Sunday, July 04, 2010

Dodgers' Bats Had Better Provide Fireworks, Since The Stadium Ain't Doing Them Anymore

Hat tip to SoSG regular Dusty Baker for his catch of an LA Times article on fireworks. Buried in the article, which focused on how companies and businesses are saving endangered fireworks shows, was a nice comparison of how the Dodgers and Angels have approached fireworks this 2010 season:

The Los Angeles Dodgers have cut back from 13 Friday fireworks displays to just two this season, said [Jim Souza, president of Pyro Spectaculars Inc., a Rialto firm that's one of the largest fireworks companies in the country].

He said this was at least partly out of consideration for Dodger Stadium's residential neighbors. The Dodgers organization could not be reached for comment.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have not cut back, said Peter Bull, the team's manager of entertainment and production. The team gets money for the displays from corporate sponsor Wells Fargo & Co.

"We were one of the first teams in baseball to hold a fireworks show consistently throughout the season," Bull said. "Our fans expect it maybe a bit more than other teams."

Let's try to interpret these paragraphs:

a) Angels fans are easily excited by flashing lights and noisy sounds. (Case in point.) But, to the team's credit, they've found corporate sponsors to subsidize fireworks events.

b) Dodgers fans shouldn't complain about having 85% fewer opportunities to catch fireworks at the Stadium. It's about the surrounding residents (since Anaheim has none of those, right?), or perhaps the Dodgers just might be cheap.

c) All of the above.

4 comments:

Kyle Baker said...

"Angels fans are easily excited by flashing lights and noisy sounds."

I just choked on my croissant on this line. Hilarious!

The noisy sounds they hear are not coming from the Angels' bats, to be clear.

Steve Sax said...

DB, thanks again for the lead; I would've missed it!

Kyle Baker said...

i have to pass along the hat tip to mrs dusty who originally noted the fireworks article. she was sad about the lack of firework opportunities. last year, my brother was in town and we took him to the july 4th-ish show and we got to go down on the outfield grass. it was really meaningful to him b/c it was the first time he ever had done that and we were standing in the outfield right near where our man dusty baker would have stood back when we went to our first game in 1983. so anyway, long story longer, we really had a nice outing thanks to the fireworks show. everyone seemed to really enjoy it and had stayed all game in order to watch the fireworks display.

it's not why we're fans, but it's an extra little touch that was appreciated last season and is therefore noted in its absence this season.

Falling LEAVes said...

I went to maybe 3 of the 13 fireworks nights and stayed for the actual show maybe twice (and the second time was because my friends had never been to one). When I saw they got rid of the Friday night fireworks, I was relieved. I don't live close enough to be considered "neighbors" but my neighborhood is close enough that if you have a 2 story building, u can see some of the fireworks from the 2nd story. It's a lot safer than standing in the middle of street.

That being said, I do have tickets to tomorrow night's game, which is one of the two firework nights scheduled. I have yet to decide whether or not we are staying for the fireworks. It'll depend on my friend. I don't think he's been to a fireworks night. Me? I'd probably choose to drive out to Downey while everyone is watching the fireworks.