Bee attack, Trahan vacation collide at Petco Park

Ken Trahan's Blog

Greetings from Anaheim! As my "assignment" continues in the "other L.A." a bit of insect repellant would have been helpful in San Diego Thursday.

Houston won the game 7-2. Former New Orleans Zephyr Lance Berkman, the hero of game four of the first-ever Triple A World Series, had a nice game. Berkman belted a pair of doubles, walked twice and drove in a run for the Astros. Geoff Blum blasted a three-run homer against his former team.

Wandy Rodriguez scattered seven hits over seven innings, allowing one run, to get his seventh win. The number "seven" was lucky for a guy waving a virtual magic wand on this day. He somehow managed to escape a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third inning in magical fashion.

Berkman, you may recall, blasted three home runs in the series-clinching game four of the inaugural Triple A World Series in Las Vegas as the Zephyrs defeated Buffalo to claim the crown. Thanks to Lance, Daryle Ward and others, I still have the ring. Even wear it sometimes, when the moment strikes me. I was fortunate to be the Zephyrs' play-by-play voice then. Those were the days!

Back to Petco Park. The place is sparkling. The warehouse suites in left field are fabulous. All seats are angled toward home plate. It is another of the newer downtown ballparks, constructed to help revitalize a previously dying area. The move seems to have worked. All kinds of new construction is going on around the park.

Petco is a pet supplies company based in San Diego. The only pet supply needed on this day was bug spray. Don't think Petco offers this. Back in the 1990's and through 2005 , the Astros became a playoff team, largely thanks to a group of players known as the "Killer B's."

From Craig Biggio to Jeff Bagwell. From Derek Bell to Sean Berry. From Lance Berkman to Brandon Backe. From Chris Burke to, well, you get the picture. The guys with "B's" would frequently sting opponents.

Fortunately on Thursday, no one got stung, at least from what we saw or was reported. In the top of the ninth inning, Padres left fielder Kyle Blanks came walking in urgently from his position. As it turns out, a swarm of bees had infiltrated the area. Fans in that section were asked to move away. The bees fell in love with a blue Padres jacket, vacated by a ball girl who was sitting in the area with a security guard.

The game was delayed for 52 minutes. A bee-keeper was called to Petco Park. It turns out that the guy was on the Padres' front office speed dial. Seems they had this problem back in the late 70's when the team played at what was then known as Jack Murphy Stadium.

When I heard "bee-keeper," my expectation was that a guy with a big glass cage or two would show up. Instead, the guy came armed with a big can of white spray that killed off the bees. Rather quickly. Swept up the debris in the blink of an eye. When it was apparent that he was successful, he took off his head gear and saluted the crowd, receiving applause. Strange stuff. It was 6-1 Houston at the time. The Astros would go on to win 7-2.

At game's end, we made our trek to Anaheim up Interstate 5 North. Traffic was tough. At least there weren't any bees to contend with. A long drive is part of the "assignment," which continues today with an up close examination of mice and ducks here in Anaheim. I don't think Petco sells supplies for either species.

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