Cubs cut grounds crew hours to avoid paying health insurance — report

The Chicago Cubs denied an assertion by the Chicago Sun-Times on Friday that the tarp debacle earlier in the week against the San Francisco Giants happened because the club short-staffs the grounds crew at Wrigley Field in order to avoid paying health insurance. A surprising storm at Wrigley on Tuesday night caused a long delay because chief Roger Baird's working crew couldn't get the tarp — which had become saturated with water as it was unfurled — to cover the infield quickly enough. With field conditions unplayable even 4 1/2 hours after the rain stopped, umpires called the game in favor of the Cubs, who were leading in the bottom of the fifth inning. In a surprising but just turn of events, Major League Baseball upheld a protest by the Giants , and the teams resumed the suspended game Thursday. The Cubs won 2-1 , but not before being thoroughly embarrassed. Thoroughly, but not completely. That's if the Sun-Times report, which cites several unnamed sources within and outside the organization, is true: