Coliseum Light Malfunction Delays A's Game For Nearly 2 Hours
OAKLAND (CBS SF/AP) -- The start of Tuesday's A's game against the Cincinnati Reds was delayed for nearly two hours after a lighting malfunction at the Oakland Coliseum.
The A's announced 15 minutes before the 7:07 p.m. scheduled start Tuesday that the game would not begin on time. A bank of lights above the upper deck in left field was only partially lit.
More than an hour later, the team said the game would begin at 8:45 p.m.
The wait is over...
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) May 8, 2019
Let's do this! #PlayBall pic.twitter.com/jaWqst3maa
It's the second straight game that the Reds have been delayed. Their game against the San Francisco Giants on Monday in Cincinnati was halted briefly due to a swarm of bees.
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During the delay at the Coliseum, which is 53 years old, two workers climbed a fence leaning against the railing along the outer rim of the stadium to get to the lights and spent nearly 20 minutes attempting to fix the situation with no success.
A's President Dave Kaval walked out to left field at one point and led a meeting behind home plate that included two umpires, general manager David Forst, Oakland manager Bob Melvin and Reds manager David Bell.
Shortly after the meeting ended, A's pitcher Mike Fiers walked out to the bullpen near left field to begin his pregame warmups with the lights still malfunctioning.
Tuesday's light malfunction brings back memories of prior issues at the Oakland Coliseum. In 2015, photos popped up of paper Pepsi cups taped to the ceiling, presumably to plug leaks during a Raiders and Chiefs game.
WATCH: (2015) Pepsi Cups Taped To Oakland Coliseum Ceiling To Plug Leaks
When those photos surfaced, Chris Dobbins of the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority called them "unfortunate" and said there was no sign of a leak. "Taking shots of the Pepsi cups--it looks funny, it doesn't look great for us, but there's not a bigger issue. Fans should still come out," said Dobbins.
Besides the cups in 2015 and the lights going out on Tuesday, the Coliseum bathrooms in the past were also known to overflow with sewage.
"These are, unfortunately, by-products of older stadiums, they're going to have these kind of issues. And if there's an issue, we clean it, fix it, move on," Dobbins said.
© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.