A sinkhole at a ballpark caused the batting practice for the Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Indians to be cancelled. A busted pipe created the sinkhole behind the pitcher's mound at Rangers Ballpark.
Practice was cancelled as workers fixed the pipe and the hole on the field. The workers had to dig more than three feet deep to try to fix the pipe. The pipe is used to water the infield. The hole was so deep that a worker could only be seen from the waist up while standing in it, Fox Sports reports.
The repair was complete and the grass behind the pitcher's mound was replaced roughly an hour before the game was scheduled to begin and they connected a hose to the pipe to water the field.
Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona joked that it wasn't him or his team that did it, even though the team has an eight-game losing streak, and 12 losses in a row on the road.
''I didn't do it,'' Francona told Fox as he laughed. ''We're not there yet. We're frustrated, but we're not there.''
The teams still got some practice in despite the sinkhole incident. Three hours before the game, the Rangers went on to the field to stretch. They usually have batting practice on the field but they went back inside to practice swinging in an indoor cage after stretching.
This wasn't the only problem that the Rangers Ballpark has had recently. Two week ago, a game between Arizona and Texas had to be postponed due to unplayable field conditions. Due to a severe thunderstorm that occurred an hour before the game started, the infield was soaked and ground crews were having trouble getting the tarp on the field.
The rain didn't last long and workers put in an hour of work to get the field ready for the game, but officials from each team agreed on postponing the game because the dirt on the field was still too soft for players to run on safely. The teams face off the next afternoon as ground crews worked throughout the night to fix the issue.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
