The San Francisco Seals moved from old Recreation Park to new Ewing Field in 1914 and the modern stadium was the talk of the town.
Then the season started, and the excitement, along with the pop-ups, disappeared. Ewing Field was built in a spot with nightly dense fog and balls were constantly lost in the murky weather.
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Oakland's Elmer Zachar vanished because of the vapor. He was immersed in left field fog during a 1914 game and didn’t realize an inning ended. The Haight Ashbury Newspaper reported Zachar couldn't see his teammates leave the field after San Francisco’s third out.
Oakland’s mascot eventually navigated through the haze and told Zachar the inning was over.
The Seals returned to their old ballpark, despite spending $100,000 on the new one, because of the omnipresent fog.
Tim Hagerty is the radio play-by-play broadcaster for the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas, and is on Twitter at @MinorsTeamNames. He is also the author of "Root For The Home Team: Minor League Baseball's Most Off-The-Wall Names."