If I were to tell you that a ballpark experienced a dugout phone malfunction over the weekend and you had to guess which venue it was, you might say Fenway Park or Wrigley Field. One of your last guesses would probably be Marlins Park, since it happens to be the newest ballpark in the country. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what happened to the Rays when they were visiting Miami on Sunday, and Will Rhymes had to spring into action because of it.
As you can see from the video above, Joe Maddon had to stop play during the Rays’ 4-2 win over the Marlins because he was unable to call to his bullpen. James Shields got himself into a seventh-inning jam, so Maddon wanted to get left-hander Jake McGee and right-hander Burke Badenhop loosened up. Since the phone wasn’t working, he Rhymes to the outfield to deliver the message.
“It’s hard work, but somebody had to do it,” the utility man said sarcastically according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“He looked the fastest,” Maddon added. “The pitchers are so disinterested at that point, been eating the whole game, not able to run down. He was eager, he had that look in his eye.”
Between the additional duties he had to fulfill on Sunday and this scary moment he experienced back in May, Rhymes’s has gotten more than he’s bargained for over the past month or so.
H/T Big League Stew
