The MVP of Tuesday night’s Major League Baseball game between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers was Matt Hilton. But don't bother looking for the 37-year-old right-hander on either team’s roster.
While the former Wyomingite did help his hometown Arizona D-backs to a 4-3 win, Hilton’s ESPN highlight reel was compiled before the first pitch was ever thrown. The pest control expert was called on to handle a colony of bees that held up the start of the game for almost two hours.
Media outlets across the country had fun with the puns — "Chase Field was buzzing last night” — but the truth of the matter is the situation could have turned serious in a heartbeat. Even before Hilton arrived he had a pretty good idea he would be dealing with a highly antagonistic crossbred species known colloquially as “killer bees.”
“We live in a state where Africanized honey bees are super common here,” Hilton told Cowboy State Daily. “Compared to a normal strain of honeybees, most people can’t tell the difference. Except these have a tendency to be extremely aggressive — 10-20 times more aggressive than the average honeybee.”
Red Carpet Treatment
Hilton informed stadium staff to move people in the closest box seats to at least 50 to 75 feet away. He was on his way.
“I explained these bees very much raised the risk level quite a bit. I kind of walked them through it, but it was not their first rodeo,” Hilton said.
In fact, stadium personnel rolled out the red carpet for Hilton and had everything waiting for the bee whisperer when he arrived.
“I was able to drive right up to the big bay doors and throw my gear on,” he said. “They had the scissor lift right there ready to go. It was in everyone’s interest to get this game underway as safely and quickly as possible.”
Bonnie Tyler’s “I Need a Hero” blared from loudspeakers as Hilton’s play-in song, just like he was the team’s closer coming in from the bullpen.
By the way, a shout out to another winning team — Blue Sky Pest Control of Phoenix. Chase Field actually contracts with the local company for regular service keeping the food concessionaire areas pest- and rodent-free.
Blue Sky Pest Control is also on-call 24/7 for just the type of crazy emergency that came up Tuesday.
“I was at my 6-year-old son’s T-ball game when the head guy at Chase called me and said he had a swarm of bees holding the game up,” Hilton said. “In my line of work, especially with a high-profile account like this, we have to drop everything and take care of the problem.”
10,000 To 20,000 Bees
When Hilton arrived to the field, he quickly anesthetized the popup colony with a non-pesticidal solution. That was done to lock the bees in place.
“They interlock their legs together when they are in a colony like this. The last thing you want to do is start poking at them and have them fly off individually looking for someone to be mad at,” Hilton said.
The pest control tech estimates between 10,000 and 20,000 bees made up this particular swarm. If agitated, D-backs fans could be in a lot more pain than anything the Dodgers could dish out.
“The risk comes in if that swarm gets disturbed. If they start stinging people, when they do it releases a pheromone in the stinger that signals: ‘Hey, get this guy,’” Hilton said.
Deaths have been reported in Arizona, Utah and Texas, where a victim was stung repeatedly by Africanized bees.
Donned in a beekeeper’s protective suit, Hilton was able to vacuum up all the bees as the crowd around him chanted, “You can do it!”
King For A Night
Once the job was done, Hilton gave the fans a fist pump and was immediately invited to toss out the ceremonial first pitch.
Just another day at the office, Hilton said. Except for the paid attendance.
“I've done hundreds of these types of calls. This was the first in front of 30,000 people,” Hilton said. “I’ll maybe be in a parking lot and a handful of people will be looking on from their office windows. This one was a little more high-pressure with a game hanging in the balance. It was pretty electric, pretty awesome.”
Blue Sky offers a relocation service for bee swarms it collects but the market for Africanized bees is slim.
“Beekeepers don't want Africanized honey bees. You see pictures of video of beekeepers tending their hives without a suit on. That’s where it gets dicey. If they did that with these bees they would be in a world of hurt,” Hilton assured.
Wyoming To The Rescue
Topps, the baseball card manufacturer, is already working on a special one-off card for the bee specialist who saved the game. It will be a keepsake for the Arizona man with Wyoming roots.
Hilton lived in Buffalo, Wyoming, from ages 11 through 18 before he attended college Arizona State University. He met an Arizona girl, Morgan, and the two were married in 2010. They have four kids.
“I moved away from Buffalo because of the cold. I got married to the love of my life and found a career and a company that really suits me,” Hilton said. “Buffalo is a super cool little town and I take a lot of pride having grown up there. I miss hunting and fishing in the Big Horn Mountains.”
Contact Jake Nichols at jake@cowboystatedaily.com
Beekeeper Matt Hilton reacts to fans after removing a colony of bees that formed on the net behind home plate during a delay to the MLB game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 30, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images) 
Beekeeper Matt Hilton, left, arrives to Chase Field to remove a colony of bees that formed on the net behind home plate during a delay to the MLB game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 30, 2024, in Phoenix, Arizona. (Christian Petersen, Getty Images) 
Jake Nichols can be reached at jake@cowboystatedaily.com.
