The Diamondbacks didn’t pick a particularly good year to make the NLCS. (Not that I am complaining). The area in and around Chase Field (nee Bank One Ballpark) is torn up to make way for a rather useless light rail system that will serve a very small portion of The Valley’s growing population. Well, a story for another day. Because the powers that be at MLB and WTBS decided to have the game at 7 p.m. local time on a Friday (instead of 1 p.m. as originally scheduled), getting to the stadium was a logistical nightmare for most folks. Given few, if any people, live within walking distance of Chase Field (unless you are staying at the Hyatt or work at the Arizona Republic), it’s a drive and park gambit.

In order to avoid Friday afternoon rush hour traffic and the construction mess near Chase Field, we left our house at 4:30, almost three hours before the National Anthem. It was the optimal window to snake our way through the traffic and scoot around the mess that is a series of single-lane streets by Chase Field. So, we were at the Park a few hours before first pitch. We were not the only ones, by the way. We heard others mention the same issue with the traffic and construction.

And, as fate would have it, the Dbacks lost in 11 innings, more than four hours after the game started.