Buck Showalter buys walkie-talkies because bullpen phone was broken

Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter had to buy walkie-talkies to communicate with the bullpen because the phone at Tropicana Field was broken.

Now we see why Rays owner Stu Sternberg has been lobbying so aggressively for a new stadium. Not only is it the ugliest stadium in baseball, but also things are starting to break, too.

For the first two games of the season, the bullpen phones have been broken, so Orioles manager Buck Showalter had to get creative. 

From The Washington Post:

Showalter said the Tropicana Field bullpen phones didn’t work again. So, in preparation for that lapse, he called in pitching changes through walkie talkies that he bought Wednesday morning.

“It’s strange. It is what it is,” Showalter said. “The phones didn’t work again tonight. We had to buy a walkie talkie — it’s a challenge. I’m going to turn it in on expenses, though. That walkie talkie is expensive.”

• Check out this Japanese boy band's choreographed first pitch

Tropicana Field is one of the few MLB stadiums that has the bullpens situated in foul territory, so Showalter could have just ambled down the leftfield line and told a pitcher start warming up. It's more fun to pretend you're a kid in a treehouse, though.

#http://www.120sports.com/video/v117091576/odorizzi-piches-a-gem

- Dan Gartland