Infield Dirt Deemed Unplayable After Heavy Rainfall This Past Weekend
May 13, 2008 - Eastern League (EL1)
Altoona Curve News Release
ALTOONA- Tuesday's Altoona Curve game at Blair County Ballpark, scheduled for 6:35 p.m. against the Akron Aeros (AA/Cleveland Indians), was postponed because the ballpark's infield dirt area did not properly drain after heavy rains hit the region over the past few days. The game will be made up as part of a 5:05 p.m. doubleheader Wednesday evening at BCB.
Fans holding tickets dated Tuesday, May 13th can exchange their tickets for any 2008 regular season Curve home game of equal or lesser value subject to prior sales and availability. To exchange tickets, fans can visit the Blair County Ballpark Ticket Office or call (877) 99-CURVE.
Out of concern for the safety of the Curve and Aeros' players, the decision was made by Curve management to postpone the contest at approximately 8 p.m. after Curve Sports Turf Manager "Irish" Patrick Coakley and his grounds crew worked feverishly to manicure the infield dirt area in an effort to meet the usual major league playing specifications.
"Unfortunately our infield dirt area endured a tremendous amount of water because of heavy rainfall at the ballpark over the past few days and because that area was not in its usual perfect condition we decided in conjunction with the umpires and coaches from both clubs to be very cautious and postpone tonight's game," said Curve General Manager Todd Parnell. "Our grounds crew worked as hard as possible to make the field playable, but in the end our responsibility to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Indians to provide a safe playing surface for the players was the deciding factor to postpone the contest. Our field is 10 years old and as a result does not have draining capacity of some of the newer fields, the average of which is five to seven years."
Fans who sat through Tuesday's delay were still entertained by a viewing of the Penguins/Flyers Stanley Cup Playoff game on the Blair County Ballpark videoboard, an impromptu team autograph session on the main concourse, and several on-field contests, including a tricycle race between Curve first baseman Jason Delaney and Aeros' catcher Chris Gimenez.
Ballpark gates for Wednesday's doubleheader will open at 4 p.m. Wednesday is Golf Night and fans who present a scorecard from any local course will receive $1 off Grandstand (300 Level) and UPMC Health Plan Home Run Junction (Outfield Bleachers) tickets. In addition, fans can enjoy half-price Curve Burgers all game long courtesy of Atlantic Broadband. Great seats remain for Wednesday's doubleheader and can be purchased in person at the Curve Ticket Office, over the phone by calling (877) 99-CURVE or on-line at AltoonaCurve.com.
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