At-Game Recap: Preseason Game 3 Dodgers vs Cubs

We won. We drove. We sleep.  More to come later!

Veni, Vidi, Ouchie

The sexiest team at the tourney.

Did we conquer our opponents? We did not. Did we consume many pitchers of beer? We did. Becoming the Houston Astros of the 2012 Blogger Softball Tournament did little to hide the fact that thirteen of us had a blast on Saturday and compensated for our lack of scoring with a surfeit of trash-talking.

I'll pay tribute to our illustrious team members in a later post, but a few notes first:

• Thanks and congratulations to Mike Brown of theLFP.com for organizing such a successful event, and for a good cause to boot (see below). Plus, I think one of his teams won the tournament!
• Thanks also to team photographers and morale boosters Mrs. Orel and Diamond for their support and good cheer! It was also great meeting some of Josh's and rbnlaw's families.
• Dusty (DNP - barfed lung) and Paul (DNP - MIA), we missed ya! Email us your mailing address and we'll get your shirts to you.
• Speaking of T-shirts...a few readers have asked how they can get one. Since the tournament benefited the Los Angeles Regional Foodbank, how about this: we'll send a T-shirt to the first three readers who donate $20 or more to the LAFB. Just forward us your email confirmation and you can choose from size XL or L or S. (Thanks to John G for the idea!)

UPDATE: One shirt spoken for! Two gone!

More to come!

2007 Roadtrip Stop #3: Southern Hospitality in Atlanta

I have a lot of loose ends left here on this blog (as EK sometimes reminds me), so I may as well utilize the Dodgers' annual visit to Atlanta's Turner Field in order to finish up chronicling my 2007 baseball roadtrip. Longtime readers may recall that in 2007, Delino and I (along with a couple of guys that were hitchhiking in Florida) did a three-day, three-stadium roadtrip which started Friday night in Miami, with a night which was so bacchanalian that we barely made it to the Saturday game at Tropicana Field.

After gunning across the state of Florida in a large gas-guzzling rental car, we decided the best way to hit our final stop, the Sunday game in Atlanta, was to fly from Tampa Bay to Atlanta. Southern convenience store proprietors wept at the decision, but honestly it was the only reasonable way we could have made it to see the Pirates at Turner Field on July 15, 2007. The Pirates, helmed by Jim Tracy, ended up with an unsurprising loss, even to a Braves team that ended up in third place in the NL East.

This roadtrip, the most recent baseball roadtrip of many, allowed me to pick up what was at the time my 25th current MLB stadium (which has now receded back to 23 thanks to the two new New York ballparks).

As a Dodger fan, I grew up hating the Braves, our divisional archrival before the three-division realignment. But I had to admit that Turner Field was a pretty nice ballpark. There is nothing really fancy or extraordinary about it, and no notable architectural characteristics such as Petco Park's Western Metal building or Camden Yards' B&O Warehouse. But there are some nice touches about Turner Field that honor the Braves' history, and some small features that show that care was taken when designing this ballpark.

Entering through the season ticket gate.

We were lucky to get seats from an Atlanta local who hooked us up on the club level, accessed through an air-conditioned concourse and then well-positioned under an overhang to keep us out of the sun. (The Atlanta friend also was thoughtful enough to summon a cold cooler of beers for pre-game tailgating, so by 10.30a were were already rallying at a pretty nice clip.) The Atlanta humidity can be smothering at times, but these seats were pretty posh; when a cold beer wasn't doing the trick, we could step back onto the concourse and cool down quite easily. Win.

Delino's got a gameday program!

Coca-Cola dominated the ballpark's skyline (and even the adjacent iconic imagery).

Entering the Lexus Level. No riff-raff here (I'm surprised they let us in!).

Boy, that's a lot of pennant flag icons. Yet only one World Championship!

Opposing centerfielder Nate McClouth gets the full ESPN-fonted logo treatment (or maybe that's Blade Runner? Which means perhaps McClouth is a replicant?).

The game gets under way, now that the Braves have donned their alternate red home jerseys.

Nice details on the ironwork of the seat armrests at the aisle.

Holy logo infringement!

