Fuck no I didn't leave early.
Wasn't thrilled about having a tired 8-year-old pot committed to seeing the game through, but I still couldn't even think of leaving early.
Ben actually has something important to do in the morning at 9:15am, so this wasn't the best timing. His mom was concerned that the game would run late, and he'd be tired the next day. I told her, "The game starts at 5pm. Even if it were to run a little long, it's still going to be over by 9."
When she pointed out that last week's game I attended was 13 innings, I responded, "That was a fluke. It was the second longest NLCS game in history. It was one of only two games I've ever attended in my life which ran over 10 innings. Almost no chance that happens again."
Oops.
What a weird game.
Lots of bad calls by the home plate umpire, which fortunately benefited the Dodgers for the most part. Was pretty sure Muncy went around in the 13th inning, but they ruled it a no swing, and he went to 1st, and scored the tying run.
Was very surprised Maeda got out of trouble after allowing 1st and 2nd with nobody out, when he couldn't throw strikes.
Walker Buehler was excellent, but sadly it felt like he pitched in a different year by the time the game was over. Buehler went 7 shutout innings, but the game continued for 11 more after he was gone.
Eovaldi, a former Dodger who was crap back then, was excellent in long relief for the Red Sox. He ended up taking the loss, but this should really boost his profile and value going forward.
Muncy's first almost HR in the 15th (I think it was the 15th) was foul by a very small margin. The margin was so small that the stadium burst into celebration of a walkoff, only to realize several seconds later that it was foul. I was on that side of the stadium on the field level, so I got a clear view of it, and knew 100% it was foul. Oddly most of the people around me believed it to be fair and were celebrating, but I never thought for a second it was out. The HR he cranked out in the 18th was a gonner for sure when it left the bat.
I feel they're making a big mistake when they don't start Muncy. He is very slow on the basepaths, he strikes out a lot, and his defense isn't particularly good, but he hits lots of HR, doesn't seem intimidated by the big moment, and can also take walks even when he's not hitting. He also hits both lefties and righties well, so why he sits on the bench for some of these games perplexes me. He did start this game.
It felt at times that the game would never end.
Benjamin woke up at 6:30am, and started to feel tired as the 9th inning came to a close. Keep in mind that he's an 8-year-old, and needs more sleep than you and I. (Kids his age tend to sleep 10 hours per night on average.) He was enjoying the game very much until the tiredness set in at the extra inning mark. Then he was kinda cranky from the 10th through 12th, and it was made worse because people kept standing, so he was left with the choice of standing for a lot of the inning when he was feeling exhausted. By the 13th, he was super tired, and dozed off in his seat. He didn't see either run score in the top or bottom of that inning. He woke up to the crowd loudly cheering the tying run scoring, but he got to see the Dodgers failing to do more. He was again groggy in the top of the 14th, but then they announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the 14th inning stretch!"
He suddenly perked up, and thought that a 14th inning stretch was the funniest thing ever. The tiredness vanished, and he officially had a second wind.
He was suddenly very into the game from the bottom of the 14th through the bottom of the 17th. He started to lose energy in the 18th, and by the bottom of the 18th, he was exhausted again. I got his attention just as I saw the ball leave Muncy's bat, and he got to see the ball go over the wall for the walkoff.
He perked up again and was very excited the Dodgers won.
He was also excited that he had attended the longest game in World Series history, and the longest game (in time) ever played in the 57-season history of Dodger Stadium,
The game was 7 hours and 20 minutes -- essentially the equivalent of 2.5 games in time, and the equivalent of 2 games in innings.
The seats I got were excellent. Since MLB mandated a foul fence stretching from 1B to 3B, I have stopped sitting in that area. I tried it once in May, and it was awful. Now I seek to sit to the side of the foul fence, on either the 1B or 3B side. I left home without tickets, but was refreshing Stubhub like a maniac. Someone decided to sell aisle 34, row G tickets for $606 each (out the door, after fees), which was a huge bargain. These were pretty much exactly where I wanted them to be -- on the field level, 1B side, near the front (7th row), and enough to the side of the foul fence to where it did not obstruct our view at all.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DqecWVXWkAAd-uf.jpg:large
Still wasn't thrilled paying $1213 for 2 tickets, plus $40 for lol parking, but this was the World Series, and the seats were just so damn good for such a low-for-the-World-Series price, I just had to.
I was initially targeting second level tickets on the 1B side for about $500 each, but when I saw these pop up, I had to grab them.
Interestingly, this game sold so poorly that Stubhub did two unusual things:
1) They gave out a 10% off code to everyone, which came directly out of their fees. Since their fees are 23%, that ate almost half of the fees they collected for everyone who bought during that time (about 24 hours prior to game time, up until the first pitch), except for those who didn't notice the code was being given out (though they made it pretty prominent). This saved me over $130. Tickets would have been over $670 each otherwise.
2) I got an e-mail from a Stubhub rep (before I bought anything) asking if I needed any help, and if I could tell him my price range and desired location. I ignored it. But LOL at how desperate they were to get these sold.
How much of a bargain did I get?
Prior to the Dodgers losing game 2, the worst seat in the park cost more than what I paid for these excellent seats.
Even those who bought on game day didn't do as well as I did unless they literally waited until about 90 minutes before game time.
Some friends of mine paid about $400 for their seats (earlier in the day), and basically got shit locations. I really am good at Jewing Stubhub/Barrys Tickets for the best possible deal. I know the stadium super well (so I know the good seats to look for, which many don't), and I know how to recognize the pricing increase/decrease patterns.
The Dodgers win every single postseason game I attend. It's an amazing streak. 3-0 this year, plus 2-0 last year, 1-0 in 2016, 1-0 in 2015, 1-0 in 2014, 2-0 in 2013. That's 10-0 in the 2010s. I do think they lost one in 2009 when I went to a Dodgers/Phillies NLCS game, though they won the NLDS I attended that year.
This will be the last game I attend in 2018. As fun as this was, my Jew wallet has been thinned enough, and 18 innings was quite enough live baseball for me in one weekend. I will watch the other two on TV, as well as (hopefully) the remaining ones in Boston.
As the game completed at 3:30am EDT, I expect many New Englanders to be walking around groggy in the morning.
I'm sure I won't experience another game like this in my life. I've only attended 3 long games in my life -- this 18-inning one, last week's 13 inning walkoff against Milwaukee, and a 14-inning regular season loss in 1986 against the Mets.
There may not be another game longer than this one (in innings or time) in the World Series for the rest of my life.
My throat hurts from all the cheering. Baseball and LPR don't mix well.
Goodnight.
