6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog: <i>Aaaahhh!</i> Long Beach State 2, St. Mary's 1

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Saturday, February 05, 2005

Aaaahhh! Long Beach State 2, St. Mary's 1

I had never been to Blair Field before -- no, really -- but as college stadiums go, it's a beauty. It reminds me a little of Hohokam Park, where the Cubs play their spring training games, only a little smaller, with better shade, and, as usual for stadiums of this size, great sightlines wherever you sit. Seats are modern and comfortable, and outfitted with cupholders. The stadium seating has a good pitch, for clean viewing even with tall neighbors in front.

But perhaps Blair Field's resemblance to Hohokam isn't just a coincidence: prior to the arrival of the Dodgers in Los Angeles, Blair Field hosted the Cubs in spring training. More recently, it provided the home field for two independent league ballclubs: the Riptide and the Breakers, both in the defunct Western League. Starting later this year, the Long Beach Armada will call Blair Field home. And lucky pitchers: the park's huge, with foul poles at 348' and dead center at 400'. Combine that with the proximity of the park to the ocean and its cool, dense air, and suddenly the outfield becomes a place where home runs go to find gloves.

So: to the game. We missed the first three innings -- well, nothing happened, anyway, so no matter, but we did get to see some good baseball anyway. Both pitchers put up strong outings, with St. Mary's starter Joel Fountain issuing four hits, four walks, and five strikeouts in seven innings, managing to escape (through dumb luck) a bases-loaded jam in the eighth with only a single run plating. On the Dirtbags' side, starter Cody Evans garnered only one earned run on four hits and three strikeouts.

The winning run? Ah, drama. After making it to double digit innings, the older gentleman sitting two rows ahead of us said, "I know how this will end. They'll get a man to third, and there'll be a squeeze bunt." Sure enough -- a suicide squeeze drove home the game winner. The old fellow was so proud of himself for predicting it!

Of course, the game has its quirks at this level, something I have seen before, and particularly so with the umpiring. From our vantage point -- just fore of the plate, first base side -- in the aforesaid bases-loaded jam, Fountain caught a break when the umpire called a foul ball that tapped the bat, bounced in the dirt and back off the catcher's glove a called third strike. Nobody contested it, and both sides went back to their respective dugouts. In a professional game, that would have drawn the home manager out for a visit with the ump, but nobody at this level seems to take bad calls that seriously.

On the other hand: the Dirtbags made several phenominal plays: Tito Cruz, the catcher, made a spectacular leaping catch of a badly botched bunt, recalling the wonderful catch Paul LoDuca made a couple years ago while sliding into the opposition's dugout. Right fielder Steve Velasco made a beautiful flying grab of a flyball otherwise destined for extra bases. And defensive substitute Evan Longoria made a fine leaping catch himself on a low line drive. Longoria came in for the heavily scouted Troy Tulowitzki, who jammed his hand in the fifth inning; according to Baseball America, Tulo should be the first drafted from the Big West conference.

And, Mastercard style: