The Richmond Flying Squirrels’ 2024 season got off to an earthshaking start on Friday.
San Francisco’s Double-A affiliate opened in Somerset, New Jersey, against the Somerset Patriots, a New York Yankees’ farm team. The Flying Squirrels traveled to Somerset on Thursday in preparation for a Friday evening game. They were in their hotel at 10:23 a.m. Friday when a magnitude 4.8 earthquake struck.
The epicenter was five miles north of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, which is 17 miles from Somerset. No injuries or serious damage was reported in the earthquake’s wake.
“Obviously going to New Jersey, that’s probably the last thing on our minds is expecting an earthquake,” said Dennis Pelfrey, in his third season as Richmond’s manager. “It’s maybe a welcoming thing for the Flying Squirrels showing up in town with this potent offense we’ve got.”
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Pelfrey said he was FaceTiming with his wife when it became apparent something unusual was happening. Pelfrey, who’s staying in a fifth-floor room at the Delta Hotels by Marriott Somerset, said that based on what he heard across the hall, he believes housekeeping staff members may have fallen over their carts.
“Our bus driver talked about being on the first floor and he thought maybe something exploded in the boiler room of the building,” Pelfrey said.
By 12:30 p.m., Pelfrey was at TD Bank Ballpark, preparing for the Richmond players to arrive.
“Everyone definitely felt it. The hotel was definitely shaking,” said Trey Wilson, the radio play-by-play person for the Richmond team and also the organization’s director of communications and broadcasting.
According to Wilson, a few members of the Flying Squirrels’ travel party were in the lobby of the hotel when the earthquake hit.
“They hopped up and ran outside,” Wilson said. “We have some West Coasters who were probably more used to it.”
Wilson described the event as “15 to 20 seconds of rumbling. And then everybody got back to business.”
That included the host team for Friday night’s season-opener. At about 11:30 a.m. Friday, the Somerset Patriots issued an update from their X account:
“Yes, there was an earthquake in New Jersey. Yes, the game is still on.”
The Flying Squirrels’ stay in Somerset lasts through Sunday. They open at The Diamond on Tuesday.
Richmond Flying Squirrels 2023 season in photos