Royals grounds crew member nearly swallowed by tarp during rain delay

Being a member of a major-league baseball grounds crew can be stressful. Weather can strike at any time, meaning you have to be ready to act at a moment's notice. On top of that, you have to do your job despite awful situations, and that can be dangerous.

That's precisely what happened during Thursday's ALDS game between the Kansas City Royals and the Houston Astros. The Royals' grounds crew had to spring into action during a rain delay, and one of their members was nearly swallowed by the tarp.

The good news is, the tarp didn't completely roll over the person in that video. The grounds crew was able to stop the tarp from rolling, and he escaped, hopefully unscathed.

Sometimes, seeing a member of the grounds crew run into trouble with the tarp can be funny. This seemed a bit more serious. That tarp requires a lot of people to move, and probably weighs a lot. We're pretty glad he was able to get out of there.

Be safe out there, grounds crew people. You don't want to turn into a playoff meme.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik