A sinkhole opened up right under the Texas Rangers stadium on Tuesday, creating quite a mess on the mound.
Apparently the problem was a broken water pipe which is used to water the field; crews worked extensively to repair the damage and had to dig further down into the field. The night’s on-field batting practice with the Cleveland Indians subsequently had to be canceled.
“I didn’t do it. We’re not there yet. We’re frustrated, but we’re not there,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said jokingly, referring to an eight-game losing streak that has plagued the team this season.
The sinkhole–which was over 3 feet deep and about as big as a large trash can–is the latest in a growing number reported in the south recently. Florida has been hit especially hard in recent months; just last week, a giant hole opened up in an Orange County backyard right beneath a swimming pool. In March, a Tampa Bay area man was killed when a sinkhole opened under his bedroom and pulled the entire room down hundreds of feet. Jeffrey Bush’s brother, Jeremy, actually tried to save him from the gaping maw but was unsuccessful.
“It swallowed his whole bedroom, his dresser — everything in his room is gone,” Jeremy said. “All I could see was the top of his bed. So I jumped in the hole and tried digging him out. I thought I could hear him screaming for me and hollering for me.”
Weeks later, a second sinkhole appeared in the same area of Florida, but it opened beneath a fence and no injuries were reported. Residents were concerned for their property, however.
One of the major issues for Florida is that much of the landscape is made up of limestone, which is extremely porous and vulnerable to hard water. Over time, water erodes the earth and caverns form.
Luckily for the ballpark, the issue wasn’t that serious and no injuries were reported.