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Bees In The Outfield: Swarm Shuts Down Anaheim Angels Game Twice
(Rendering by Linda Bucklin / Shutterstock)
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Bees, don't that beat all? The flying insects shut down the Angels/Mariners game last night in Anaheim not once but twice before the swarm was successfully (and safely) banished.
Fox News reports that both teams retreated to their dugouts for a 23-minute delay in the third inning when the bees buzzed over the right side of the field.
One grounds crew member attempted to drive off the bees with a broom, to no avail.
"I thought they had gotten rid of all of them, and then when I got out there, all the fans were yelling: 'They're on the ground! They're on the ground!'" Angels outfielder Kole Calhoun told MLB. "So I'm looking around and I see them swarming and stuff, and then I see a pile of bees on the ground—hundreds and hundreds of bees. There were bees everywhere. I had to call [umpire] Jim Joyce over there."
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Finally, a uniquely qualified fan, John Poto, stepped up: "That dude just came out of the stands and said 'It's OK. I'm a beekeeper,'" Angels starter C.J. Wilson told Fox. "It was like a Seinfeld episode. Do you tip a bee guy? Throw him a 20? I don't carry cash on me when I'm pitching, so it wouldn't have been me."
The well-placed beekeeper, who works for beehive removal company Honey Pacifico, pursued the swarm with a Gatorade bucket that contained honey, a broom and what looked like some kind of repellent, MLB reports.
"That was weird. Obviously, it didn't bother [Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez]. He didn't crack. Kole was freaking out," Wilson told Fox. "There was a softball-sized bee colony on the ground. It was amazing. I've never seen that before."
Hernandez said the bees weren't actually that close to him on the mound, but he wasn't sticking around, just in case: "When they called timeout and I turned around, I saw them and just started running to the dugout. I just saw them in right field and I said, 'No, I'm not staying here.'" He stayed in the Angels dugout until the coast was clear.
Mariners right fielder Franklin Gutierrez also fled once he saw the bees, MLB reports. "I heard people yelling at me, telling me there were a lot of bees behind me," said Gutierrez. "But I didn't pay attention. As soon as I looked back I was, 'Oh my God. That's a lot.' That was crazy today... That was scary right there."
The teams retook the field, but when the bees returned, Calhoun took to waving his arms at the trespassers. Finally an Angels grounds crew member came out and blasted them with a fire extinguisher, after which they finally dispersed.
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The final score: Mariners 3, Angels 2, Bees, 2.
It's not the first time this happened: A game delay was called back in May, with broadcaster José Mota sharing this fantastic pic on Twitter.
game delay for bees in Anaheim RT @josemota05: Bees like the Big A #Angels #Orioles pic.twitter.com/OvuvpWKwuE
— Everett Will (@DCAbloob) May 3, 2013
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