Hanshin Engei Co. workers tend to the saturated ground at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Aug. 15, 2021. (Mainichi/Daiki Takikawa)
Groundkeepers at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in the west Japan city of Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, have created a social media buzz after they completed their field maintenance work to prepare for games just an hour after heavy rain lifted.
Games for the 103rd edition of the National High School Baseball Championship, which is currently ongoing at the stadium, were postponed for three consecutive days from Aug. 12 to 14 due to torrential rain. As the deluge continued until around 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 15, many high school baseball fans had shown concern on social media about games getting cancelled. But the first game of the day began at 10:59 a.m. after about a three-hour delay thanks to the dedicated work of Hanshin Engei Co., which manages and maintains the stadium's ground.
Hanshin Engei Co. workers tend to the saturated ground at Hanshin Koshien Stadium in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, on Aug. 15, 2021. (Mainichi/Kazuki Yamazaki)
The "battle between Hanshin Engei versus rain" became a hot topic on Twitter after more than 20 employees appeared in the infield covered with pools of rainwater at around 9:30 a.m.
It took them only 40 minutes to complete the job on the infield by placing water absorbent sheets on puddles, carrying dry soil onto the pitcher's mound and around the home base and fixing the ground with field rakes, then smoothing the field with a large brush as if drawing circles centering around the mound. Players then went to their respective benches, and fielding practice began just before 10:30 a.m.
As the maintenance work was broadcast on a commercial TV channel, many tweets were posted, such as, "Hanshin Engei staff deserve to be living national treasures," and, "I didn't expect the game to start before noon."
(Japanese original by Shun Morino, Sports News Department)
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