During Friday’s game between the Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals, what may have been a malfunction of the outfield fountain halted play in the 4th inning and sent groundskeepers to the outfield to try and contain a flood, resulting in a 30-minute “fountain delay.”
Shortly after Indians outfielder Yonder Alonso hit a home run that landed in the Royals’ bullpen in the top of the 4th, players and coaches came running out of the pen, waving their hands to stop the game in progress. Water poured out of the bottom of the outfield fence as groundkeepers with brooms and squeegees rushed to remove the water from the field, sweeping it toward a single drain in the bullpen.
Kansas City's bullpen has sprung a leak pic.twitter.com/lW7dbqReHH
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 25, 2018
Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City features a large fountain behind the outfield bleachers that spans the length of the outfield. It was not clear at the time of publishing whether or not a problem with the fountain was the cause of the problem. The Kansas City Star speculated that a “broken pipe or a ball valve that was stuck in the open position” may have been responsible for the flood.
Well that's a first…a busted pipe has caused a delay at #TheK. #Royals pic.twitter.com/FGHCMoZz19
— FOX Sports Kansas City (@FSKansasCity) August 25, 2018
#Royals grounds crew tackles the water pouring in outfield. pic.twitter.com/qDq82VnzOb
— FOX Sports Kansas City (@FSKansasCity) August 25, 2018
“They’re trying to cut off that water in that area at this point in time,” Indians announcer Andre Knott said 15 minutes after water began pouring onto the field. “This is UNREAL,” Knott tweeted. He said umpires were unable to make a decision about whether the game should go on as it wasn’t immediately apparent what the source of the problem was.
Fans from both teams weighed in on Twitter:
I love The K in #KansasCity, and the highlight of this game between #Indians and #Royals is the WATER. Gotta love those fountains.
— Casey Henceroth (@CaseyInCMH) August 25, 2018
@Gbush91 @923TheFan @ESPNCleveland @ESPNRadio @CBSSportsRadio @FoxSportsRadio Kansas City @Royals have mastered the stall tactic. Leading 3-1 in top of 4th, Indians hit a solo home run then a double. With a hit away from tying game, water has erupted in Royals bullpen. Genius!
— curtis brown (@BrownBrownc26) August 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/T_Huff_66/status/1033165865489977346
Not even the water wants to stay in Kansas City.
I’ll be here all night folks
— Away Back Gone (@AwayBackGoneFS) August 25, 2018
Well if the fountain flood in right field doesn’t define the 2018 Royals, i don’t know what does. pic.twitter.com/6D3AjCaBv7
— Kyle Martin (@kmartin488) August 25, 2018
After the grounds crew dumped dozens of bags of diamond dust onto the field and leveled the track near the outfield fence with a Bobcat, play resumed, exactly 30 minutes after the flood began. At the time of publishing the Royals were winning, 2-3 in the top of the 4th inning.
“You’re going to have to be very careful out there if you’re a right-fielder,” said Indians announcer and former centerfielder Rick Manning, pointing out that the area around the outfield fence was likely to be slippery.
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