Dodger Stadium

I lived in San Diego for 15 years. From where I lived, Dodger Stadium was ‘just up the road’. In more practical terms, it was about a 3-hour drive if you left before rush hour. I did not attend many games at Dodger. San Diego had an NL club and the Angels were half the drive it was to Chavez Ravine. Additionally, there are a handful of minor league parks that are just as easy to get to. Once every-other year, some friends and I would do the day/night double header with LA and Anaheim. The schedules overlap like this about once per year. I have only been able to accomplish the day/night DH at a few combinations: Dodger/Anaheim, Oakland-Alameda/Candlestick, Comiskey/Miller Park, and Jacobs Field/PNC Park. At the time of writing this, Dodger Stadium is the third oldest active major league park. After Wrigley and Fenway, the next three oldest active MLB parks are all in California [Dodger, Oakland-Alameda, and Anaheim].

Architecturally, the stadium is fairly unremarkable and utilitarian. It seems like the entire park is surrounded by parking lot and a number of car entrances. This makes it relatively easy to drive to and from games, which is impressive as the park is near the intersection of two major freeways. An issue with the surrounding parking lot is the ease with which you can forget where you parked. Not to worry! Since it’s Los Angeles, most fans leave by the 7th inning. From the outside, the stadium is bland and depending on where you park, below you. On the inside, it has a great open feel that you won’t find in any new park. When you sit in the good seats, it’s a great park to watch a game. However, the cheap seats are way out there.

Despite not attending a lot of games at Dodger, one of my fondest baseball memories happened there. It was the end of the 1996 season. The Padres had been in first place for much of the year, but the surging Dodgers had taken first place with a few weeks remaining. It was crunch-time. The Pads were three games behind the Dodgers. They had to sweep the series to win the division. They won the first two games! I had tickets to the final game. About three months earlier I had asked some friends if they wanted to go to see the Padres on the last game of the season. We were in the upper deck on the first base side. This game was superbly played by both sides. The game was a 0-0 tie through nine innings and would be decided in the 11th. Bob Tewksbury got the start for the Padres. Ramon Martinez started for the Dodgers but left after the first inning. Perdo Astacio came in and pitched 6.1 strong innings. Gwynn got the RBI single in the top of the inning off Chan Ho Park to give the Padres the lead. Not Tony Gwynn…Chris Gwynn! Trevor Hoffman came in to close out the Dodgers in order and the amazing come-back was complete. As a group of San Diegans, we were pretty vocal about the win. This was especially sweet since the Dodgers usually beat up on the Padres and there is never a shortage of obnoxious Dodger fans when LA plays in SD. As if that wasn’t enough, the Chargers were playing the Chiefs that afternoon. We brought a portable TV with us and watched the Bolts win just a few minutes after the Pads.

One other memorable game I’d like to mention briefly. An old roommate knew someone associated with the Colorado Rockies. Through this vague connection we got tickets in the visiting player’s wives section for three games [single game first day, double header second day]. Good seats behind home plate in the loge level. During one of the games there was a woman with two children sitting one row in front and a few seats over from us. The section was mostly empty which was nice for her since one of the kids was a toddler and the other must have been 5 or 6 years old. On the field, Vinny Castilla gets on first base. On the next pitch he takes off for second! The 5 [or 6] year old yells, “Run Daddy!” The mother was apparently concerned that people would know that these were Castilla’s children and she told her son to be quiet. The movie ‘The Fan’ with DeNiro and Snipes was still in theaters and I was tempted to lean forward and ask her if she had seen it yet. But I resisted.

August 1996

Over the years I was able to see a number of good players at Dodger. For the home team Brett Butler, Eric Karros, Raul Mondesi, Mike Piazza, Gary Sheffield, Devon White, Kevin Brown, Shawn Green, and Eric Gagne. For visiting teams, I saw Tony Gwynn, Steve Finley, Ken Caminiti [as a Padre and an Astro], Randy Johnson [in a complete game 12K outing], Tony Womack, Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Barry Larkin, Sean Casey, Adam Dunn, Craig Biggio, and Jeff Bagwell.

August 2014

A quick note about the food: a Dodger Dog is just a hot dog. Nothing special about it. Dodger has standard ballpark fare, but Los Angeles has great food. If you’re visiting from out of town, I highly recommend any of the drive-thru Mexican restaurants. Doesn’t matter which one, the menus are all the same, and the food is cheap and tasty! Get yourself a burrito and some rolled tacos and eat them in the parking lot. In Southern California you know the weather’s going to be nice outside!

Update 07/08/2011: I attended SABR 41 this year and was able to catch a Dodger and Angels game. For this season, neither team is expected to contend for the division title. LA is a mess with the owners going through a messy divorce. But this is the Padres against the Dodgers. This was a great game to watch for a baseball fan. Both starting pitchers had fantastic starts. Mat Latos for the Pads went 7-1/3 giving up7 hits & walks and 1 run in the 8th. Chad Billingsly was a little better going 8 innings, 9 hits and walks, and no runs. After the lone run scored in the 8th for LA, they brought in Javy Guerra who gives up a leadoff double to Cameron Maybin, and hits the next two batters on consecutive pitches. Mattingly visits the mound and decides to leave Guerra in the game. He responds by striking out the next two batters and getting the final out on a line drive to center.