D-backs endure 'bee'-ting against Giants

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. –- "B" games are common in spring training.

Bee games? Not so much.

But on Sunday, Arizona and San Francisco endured a 41-minute delay as a swath of bees made its way through Salt Rivers Fields in the top of the second inning of the Giants’ 11-1 victory before a stadium-record crowd of 12,546.

"It’s like every day, something new happens," said D-backs starter Ian Kennedy, who faced seven batters but did not return after the delay.

"It’s their home, too," second baseman Aaron Hill said.

D-backs center fielder Chris Young yelled for timeout as bees assembled in center field after Mike Fontenot’s double put runners on second and third base with one out in the second.

The swarm, estimated by D-backs’ officials at 500 bees, moved to right field and then into the right side of the infield. Stadium workers captured most of the bees by pouring lemonade, sugar and cotton candy in the bed of an equipment truck near the Giants’ first-base-side dugout. The rest, attracted to a camera mounted near the dugout, remained on the camera for the rest of the game.

"I heard it before I saw it. You hear them coming, and I’m not going to test them. I don’t think I’m allergic, but I’m not going to let 20 or 30 get to me to find out," Young said.

Young said he spent the delay signing autographs and chatting with fans.

The D-backs did not spray the swarm, president/CEO Derrick Hall said, for fear of triggering an outburst of stinging. One stadium worker was stung "right between the eyes," he said.

"I was trying to get away as fast as I could and trying not to look too scared," first baseman Paul Goldschmidt said.
 
"I was right next to the (dugout) bathroom in case I had to lock myself in," Giants outfielder Angel Pagan told mlb.com.

The incident resurrected bad memories for Arizona shoststop Willie Bloomquist, who said he was stung 65 times on his neck and face by a nest of yellow jackets while helping his father move some wood on their rural property when he was younger. He was treated at home.

"They put me in a soda bath and told me to tough it out," said Bloomquist, who added that he was stung once the next day.

"I didn’t want to live by them anymore."

A bee game is not as uncommon as it might seem. A spring training game between the D-backs and Rockies was called after five innings because a swarm of bees would not leave the field at Tucson Electric Park on March 25, 2005.

The bees attacked Rockies left-hander Darren Oliver and forced him from the mound.

"I love this game, but I like myself a little bit more," Oliver told the Associated Press, adding that the bees must have been enticed by the coconut gel in his hair.

Joe Garagiola, who attended the game in Tucson, said he had never seen anything like it, adding, "and I go back to 1942."

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