Myworld felt a little guilty sipping a Tona at a baseball game in 80 degree weather as my neighbors on the East Coast snuggled in the blizzard of 2010. When I left I joked that it would make me feel better that while I was in Managua that a huge snowstorm would hit the area. My apologies for those on the east coast if that statement made the event come true.
The game was played in Managua at the Dennis Martinez stadium. We parked in the “parking lot” that had room for just 20 or so cars. As I found out later, there were only 200 or so people at the game, so a large parking lot may not be needed. This was an amateur game played between Rivas and Boer. The professional winter league had ended in late January with Leones winning the championship over Granada. While the professional league only has four teams, the amateur league is filled with 14 teams, so there are quite a few more players. Perhaps because this was the amateur season could explain the low attendance. Parking was paid after the game concluded and it cost us 20 cordoba. When you consider that 20 cordoba equals one dollar it was a bargain.
There are really no concessions other than the vendors that walk the aisles and the families that have their stands in front of the bleachers. The seating was comfortable with plenty of leg room, but then we paid 40 cordoba each for our tickets, or the equivalent of $2. It appears that they had torn out a number of rows of seats, so that left plenty of leg room and lots of space for the vendors to pass.
The stadium is in a bit of disrepair. The roof that covers the bleachers has many tiles missing and it is held up by rust and iron. The scoreboard was automated, giving the runs, hits and errors, but don’t expect any video. While there is an announcer, don’t expect to hear anything he says. The person spinning the music over the loudspeakers sat with us in the stands, his turntable hooked to the speakers that hang over the back stop. Don’t expect any foul balls as wire mesh envelops he stadium. This is so the foul balls do not enter the stands. Balls are precious in Nicaragua and when a group of kids tried to run onto the field during batting practice to take some balls the players ran after them.
The only food of any recognizable substance was some pizza that a couple women were selling. Vending looked to be a family affair, with daughters and sons helping their mothers and grandfathers with selling whatever people were willing to buy. I bought some peanut brittle from a girl that was selling sweets. There were other vendors selling things like popcorn, chips, mango pork rinds and fruit baskets. The most annoying vendors were the ones selling the noise makers because they had to blare on the horns every two minutes to grab your attention.
Last night’s game ended in a pitcher’s duel with Boer winning 1-0. Today’s game looked like it would do the same, except this time the Rivas pitcher appeared the more dominant. He didn’t give up his first hit until the fifth inning. Since the scoreboard did not have a lineup and he never batted, my eyes could only see the name Estrella on the uniform. Or at least it looked like Estrella.
Rivas scored the first run in the third inning when leadoff hitter Rodriguez stroked a double into the gap in left centerfield. They made it 2-0 after a 2-out error in the sixth by Boer’s thirdbaseman made it 2-0. Meanwhile, the Rivas pitcher Estrellas was cruising, striking out the side in the sixth in a game he finished with seven strikeouts. In the eighth Boer finally got to him, a Vargas double scoring one run and a seeing eye single up the middle by Holman scoring another. The crowd finally had a reason to get excited and there was a little more excitement in the stadium, with stamping of feet and clapping of hands and the blowing on the noise horns. Of course, that could have been all the Tonas talking and the rally giving fans a reason to shout.
Boer had a good opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but stranded runners on first and third. Vargas hit a tough ground ball to short that was a bit in the hole, but the shortstop Lopez was able to make the play. Rivas then allowed a botched play by leftfielder Hernandez, who allowed a 2-out single that bounced in front of him to skip by him. Jimenez advanced to second on the error and then scored on a Corea single. Hernandez came in the game late as a pinch hitter and struck out. When it came his turn to bat next he was pinch hit for.
Boer made a comeback in the bottom of the tenth with a walk and single putting the first two hitters on. Holman tried to bunt, but it was pushed too hard to the third baseman, who threw to third where the shortstop was covering for the first out. It was up to the Boer 3-4 hitters to do the job. Castro hit a routine fly to right and McCray ground to third and the game ended with Rivas winning 3-2. It was my first game in Nicaragua, but hopefully, it will not be my last.
There didn’t appear to be any major leaguers playing the game today. The hitting was not impressive and it wasn’t the pitching that made them weak. Except for Homan, all the hitters were righthanded. Homan was a switchhitter. The best player may have been the Rivas shortstop Lopez, who made a couple nice defensive plays and took the centerfielder deep in his last at bat. He was intentionally walked in one at bat and hit by pitch in another so there were only two other at bats where he hit the ball, a bad hop single and a grounder to third, so it was difficult to measure his performance offensively.
Myworld will post pictures of the game and the stadium when we return, which will be the day before Valentines day.