Major League Baseball

Rockies assist grounds crew in taming wind-blown tarp

Published Jul. 10, 2015 9:53 a.m. ET

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By Jason Rowan

For the second time this week, a grounds crew at an MLB ballpark faced the wrath of Mother Nature as they attempted to drag a tarp over the infield during inclement weather. First, it was the crew at PNC Park who couldn’t tame a wind-blown tarp during a rainstorm. On Thursday night, it was the grounds grew at Coors Field’s turn during a game between the hometown Colorado Rockies and the visiting Atlanta Braves.

Wilin Rosario led the contingent of Rockies that featured manager Walt Weiss, first base coach Eric Young and several teammates.

“I’m utility,” Rosario said, smiling, according to a report from MLB.com. “I help my grounds crew. I help my team. Double. I do my thing, man.” 

Among the teammates to join the fray and assume temporary grounds crew duties were pitcher Chad Bettis, backup catcher Michael McKenry and pitcher David Hale.

Hale’s role in the taming of the tarp seemed to make sense as he wasn’t scheduled to start the game, but after a 2-hour, 6-minute delay, original starting pitcher Kyle Kendrick could not continue, so Hale was called upon to take the mound one day earlier than expected.

“They told me I was probably going to start so I gave it [the jersey] to one of the clubbies, and said, ‘Hey, you need to dry this real quick,” Hale said. He pitched 1 2/3 innings before leaving the game after suffering a groin pull while running the bases.

Rosario couldn’t believe the tarp was so heavy, equating the effort involved in lugging the thing around to “pulling a truck.”

But he was nevertheless happy to lend his assistance.

“It was good to help those guys,” he said. “That way, we could play.”

And the Rockies’ contributions in helping preserve the integrity of the infield paid off, as the team eventually scored a 5-3 victory.

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