Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Los Angeles Dodgers @ San Francisco Giants (game 1)

This game was extremely strange, and I didn't see much of it, except on television from my hotel room, unfortunately.

A converted DeLorean was being "sailed" around McCovey Cove
As I was queueing for security to get in, the large raindrops started falling and once I was safely inside, the downpour started.  Nevertheless, it eased right off and the radar showed that it should clear up shortly.   After around a 45 minute rain delay, the game finally started.  Unfortunately, this was the game that I had a front row seat on the club deck, which meant it was out in the rain, so I used several napkins to dry it off.  During the national anthem performance, it had started spitting again, and after Curtis Granderson had struck out for the first out of the game, the rain became much heavier and the umpires called the players off and the grounds crew on to cover the infield.

The radar continued to show that the rain was going to clear momentarily.  It eventually did stop ... 2 and a half hours later, after which the umpires inspected the field and discussed the conditions with both managers (as a courtesy, as the decision on whether to play rests solely with the umpiring crew chief) and apparently they also discussed it with officials at MLB headquarters, because by this time it was 10.30pm.  The problem for MLB is that the lack of off-days remaining in the season and that each game is important for Los Angeles in their attempt to finish with the best record in the National League to clinch homefield advantage, so they don't want to unnecessarily disadvantage them by making them play on their (last remaining) off day or in a double-header.

The decision was made that the game would continue at 10.50pm.  Since there'd only been one out, it was like starting the game.  The Giants' originally starter Stratton could not return after such a long break; the Dodgers' starter Kenta Maeda hadn't warmed up to game temperature so was able to play.
According to the ushers near my section, this is the first rain delay the Giants have had at AT&T Park this season.

As it got later and later, messages were put up on the scoreboard about when all the ferries, buses, trains and BART would be stopping running.  My misfortune was that the final BART back to the East Bay where my hotel is departed from downtown San Francisco at 12.20am, so sadly, I had to leave the stadium at 11.45pm at the conclusion of the third inning, with the Giants leading 4-0.  By the time I got back to my hotel, they were playing the fifth inning, where I discovered LA had scored 4 runs in the 4th to tie the game.  The game didn't seem to be on any of the TV channels in my room, but I was able to stream it using my Roku Streaming Stick that I've bought with me.  Once I'd connected it to the hotel wi-fi, I was able to have the HD TV signal on the large television in my room and apart from occasional rebuffering, it worked just fine.

The game finished at 2.11am, with the Giants holding on for an 8-6 victory, that extended LA's losing streak and made the few remaining fans in the stadium happy. 

Once the game had finished, I got a quote from Uber for a journey from the stadium to my hotel to see how much it was, and it would "only" have been around $30.  In the future, I'll know that it's safe to rely on that to get home again if a game really goes late, so I won't have to miss the end, or most of the game!


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