Trip to Dunedin

I went to two away games during the 2010 season. To Clearwater to see the Threshers which I've already covered, and to Dunedin to see the Blue Jays. The trip to Dunedin almost didn't happen because the weather was horrible that day. The game started at 4pm and it had been raining all day. The trip took a lot longer than I had anticipated because I got lost. Dunedin is a place that Ive never been before and the field was further away than I had thought. I got to the stadium and parked near the road which was a good idea because the stadium is so small that every foul ball that goes back ends up going over the roof and into the parking lot. Tickets were 6 dollars for general admission and parking was free. I went in and sat on the visitors side, really you could sit anywhere its such a small intimate field. The only thing is if you sit in the infield you will have to look through the fence but if you want to be really close and not worry about foul balls then its perfect. it was sprinkling on and off so I sat up under the awning but it was still so close that I wasn't missing out on anything.

The game itself was pretty good. Josh Romanski was the starter in only his second start for Tampa. He actually did really good. Dunedin didn't get a hit until the third inning and was kept off the board until the fifth inning on a solo home run. Tampa scored on a single and stolen base by Myron Leslie and was driven in on a double by Jack Rye.
Things got a little funky in the bottom of the 7th inning. I really wish I could tell you all what happened. Somewhere between a double, a pitching change, a passed ball, a single, a wild pitch, a ground out, a walk and a fielders choice.... Myron Leslie committed an interference. How he committed an interference is really beyond me and all the people around me. It was apparently also beyond the Tampa Yankees manager because he yelled his head off out there trying to figure out what had happened. He ended up getting ejected. Torre Tyson is a volatile person and he certainly walked off the field with a fire.
Honestly I think it all started in the fifth inning when Jose Gil was thrown out at home on a double play ball. Honestly I think it was a blown call by the umpire because the pitcher was standing in the basepath so Gil had to run around him and push him aside to get to homeplate which caused him to not be able to slide into home. Had he been able to reach home plate without an obstacle in his way he would have scored easily. This should have warranted an interference call and Gil argued with the ump as did Tyson but to no avail which is why I think they were so mad about the interference in the 7th inning. The fans behind home plate let Gil have it the whole next inning since he was behind the plate to catch the bottom of that inning.
The rest of the game went pretty smooth, no one else scored until Gil hit his fifth homer of the season over the high right field fence. It was no cheapie and we all stood up and cheered louder than ever because it was kind of a rub it in their faces hit and I think Gil was happy because he had taken a lot of flack since the issue in the fifth inning. If only they could have won because of that home run.

This is oddly the only picture I took inside the stadium, it was sprinkling so I must not have wanted to take my camera out of my bag.


Here is the box score:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t587&gid=2010_08_29_tbyafa_dunafa_1&cid=587&t=g_box

Something I want to note is that as much as I like him, Bradley Suttle is not clutch. I went to many games where he came to the plate with the chance to tie it up or win it with just one hit and he didn't come through. He did hit a walk off home run ending a 14 inning game so I wont hold it against him.

It ended up never really raining so I'm glad I didn't scrap the trip for another time. I ate dinner at Casa Tina in Downtown Dunedin right down the road from the stadium. It was a good meal and was reasonably priced. It was a pretty long drive so I might not make it to Dunedin much next season.