We probably spent the least amount of time watching this game out of all three stadia this weekend, just because there was more to explore now that we were in a non-football, non-catwalked locale.

The 755 Club, which sounds like a strip club (which wouldn't be out of the question here in Atlanta), but actually didn't have any pole dancing.

Actually, the legendary Brave Hank Aaron casts a pretty big shadow of nobility over the 755 Club. As it should.

We then jaunted up to the Coca-Cola Sky Club to get views of the field and stadium from high atop left field.

Welcome to the Sky Club.

Towering over the Sky Club plaza is a huge Coke bottle, made of baseballs, baseball gloves, bases, jerseys, bats, and other memorabilia. A little weird, but okay.

The view of the field from the Sky Club. Man, we're high up there.

Attack of the Kiss Cam! It's a trans-continental phenomenon!

Up here at the Sky Club, there was also a kids area that reminded me a lot of Angel Stadium of Anaheim; fun places to occupy the kids for those parents who want to take their kids to a theme park while a perfectly reasonable baseball game is being played. Delino was not too thrilled with the distractions, which oozed of Time Warner networks branding.

Delino curses and flicks off the commercialized pavilion, stunned kids and parents be damned.

We completed the circuit by passing back through right field and catching a late inning, before returning to that glorious air-conditioned concourse and cooling off a bit more.

The view from right field.

Since the trip was over three years ago, I can't exactly recall all the rest of the hijinks that ensued that weekend. Flying to Atlanta to avoid the long roadtrip from Tampa was a nice luxury that I couldn't have afforded to do ten years ago, but it allowed our group to hang out a bit longer in Atlanta with my friend (who has a dog named Maddux, named for the former Dodgers pitcher (who may have played for another team too, come to think of it)).

All in all, a fun stadium and a nice way to end a three-day trip that might have included a couple of ounces of alcohol here or there. In fact, by the end, the two hitchhikers, Delino, our Atlanta friend, and I had all become pretty simpatico. One might say that we even had similar expressions on our faces...

At-Game Recap: Dodgers-Cubs, Sept. 6th

Ethier saves the day. I had the opportunity to go to the game today and boy, it sure was exciting. It was pretty humid out, even with all of the cloud cover and threats of thunderstorms. I think the humidity was getting to Lowe as he was pretty shaky throughout most of the game. When the Cubs went up after Soriano's blast, I almost wished the skies would open up before the end of the inning and the game would be rained out, resetting the score to the top of the inning. Alas, the weather gods knew better than I.

The crowd was pretty rowdy, especially during the late innings - plus my Dodger jersey did not help my cause. When Matt Kemp hit his homerun, the crowd was still buzzing from the Soriano blast. Then the top of the ninth arrived and my friend who knows the Cubs pretty well said, "You watch, Dempster will get two guys on and you will at least tie, probably win." And, after Ethier skied one into the jet stream for a homerun, the crowd was DEFLATED. Then the f-bombs, boos, and jeers came crashing down on Dempster, who was affectionately called Dumpster. I left overjoyed and elated - I hope this game is the one that gets us into the playoffs. GO BLUE!

August 16 Game Recap: "Prepare for Extra Innings"

I'm a little late on posting this (this is Steve Sax here), but fellow Son Alex Cora snapped these pictures from the Dodgers-Astros game on August 16 (Dodgers 6, Astros 2). Given that these shots came up in the sixth inning, when the Dodgers were stoked to a six-run lead, isn't the phrase "Prepare for Extra Innings" a little disheartening to fans of the home team?

I mean, I know it's the catchphrase for Las Vegas, but it seems to me that this add was poorly timed. Who is running sponsorship marketing here? Don't tell me it's still Drew McCourt!

Following the Head - 0 for 4

Barry Bonds feared the presence of the Delino. How else can you explain his DECISION to have only one hit in the four games I attended this past week. And what does he do the next at bat, with no Delino in the crowd? 755.

In my journey to see Bonds enter the record books, all I got for my time and money was a sub Mendoza 1 for 11 performance. On Friday night, I made the long drive back up the 5... the only history I witnessed was the ugliest hat giveaway.

