Triple-A travel troubles
The El Paso Chihuahuas had a game scheduled against the Tacoma Rainiers Thursday evening.
But the Rainiers ran into some travel issues and the game was postponed.
At Southwest University Stadium the gates open and the crowds rush in.
The crack of the baseball bat rings through the stadium.
That’s what Chihuahuas baseball fans usually expect.
But Thursday night’s postponed game left the stadium with empty seats.
“These kind of things happen when you travel across the country,” said Brad Taylor, manger of the El Paso Chihuahuas.
Taylor told ABC-7 it’s a rare occurrence.
“It’s never happened in my 20 years of minor league baseball. It’s a new one for me, it’s unfortunate for our fans,” said Taylor.
So why did the Tacoma Rainiers have to call the game?
“It’s pretty simple. The Tacoma players got here and their luggage and equipment did not,” said Taylor.
Taylor told ABC-7 it isn’t easy for a team to travel.
“As you can imagine getting teams across the country you’re not traveling one or two people, you’re traveling 30 to 32 people plus 68 bags of personal and baseball equipment,” said Taylor.
And when Taylor says equipment, he means everything.
Helmets, bats, gloves, and even shoes.
If you take a look at the Chihuahuas’ calendar the team is on the road most of the time.
They travel from El Paso to Reno back to El Paso then to Iowa, a stop in Omaha and back to El Paso so travel issues are bound to pop up for any team
But Thursdays postponement didn’t keep the Chihuahua’s from trying to make the game happen.
“We scurried looking at every possible angle from loaning uniforms to equipment but we just didn’t have the right things here to make it happen and pull it off,” said Taylor.
Taylor is hopeful it won’t happen again but it’s something beyond the team’s control.
“Logistically things like this happen,” said Taylor.
Thursday night’s game was rescheduled for Saturday at 12:05 p.m.
Thursday’s tickets are good for Saturday or they can be exchanged for another game later this season.
