OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Tampa Bay starter David Price is certainly regretting his choice to take a taxi to the Oakland Coliseum on Friday.
With the Bay Bridge closed all weekend, the alternate route ran him a whopping $202 -- and he posted live updates of his frustrating adventure on Twitter during the long journey.
"Hour ride from our hotel in San Fran to Oakland coliseum since the bay bridge is closed...nice timing!! Expensive ride..." Price said, then added, "ha $202 dollar ride today."
On the day he was scheduled to pitch against the A's, too.
Manager Joe Maddon took the team bus, leaving at 2 p.m. and arriving at
the ballpark at 3:45. But Maddon had bargained on a one-hour trip and
left his headphones behind. While he had a fully charged cellphone and
iPad, he opted to use the time planning a cross-country offseason RV
trip.
The Rays headed south on Highway 101, then crossed the San Mateo Bridge
instead, with a short trip up 880 North after that. With it being
Friday, it took even longer.
"Then we went to Salinas, headed over toward Hollister and came back up
somewhere," joked Maddon. "It was pretty severe. People complain about
Southern California, but at least there's more freeway options down
there. There's very few freeway options here."
The Rays were prepared for the traffic jams -- yet still opted to stay
in San Francisco with a three-game weekend series in Oakland.
"We definitely knew," Maddon said. "Listen, I had no problem with it. I kind of enjoyed it. It was very nostalgic."
Yet Maddon wished he had planned a little bit better and brought his headphones along for the ride.
"I had Anchorman loaded up for the trip and I should have done it,"
Maddon said. "I was counting on an hour, so I actually could have
watched an entire movie had I been smart enough."
Maddon says he will ride BART public transit before Saturday night's game with the Athletics.
Price's plan? He said on Twitter: "Don't worry I have a helicopter
rented for tomorrow!! I'll get to the field in an estimated time of 8
minutes 24 seconds."