Friday Morning- Leaving Los Angeles at 1:30pm would seem like enough time for a 7:10pm game in San Diego. And yet 7pm rolled around, and I was sweatily power walking the streets of SD until Petco Park appeared in the distance like manna from heaven. I made it to someone else's seat with five minutes to spare, enough time to see Bonds's first groundout. Most of you probably already know this, but Petco Park is STUNNING.

Good selection of food. Crowds that don't threaten you with bodily violence. A bathroom that looked like it was used by humans (more on this in my next column, an expose on the All You Can Eat Pavilion). In fact, some of the fans actually cheered Bonds every time he came up to bat. It's as if they... respected him. Or valued his contribution to baseball. Very odd indeed. The only downside of Petco Park was the special fisherman cap giveaway.

I think it was entitled "Lose Your Dignity Night."

Barry Bonds showed his true colors in the seventh when former Yankee killer Brian Roberts knocked in two runs. The entire Giants bench cleared to congratulate the runners, except for the pitcher and you know who. Bonds didn't even make an attempt to move. Just sat there, trying to balance his large cranium and decide which front row blonde to bang.

My favorite part of the game came in the ninth. The Delino and his male escort snuck down to the second row (apparently Padres fans also feel there's no drama to be found in a tied ball game in the 9th). And Bonds understudy Fred Lewis was up to bat. For the next five minutes, we tormented Fred Lewis with all the insults we intended to use on Bonds. "Ster-oids." "Bal-Co." "HEAD, move" One incredibly astute putz behind us exclaimed "That's not Bonds!" (Not surprisingly, irony lost on the San Diego crowd). He proceeded to chastise us "Bonds is the number two hitter of all time. What have you ever done?" And for a moment, I felt bad. Truly, what have I ever done for MLB? This San Diego genius really made me doubt my contribution to this great sport. In the end, maybe I didn't get to see 755 simply because I didn't deserve to. Hopefully the baseball gods will look more favorably on me in 2013 when blonde sympathizer A-Rod knocks Bonds off his perch.

Following the Head - Three Days in the Home Run Trenches

Sacrificing sleep, sanity, cash, and my stomach lining (more on that later), the Delino has survived three perilous days on the road to 755 (so excuse grammar issues)! I feel like I've been training for a marathon, albeit one with excessive sausage, garlic fries, and malts. For the past 72 hours, I've been poring over EVERY pixel of the internet, trying to find the magical deal that can gain me access to the hottest ticket this side of Wicked. Two days in a row, I was able to find last second deals that were only a little bit of a rip off. At least I can now punch in losangeles.craigslist.org/tix without even looking at my Treo's tiny buttons.

So far, no home runs to report (in case you didn't notice). Nope, just memories, and the last notch on my belt.

Tuesday night. Reserved 59. Face Value. Barry goes 0 for 3 with 2 walks, providing plenty of fodder for the boo birds. It reminded me of when I saw the Colts return to Baltimore for the first time since leaving like thieves in the night. Every play caused non-stop rage, although the Baltimore faithful were more subdued than Eagles fans during every game they've ever played.

Hats off to the Left Field pavilion folks, who did not let up for a sec. Their animosity was truly infectious, spilling over to my section, where one fan purposely tossed the ever popular beach ball to the a-holes in Loge. (They've got the better seats - let us have our reindeer games!) Several members of my section got thrown out, with the entire section all too willing to rat them out to security. Along the way, Brad Penny played like a human being and the Dodgers lost in Nine, to 30,000 plus empty seats. No Bonds. No crowd.

Wednesday. Reserved 31. $37.50 A beautiful four run eighth inning rally was cheered on by a half-filled audience and LOTS of tail lights. I'll actually take credit for the victory. The second I transformed my Brooklyn Dodgers hat into the ONLY rally cap in the entire reserved section, the runs came pouring in!

Or maybe it was the stylish headwear of this gentleman.

After two games, the "Bonds Sucks" chants started to get repetitive - I try to raise awareness for "Bar - Roids," "Bal-Co," and "Mus-Tache"... all to no avail. A nice woman pleaded with my section to drop the "sucks" and scream out "Barry Cheats." One cry of "Fat Ass" later, she shut up.

