Scottsdale Stadium chaos delivers unforgettable spring inning
Only in Old Town: Scottsdale Stadium Game Delivers Fire Alarm, Bizarre Triple Play
If you drove past Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday afternoon and wondered why it sounded like the building was being evacuated, well — it kind of was. The Giants' home Cactus League opener against the Chicago Cubs turned into one of the strangest first innings in spring training memory, and it all happened right here in your backyard.
Four pitches into left-hander Robbie Ray's start, the fire alarm at Scottsdale Stadium started blaring. Lights flashed. A prerecorded message told fans to head for the exits. Some left. Some stood in the concourse doing that awkward shuffle where you're not sure if it's real or not. Meanwhile, the Giants and Cubs stood on the field with no idea what to do next.
The culprit? A fan smoking in a restroom. Not exactly a five-alarm emergency, but enough to rattle Ray and light up the scoreboard in the most literal sense possible. The first-base umpire eventually waved Ray back to the mound to keep pitching — sirens, flashing lights, and confused fans still very much part of the atmosphere.
Things only got stranger from there. After Ray walked two batters, Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki blooped a single into shallow right-center. What followed was a chaotic sequence of throws, tags, and baserunner confusion that somehow ended in a 4-3-6-5 triple play — one that reportedly may be the first in recorded history to start with a base hit. Two Cubs runners ended up on third base at the same time, and when the dust cleared, all three outs had been recorded.
Giants third baseman Matt Chapman summed it up best: it was common sense baseball, executed in the middle of complete bedlam. The Giants went on to win 5-3 and improve to 2-0 on the spring.
Welcome to Cactus League baseball, folks. There is no place quite like it.
Sources: Chico Enterprise-Record | MLB.com | Arizona Republic