Fog and umps combine to give Bisons a royal screwing

“This gets me one step closer to saying I have seen everything.”
-Torey Lovullo

An exasperated Torey Lovullo struggled to keep his composure tonight after one of the strangest nights ever in Dunn Tire Park history.

For the record, the game is suspended in the bottom of the 9th, with the game tied at 1 and the Bisons batting with 2 outs and nobody on base.

But what happened leading up to this outcome was absolutely outrageous.

The game was played in a persistent fog, with routine fly balls becoming an adventure in the outfield all night long. The postgame fireworks show was cancelled, with fans receiving a free ticket to their choice of games on July 6 or 7 and fireworks on those nights, that’s how bad the conditions were.

But as the game went to the 9th inning, the Bisons nursing a 1-0 lead on Dan Reichert’s great start, the fog got even worse.

The Bisons got the first out on a fly ball to Jason Cooper which was by no means easy. On the next at bat, another towering fly ball ended up being a ground rule double which nobody saw bounce off the warning track and over the fence, another play which would have been an easy out for outfielder Jason Tyner. Following a strikeout, the next batter hits another fly ball which should have ended the game, except outfielder Brad Snyder could not see the ball. Result? RBI… game tied at one.

In the bottom of the 9th, the umpires FINALLY call the game, to a chorus of boos by the huge crowd of fans who came down to the ballpark tonight. It’s a little late for that umps!!!!

“We can’t be any more frustrated right now” said Lovullo. “For about four or five innings we all couldn’t see the balls. Obviously the umpires saw it differently.”

When the umpires convened to call the game in the bottom of the 9th, Lovullo let the umpires hear it… “I was trying to voice my opinion. We were all frustrated. I wanted to continue the inning.”

“It was terrible from the third inning on. Any ball that was put in play could potentially drop” said right fielder Jason Cooper. Cooper repeatedly commented about the unsafe conditions which made things hazardous, especially for the outfielders. And he admitted that the bullpen guys were assisting him in calling out the location of the balls as they flew in the air. “There was really nothing we could do. The conditions were as bad during the middle of the game as they were at the end so why call it at that point? Just frustrating.’

Frustrating indeed.

My partner Jon Splett was covering tonight’s game as well and has his report at the main WNYMedia site so check it out.

UPDATE: I was cursing myself for not having camera in tow, but Ryan at the Goose’s Roost commented here and has his own excellent take on the game, along with plenty of photos.