Tuesday, April 14, 2009

At Game Recap: Opening Day

Oh what a game. You all have heard and seen all of the hysteria that went on before and during the game. And, I really don't have that much to add - besides a bunch of pictures. Sax and I arrived early and had to fork over the 15 bucks for parking - actually Sax paid since I drove - thanks Sax! We had to park way out in the far lot, but it was relatively easy to walk in as we were there about a hour and a half early. The place was buzzing. We walked around the outside of the stadium and saw Franky all dressed up working the crowd (actually the high paying crowd as he walked through the gated entrance).

McCourt through the gate.

We had to stop off at the Dodger tent store out in center field. They had some nice mannequins all dressed up in different Dodger jerseys down the center of the store. The place was packed too - buy more than 40 dollars of merchandise and get a free T-shirt. A great plan by McCourt, which of course worked on Sax.

Stiffer than Schmidt's arm

We then got our drinks, dodger dogs, garlic fries and found our seats. We were lucky to get field level seats along the third base side. The real treat of the seats, though, came with the introductions of the players. They all come out from the stands on the first and third base side. And our aisle had Juan Pierre, Mark Loretta, and "Freed" James Loney standing at the top.

Juan chillin' before the introductions.

Mark, Juan, and James ready to brave the crowd.

Am I frowning because I am a bench player or because I don't want these fans to tear my jersey off?

High Five James!!!

A pat on the back for good luck.

Does Slappy ever smile or change his expression? Perhaps too much botox?

I then ran over to the other aisle, but didn't have my camera ready for Brad Ausmus and O-Dogg. I did give high fives to both of them and I tend to think that the fist bump I gave to O-Dogg when he came down was the reason he hit for the cycle (and don't you dare kill my dream). I did get a shot of Juan Castro coming down though - I'm sure that he was happy to be here while DeWitt had to take the plane back to New Mexico.

Juan Castro's crotch.

Go get 'em Juan!

Steiner and Monday were the MC's and did a decent job. Players came out from all over the stadium. Manny of course was the last and came down a Jet Blue ramp from left field (nice advertising Jet Blue - we get you there on time!). Fireworks went off and the crowd went crazy. The armed forces then unveiled the huge flag. One of the sailors lost her hat on the flag - can you see it? The stealth bomber came over the stadium from right field - that thing was HUGE! Then streamers came down from the middle section and doves were released from the field. They all flew in coordinated fashion, but one poor bird got stuck in Diamond Vision (see that white thing in the middle of the screen?). I think he heard that Randy Johnson was pitching and didn't want to get hit with his fastball. The bird eventually freed itself and flew away - phew, that would have been bad PR and a pain in the butt to clean.

Manny setting off the fireworks.

Your 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers (with maybe a starting pitcher added in the middle of the year).

See the hat?

Stealth bomber from right field.

Blue and white streamers.

See the bird?

We all know what a wonderful game this turned out to be so I won't go into that aspect. However the crowd was great, booing the few Giants fans that had to leave after the offensive explosion. This was my first opening day ever and it is one that I will not soon forget. I hope that this is a sign of things to come. Until next game - GO BLUE!

3 comments:

Orel said...

Great stuff, AC. Love the pictures of the players waiting to make their entrances.

Oh, and what's the over/under that we get a commenter named Juan Castro's Crotch?

Steve Sax said...

Upcoming PCS puzzle: Guess The Dodger By His Crotch

Joe Hunter said...

AC, may I have permission to publish your photo on Facebook (yes, I'm actually asking)? I'm the bald Russell Martin on the left in the first giant flag picture.