Chicago Cubs’ Pitcher Edwin Jackson Late For Spring Training After Going To Wrong Stadium

How many of you have been late for an event or missed an event entirely because you got lost? That has happened to a lot of people, and sometimes it is too embarrassing to let people know it happened to you. When you are in the public eye and that happens, it makes news. That’s exactly what happened to Edwin Jackson of the Chicago Cubs recently, according to Bleacher Report. Jackson reportedly missed start of his Major League Baseball spring training against the Oakland Athletics because he ended up at the wrong stadium.

Jackson, who signed a 4-year, $52 million contract with the Chicago Cubs on January 2, 2013, owned up to his mistake. The 31-year-old pitcher admitted that he typed “Oakland Athletics spring training complex” into the Google Maps app on his cell phone. The directions led him to Phoenix Municipal Stadium. However, Oakland no longer plays at that location. The team moved out last spring and now hosts games 5 miles away at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona.

“It was my fault for not looking to see where it was,” Jackson said.

Jackson discovered later that the ballpark is called Phoenix Muni. It is the current base for the Arizona State Sun Devils college team. So Jackson headed to Hohokam, which is the Chicago Cubs’ longtime spring home.

ABC News reported that when Jackson arrived at the right place, it was too late for him to play. It was already the second inning, and he was tagged for eight runs and nine hits in only 1 2-3 innings of a 14-2 loss.

Not that it excuses Jackson for his own error, but he is not the only ballplayer to get lost going to a stadium over the years. For example, a couple of Cincinnati Reds ballplayers ended up at Yankee Stadium when they should have gone to Citi Field to play against the New York Mets. Retired baseball pitcher Roger Clemens had a hard time finding Montreal’s spring training stadium in West Palm Beach, Florida. Back in 1982, Atlanta Braves pitcher Pascual Perez was late to his spring training after spending a couple of hours circling the city because he couldn’t figure out which exit would take him to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

In Jackson’s case, it is not fair to blame the Google Maps app for his mistake. The app took him to where he typed he wanted to go. Perhaps next time, Jackson will double check before putting in the wrong destination.

[Image courtesy of Larry Brown Sports]