Several members of the grounds crew and staff for Minnesota Twins Single-A affiliate the Cedar Rapids Kernels were injured Monday when a nasty storm moved in much faster than expected and whipped around a tarp as the crew attempted to cover the field with it.
According to KCRG, the Iowa thunderstorm produced 80-mile-per-hour gusts and sent the tarp flying and into the outfield, actually rolling over people who had fallen to the ground. Crew and staff injuries included a dislocated shoulder for assistant general manager Scott Wilson and concussions for three others.
“All I remember is it came up from behind me, smacked me in the head and knocked me and other people down," head groundskeeper Jesse Roeder told KCRG. "People were trying to crawl out from underneath it, we had some of my guys trying to get people out from underneath it. Then it starts pouring rain.”
Someone took video from shelter inside the stadium where narrators hopelessly encouraged crew to just get the heck out of there and let it go.
