Japanese league playoff game takes place on the muddiest field you'll ever see

Baseball fans, be thankful for your favorite team’s grounds crew. They work hard to make sure the field is immaculate and well groomed. In the case of inclement weather, they spring into action to make sure the playing surface is acceptable.

It’s not often that we celebrate the grounds crew, and that’s probably a mistake. Because without them … well … something like this could happen.

What you see above is a playoff game between the Hanshin Tigers and the Yokohama DeNA Baystars of Nippon Professional Baseball. That’s Baystars outfielder Yoshitomo Tsutsugoh taking quite a tumble into a bunch of mud.

As you might expect, his pants looked … not great after the fall.

Despite that mishap, Tsutsugoh actually had the last laugh. He notched four hits during the mud-filled contest, leading the Baystars to a 13-6 win.

The state of the field led to some wackiness.

That was likely one of the two errors made in the contest. Though the field looked awful, it wasn’t a sloppy game … well, from a game play standpoint. You saw Tsutsugoh’s pants, so we can’t really say it was a clean affair.

Thank a member of your favorite team’s grounds crew the next time you get a chance. Either that, or be grateful your team plays in a dome.

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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