Umpire Claims He Was Protecting Grounds Crew When He Shooed Them Away Like Unwanted Varmints

An odd yet entertaining scene played out in Camden Yards last night, and for once I am not referring to any of the ongoing abuses that the Orioles themselves have been carrying out against the concept of competitive baseball. This strange moment nothing to do with any on-field action, but with one of the umpires running the grounds crew out of the stadium.

Given crew chief Tim Timmons's demeanor in the clip above, you'd be forgiven for assuming that he was ejecting the entire grounds crew from the stadium for having done something untoward. Timmons looked less like a guy politely asking that some people exit the field and more like someone attempting to banish a pack of rowdy raccoons from his garage. What did that damn grounds crew say that got Timmons so hot?

Apparently, nothing. After the game, the Associated Press reached out to Timmons to ask him what the deal was with the ejection, and he responded: "I didn't 'eject' the grounds crew. I just didn't want all of them behind the tarp, especially with the infield in."

So there you have it. The crew had gathered behind the tarp in anticipation of a rain delay being called, and Timmons was just looking out for them. It did start raining a few minutes later, but the game didn't need to be stopped and everyone went home safely following a 4-3 Yankees victory.