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A day of firsts at new ballpark

Posted on 02.21.09
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For the sake of posterity, let the record show the following firsts for Carolina Stadium:

First P.A. Announcement

Coming at 1:17 p.m., Matt Younginger welcomed fans to Carolina Stadium, then proceeded like a normal game, mentioning the team, then going to advertisements.

First national anthem

The introduction for Darius Rocker, touting his history with Hootie and the Blowfish and switch to country, took nearly as long for him to sing it.

First batter

Duquesne’s Bill Torre, a senior from South Park, Pa. And no, he is not Joe Torre’s son.

First non-ceremonial pitch

South Carolina’s Sam Dyson delivered it to Torre at 2:03 p.m. Torre foul-tipped Dyson’s fastball into the mitt of USC catcher Justin Dalles. The ball was then taken out of the game. Torre eventually struck out.

First home run

USC’s DeAngelo Mack two-run shot in the bottom of the third inning. He belted a 1-0 pitch to dead center. It hit about 30 feet high off the green batter’s eye, with Duquesne’s center fielder catching the ball off the carom. Mack received a standing ovation when he took his left field position for the top of the fifth.

First fan to get a souvenir

Torre fouled the third pitch into the right-field stands. Whoever ended up with the ball had the option of holding on to it, or exchanging it for a $15 gift card to McAlister’s Deli.

First ball in play

After Duquesne’s first two batters struck out, designated hitter Rick Devereaux grounded a ball to USC shortstop Bobby Haney, who handled it cleanly and threw to Jeffrey Jones for the putout.

First baserunner

Whit Merrifield, batting second in the bottom of the first, reached on a four-pitch walks. As Merrifield jogged to first, the P.A. system played Neil Armstrong’s “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” line. On the very next pitch, Merrifield recorded the stadium’s first stolen base.

First run

Also scored by Merrifield, who came across on a two-out single to left-center by cleanup hitter Parker Bangs, who was credited with the stadium’s first RBI.

First semi-confusing moment

In the top of the second Duquesne’s Andrew Heck tried to steal second, and Dalles’ throw was a bit late. It took a few seconds for everyone to realize that batter Chris Happ had actually struck out, ending the inning, so the whole thing was unnecessary.

First “YMCA” playing

The Village People classic, a staple of baseball stadiums since the 1970s, was introduced to Carolina Stadium before the bottom of the second.

First massive boo

In the bottom of the second, when Duquesne left fielder Happ threw a foul ball into his dugout, rather than toss it into the stands. That robbed some unlucky fan of a $15 deli gift card.

First video glitch

Between halves of the third inning, for a trivia question, a fan was asked what relief pitcher Jordan Propst cannot live on the road without. The audio went dead during Propst’s answer, which was his roommate.

First wave

At 4:05 p.m., during the top of the sixth inning. It started with the fans in the left field bleachers, but didn’t gain much traction as it went through the rest of the park. It was a good omen for those who see the wave an antiquated parody of itself.

First error

Charged to Duquesne’s Torre, after he couldn’t haul in Jackie Bradley Jr. liner to lead off the bottom of second.

First mass exodus

After the final out of the sixth inning, as a number of fans apparently decided to beat the traffic.

— Seth Emerson

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