Mookie Betts wasn’t too sure what to do Tuesday night after he hit a ball over the left field wall in the first inning — circle the bases or head back to the dugout.
San Diego’s Dan Vincent knew exactly what to do.
While Betts was determining whether he had homered, or Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar playing with him again, Vincent looked for someone to take the ball off his hands.
Moments earlier, Vincent had heard a loud crack of bat meeting ball.
“I’m watching it and I’m like, ‘Bro, we’ve got a play on this.’ ” Vincent said to his buddy. “It clipped right off the edge of (Profar’s) glove.”
And right into Vincent’s lap.
It was about as welcome as a uranium pellet.
“I had no desire to keep it,” he said. “It doesn’t mean anything to me, honestly. No value to me, and I’d rather have somebody have it who cared about it.”
He heard some fans in the left-field stands yelling “Throw it back” while others shouted “Don’t throw it back.”
“I never, ever once thought about throwing it back onto the field,” Vincent said. “I know that’s not the right move. … I would rather have it go to a Dodger fan versus throwing it back.”
He told a Padres usher, “I’d like to find a Mookie Betts fan, a kid wearing a jersey or something. Let’s track somebody down who’d love to have this ball.”
Moments later 11-year-old Freddie Wright of Palm Springs was ushered into the Entertainment Suite located in the left-field corner and was presented with a keepsake any kid would cherish.
“I’m a biggggggg Dodgers fan,” Wright said.
They both smiled during the exchange.
Classy move.
Bearing witness
Poway’s Larry Ott and Ken Rose sat in left field for Game 3 of the NLDS, two nights after traveling to Los Angeles.
They sat in right field at Dodger Stadium for Game 2.
“There are very few things more satisfying,” Ott said, “than to see your team hit six home runs, in a sold-out stadium in the playoffs against the opposing team in their stadium.
And few things more disturbing than seeing fans throw baseballs, beer cans and water bottles toward Padres players on the field and in the bullpen.
“It was crazy,” Rose said. “It was kind of surreal, actually.”
But …
“Other than the fans that did the really bad things, with a few exceptions, everybody treated us with respect in Dodger Stadium,” Ott said. “There was one guy who gave me the finger and another guy who said, ‘F the Padres.’
“But after the game we had several people come over to us, shake our hands and say, ‘Good luck in San Diego.’ So you can’t say all Dodger fans suck. Most of them were very respectful.”
Speaking an hour before first pitch about what had happened and what they hoped would happen, Rose said,“The boos are going to be so loud that (the Dodgers) are going to hear it everywhere. But boos are normal and you want your fans to do that.
“What we hope is the Padres come out and perform like we know they can, and the fans will be behind them just as loud as can be.”
Ott and Rose were doing their part, holding signs that read: “We believe, Mr. Seidler. Go Padres” and “Jurickson Profar. Mr. Relevant. Respect.”
Said Ott: “What we’re hoping for tonight is what everybody else is hoping for, lots of fan noise to our team, no craziness to disrespect the Dodgers or disrespect Major League Baseball.
A voice of reason
Chianne Ybarra of Orange County was sitting behind the Dodgers dugout wearing a Shohei Ohtani jersey:
“I’m hoping whatever happened this past weekend is a one-time thing,” she said. “I think both sides are just looking for a good game.”
Asked if she was embarrassed on behalf of Dodgers fans, Ybarra said, “Once the alcohol starts hitting, there’s those few people, but I think for the most part that’s not who we are as a fan base. We just want to cheer on our boys in blue.
“I think they’ll come back strong. They have the best record in baseball for a reason, despite all their injuries. I think they’ll turn it around.”
Asked if there could be peace in our time among Padres and Dodgers fans, Ybarra said, “I hope so. I just want a good game. Good luck to the Padres. Good luck to the Dodgers.”
Split decision
An Escondido couple sitting in the outfield bleachers stood out from the crowd. Theirs is a house divided. Jorge Maya was wearing a Padres jersey. Kaylee Wolfe was wearing a Dodgers jersey.
“One of us is sleeping on the couch tonight,” Maya said. “Hopefully, she is.”
Signage
A sampling of signs in the stands:
“Profar, we will only throw love at you”
“Slay the Dragon for PS”
“Padres got heart. Peter’s house”
“Gwynn and my dad would be so proud”
“You stay classy San Diego (with Ron Burgundy on it, of course)”
“Manny innocent”
And behind the visitor’s dugout: “Victim Mentality.” (with accompanying toilet-paper package that said “Roberts” on it)
Parting thought
Less than an hour before first pitch, the Padres put out a tweet on X which read: “TicketMaster has been experiencing technical difficulties and some fans have had challenges accessing tickets. We are encouraging all fans to their tickets to their mobile wallet for ease of entry. Thank you for your patience.”
The issue apparently was resolved, although there were more than a few empty seats when the game began.
Don’t ever recall having a problem accessing paper tickets.
