The Baseball Field Was Wet. Someone's Solution: Set It on Fire

Someone thought it was wise to dry out a baseball field by dousing it in gasoline and lighting a match. Hence the closure of Ciuccoli Field, the home field of Connecticut's Ridgefield High School. Ridgefield was set to play Amity Regional at 11am Saturday when the decision was made to ignite 25 gallons of gasoline in an attempt to dry out the field following a night of rain. "Someone did use some gas around third base and that seemed to work," First Selectman Rudy Marconi tells the Ridgefield Press. "Others then went to get more gas and began spreading it." Images shared on social media show people trying to smother flames with dirt. A hazmat team was eventually called in to remove 6 to 8 inches of soil at the town's expense. Marconi puts the cost at $50,000.

"It just wasn't a smart move at all," he says, per Gametime CT. "I don't know who the people are who did this but I hope they come forward before legal action is forced upon them." "It's an active investigation of who instructed, if anybody instructed," Police Capt. Shawn Platt tells WTNH, which notes the field will remain closed for the rest of the week. Dan Gartland argues the whole mess could've been avoided if only witnesses had read his words published Thursday at Sports Illustrated. Inspired by a baseball coach who contaminated the field at Utah's Clearfield High School in March, Gartland published what he calls "a brief history of idiots causing disasters by trying the same gasoline scheme." His advice: "Just use kitty litter, everyone." (More baseball stories.)