Lights out at the Ballpark

So I went to the Ballpark last night with Ashley, and I was excited to see the first-place Texas Rangers in person for the first time since Opening Day. I was also excited to see the Dodgers in person, something that we rarely get to see here in DFW.

And the game started off pretty well. We were really high up, but we were right behind home plate. It was hot, but we had a pretty nice (and very consistent) breeze for all of the hot times. And we were watching a quick and solid game - it was a pitcher's duel / scoreless game through five innings. And it wasn't even 8:30 yet.

But then we heard an odd announcement - that one of the lights at the park had gone out, and that we were going to have a "light delay"

Like I said, it wasn't even 8:30...so there was still sunlight. I could look down at the field and not really notice a difference in the way the field was lighted, but there has to be some kind of major league baseball regulation about the lights working or not.

So ten minutes passed. Then twenty. Thirty. Forty. Fifty. An hour.

And all this time, people are leaving. There wasn't any notification/update on what was going on, and there didn't seem to be any progress. People with kids weren't going to be able to entertain their kids with an empty field, and there really wasn't anything to do but talk and eat overly-expensive ballpark food.

Honestly, I didn't blame them.

A few minutes after we were certain an hour had passed...Chuck Morgan told us that the lights were coming back on. We saw players come back up to warm up and stretch, and we were told that the game would resume at 10pm. At least an hour and a half after the delay had started.

Rain delays I can deal with - usually storms don't just spark up. I expect, when the weather is bad, that I might have to deal with a rain delay. This was different.

And while I kinda understand why they couldn't play with one of the lights out (but only kinda), I don't understand why the players couldn't use the field to stay warm while the delay was going on. They could've been jogging or soft tossing or stretching during the delay...so that we didn't have to wait another fifteen minutes to start the game.

Honestly, it was just a mess. Because of that, both starting pitchers had to leave the game...and it was turned over to the bullpens. The Dodgers quickly took the lead and never lost it...and Ashley and I watched a 2:20 minute game but didn't get home until almost midnight.

Now the Rangers did offer to give the fans that stayed the opportunity to turn in their tickets for free tickets to the July 5 nationally televised game against Tampa. And they seemed to do their best to entertain those who were staying, showing a live game on the JumboTron, having the ball girls throw t-shirts to the crowd, and playing music.

But it was just not a whole lot of fun. In a lot of ways, it ruined the game experience for me. We were cheated out of a great pitchers' game, and it probably had a lot to do with why the Rangers lost that game. And while I'm not really sure what they could've done to entertain us for 90 minutes, it didn't really seem like they were really trying.

All in all, it was nice to see the Rangers live, and it was nice to see the Dodgers. Other than that, it was one of the worst experiences I've ever had at the Ballpark. And, honestly, it really isn't that close.

(And no offense to Ashley, who was good entertainment throughout).

Next time on Crocodile Hunting : Club Tom Thumb

* The above blog was dedicated to a bird that I hit with my car a few minutes ago. We drive by a lot of animals on the road, and we always expect them to get out of the way in time. As I was driving to the store, I saw a bird in the road. It didn't see me coming, and it started to fly away too late. It hit my bumper and flew off awkwardly behind me. I looked back and saw nothing - I have no idea whether it was okay or not. Hopefully it was.