Cleats on the Ground – WBC (DR v PR)

My best friend and I decided a while back that we wanted to go to all of the World Baseball Classic games at Petco Park. We’re local-ish so it makes it a bit easier.

His inlaws have a loft downtown about a block from Petco that we are able to utilize for pregaming. After having a few beers and some food, we headed to the game. We ran into another friend of mine outside the stadium. He recognized me in my Aztec gear a half block away. He was decked out in Puerto Rican gear but when he went through security, they made him take the stick off his little flag for some reason. He is the only one I saw this happen to.

My buddy chose some very nice seats for our week at the park.

These two teams are loaded with major leaguers.

Our section was decidedly Puerto Rican for the first game.IMG_6556 These guys got to keep the sticks for their flag.

Good plays were accompanied by some percussionists.

Replay for a Carlos Gomez home run we all thought would be overturned, was not.

Replay on the “big ass” screen showed us that the guy seemed to reach over the wall to grab the ball. The Puerto Rican fans were not happy about this.

More baseball stuff happened.

The Pad Squad, um, WBC squad, were posted up in front of us for the 5th inning. One of them decided she liked the song being played and danced a bit. We were not upset. At the end of the 5th, they threw out tshirts to fans. We chatted them up long enough to get one thrown to us. It was a small. My wife will be getting that one.

The Dominican manager was thrown out for arguing balls and strikes during Carlos Santana’s 8th inning at bat.

Puerto Rico held on to win.

Very fun atmosphere. Just hope US-Venezuela is half as fun.

Other things of note:

I saw jerseys/hats/attire of the following teams: Mariners. Royals. Dodgers. Padres (brown/yellow and blue/white). Astros. Red Sox. Expos. Mets. Marlins. Orioles. Cardinals. Giants. Cubs. Yankees. 2016 American and National All Star. 2006 WBC Puerto Rico.

Beers consumed: Stone Go To IPA, Founders All Day IPA, Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale, 2 Bud Light (25oz), 10 Barrel Pub Ale.