Follow heyscan on twitter. Truthfully I would have been perfectly content with the organic drama that comes with any Padres vs. Dodgers contest, Cactus League play or not. First you have the strong rivalry bordering on hatred hovering over every contest like a tornado storm gathering itself with the possibility of a funnel cloud touching down on any play or pitch.
Add to that Matt Kemp facing his old club for the first time, as well as former Padres and Dodgers executives now pledging allegiance to the other side while commingling in the scout area behind home plate, and the stage was already set for a fun night at the ballpark. As luck would have it the game sped along at record pace with nary a run scoring for either side for 7 innings.
The anticipation of his arrival had been building, and was now being replaced with concern that he might not make it before the final out. There were a few boos as he was wearing a Giants jersey, which is good way to get bum rushed by Padres and Dodger fan alike!
As he changed in the Padres dugout the crowd stayed on his feet while dozens of cameras and microphones recorded every movement. He emerged from the dugout in a Dodgers uniform and proceeded to the mound, where he threw his warmup tosses with cameras surrounding him, eliciting whoops and cheers for each ball or strike he threw before facing PH Rico Noel. Ferrell then preformed his part of the act by throwing a strike, allowing Noel to bunt the ball back to him perfectly so that he could field it cleanly and record the out of Noel at first.
The crowd loved it! Mattingly had seen enough though, and as he went to the mound to make the change Ferrell showed his displeasure by stomping off the back of the mound and refusing to had over the ball and leave. When he finally left it was to a chorus of boos for lifting him, followed by cheers for the perfect effort.
