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WATCH: MLB Umpire Surprisingly Ejects Entire Grounds Crew During Yankees-Orioles Game

On the baseball diamond, an MLB umpire’s word is law. That’s a lesson the Baltimore Orioles grounds crew learned the hard way during yesterday’s game.

The Orioles faced off against the New York Yankees at Oriole Park at Camden Yards last night. The Orioles led the game 3-2 at the top of the ninth inning. But when the Yankees went up to bat, an odd moment occurred with MLB umpire Tim Timmons.

The New York Post shared a video that’s quickly made the rounds on Twitter. In the video, Timmons appears to be ejecting the Orioles grounds crew from the game. He gestures wildly for them to get off the field, telling them to go. From the looks of it, the crew is huddled behind the giant tarp they’d normally lay out on the field when it starts raining.

Per Yahoo! Sports, it had already started raining at this point in the game, with a bigger storm on the way. The grounds crew stepped onto the field while the game was still in progress, ready for the moment they’d be needed to lay out the tarp. The outlet said they crouched behind the tarp, which lay in foul territory by the first base line.

But that was too close for comfort for MLB umpire Tim Timmons. See his reaction for yourself in the video below. And pay close attention to the baseball announcers’ hilarious exclamation of “Oh no!” around the 11-second mark. I still crack up every time I hear it.

“I’ve never seen the grounds crew thrown out of the game,” one announcer said. Fans couldn’t believe it either.

MLB Umpire Clarifies that Grounds Crew Weren’t ‘Ejected’ From Game

MLB umpire Tim Timmons quickly cleared up what happened on the field. According to Yahoo! Sports, he sent a text to the Associated Press to explain his actions.

“I didn’t ‘eject’ the grounds crew,” Timmons said in a text to AP. “I just didn’t want all of them behind the tarp, especially with the infield in.”

So, the grounds crew still had the ability to come back onto the field. But they never did, even when it started pouring shortly after they got kicked out. That inning, the Yankees’ Brett Gardner ended up hitting a two-run single to put them ahead of the Orioles for the win.

Fans still couldn’t believe the MLB umpire’s reaction to the grounds crew showing up a little early on the field.

“I’ve watched the Orioles for as long as I can remember. The Camden Yards ground crew has ALWAYS taken their place behind the tarp when heavy rain is imminent so they’re at the ready when called upon. I’ve never seen an umpire remove them. Ever. Until tonight, that is…” tweeted Orioles fan Drew Pellman.

Other fans took advantage of the situation to provide some quality puns. “Would you say they had grounds for dismissal?” one fan asked on Barstool Sports’ tweet. More memes and jokes are sure to come pouring in.

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