During Wednesday night’s game between the New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field, a break in action happened for a very unusual reason in the ninth inning.
Veteran MLB umpire Bruce Dreckman came off the field and headed to the Yankees’ first base dugout, saying there was a bug in his ear. New York trainer Steve Donohue then worked with Dreckman to remove the insect, which turned out to be a moth.
The YES Network and NBC Sports Chicago broadcasts were all over this coverage, and viewers even got to see the moth removal from Dreckman’s ear on live television. The removal was a success, with the moth even emerging flapping and seemingly unharmed from the trip inside Mr. Dreckman’s ear.
WHAT!? Ump literally pulled a moth out of his ear 😳 pic.twitter.com/Tnn1WUa7qR
— White Sox Talk (@NBCSWhiteSox) August 9, 2018
The only thing missing from this coverage is play-by-play from David Attenborough.
And sometimes the “you see something in baseball every day that you’ve never seen before!” talk can be hyperbolic, but it’s likely accurate for every viewer in this instance.