I had never seen fans parade through a stadium, let alone fans “celebrating” down 8-0 in the 8th, until the WBC Championship Game at Dodger Stadium.
To Puerto Rico’s fans, I tip my cap to you.
I’m sure you have been to a MLB game before and experienced the “professional” atmosphere that comes with it. Sitting at the WBC Championship was a breath of fresh air for someone like me who had never experienced a game outside the US. The championship was one of the best games I’ve ever been to and I’ll tell you about the experience the best way I know how: a story.
3:58PM – I wrap up my last meeting of the day (I was out in CA for a business trip) and call up my good friend Austin. Austin is a friend from college and a die-hard Red Sox fan. In 2013 when his Red Sox played my Cardinals in the World Series, we made the trip back to St. Louis for Game 3 (the Cards would win on a walk-off, giving me bragging rights… but only for that night unfortunately, as Boston would go on to win the series).
4:12PM– Meet at Austin’s place in Santa Monica. We debate on taking an Uber to the game (it will take us over an hour and a half to go 15 miles… LA in a nutshell) or drive my rental car so I can head to my AirBnB right after the game. We decide on Uber, and it might have been our best decision of the night (more on this soon).
4:24PM– Our Uber arrives, we hop in and we are off to Dodger Stadium. Things are moving quickly until we hit that dreaded LA Freeway.
4:56PM– Still sitting on the Freeway… Now to our Uber driver and the MVP of our trip: Yutaka. Yutaka picks us up and notices that we are heading to the game. He is a huge baseball fan and was crushed at the semi-final loss his home country of Japan suffered to the USA. He knows every Japanese player in the major leagues and their respective teams. His favorite player comes as no surprise to us: Ichiro Suzuki.
5:11PM– More from our legendary Uber driver… Turns out he has been driving for a living for a long time. He tells us a story about how he picked up Dr. Dre and Eminem at LAX back before they made it big. They asked him to borrow $20 for McDonald’s and spent all the money on food. To this day, Dr. Dre has not paid back Yutaka. To borrow his words, “a billionaire owes me $20…” Yutaka also said with interest owed on the money Dr. Dre borrowed he is now technically a billionaire as well.
5:34PM– We finally get off the freeway and this is where Yutaka really earns his 5-star rating (truthfully, he picked that up very early in our trip). He realizes that the game starts in 25 minutes and starts freaking out. He is driving 50mph on backroads in his Prius, weaving in and out of rush hour LA traffic to get us to the game. I’m dead serious, he was 10 times as concerned about us not making the game on-time as we were. Here we have a die-hard Japanese fan putting his career on the line so some fans of the team that just crushed his dreams can get to the game. Yutaka, if somehow you ever read this: thank you, and Austin is writing a great letter on your behalf to Uber.
5:50PM – Yutaka loses momentum and we are trapped about a mile from the stadium. There are about 1,000 cars going in one direction with 2 lanes to do it – not a good recipe. We are debating getting out of the car and running the last mile. After s
ome back and forth, we pull the trigger. We make sure our MVP Uber driver realizes that his superpowers will not work this close to Dodger Stadium, and finish our journey on foot.
5:57PM– Two grown men are running through LA traffic in hopes of making it to Dodger stadium to see the first pitch.
6:04PM– We make it inside the stadium and realize we have plenty of time to spare before the first pitch is thrown to Ian Kinsler, the leadoff hitter for Team USA. First order of business once inside the stadium: grab a beer and an infamous Dodger Dog.
6:16PM– We make the climb up to the Top Deck at Dodger Stadium to find our seats, where the real WBC diehards are sitting. Luckily for us, there are a ton of Puerto Rico fans up there as well. It should be a great final – the last time these two teams played was an exciting game in which Puerto Rico roughed up Team USA’s starter (Marcus Stroman of the Blue Jays) and the US came back late in the game only to lose by 1 run. I must admit, being a die-hard Cardinals fan it feels weird rooting against Yadi.
6:44PM– Stroman has his stuff tonight. I mean the guy brought his A game. I don’t think he could throw a straight fastball if he tried. You can tell the Puerto Rican hitters are overmatched.
7:11PM– Ian Kinsler delivers the first blow of the game, a 2-run shot to left center that is absolutely crushed. Ian threw in a complimentary US-style bat flip (he simply set his bat down and gave an ever-so-subtle fist pump).
7:23PM– I realize that I forgot to pack a sweatshirt or a jacket. Let’s just say the breeze up in the top deck can make it a little chilly. The only WBC option in the team store is a bright orange Netherlands jacket. I seriously debate buying it, but end up just leaving frustrated realizing I’ll be cold the rest of the night. Seriously though, how does the Netherlands have a jacket/hoodie and the US doesn’t?!
8:32PM– The US is starting to pull ahead… but if you were sitting in our section blind-folded you would think Puerto Rico was up 8 runs. We head to get another Dodger Dog (I hate to admit it but it may be my ballpark favorite).
8:44PM– People in our section break one of baseball’s oldest rules: THEY BRING UP MARCUS STROMAN’S NO-HITTER! I mean come on people, if you didn’t already know this, never vocally acknowledge that someone has a no-no going. It’s guaranteed he’ll lose it.
8:46PM– And what’d ya know, the leadoff hitter in the 7th for Puerto Rico, Angel Pagan, ropes a double down the left field line and there goes the no-no. Leyland comes out to relieve Stroman of his duties and the crowd goes wild for him. Stroman gives a subtle look into the Puerto Rico dugout as he walks off the field, payback for his first outing.
9:14PM– This one is all but over as the US maintains a comfortable 6-0 lead. Still, the energy from the Puerto Rican fans is overwhelming. Drums, trumpets, dancing, laughing: these fans are just happy to be at a baseball game. It really put things in perspective for the US fans. Baseball games are supposed to be fun, whether your team is up by 6 runs or down by 6.
9:21PM– The parade starts in section 19. Right behind the Puerto Rican dugout, a line of fans is parading down the stairs, across the section of seats, and back up the stairs on the other side. It looks like a long train, and multiple people are carrying Puerto Rican flags and/or playing a drum or a trumpet. This is something everyone appreciates, even the Puerto Rican players turn around and salute their fans.
9:49PM– The final pitch is thrown, and Arenado fields & throws over to Eric Hosmer and the US are champs! The stadium goes crazy, as if it is finally socially acceptable to cheer wildly now that the game is over. Puerto Rico’s fans seemed confused. Why weren’t they like this the whole game?
10:01PM– We stay to watch Team USA celebrate their WBC victory. Even Puerto Rico is celebrating their silver medal. A ton of great teams were in the tournament, so to have made it this far is a testament to both teams’ talent. It’s cool to see the USA win the whole thing, many people were counting them out due to some of their best players (Trout, Bryant, Betts, and Harper) not playing.
10:06PM– Our Uber back from the stadium is far less eventful than our ride to the game, but we do end up making it back in twenty minutes as opposed to an hour and a half.
Seeing the passion firsthand that many of the players and fans have for baseball is a good reminder why we all love playing and/or watching this beautiful game. Attending the WBC Championship was one of the coolest baseball experiences as a fan in my life; I would highly recommend going to a game in 2021 and seeing for yourself.
The energy and passion the Puerto Rican fans had the entire game is a great lesson for all of us: whether you win or lose, the best part about being at a baseball game…. is being at a baseball game.
