When you go to a game, it’s important to know how you are getting there and how you are getting home. Sometimes you want to be able to stay until the end and other times you want to be able to leave early. When you take public transportation to the game, the decision can be made for you.
On Friday night, the Giants hosted the Reds at AT&T Park in San Francisco Giants. The Giants won the game 3-2, in 17 innings, in a game that took 5 hours and 28 minutes, finishing at 12:43 a.m. PT. Before the game, I had received a text from our intern this spring, Rylan, with a picture of AT&T Park making me jealous, saying he was at the game. As soon as the game was over, I texted him, asking if he stayed until the end. I certainly would have, and figured, especially if he was with other people, he may not have stayed to the see the Buster Posey walk off home run.
He texted me back saying he had, because the ferry he took from the other side of the Bay leaves the dock 30 minutes after the last out is made. So if you wanted to be home and in bed by midnight for a game that started at 7:15, you were out of luck. I am sure there were a lot of people that didn’t plan on having the ferry leave the dock at 1:13 a.m. But he you never know how long a baseball game is going to last. The people who rode the ferry were stuck and if it had been me I would have been thrilled. Choosing other public transportation, you might have been forced to go. The BART trains in the Bay Area stop running at 1 a.m., meaning the last train will eave the stadium around 12:30. The T in Boston has a similar schedule. In New York, the subway runs 24 hours, so if you want to stay until the end you are safe there. I would never want to be in a position to miss something great because my transportation turns in to a pumpkin at midnight.
Any one who has ever gone to a game with me is warned that I will stay to the end. July 4, 1985, I stayed through three rain delays and 19 innings to see the Mets beat the Braves. I saw Keith Hernandez hit for the cycle. The fireworks were shot of at 4 a.m. I also stayed for a Mariners/Yankees playoff game in 1995 that went 15 innings and finished around 2 a.m. It ended with a Jim Leyritz walk-off homer, easily one of the most exciting games I’ve ever seen. If you go with me, I’ll stay to the end.
In a season that has been awful for the Giants, staying up until 1:43 a.m. MT to see a walk-off win has been the highlight. Glad I didn’t miss it, even though I was watching on TV. Extra innings are special. You see extraordinary things. I hope they never mess with it by putting runners at second base or having ties. Baseball is meant to be timeless.
