Braves stadium falls at Tides game-Literally
From Rich Radford of the Virginian-Pilot:
With two exhausted mediocre baseball teams playing at The Diamond Sunday afternoon, the bizarre suddenly took center stage. A chunk of concrete slightly larger than a football fell approximately 75 feet from the upper rafters of the 18-year-old facility, shattering into a dozen pieces when it hit an unoccupied reserved seat in the upper deck, bending the backrest of the seat 2 inches downward.
Dan Garcia was playing second base in the bottom of the second inning of the regularly scheduled game between the visiting Norfolk Tides and the host Richmond Braves when it happened. “I thought some kid had shot off an M-80” firecracker, Garcia said. “That’s a sign of something. Like maybe they need to build a new stadium.”
Told that there is an $18.5 million renovation slated to begin after the 2004 season, Garcia had one question: “Why not the middle of 2003?”
Police immediately cleared the section of seats, marking it and three other sections with yellow tape to keep fans out. About half of the approximately 2,000 fans in the upper deck either left the park or found seating in the lower deck.
“To the best of my knowledge, that’s the first time,” a piece of concrete has fallen from the support beams of the facility, said Richmond Braves general manager Bruce Baldwin. “I truly believe this is an isolated incident. We’ll know better” today. Baldwin said a crew of engineers would thoroughly inspect the facility. The Braves and Tides are scheduled to play at 7 tonight and Tuesday.
Just before the concrete chunk fell, a huge windstorm sent papers and debris swirling throughout the facility and onto the playing field.
Then — boom.
“I doubt the wind did that,” Baldwin said. “Maybe it’s all the rain we’ve had, but I don’t know.” Prior to the excitement, the Tides won a rain-suspended game 5-4 in 13 innings when Jorge Velandia singled up the middle to drive in Russ Johnson with the winning run. After playing four innings to complete the first game, the Tides and Braves decided to play another extra-inning game. This time, Norfolk won 8-6 when Kenny Kelly, acquired from the Seattle Mariners organization last week in a trade for New York Mets infielder Rey Sanchez, walloped a two-run home run in the top of the 10th. While Kelly savored his game-winning homer, saying he needed it to impress his new coaching staff, he was dumbfounded by the events in the stands.
“They already had safety issues in the outfield,” Kelly said, making note of a soggy and poorly draining playing surface. “Now they’ve got them in the stands.”
The pair of victories left Norfolk (54-61) 3½ games ahead of International League South Division cellar-dweller Richmond (51-65). Only Indianapolis entered Sunday with a worse record than these two teams. “It had been a long day,” said Kelly, a former quarterback at the University of Miami. “I didn’t want them to have to turn the lights on for us to finish.”
Notes: Tides OF Matt Watson hit his team-leading 11th home run Sunday and drove in four runs in the regularly scheduled game. ... The Tides will start RHP Jason Middlebrook (6-7, 4.32) while Richmond will start LHP Sam McConnell (5-2, 2.75). ... Tides OF Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who fouled a pitch off his left kneecap in Charlotte last week, is listed as day-to-day.
Norfolk Mets Fan!
USA
Posts: 358
(8/5/03 9:31 pm) Reply
Braves stadium falls at Tides game-Literally
I was listening when that happened and heard the cinder block fall. Holy crud it was loud! They really need a new stadium, for their sake and for the fan's sake. For their sake, they'd be sued for millions if the brick hit anyone, and for the fans' sake...well...I'm no expert, but I'm not sure how easy it is to live through having a large cinder block loged through ones' back.
Norfolk Mets Fan!
USA
Posts: 359
(8/5/03 10:05 pm) Reply
Re: Braves stadium falls at Tides game-Literally
Btw, I'm going to a Tides game tomorrow (8/6). I'll post about it. Piazza won't be here until Thusday but I'll be sure to see one of those games. Oh, and I'm gonna try keeping score myself again...wish me luck...
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