Thursday. ALL YOU CAN EAT PAVILION (more details to come). $50. Barry finally connects bat to ball, driving a towering single. And the crowd Booed. I tried something new tonight - a baseball game WITHOUT ONE DROP OF BEER. Luckily, a triple dose of Dodger Dogs clouded my judgment just fine. I wasn't the only one feeling the effects of too much meat. The mixture of non-stop Nachos and Enemy Number One a literal stone's throw away lifted my Pavilion to a full tizzy. By the seventh inning, Security escorted at least a dozen people out, including one man carrying his infant daughter. I screamed out "She was framed!" (After "All You Can Eat Dodger Dogs," you'd find it amusing too). The game had some solid non-Bonds tension, and that Russell Martin Bobblehead will make a fine addition to my overstuffed box of other bobbleheads that I'm just a little too old to display anymore(as of last summer).

Ten hours from now, I'll be on the road to San Diego, for the last stop in my 755 tour. I'm still not sure how I will respond if (and that "if" is massive) Bonds reaches the magic number. The Dodgers faithful were schizophrenic about Bonds, screaming and shouting while taking pictures of every single at bat. In the end, I imagine I'll be watching Bonds getting a couple of BBs and a well struck ground out or two.. but no dingers. And I'll look at my now empty wallet, realizing that I spent more this past week on Bonds's games (and accouterments) than I did on my last anniversary. So I guess I need to cherish the moment, if not for Bonds, then for the sheer joy of being there. Or maybe I'll get the "Bar-Roids" chant up and running.

Sidebar - A special thanks to the schmuck behind me last night who was FURIOUS when the Dodgers walked Bonds with one out and a runner already on second. If Grady Little ever needs an understudy...

At-Game Recap: July 5 vs. Braves

Best seats ever.

First pitch.

Freed James Loney!

"Which Dodger holds the team record for most RBI in the month of July? 1) Tommy Davis, 2) Eric Karros, 3) Ron Fairly, 4) Time for a new camera."

That's Eliza Dushku. She follows us everywhere.

Dear Kid Sitting in Front of Us:
These are $70 tickets some people would die to get their hands on. STOP PLAYING BUBBLE BOBBLE AND WATCH THE GAME, YOU UNAPPRECIATIVE BRAT!

Seventh inning stretch. We love ya, Vin!

BRAVES 8, DODGERS 6

Sax-C and I met some old friends for great seats, great eats and, oh yeah, another crushing defeat. But did I mention the seats were great?

INSIGNIFICANTIA:

• 1 wins the hat shuffle.
• Coca Cola Trivia contestant answers...correctly!
• White wins the dot race.
• The reason our beer consumption is far outpacing Dodger Dog intake (see sidebar) is because at $4.75 (I think) for a Dodger Dog versus $6.50 for a brat, the brats have been winning out. The Louisiana bratwurst was a little dry on the outside but juicy and spicy inside. Mmmm...bratwurst.
• Parking was circuitous but we never got stuck in a jam. Maybe the kinks are being worked out?

Post-Game 48 Thread: Parking Still Ain't Easy (Dodgers 9, Cubs 8)

Dear Bill Plaschke:

Cubs fans travel. And they're everywhere. Which explains why last night's game, though far from a sellout at a 46,011 attendance, was full of energy on both sides as the stadium was pretty crowded with Cubs and Dodgers jerseys. And the atmosphere was great at the stadium, the teams scored a lot of runs to keep the crowd happy, and the evening was another beautiful one at the Ravine.

And then comes trying to exit the parking lot. Disaster. Parking lot attendants in the inner ring (we were in Lot G, directly behind the scoreboards) could not effectively merge cars from the lot into the inner ring, causing havoc for pedestrians and cars. It took 20 minutes to exit the stadium through the Golden State Freeway gate--not even the gate we would have liked to have used, but the nearest and ONLY option under the new McCourt system--despite the fact that the gate was far closer to us than the Sunset Gate through which we entered.

Once outside the stadium, navigating back leftward toward Echo Park was treacherous, and the traffic down Scott Avenue (now that the Scott Gate is opened for exiting on weekends as well) was bumper to bumper for another 10-15 minutes, before we could turn left on Echo Park.

