THE CROWD FOR the first Port Angeles Lefties home game, many sporting recently purchased blue and orange team gear, streamed through the streets surrounding Civic Field an hour before first pitch.
Fans kept the chatter up in the grandstand and in steady lines for beers on the party deck and the mini-beer garden along the right-field line.
The players looked the part, filling out their home white uniforms with blue pinstripes and cursive Lefties wordmark across the chest.
Kids ran around the play area beyond right field while their parents enjoyed a brief break and a light-on-the-wallet brand of entertainment.
And wood smoke poured out of the pit barbecue and over the infield, an inviting way to hook some new customers — just follow your nose.
Everything in its right place for the first night at the ballpark.
Then the game started, and many people in the stands missed the first pitch, myself included, because of Civic Field’s wonky public address system. What you could hear sounded muddled, like Charlie Brown’s teacher in the Peanut comics.
A fix is on the way, but a little down the road.
Bids for a new system were put out earlier this spring by the city of Port Angeles, and Parks and Recreation Department Director Corey Delikat has stated a new public address system should be installed by late August.
The problem with that is the 30 Lefties games remaining between now and the end of the summer season.
So the team needs to address the public address problem. Not knowing who was pitching, who was batting or what was happening during between-inning promotions stood out as a negative.
And there was no chance to hear walkup music for each Lefty at-bat. Who can forget Seattle Mariner Jay Buhner coming to plate to the sounds of George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” or Ken Griffey Jr.’s good-natured strut to the lyrics of Naughty By Nature’s “Feel Me Flow.”
Holla, if ya hear me, though, indeed.
The Lefties need to take a page out of Wilder Baseball Club’s playbook. The long-standing area youth team has traditionally placed two large stereo speakers behind home plate, providing enough amplification to be heard halfway to Hurricane Ridge.
A Facebook post on the team’s page promised improved sound for Monday’s game against Kelowna.
Thank you for listening.
Programs
Programs also weren’t ready for game one, a problem for anybody trying to keep track of who’s on first and what’s on second. It turned out “I Don’t Know” was playing more than just third base.
A one-page sheet with the team roster, full names and numbers would be a big improvement.
Let’s find out who these kids are.
Lighting
From a fan’s standpoint the lighting was great, as the LED lights installed late last summer provided a big improvement over previous seasons. But the light towers are lower than many other stadiums and players on both teams had trouble fielding high pop flys.
“A little bit of a challenge with the lights,” head coach Zach Miller said.
“They are pretty low, they are bright down here. Some higher-hit baseballs can get hard to see.”
Infield
The playing surface was immaculate, nice work by city crews as always. The problems arose with the dark red field conditioner placed on the basepaths. It hasn’t had time to settle with the pre-exisiting infield dirt, making things tough on infielders.
Routine ground balls were anything but routine. Some balls took funky hops on the new dirt and some passed through without a problem.
“We topped 15 tons of the field conditioner on the basepaths, so the infield was definitely choppy,” Miller said.
“Taylor Adams slid in there at second and was called out on one play. The crowd disagreed with the call but I was at third base and he was about a foot short and it was because he had slid into that deep powder near the bag. But that will mix in with the dirt and we will be fine.”
Fixing the sound problem is the biggest issue. The other are minor in scope and should improve as the players gain familiarity with their new facility.
And the Civic Field fans were certainly friendly. Eat your heart out, Wrigley Field.
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Sports reporter Michael Carman can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or mcarman@peninsuladailynews.com.
