A haboob did it, but a baboon makes for a better story, thanks to autocorrect

Worry not, fellow citizens, tourists and baseball fans. The streets of Phoenix are safe.

So is ESPN reporter Pedro Gomez, one of the best guys around.

But it was Gomez’s tweet Monday night that had officials at the Phoenix Zoo or the Wildlife World Zoo near Surprise checking their primate cages.

Thankfully, a baboon was not rampaging the streets and tearing about the electrical grid that powers Chase Field.

Instead, it was wind and sand event known as a haboob. When some lights were knocked out in the sixth inning of Monday night’s game between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks, Gomez tried to explain the delay via Twitter.

“@Rangers and @Dbacks delayed in downtown Phoenix because a baboon went through town and overloaded the grid, knocking some lights out,” he tweeted.

Later, he tweeted his correction: “Haboob. Damn autocorrect.”

Gomez can be seen all over ESPN’s baseball coverage — he was at the forefront of the Biogenesis scandal in 2013 — and he has a son pitching in the Boston Red Sox organization.

He is now a part of Twitter’s all-time autocorrect greatness.

This story was originally published July 31, 2018 at 1:45 PM.