Crossfire hurricane or something like that

It was bright and sunny at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers Monday.

But in 1999 during a Reds-Twins night game, we were caught in what seemed to be crossfire hurricane in the seventh inning.

The press box, which is on the fourth level, was swaying in the wind. It flooded. They evacuated the stands and had the fans to huddle in the bathrooms until the storm passed. The lights went out. People were screaming.

Hal McCoy and I were looking out the back windows at palm trees that were horizontal to ground in the wind. The game hadn’t been called yet when we saw the Reds bus heading out of the parking lot.

Then-manager Jack McKeon decided to try to beat the worst of it and ordered to the bus driver to pull out. The Reds made it back without incident.