Bill, you should get yourself out to one of the remaining two weekend games to experience this for yourself. The new system is on par with prior years. And it costs $5 more this year. That math doesn't add up.

INSIGNIFICANTIA:

• 1 wins the hat shuffle.
• Coca-Cola fan wins the trivia question.
• Somebody stop the Universal marketing department before they submit the crowd to another painfully easy movie-related question ("In Jurassic Park, what were they cloning: dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, or [something else equally ludicrous that I can't remember]?"). It's insulting, and worse to watch Nomar have to read the stupid question in the first place.
• Blue wins the dot race.
• Five beers consumed, one dog. Plus nachos, two bags of peanuts, one bag of pumpkin seeds (brought in), and a handful of sunflower seeds (also brought in).

At-Game Recap: May 14 (Cardinals 8, Dodgers 4)

A relatively quiet night at the ballpark left a lot of questions unanswered, namely:

• Why did Grady Little wait so long to take out Tomko, who was clearly off--there was no way we were going to come back after spotting them eight runs, and the bullpen, well-rested after the last two games, did a fine job (0 runs the rest of the way) and could have entered the game much earlier?
• Why we were playing for one run in the first inning, down 3-0, when Rafael Furcal gets a leadoff single and Juan Pierre tries to lay down a sacrifice bunt? Huh?
• Why does everyone in the lineup insist upon swinging early in the count against unproven pitchers (including Luis Gonzalez' rally-stifling GIDP in the sixth, when Gonzo swung on a 1-0 count to weakly ground back to the pitcher)?
• Why is Ramon Martinez is allowed to come up to bat in a game-ending situation (and sure enough, he ended the game)?
• Why does the Coca-Cola trivia contestant always win?
• Why, when a Dodger comes up to the plate, does the stadium scoreboard ribbon puts up these creepy little horizontal slivers that focus on the player's eyes. It's a little Big Brother-esque.

I feel like I need to bring the Dodgers to Radio Shack. I've got questions. Maybe Radio Shack has answers.

The only positive thing the Dodgers can say is that they were generous in letting the Cardinals put an end to their offensive woes. (And, we shut down Albert Pujols who went 0-for-5.)

INSIGNIFICANTIA:

• 3 wins the hat shuffle.
• Coca Cola Trivia contestant answers correctly.
• Blue wins the dot race.
• Two beers, one dog consumed.
• Parking was not easy tonight, despite a light crowd. They had stacked cars in Lot G in unmarked areas, and forced me to exit on Academy Road rather than the Sunset Gate in which I entered. Too many parking attendants were standing around idly. Put 'em to work, Frankie!

At-Game Recap: May 11 vs. Reds--Exit Stampede Gets Kudos

What's fair is fair. We at SoSG have been pretty critical of the Dodger Stadium parking debacle once it started, from both the execution of the plan to the deliberate spin campaign designed to stifle criticism. And when the situation had improved by late April, we took note.

The Friday May 11 Dodgers-Reds game was all in all pretty boring; Russell Martin scored the only two runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning, and from then on it was just 0's on the scoreboard and K's on the strikeout meter, thanks to a marvelous performance by Randy Wolf and another weak offensive performance from the Dodgers (remember, this preceded Sunday afternoon's 10-run outburst). But everyone stuck around the stadium anyway, in anticipation of the fireworks show after the game.

We took our time watching the whole fireworks show from the damp outfield grass of the stadium, and then meandered over to Lot 1 (Sunset Gate) to exit the stadium grounds. And once we were in our car, it was admittedly fairly easy getting out of there. Wow. This was a pleasant surprise.

Some caveats. First, entrance to the lot was still difficult (coming through the Sunset gate, up the hill and cutting over to the left), and delayed our entrance 10-15 minutes longer than it would have taken last year. Second, I had parked heading outward toward the exit, only about three cars off the aisle, so my car was ready to go. But third and most importantly, the phalanx of parking attendants with flashlights directing traffic in what appeared to be a reasonable and logical way definitely helped me get out of the lot and down onto Sunset quickly. They let cars take turns, held up pedestrians appropriately, and facilitated a smooth exit from the lot. This was despite a fairly large crowd all getting let out at once, post-show, and still things moved in an orderly fashion.

