A night to remember in more ways than one

Yesterday marked two years since the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart. April 9, 2009 was a day that we will never forget. Two years later Matt Palmer would take the mound for the Angels to face the Toronto Blue Jays. In many ways, Palmer’s start was somewhat fitting; for it was he who was added to the rotation in 2009 to take Adenhart’s spot.

Palmer didn’t fare well; however, the night would prove to be memorable for all the right reasons as the Angels would prevail in fourteen innings to beat the Blue Jays 6-5 in walk-off fashion.

You know winning a ball game in walk off fashion is one of the most exciting ways a team can win. That obviously only happens in the bottom of the 9th or in extra innings; which begs the question – why did so many Angel fans leave last night?

The evening started off with more than 43,000 fans, but as the night grew longer and the air turned colder thousands of them left and when Peter Bourjos doubled with two outs in the bottom of the fourteenth only a few thousands remained. Those that left missed Maicer Izturis' hit to right field that sent Peter Bourjos racing home to beat Jose Bautista’s throw to the plate for the winning run.

Baseball doesn’t get any better than that.

Sure you can watch it on television and even see the highlights, but nothing beats seeing it live. So again, I can’t understand why so many fans decided to leave early. It was a Saturday night for goodness sake. Even my mother-in-law who is a grandmother (she wouldn't like it much if I told you her age) managed to stay for the whole enchilada.

We even met a nice family from West Virginia who was attending their first baseball game ever and they too stayed till the end.

The family is part of “Families on the Road.” They weren’t leaving until one team or the other won. These brand new baseball fans had the right attitude.

All I’m saying is that when you leave a game early, when outcome is still in question you risk missing one of the great moments in sport.

Was it worth staying for five hours and three minutes in the cold? No doubt about it.