The last time a baseball game was played at Dodger Stadium, it was a wild night.
The players chirp at each other, very well. Fans applaud their team’s players and make fun of the other team’s players, fine. Fans throwing baseballs and drinks at opposing players on the field is not good.
The playoffs return to Dodger Stadium on Friday, with the season on the line for the Dodgers and visiting San Diego Padres.
The Dodgers would like to remind you that the last thing they need is for their own fans, even a handful of them, to engage in behavior so stupid that it excites the Padres or, worse, puts anyone in danger.
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“Support us,” said outfielder Teoscar Hernández. “We don’t need any trouble.”
On Sunday, during the second game of this National League Division Series, play was suspended for approximately 12 minutes.
“Hopefully we don’t have delays like we did,” pitcher Clayton Kershaw said, “but we still want energy, we want atmosphere.”
In the second game, when Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar was the target of flying objects, the umpires did not resume play until what crew chief Dan Bellino called “heightened security.” arrives in left field. Then, when Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. was targeted by flying objects, the umpires did not resume play until security reinforcements arrived in right field.
Similar reinforcements are expected to be stationed in these areas on Friday. The Dodgers declined to comment, saying they do not discuss security planning.
At least one of the Padres was so concerned about a repeat of Sunday’s shenanigans that he suggested the Dodgers not be allowed to host a fifth game in the interest of safety.
‘If I were the commissioner of baseball,’ Padres reliever Jemeriah Estrada told USA Today Monday, “I wouldn’t even allow a Game 5 at their house.”
The current commissioner did not consider moving the game. The commissioner also did not sanction the Padres’ Manny Machado for another incident in Game 2: throwing a baseball in the direction of Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whom Roberts called “disturbing.” Machado said he was throwing an offside ball to the ball boys in the dugout.
Sunday’s game was delayed in the seventh inning, with the Padres leading 4-1. The Padres then drove in six runs over the final two innings, hitting four home runs.
“Yeah,” Tatis said with a smile after the match, “Maybe it got us excited.”
The eyes of the baseball world will be on Dodger Stadium on Friday. No other major championship matches will be played that day. There’s no better spectacle than a winner-takes-all game.
“Anytime you get a game where the winner takes all,” Kershaw said, “whether it’s a division series, a World Series or anything in between, it’s is exciting as a teammate and spectator of this one, it will be a lot of fun to watch.
Hernández said: “It’s going to be fun. Hopefully we can play a clean game. Not like last time.
What would infielder Max Muncy say to Dodgers fans?
“Bring the energy,” Muncy said. “That’s all I’m going to say. Bring energy, but be smart.
“We expect it to be a live atmosphere. So far, the four games in this series have been in an extremely lively atmosphere. At home and here, it’s more than we’ve seen in years past. It was fun.
Learn more: Dodgers show no panic and dominate Padres to force decisive NLDS Game 5
The Dodgers’ social media team promoted this series with this: “They say what they say because they’re not from here.” They don’t like us.
The Padres responded before the first game at Petco Park with this: “WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM. WE ARE STRONGER.
Game 5 at Dodger Stadium should be even louder. The Padres should be prepared.
“I think they’re going to get booed,” Kershaw said, “and I think they’re probably going to enjoy it.”
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This story was originally published in Los Angeles Times.