It's clear that it is very advantageous having dozens of parking attendants in the lot and managing the flow. This added benefit is definitely an appreciated addition to the parking system. Would I have paid an extra $5 for this privilege, I'm not sure. But I'll admit that, at least this evening, it didn't work too badly.

And maybe everyone was in a good mood coming off a Dodgers victory.

INSIGNIFICANTIA:

• 2 wins the hat shuffle.
• Coca-Cola winner chooses correctly.
• White wins the car race (and is now dominating the games which we've attended).
• 4 beers consumed. No Dodger Dogs; I did get a Lousiana Hot Link but didn't count that as a dog, to be fair. Split some garlic fries, too.

At-Game Recap: April 25 vs. Giants

Last night's game versus the Giants was a pretty depressing one all around. Not only did the Dodgers lose to the Giants 6-4, but we squandered scoring opportunities late in the game once again, dropping the second in a row to our arch-rivals.

But honestly I spent much of last night enjoying the crowds and the company and booing Barry Bonds (whom I saw strikeout twice, which was great; I got there too late to see him hit his 741st home run, which was okay, as I've seen plenty others, unfortunately.). The weather was perfect, and there is nothing better than a summer night at Dodger Stadium; it's so relaxing (even when screaming boos), it's therapeutic. And when the friends with which you've gone to the game look at you and say, "So if Barry Bonds hits 15 more home runs tonight, we could be watching history, right?" you know it's going to be a fun, mellow evening. Despite the loss.

I will say that there were a decent number of fans wearing Giants shirts/jerseys around, and though they were booed everyone that I saw was very cool to the opponent's fans (despite their obvious lack of intelligence). I'm pretty proud of LA fans' decorum. In fact, Dodgers fans were much cooler to Giants fans than I recall being treated in Big Phone Park when I'm wearing LA colors. But hey, when you've never won a World Series in San Francisco, it's easy to be hypersensitive to one's inferiority, I suppose.

The loss kept the Dodgers in sole possession of first place only because Trevor Hoffman ruined Jake Peavy's incredible pitching outing vs. lowly Arizona. And don't look now, but the Giants' seven game win streak have them only one game behind, just like the Padres. Time for us to buck up.

INSIGNIFICANTIA:

• 2 wins the hat shuffle.
• White wins the dot race.
• Coca-Cola Trivia Contestant won by correctly picking Rick Monday as the person who saved the flag on the field. Man, are we still talking about that?
• Dodger Dogs +2. Beers +3 (that bock on draft is not that good, by the way). Hit points +15, roll a 19 or 20 to get a critical hit.
• Discovered the magic that is pulled pork Camacho's Nachos, available on the loge level. Worth the hike, them's tasty food. UPDATE 10:29a: It just became clear to me what the downside is of said nachos. Not pretty.
• Parking had further improved from early on, but is still far from great, even screwing preferred parkers who had paid $15 months ago. I entered through the Sunset Gate about a half-hour after first pitch (don't ask). Got through the turnstiles okay but the path to the inner circle was slow (I had preferred parking), and I couldn't help but notice the line of people inching toward Lot 1. Attendance was medium last night (43K) so I can't imagine how it is going to be tonight, sold-out Nomar Bobblehead Night.

  Anyway, once in the inner circle, they had OVERSOLD Preferred Lot G (behind the scoreboards) and were diverting angry motorists to other lots. Given that this was happening only 35 minutes after the game had started, on a mediocre attendance night, this was super-uncool. When airlines oversell seats, they at least offer compensation to those that have been bumped; shouldn't the legions of parking attendants at least usher the oversold preferred lot people to their ancillary destination? Exiting parking was relatively smooth, though I did notice that the parking on the residential area near Scott Avenue was a mess (Scott Gate was open, by the way). Overall, the parking has improved from my last experience (game 3), but is still at a discount to last year. Tonight should be another test of the system's limits; get there early.

At-Game Recap: April 22 vs. Pirates

New sponsors, new motifs.

Last night's hero before the game.

Dodger Dog! Teacher, mother, secret lover.

