{"id":493568,"date":"2026-02-23T06:37:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/493568\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T06:37:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T06:37:14","slug":"five-ways-spring-training-got-weird-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/493568\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Ways Spring Training Got Weird This Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

Baseball returned this past Friday, as MLB clubs opened up spring training play<\/a> in the Grapefruit and Cactus Leagues. And with the return of America\u2019s Pastime also came the return of … weird baseball things. <\/p>\n

Here is a round-up of some of the strangest things that happened this weekend in baseball. <\/p>\n

ABS Challenge System malfunctions during Cubs-Rangers game<\/p>\n

Spring training is often viewed as a regular-season tune-up for hitters and pitchers who haven\u2019t seen game action all winter. On Saturday, a spring training game between the Cubs and Rangers served as a tune-up for MLB\u2019s new-look technology, the ABS Challenge System<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In the top of the fourth inning, the Rangers had two men on and Aaron Zavala at the plate against Cubs lefthander Hoby Milner. Milner delivered a sweeper to Zavala that seemingly just missed the outside corner, an offering that was called a ball by home-plate umpire Nick Mahrley. Cubs catcher Carson Kelly tapped the top of his helmet, the universal signal for a challenge. <\/p>\n

Normally, the results of the challenge almost instantly pop up on the scoreboard and on the broadcast for players, spectators and viewers to see. Only this time, that didn\u2019t happen. There was about a 10-second silence before everyone, announcers included, realized that wasn\u2019t going to happen. <\/p>\n

Something finally did pop up on the scoreboard, only it wasn\u2019t the challenge system\u2019s strike zone box; rather, it was an \u2018MLB ABS\u2019 graphic that repeatedly\u2014and unhelpfully\u2014flashed. After what seemed like a painstakingly long time, Mahrley, who received communication of the challenge result, waved off the video replay and confirmed that the call was indeed a ball. <\/p>\n

Don\u2019t you just love it when technology makes things harder? <\/p>\n

Sewage leak seeps into bathroom inside Yankees\u2019 clubhouse<\/p>\n

S— happened at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Saturday afternoon. No really. A sewage leak from the clubhouse bathroom<\/a> seeped into the Yankees\u2019 clubhouse and eventually pooled in some parts of the stadium, forcing fans to navigate around the, er, treacherous waters, according to The Athletic. <\/p>\n

The Yankees had to close the downstairs section of their team store due to the leak, which also spread into other areas of the carpeted (gasp!) clubhouse. <\/p>\n

Worst of all was the unbearable stench that wafted around the stadium concourse and into the hallway, where the Yankees held postgame interviews following the club\u2019s 20-3 blowout of the Tigers. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s spring training for the toilets, too,\u201d a Yankees spokesperson told The Athletic.<\/p>\n

Randy Arozarena forgets jersey, has to wear different one with name taped on back<\/p>\n

In a tale straight out of a comedy about a little league team, Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena apparently forgot his jersey<\/a> for Sunday\u2019s game against the Reds, according to Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times. <\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s contest was the equivalent of a road game for the Mariners, who made the roughly 20-minute trip from Preoria, Ariz., to Goodyear, Ariz. But Arozarena\u2019s jersey did not make the trip and he was forced to don a replacement uniform, which amusingly saw him wearing No. 75. He normally wears No. 56. <\/p>\n

A Mariners staffer, in a task that undoubtedly was not on his expected to-do list entering the day, then had to tape Arozarena\u2019s last name onto the back of the faux jersey. <\/p>\n

Randy Arozarena forgot his jersey so they gave him an extra and taped his name on it pic.twitter.com\/gKsopqbZtX<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) February 22, 2026<\/a>Emergency alarms go off during Giants-Cubs game after person smokes in bathroom<\/p>\n

The Giants-Cubs game got off to the strangest start possible for multiple reasons. Just four pitches into the contest at Scottsdale Stadium, an emergency alarm sounded, sending fans heading for the exits as a message played over the public address system. <\/p>\n

\u201cAttention. Attention,\u201d the robotic voice stated. \u201cAn emergency has been reported in this building. Please cease operations and leave the building, utilizing the nearest exits or fire exit stairway. Do not use elevators. Repeat. Do not use elevators.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message then began to repeat, as confusion spread throughout the ballpark. Some people got up and left. Some remained in their seats. Home-plate umpire Bruce Dreckman signaled for play to continue, so Robbie Ray, not ceasing operations, delivered a pitch while the sultry sounds of the alarm and repetitive robotic voice persisted in the background. <\/p>\n

Ray walked Cubs batter Matt Shaw before Chicago manager Craig Counsell emerged from the dugout to have a chat with Dreckman, presumably to double-check that there wasn\u2019t, in fact, an emergency. <\/p>\n

Shaw stole second, after which the robotic voice stopped speaking, prompting a loud cheer from the fans and this priceless line from Giants commentator Duane Kuiper:<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle did we know that it took a stolen base to shut that guy up,\u201d Kuiper deadpanned. <\/p>\n

As it turns out, the emergency alarm was triggered by a fan smoking a cigarette in the bathroom<\/a>, according to MLB.com. <\/p>\n

Giants turn triple play after Cubs\u2019 baserunning blunder <\/p>\n

As if the aforementioned Giants-Cubs game wasn\u2019t weird enough already, the Giants turned a triple play in the most bizarre way possible in the top of the first inning after the alarm incident.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 TRIPLE PLAY! TRIPLE PLAY! TRIPLE PLAY! \ud83d\udea8 pic.twitter.com\/8SjdbFxurs<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 SFGiants (@SFGiants) February 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

With runners on first and second and no one out, Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki lofted a bloop to shallow right field that dropped out of reach of Giants second baseman Luis Arr\u00e1ez. Arr\u00e1ez fired the ball into the infield just as Suzuki was headed for second base. Giants first baseman Rafael Devers cut the throw off and fired into second, where Giants shortstop Willy Adames tagged Suzuki for out No. 1. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, there was mass confusion on the basepaths for the Cubs. Alex Bregman, who started the sequence on first base, kept running towards third while Shaw, who started at second base, had stopped at third. <\/p>\n

With two Cubs standing at third, Adames tagged both of them. Bregman, the trail runner, was called out (out No. 2) but Shaw was ruled safe by the umpire. Shaw, evidently thinking the inning was over, stepped off the base towards the Cubs\u2019 third base coach Quintin Berry. Shaw was then tagged out by Giants third baseman Matt Chapman for the third out, wrapping up one of the most bizarre triple plays in MLB history. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was definitely Spring Training, you know?\u201d Bregman said<\/a>, according to MLB.com. <\/p>\n

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