This Orioles season has featured a 24-2 loss, a 22-8 win and one of the worst blown leads in franchise history. But what happened Friday night at Camden Yards might be the strangest thing to happen all year.<\/p>\n
As Orioles pitcher Dean Kremer jogged out to the mound in the top of the sixth inning, Camden Yards’ public address announcer asked fans to take cover because of lightning strikes in the Baltimore area. Ushers at Oriole Park then temporarily forced fans in the lower bowl to move from their seats to ones under cover.<\/p>\n
But the game was not put into a delay despite lightning strikes occurring throughout the sixth and seventh innings. Attendance at Camden Yards for the series opener against the Colorado Rockies was an announced 25,090 for Floppy Hat Night.<\/p>\n
“Ladies and gentlemen, the National Weather Service forecasts show a continued threat of lightning strikes in the ballpark area,” read a message on Camden Yards’ videoboard. “In order to keep everyone save, we are asking all of those who are currently sitting in open areas of the seating bowl to please seek shelter in covered areas of the ballpark. We thank you for your cooperation.”<\/p>\n
Near the end of the seventh inning, shortly after the Orioles tied the game on Jackson Holliday’s RBI single, fans were allowed back to their original seats.<\/p>\n
An Orioles spokesperson said the decision to temporarily remove fans from their seats was made “for the safety of our fans because lightning was in close proximity to the ballpark.” Fans will not be issued refunds, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Whether a game enters a delay is not up to the Orioles. That decision lies with Major League Baseball and the umpiring crew.\u00a0When asked why the game didn’t enter a delay, an MLB spokesperson referred to crew chief Bill Miller, who spoke with a pool reporter after the game.<\/p>\n
Miller said that the umpiring crew had no role in clearing fans from the lower bowl. The umpire said that he did not feel pressure to delay the game once the Orioles told fans to take shelter.<\/p>\n
“I was getting updates every half-inning from the grounds crew gentleman,” Miller said via a pool reporter. “He said that we were going to get hit by a big storm in a half an hour. He said at 8:45 [p.m.] it was going to come. It was going to be windy, it was going to be rainy and there was going to be thunder and lightning. I asked him to give me a half-inning update, and it progressively diminished. The storm was decidedly moving south, he thought the top of it was going to catch us. They did clear the stands unbeknownst to me. We are concerned about lightning, but the crew did not see any lightning in the area. We saw it from afar, but we didn’t think at any time anybody on the field was in danger.<\/p>\n
“When we pull the teams off the field when it’s not raining hard, we get second-guessed. We work in conjunction with the grounds crew. We are a team. At no time did I feel like the field was dangerous. I don’t think the field took rain in a way that there was any slipping. We did have them treat the mound and plate area with a little bit of [clay] Turface. But even that wasn’t really necessary. That was just trying to get ahead of the game, but the heavy rain just never came. Hindsight, I think we handled it accordingly. It would have been difficult to pull teams off the field and then we get into the waiting game of when we actually come back. Both starters at that point in time were still in the game, and so that’s difficult as well, because now you’ve got to burn starters.”<\/p>\n