"Remember, Juan, keep your eyes on the ball!"

PIRATES 7, DODGERS 5

NOTES

With three Dodger errors in the first three innings, there was definitely a feeling of a hangover from last night's game. Brett Tomko valiantly tried to shrug off the Pirates' early cheapie runs, but crumbled in the sixth. Chad Billingsley's poor seventh (0.1 IP, 2 ER) sealed the loss.

Juan Pierre: Sometimes he's the man, sometimes he's not. Today he was not.

The Dodgers have homered in three consecutive games (Ethier, Martin, Saenz).

INSIGNIFICANTIA

• Attendance was about 46,000 and parking was a breeze. Late-inning rain helped to thin the crowd somewhat, but the Sunset lot was minimally occupied.
• Olmedo Saenz's at-bat music: "Panama" by Van Halen.
• Guess what the between-innings DodgerVision entertainment was after Juan Pierre muffed his catch? That's right, baseball bloopers! Strangely, Pierre's miscue was not included in the segment.
• Coca-Cola quiz question: How many Hall of Famers have played for both the Dodgers and the Pirates?
  (a) 0
  (b) 5
  (c) 3

photos by: me

Dodgers Home Opener, 4/9/07

Aside from the outcome of today's game, the home opener at Dodger Stadium was another wonderful day at the ballpark. Perfect blue skies, perfect 64-degree weather, and all the pomp and circumstance one would expect from Dodger Stadium on such a day. This was my sixth consecutive home opener and it was fun to see the new changes in store for fans this year.

First off, it's hard not to miss the large "team stores" in right and left fields, which are tent-like quasi-portable structures that extend from the bottom of the concourses out into the parking lot. They have also moved the field level concourse gates out to accommodate these stores (i.e., the tents are technically "inside" the stadium gates, and one can only enter the stores after passing through the turnstiles). It is nice to have auxiliary places to purchase Dodger stuff besides the Top of the Park store, but they really should have thought about air conditioning, as the left-field team store felt like a greenhouse inside. Perhaps Frank can utilize the interior spaces as nurseries in the offseason. I should also note that this shot settles which Dodger players will adorn the two largest walls in Dodger Stadium (the ones at the end of the concourses)--both walls are blank, and the wall beneath is in pretty hideous condition. Perhaps this is Ned Colletti's way of saying "no one is safe"?

I also happened to come across Nettie Berkson, who as mentioned here before was attending her 50th straight home opener. The CW network was interviewing Nettie as she was surrounded by family members from many generations.

But that wasn't my only celebrity! I also saw Frankie McCourt himself, as well as Ned Colletti (who stopped to take a picture with me in the concourse). When I tried to ask him about why we signed Juan Pierre though, Ned ran off screaming, so this was the only shot I got.

Dodger Stadium also has some new sponsors, notably Del Taco and Trader Joe's (New Era Caps sponsored batting practice, whatever the hell that gets them (given LA fans' penchant for showing up right at the first pitch)). Looking forward to replacing some of those tired Aflac retread ads with Del Taco Dan this year.

The stadium also had on display this cool vintage Dodgers ice cream truck. It was painted white with a retro Dodgers logo all over it, and it appeared to have been used at some point. People were taking pictures in front of it as if it was a museum piece (it did look rather nice). I too took a shot of this, but since I'm standing in front of it I can't upload it here anonymously. I'll have to try and catch a shot again later (if it's there beyond opening day).

Also of note are the new color screens along the outfield wall in right and left field. They replace the old orange-LED screens that used to sit there. I had thought they were pretty nice (bright and readable even in a day game), until I saw the right field one take a bite out of Matt Kemp's shoulder during the game. Until I hear how Kemp is, I'll reserve judgment on the screens. It is nice to see the stats on the batter (on the left field one) and the pitcher (on the right field one) during the at-bat, and the pitcher's board also lists the type of pitch and the speed (echoing the screen underneath Diamond Vision). The CPK meter is still up as well, underneath the large right field scoreboard.

