‘Baseball and the Night Club’: Dodgers’ new LED lights dazzle visiting Diamondbacks players on Opening Day as the home team comes back to win 8-2
New LED lights for the visiting LA Dodgers upset the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday night, as the stadium flashed at various points during the home side’s 8-2 victory.
The team implemented new lights at the stadium over the course of the holiday season for the first time since 1962, and announced the change as something that would bring more entertainment to the site.
But according to the Los Angeles TimesThere were two specific occasions of flashing lights that upset the visitors, Arizona manager Tori Lovolo said.
The lights turned on and off as Will Smith was hitting an RBI single in the fifth inning, and the Diamondbacks’ Carlos Vargas reportedly complained about the lights to the umpires in the eighth inning as he prepared to pitch.
“You can watch baseball and go to a nightclub” with the team’s new lights, Dodgers president Stan Kasten said at FanFest in January, but Lovolo wasn’t a fan.
“I wasn’t happy about it,” he said after the match. “It’s the first match for everyone.
The lights were reportedly flashing on and off after James Ottman’s home run
I hope they figure it out. I will definitely bring it up with my group here at the front office here and just see what they think of doing. I don’t think anything has been done maliciously. I just think they hit the wrong button at the wrong time and they should be better at it.
Zach Gallen also wasn’t happy with the D-Backs pitcher.
‘Is this like scheduled?’ Is this something they do? He said. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen that before. I was somewhat shocked. I mean, it doesn’t look like it would be something MLB would allow. I noticed it.
According to the Times, the light also flashed when the Dodgers’ James Ottman hit a home run.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts even admitted that the lights got a little “aggressive” in the middle of the play, but said he “loved” them overall.
Regardless, the Diamondbacks ended up losing by six runs after taking the lead on first.
The teams will play again in the second game of a four-game series on Friday.
Diamondbacks player Zach Gallen complained about the spotlight after his team lost 8-2
