Wednesday, April 03, 2013

At-Game Recap: April 2 vs. Giants (Ryu Debut)

Well, my first game of the new season pretty much sucked, so I spent most of my evening checking out Guggenheim Baseball Management's improvements to Dodger Stadium. All my thoughts are based on what I saw on the Reserve level.

Video/Sound
The new HD screens are gorgeous, of course, if a little busy at times. (Some fonts on the scoreboard are near-impossible to read.) Everything about the outfield view has a nice symmetry to it now. (I took some video that I'll post tomorrow morning.) The new sound system is much clearer, though you don't get the full effect in the Reserve seats.

Amenities
The restrooms are bright and comfortable. The kids play areas are a welcome addition, even if there's not quite enough there yet to keep most kids entertained. (My kid will likely be bored in about two minutes.) It's really nice to have full team stores on the Reserve level, but their placement makes them a bit hard to find.

Food/Drink
New food options were plentiful and lines moved briskly. I really, REALLY like the eating areas behind the seats. I see myself using those a lot. I only noticed one new beer option (see below).

I didn't like EVERYTHING, of course. The new "host" segments between innings are awkward and feel out of place at Dodger Stadium. I get what they're going for, but maybe it needs to be implemented some other way. One of the segments even pushed the limits of political correctness, and I wonder how long before it's axed. Plus, all this stuff meant WAY less Nancy Bea. And that's just criminal. Oh, and traffic leaving the stadium was awful, even out of the normally easy to escape Academy Gate.

I ran into Stan Kasten walking the Reserve level early in the game. I told him I loved what they did with the place. I don't think I was blowing smoke, either. On the whole, I think the improvements are wonderful and appropriate. I'm sure most of the tiny gripes I have will be addressed over time.

On to the crappy iPhone pics!


The view from my seat, with Kid K's home run on the new screens.


Another GREAT addition: Vin's pre-game intro is played for the live crowd.


Tiny Clayton gets his Roberto Clemente Award.


My Frito Pie Dog on the one of the new eating areas behind the seats. I fear for the people sitting below. They're destined to get food and/or beer dumped on them at some point.


The only new beer I spotted. Nice to see a local craft, but they're charging $10 for a small and not offering a large. What's up with THAT?


Tiny Ryu's first Major League at-bat.


One of the new play areas, going unused at the moment.


I like the new signage, but miss the player photos. Are they on other levels?


Big balls.


Big bobbles, no trobbles.


The Blues Brothers' "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love" is the new bottom of the ninth rally song. OK, then.


My souvenir from Ryu's debut. Now a sad reminder of getting shut down by Bumgarner.

13 comments:

Orel said...

"Plus, all this stuff meant WAY less Nancy Bea. And that's just criminal."

Amen!

QuadSevens said...

How long before a kid (or SoSG reader) falls off those little pedastals in the play area?

Hideo Nomo said...

Well, the floor underneath is soft and squishy, but I could definitely see someone falling and hitting their head on another pedestal.

There are signs that say children are not allowed to play without adult supervision, but I have no idea who enforces that.

QuadSevens said...

Not that I'm hoping that happens to any kids. I can just picture a drunk fan trying to be funny and doing it. I'm sure I'd laugh.

Dusty Baker said...

I can easily picture Stubbs doing that.

Dusty Baker said...

What is this whole "lines moving briskly" thing you bring tell of??? I think you're the only one to have experienced such so far.

Hideo Nomo said...

Well, I mean, it wasn't Opening Day...

Ask rbn, though. I actually witnessed him fly through the Taqueria line.

Although, he could be dead now because he ate at the Taqueria.

Franklin Stubbs said...

I could easily see myself doing that, as well.

rbnlaw said...

I survived, but the kids, who split a burrito (cheap-ass dad), had their gastrointestinal system tested.

Passed. As did the burrito.

Honestly, they said it was pretty good.

I pointed out the speed lines for beer and soft drinks to Gnomes. The concessions down by section 43 (last stop before Glendale) were not crowded.
Also, got a pic of the kids on a bobblehead. Tweeted it.

I think.

Steve Sax said...

@Gnomes: I think you mentioned it in last night's GT, but what exactly was the semi-racist in-between innings thing?

Hideo Nomo said...

The "Chopstick Challenge" presented by Kabuki Restaurant. It's a contest where a fan races against a Dodger player (the player's part is pretaped) to see who can move the most baseballs from one box to another using chopsticks. The graphics and music (repeated gong sounds) were pretty stereotypical. I think I also heard karate chop sound effects.

It was an odd night to debut it, considering the Asian-heavy crowd Ryu drew.

Hideo Nomo said...

Apparently, I wasn't alone in my thinking.

Dusty Baker said...

And they couldn't even match up the right Asian tie-in, racist stereotyping aside? Wow.

Would they do a taco chase game with ranchero music?