Batboys for the 2007 season have their names on their uniforms, which I think is taking the names-on-uniforms thing a bit too far. Now, when they pick up an errant foul ball against the screen, fans will be screaming "Steeeeeeeeve!" at the top of their lungs in attempts to get a souvenir. As someone named Steve, I'm going to find this very annoying this season, so I'll have to bring balls of my own to chuck at the heads of the idiot beggar fans.

And the pre-game ceremonies were outstanding, starting the moment they got adolescent country music singer Taylor Swift off the field. Why Los Angeles, which recently shuttered its only country music station, would care about Taylor Swift is beyond me. Maybe the market research indicated that there would be a couple of fans in attendance from the 909? In any event, any fans who hadn't tuned her out after she opened her set with Eminem's "Lose Yourself" (trust me, it was awful) were lost when Swift said something about her second song being written "last year when she was back in high school." Uh, yeah. "Teddy Texted Me in Math Class, Then Left Me for the Rodeo" is not exactly poetic verse. But after Swift left, Navy paratroopers came hurtling down (always cool) and the flag was unfurled for God Bless America and the national anthem, and all was good. All except one minor hiccup--the announcer seemed to have a problem during the starting lineup introductions, when the loudspeakers went quit for five minutes and Nancy B. filled the gap admirably while both teams stood around on the field. So the flyover from the fighter pilots came over much, much earlier than the end of the national anthem. So much for military precision, I suppose.

And how could I forget the highlight, my throwing out of the ceremonial first pitch? It was nice to hear the crowd so appreciative of my rookie season 25 years ago. I love the LA fans. That's me in the dark suit, with the first shot of me on the field and the second shot of Diamond Vision as I throw the first pitch to Mike Lieberthal (it was a strike, by the way, and the field-level fans behind Lieberthal did not need to duck and cover). All that is left was to play ball!

I'll leave the post-game recap to another post, including how the stadium went nuts when Jason Schmidt clocked a game-tying home run with his first at bat (that ball was a rocket, too). Opening Day at Dodger Stadium is always a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Oh yeah, three other things. First, parking did seem a little less chaotic getting in (there certainly are tons of attendants pointing you around), but it was a disaster leaving. This may have been due to Opening Day, but I noticed as I exited the stadium that they had stacked a line of cars in the second lane of the inner ring. This was very bizarre, for if you were trying to exit the stadium (by exiting the ring to the left), you couldn't do it at many of the regular exits due to this random ring of parked cars. Why they didn't stack this ring against the outside circumference of the ring, I don't understand. I'll give the parking staff a break since Opening Day is always crazy (I distinctly remember one time I was forced to park above the Think Blue sign and run down the hill in wingtips and a suit), so I'll check out the parking scene again later this week.

Secondly, the lines for the concession stands were worse than ever. Clearly McCourt has done nothing to allow either quick transactions at the registers, nor traffic flow on the concourse. It's a mess (I was on field level for this game), particularly watching things like attendants holding up credit cards as the screen freezes on "processing...", or even a beer server who was literally fighting to open his cash register drawer. And the bathroom lines--don't get me started. But at least you can still hear the dulcet tones of Vin Scully's voice while standing at the urinal.

Finally, the magnet schedule this year is printed on the thinnest magnet ever. It has the attracting power of a turnip. Unlike past years in which fans were showered with posters, baseball cards, flyers, and the schedule magnet, this year's Opening Day giveaway consisted of just this flimsy magnet and a booklet with every team's schedule calendar. Yawn. Baseball must be having a really tough revenue year (a sorry financial state to which we've alluded in prior posts).

Insignificantia:

• 5 beers consumed at the stadium
• 1 Dodger Dog consumed at the stadium
• 1 wins the hat shuffle (still annoyingly sponsored by Disney, with LA hats that have mouse ears)
• The Coca-Cola Quiz contestant actually...chose the right answer! Imagine that!
• Blue car wins the dot race
• SoSG's record at 2007 Dodger games falls to 1-1

UPDATE (11:49P): Bill Plaschke is all over the parking problems, and also adds Dodger Dog shortages to the list of stadium maladies today. Coupled with a quick quip from Dodger Thoughts, SoSG believes that Drew McCourt must be behind this fiasco as well. Hopefully they'll correct the parking issues, starting by scrapping the whole damn plan soon.