Indians Buses Stuck In Rain, Players Hailing Cabs To Comerica Park
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
Wednesday night brought heavy rain to the greater Detroit area, making a mess of Thursday morning's commute. The Cleveland Indians were one of many victims.
Per Paul Hoynes, an Indians beat writer for cleveland.com, the team's buses got held up by flash flooding on their way to Comerica Park this morning. The Indians are scheduled to take on the Tigers at 1:10.
Tribe busses caught in rain and flooding on way to Comerica Field.
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) September 29, 2016
After a while, the players cut their losses and started ordering cabs.
Entrance to Tribe's indoor batting cages flooded. Tribe players bailing on one bus to ballpark and taking cabs. No one building ark -- yet.
— paul hoynes (@hoynsie) September 29, 2016
Turns out, the Indians weren't the only ones struggling to make it into work. Per George Sipple, various Tigers got held up on the congested roads as well. As a result, Brad Ausmus apparently believes first-pitch in today's game will be delayed.
Brad Ausmus said some players stuck in traffic. He's not concerned because he doesn't think game will start on time. #tigers
— George Sipple ☕️|????|???????? (@GeorgeSipple) September 29, 2016
Tigers reliever Alex Wilson was one player who managed to make it to the ballpark on time. When he got there, he found the walkway to the team's dugout submerged in rainwater.
Anyone have a snorkel and flippers?? #WhereIsOurDugout #SlipperyWhenWet pic.twitter.com/DfEbQ8jPdK
— Alex Wilson (@WillyWilson18) September 29, 2016
Ron Colangelo Vice President, Communications for the Tigers, says the players, coaches and everyone from the front office did eventually manage to make it to the Comerica Park.
He said while there's no flooding on the field, he did not expect the game to start on time.
"The field actually drains pretty well; we've had the tarp on since the game ended last night," he told Jackie Paige, live on WWJ Newsradio 950. "The grounds crew here does a remarkable job preparing the field once we do get a break in the weather. They will remove the tarp and work on the field a little bit."
"So at this point we're going to wait it out," he added. "But that's our goal — we are trying to play this game."
The tarp was removed and the game was expected to get underway shortly after 2 p.m., but team management was reportedly not happy with the condition of the field.
The tarp was put back on, and a possible game time is still pending.
Colangelo urged any fans headed downtown to take their time and drive safely.