From the Bird’s Nest: AT&T Park

We got to the ballpark at 5:00 for our 7:00 game against #20 Cal.  Now, if you know me and have listened to my show at any time, you know I'm no Giants fan.  In fact, as a Dodgers fan, I loathe the Giants.  But I gotta tell ya, AT&T Park is a pretty nice joint.

We got there in the 7th inning of the San Francisco-Santa Barbara game.  Cajuns will play both teams while they're out here.  USF won 3-2, after Long Beach State beat Rice 2-1 earlier in the day.  I visited with the USF announcers after the game.  We had a talk about Jessie Evans, who went to USF when he left the Cajuns and then was fired a couple of years later.  Let's just say he's not popular there and leave it at that.

Nice vantage from my booth, which was at the top of the club level.

Visited with Robe pregame.  We agreed that postgame, given the distance from the booth, wasn't going to happen.

They had a concession stand open, but no garlic fries, which is what this ballpark is famous for.  That was a disappointment. 

So was the outcome of the game.  There was a tough call on a double play in the second inning.  The umpire, I found out after the game, ruled that Tyler Frederick dropped the ball.  Don't know if he did or not.  But the failure to get the call cost the Cajuns and Taylor Hubbell four runs.  Cajuns were down 7-0 before mounting a comeback and falling 7-6.  Cajuns had their chances.  They had first and third with no one out in the second inning, but failed to score.  Then they had the tying run at third with one out in the 8th, but failed to score then as well.  A win over #20 Cal would have been a nice win, but now the Cajuns have to get ready for USCB tomorrow.  Airtime on espn1420 is at 12:30.

Around the sixth inning a flock of seagulls started flying around the park.  They were there for a couple of innings and then there were just a few.  But as soon as the game ended, they invaded.  In a big way.  I thought I was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie.

In the picture, all the dots are birds.

Hopefully Mr. Hitchcock and his birds will vacate for the game tomorrow.