Page 8 - IAV Digital Magazine #447

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
LA Dodgers Game Abandoned After Sewage Lake Forms In Foul Territory
Spring training came to a repul- sive end on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.
The exhibition finale between the Angels and Dodgers was cut short because of a foul-smelling leak that spilled sewage onto the field in the fifth inning.
The game was halted for good after a 32-minute delay in the bot- tom of the fifth, giving the Dodgers a 4-3 victory over
their Los
Angeles rivals. The water-main leak left a brown mess pooling near the Dodgers’ dugout in – appropriately – foul territory as the grounds crew spread a drying agent and worked to clean up.
“I’m not going to
tell you what it really was,” Dodgers outfield- er Andrew Toles said. “That’s messed up. It’s nasty.”
There was defi- nitely an undeni- able stench, according to play- ers. “I thought it was Gatorade or something com- ing from the stands. I don’t know. They said it was the sewer,” Toles said. “I smelled it. It was nasty, man.”
After about 10 minutes of wait- ing on the field, both teams returned to their respective dugouts. Umpire crew chief Gerry Davis announced the delay as offi- cials tried to determine if it was a stadium or city issue.
“Apparently, there was a pipe back- up on two differ- ent levels of the stadium,” Dodgers presi-
dent and CEO Stan Kasten said after the game. “We don’t know exactly where the backup was, or what caused it. It had something to do with a main pipe here, as well as main pipe out- side the stadium.”
Kasten was unsure if the Dodgers would refund fans, but said officials would discuss the situation on Wednesday. Because the los-
ing team had at least five chances to bat, the final score and statis- tics will count as an official game in spring training records. Matt Kemp homered in the fourth to give the Dodgers a 4- 3 lead.
“You can always say you’ve seen everything, but we haven’t seen something like that,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “It’s unfortunate.
We’re all winding down spring train- ing. You want to finish strong. When you had a lake forming around the third base area that wasn’t going to stop, it’s just unfortunate.”
The leak might have reached the coaches’ offices, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wouldn’t confirm or deny that. “I’ll get back to you guys tomorrow,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.”
Both teams open the regular sea- son on Thursday, with the Dodgers hosting the San Francisco Giants and the Angels playing in Oakland, where leaking sewage at the old Coliseum has been a problem several times in recent years.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine