Diamondbacks aren’t fans of Dodger Stadium’s new flickering LED lights
LOS ANGELES — After playing their first game under Dodger Stadium’s new LED lights, the Diamondbacks sounded as if they might be placing a call to the commissioner’s office to lodge a complaint.
At multiple points on Thursday night, the lights were intentionally flickered at what might have been inopportune times for the Diamondbacks, including once when a play was still happening.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said it could be a topic his club will address with Major League Baseball.
“I wasn’t too pleased about that,” Lovullo said. “It’s the first game for everybody. Hopefully they figure it out. I’ll definitely bring it up with my group here in the front office and just see what they think about doing. I don’t think anything was done maliciously. I just think they hit the wrong button at the wrong time and they need to be better at that.”
On Will Smith’s go-ahead single in the fifth, the lights dimmed as the Diamondbacks’ Jake McCarthy was throwing the ball in from right field.
“They were celebrating a little too early,” Smith said.
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Later in the game, the lights were flickering again while reliever Carlos Vargas was warming up.
“Chalk it up to miscommunication, I guess,” Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker said. “I don’t think anybody is that slimy to try to intentionally mess with things. It happens all the time. Sometimes they play music at the wrong time. It’s probably just a press box thing.”
Though the lights flickered, it never got so dark that players were not visible on the field, but Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen wondered if it was an even playing field.
“Is that scheduled? Is that a thing they’re doing?” he asked. “I haven’t seen that before. I was kind of shocked. I felt like — I don’t know, that doesn’t seem like it would be something that MLB is going to allow. I did notice that. But it is what it is. It seems like you might be at a disadvantage if the ball is coming back to the infield and it’s dark out there. I don’t know. It’s a home crowd, they’re going to do what they can for an advantage. We’ll see what happens with that.”
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Said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts: “I loved them. The lights were amazing. In the middle of a play, we got a little aggressive with the dimmers. But better them than us. The LED, in between (innings) and all that stuff, really good.”
As for the times the lights were flashing during pitching changes, Roberts said, “I guess there’s another advantage to playing at Dodger Stadium.”
The new lights replaced the previous fixtures, which had been in place since 2008, according to reports. The playing field was noticeably brighter than in previous years.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: D-Backs aren’t fans of Dodger Stadium’s new flickering LED lights
