut to the guy under the tarp crawling to find freedom is truly hysterical, and for anyone concerned they note during their second replay of the tarp action that he did in fact successfully find his way out. It has to be a truly helpless feeling when you go down in that situation because the other 15 or so guys aren’t stopping for you, but it is an entertaining moment for everyone else.