The Story of the Hero Beekeeper From the Dodgers-Diamondbacks Game Just Keeps Getting Better

On Wednesday, we brought you the hilarious and inspiring story of what happened at the Tuesday game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Major League Baseball contest, which was played at Chase Field in Phoenix, was delayed for around two hours due to a swarm of bees that had made themselves at home on the netting behind home plate. Videos showed fans were safely seated far away from the buzzing activity, with players aimlessly shuffling around wondering when they would be able to get things cranked up.

Called to the scene was Blue Sky Pest Control branch manager Matt Hilton, who had been at his son's last T-ball game of the season when he got the urgent request to do his thing. Hilton was warmly treated to a hero's welcome by fans in attendance and the players as well, with "MVP" chants being heard in the crowd, and the DJ playing hero- and manly-man-themed tunes along the way. Hilton even had some fun with it at times by stirring up the crowd a bit with some arm and hand gestures.

For saving the day (and the bees, who I should note were not killed), Hilton was awarded the thrill of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Afterward, an entire press conference was held - with the pest control specialist being the guest of honor. Radio interviews, too, soon followed, as people wanted to learn more about the "bee guy."

The update to this story just makes it so much better, though. Hilton now has his very own trading card thanks to Topps:

Buy the base card now for a chance to hit the autograph or SP!

LINK HERE: https://t.co/D6fZYhSTnk pic.twitter.com/6zuKhf7zBt
— Topps (@Topps) May 1, 2024

Just amazing stuff:

Topps announced that Matt Hilton signed a deal with the collectible trading card company after safely removing a swarm of bees above home plate at Chase Field before the DBacks' walk-off win against the Dodgers.
[...]
One card, which can be purchased on the Topps website, can be purchased for $8.99. And if you're lucky, you may receive a card autographed by Hilton.

The link they included in the tweet no longer works, but this one noting that the card is already sold out does.

The Diamondbacks, of course, are also getting in on the action, offering buy one, get one free ticket deals for their series with their rivals, the San Diego Padres, using promo code "BEEGUY":

You can bee-lieve your eyes! 🐝

Buy one, get one free-bee TODAY for games this weekend using code BEEGUY: https://t.co/hrJLGnoQg2 pic.twitter.com/LZ2K3TgXQ9
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) May 2, 2024

And... just to put things in perspective:

The Bee guy now has his own Topps baseball card.
24 hours ago, he was an anonymous Pest Control dude. https://t.co/MqZ86lhJlH
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) May 1, 2024

I suspect business has undoubtedly picked up at Blue Sky Pest Control as well and at just the perfect time considering the season.

Well done, Matt Hilton. Well done!

Flashback: Reporterette's Cringe Question to Tampa Bay Coach on Playing at Ford Field - and His Reaction - Go Viral