Arizona beekeeper Matt Hilton arrived at Chase Field Tuesday night to deal with a swarm of bees, and he ended up staying to throw out the first pitch.
The Diamondbacks’ game against the Los Angeles Dodgers was delayed nearly two hours Tuesday night when a swarm of bees began to gather at the top of the protective netting behind home plate.
Diamondbacks vice president of baseball operations Mike Rock got a call about five minutes before the start of the game.
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“[The senior manager of events] said we have bees landing on the net right behind home plate. I said, ‘How many?’ And she said, hundreds — no way, thousands. And I knew we had a problem.”
That’s when a call to Hilton, a branch manager for Blue Sky Pest Control’s Phoenix office, was placed.
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“Minor leagues to the big leagues now,” Hilton, who was at his son’s T-ball game when he got the call, joked after the game. “It’s pretty cool.”
But Hilton’s night wasn’t over yet. As a thank-you for his beekeeping efforts, he was asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and the crowd roared.
“I thought I was just going to do my thing and cruise out, but it was fun because of the thousands of people cheering for you,” he said. “It was a little nerve-racking, I’m not going to lie — a lot of pressure to get this game going.”
The Diamondbacks defeated the Dodgers, 4-3.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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