Fans thought they had seen it all.
They were wrong.
And you won’t believe who an umpire just ejected from a Major League Baseball game.
On Wednesday night, the New York Yankees were playing the Baltimore Orioles in a game that meant everything to New York and nothing to Baltimore.
The Yankees were fighting to remain in a three-way tie for the two American League Wild Card spots.
Baltimore – on the other hand – is in the middle of tanking in historic fashion to make sure they end up with the number one overall pick in the 2022 draft.
The 45-99 Orioles thought they reached a low point in drawing crowds of fewer than 5,000 for home games at Camden Yards.
But rock bottom came in the ninth inning of Wednesday night’s game with the Orioles leading the Yankees 3 to 2.
Umpire crew chief Tim Timmons suddenly stopped the game with two men on base and Yankees Brett Gardner at the plate to eject the 20 members of the Orioles grounds crew that were hunched behind a tarp in case approaching inclement weather forced a stoppage of play.
ESPN reported:
Ready to roll out the tarp from beyond first base, nearly 20 members of the grounds crew were standing in foul territory in front of the first row of seats, waiting for a signal. What they saw was acting umpire crew chief Tim Timmons cutting across the diamond from his spot at third base, emphatically waving several times for them to completely clear the field.
Quickly, the crew scrambled down the right-field line, into the corner and out of sight.
Timmons later said he just didn’t want the crew in position to interfere with a potential play on a foul ball.
But that became academic when Gardner knocked in two runs to put the Yankees ahead 4 to 3, the margin by which New York was allowed to remain tied with the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox for the Wild Card position.
Sports with Balls will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
