Nationals grounds crew can't get the tarp on the field, a breakdown
What Happened
The Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles are facing off at Nationals Park, with the Nationals leading 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Suddenly, heavy rain begins to pour down and the umpires call for the grounds crew to get the tarp on the field. The Nationals' grounds crew rushes onto the field, struggling to unfurl the large tarp. As they start to roll it out, it becomes clear that something is wrong - the tarp is not unrolling smoothly and a small white strip appears to be stuck, causing the tarp to bunch up. The crew tries to pull harder, but the issue only worsens and the rain continues to intensify. Realizing they need to regroup, the grounds crew starts to roll the tarp back up, but it's a slow and frustrating process. The TV cameras capture the crew's growing frustration as they try to figure out how to get the tarp on the field. At one point, the crew appears to have a plan, with one member going underneath the tarp to assess the issue. He emerges, seemingly having found a solution and the crew begins to roll the tarp out again. However, the heavy rain has taken its toll and by the time the tarp is finally in place, the field is too wet to continue play. The umpires are forced to suspend the game, much to the disappointment of the players and fans. Throughout the chaotic scene, the Nationals' head groundskeeper, Tom Rushin, can be heard offering instructions and guidance to his crew. "Bring it that way," he says, trying to help them coordinate their efforts. a popular baseball analyst, later reveals that the tarp's issues may have been the result of sabotage. According to 's investigation, a Skittles sales representative, who was upset that his company's advertising deal on the tarp was not being appreciated, tampered with the tarp, causing the issues that plagued the grounds crew. Despite their best efforts, the Nationals' grounds crew is unable to get the game back underway and the umpires are forced to suspend the contest due to the unplayable field conditions. The game will need to be resumed at a later date, leaving both teams and their fans disappointed by the weather-related delay.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentwe had a huge scene the other day in the
capital
orioles are playing against the
nationals it's five two and the six but
it's raining
it's pouring the old man is snoring and
they say get off the field we gotta get
this tarp
taste the rainbow the skittles tarp look
at the i'm walking down
not even going to run dude rain doesn't
bother me i'm a tough ump think it's
going to bother me oh tarp jump
and we get another tarp jump here up
into this point everything is going
smoothly they're crushing it they do not
realize they've been sabotaged
now they start to unroll it's loose the
tarp was sabotaged from the start more
on that later
it's just unrolling it's not going how
they want it there's something stuck you
can see here
that little white strip that's stuck and
it's getting
pulled with it it's not supposed to be
getting pulled with it they don't know
how to conquer this
they just say let's pull harder maybe
we'll fix it meanwhile
rain in like absolutely crazy so they're
like all right backtrack backtrack back
track
we messed up we should have fixed it a
while ago we didn't do it and then the
camera crew just going in like look
what's happening while these guys do
this
stop okay everyone come around we're
going that way
and then they re-roll it out now what
happened here was i did a lot of
investigating
and the skittle salesman who sold the
advertising on
this tarp the skittles corp they didn't
appreciate the advertising they were
like dude no one cares about tarp ad
deals
he was like this was my life's work to
get the ad on the tarp to taste the
rainbow ad it works perfect
no one appreciated these guys right here
just giving up they're like oh do we
have to keep doing this why don't we
just call the game
this blows so the skittles employee the
sales guy
he goes he quits skittles he goes to the
tarp he tampers with it sabotaged it
these guys were done those guys got the
mound they're like well let's at least
get the mound
and we'll do a half ass job there and
then we'll go help the other guys
but what they're doing that seems like
no fun so now like let's just spread it
out
let's see what's going on here get a
good look and this guy he goes
underneath the hood
he's like let me see okay i got it i got
it we got to bring this
that way and then just roll roll roll
and it's all going to be good
so the hero right there went under the
hood
figured it out and it kind of worked
they roll it out they get it smooth they
get it flat okay now let's pull it to
the outfield
and then we'll pull it back to the
infield and by the time this tarp gets
on the game will start again it'll be
fantastic nope
too much water game suspended canceled
tarp crew blew it