At-Game Recap: The Night Of Inappropriate Jerseys (August 29, 2024)

Last night, SoSG Orel and I were at the game, to watch the Dodgers beat the Baltimore Orioles in the rubber match, winning the series with a 6-3 victory.

It was an amazing game, even though Shohei Ohtani went 0-for-5 with a K. Mookie Betts had two hits, a run and an RBI single; new Dodger Tommy Edman (batting cleanup!) went 2-for-4 with a sacrifice fly RBI; and Miguel Rojas went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Bobby Miller had a servicable start, even though he gave up a three-run HR to Colton Cowser in the fifth inning, which trimmed the lead at the time to a two-run margin.

But unbelievably, last night we also saw Chris Taylor get his first multi-hit game since June (Taylor also had an RBI and even had a nice defensive play at third). And Austin Barnes also had a multi-hit game, his first in a month, with two RBI on the night.

I don't want to say that seeing both Barnes and Taylor get multi-hit games was as momentous as Shohei Ohtani's 40-40 night. However, it was pretty historic nonetheless. The last time both Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor had a multi-hit game in the same game, it was Friday, May 13, 2022--over two full years ago (a 12-10 loss to the Phillies at home).

It was so long ago, Phil Bickford was pitching for our team then. That's insane.

I am still lamenting the departure of Jason Heyward to make a spot for Taylor, who sports a 56 OPS+ and a -0.9 bWAR this season. But at least Taylor was able to contribute last night. I'm crossing my fingers for more from CT3 down the stretch.

Here's Chris Taylor, following his RBI single, wondering what comes after reaching first base. (Taylor was later forced out at second by Gavin Lux.)

Anyway, the game was a blast and I'm glad the Dodgers notched the game and series victory, punctuated by Evan Phillips' 17th save to secure the win. Here's Phillips' entrance in the top of the ninth:

And, always good to catch up with Orel.

The weird thing about the evening was seeing all the inappropriate jerseys around. I'll reminisce in order.

First, there was the Orioles fan, whom I appreciate for suiting up for this game. Gotta love this O's team with all of their incredible young position players, as well as the fact that the Orioles are still in the thick of the AL West race along with the YankMes.

But given the orange color is going to stand out...can we at least consider a better jersey than this former Oriole?

But wait, it gets worse. Sitting in front of this guy, is another guy who has to remind Dodger fans that Manny Machado also brought his pouty persona to Los Angeles once:

Man, I'm just revolted by this point. I'm going to the bathroom to get rid of the slight bit of vomit that has just come up my esophagus and into my mouth. But on the way to the concourse, I see this guy:

Okay, now I really have to puke.

The Sax Family Got The Shohei / Decoy Bobbleheads

Had to share the photos!

Apparently, a friend opened one of them up and had pulled a special gold one! Big night for Shohei Ohtani, as well, leading off the game with a HR en route to a 6-4 victory.

At-Game 37 Recap: Buehler Back; Four Home Runs; Microscopic Food Fare (May 6, 2024)

DODGERS 6, MARLINS 3

May The Sixth Be With You!

The Dodgers, looking to bring in crowds after their showdown sweep over the Braves this past weekend, shifted Star Wars Night @ Dodger Stadium to May 6, rather than the traditional May 4. Fun was still had by all, and in particular, Dodger fans who got a chance to see Walker Buehler take the mound for the first time in two years.

Here's Buehler's introduction from the public address announcer, which was pretty cool to hear:

But then came the reality: a 25-pitch first inning that yielded two runs for the Marlins. To say he wasn't sharp was an understatement--but to be fair, Buehler AND the rest of the Dodgers didn't give up a walk, all game. Not to mention, the Dodgers hit all the necessary milestones to win the crowd some free food: stolen base (ampm free hot dog and 12 oz coke), seven strikeouts (Jack in the Box free Jumbo Jack), and six runs scored (McDonald's free 6-piece Chicken McNuggets). (I think the free CPK pizza deal ended after last season.)

More on the Dodgers food situation later.

Luckily for the Dodgers, we have Shohei Ohtani, whose first-inning HR (following a Mookie Betts leadoff walk) immediately tied the score, with none out in the first. I was fortunate to get this video (yes, that's me and SoSG AC screaming):

Freddie Freeman followed with a first-inning HR of his own, so it was 3-2. The Marlins then tied it in the second on a Nick Gordon solo HR. Then in the bottom of the second, after Gavin Lux worked a walk, James Outman came to the plate. I jokingly said to SoSG AC that Outman was going to pull an Ohtani of his own and hit a two-run HR. Which, amazingly, he did. We were both cracking up that I had called that.

The Dodgers added one more with a solo poke HR from Teoscar Hernandez, who apparently has seven of his eight HR on the year at Dodger Stadium. Solid performances from Ryan Yarbrough, Blake Treinen, and Alex Vesia gave us the 6-3 victory and our fifth win in a row (we are undefeated in May 2024 so far).

The Star Wars Night theming was pretty good, including a Dejarik board for the hat shuffle, a pre-game trivia contest, and abundant crowd shots of fellow nerds in the crowd. (Anthony Keides of the Red Hots and Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 were also at the game.)

The return of onions at Dodger Stadium: possibly the only fiscally positive addition to the Stadium this season

On the downside: the Dodger Stadium food fare has really sunk to new depths of both quantity (small) and pricing (large). They got rid of the chicken sandwich place that I liked from last year (the Nashville spicy chicken sandwich was great), and instead the new Japanese place has a chicken katsu sandwich which is a total ripoff. Not only is the chicken wafer-thin like a smushed McDonald's hash brown patty (breaded of course), the small piece of white "bread" for the sandwich (and I use that liberally, as it's little more than the size of a Triscuit cracker) is pathetically microscopic:

I'm already shelling out $16.50 for a beer at the Stadium. If the food is also going to be both skimpy in portion size and exorbitant in price, I'm going to bring in my own food in the future. Very disappointing from a food front! Thankfully, I've got free food to eat today all over town.

Fix the food and GO DODGERS!

At-Game 19 Recap: Nationals Spoil Jackie Robinson Day (April 15, 2024)

Despite all the celebrations at Dodger Stadium for Jackie Robinson Day, the Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow laid his first egg of the season in a 6-4 loss to the visiting Washington Nationals.

This was the Dodgers' first loss on Jackie Robinson Day during the Dave Roberts managerial era (the Dodgers are now 7-1 on April 15, under Roberts' tenure), and have a 11-4 record (including five walk-off victories!) on April 15, since everyone in the major leagues started wearing #42 on this day, in 2009.

SoSG Orel and I were there (note: SoSG Dusty was there too, but we didn't find out until later! Missed beer opportunity...), and when the Dodgers went down 6-2 in the fifth on Luis Garcia Jr's three-run HR, you knew it was going to be over. We scratched back a couple of runs on a Will Smith RBI groundout in the sixth, and a Max Muncy RBI single in the eighth, but the Dodgers went a woeful 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, leading to the 6-4 loss.

That said, we stayed until the end. Here are some of the photos from that night. First, the field-level concession stands have totally changed. I think my favorite spot, the fried chicken sandwiches somewhere between first base and home plate, has disappeared. And there are a couple of new Asian cuisine spots on the third base side:

I got a shot of the Jackie Robinson Day logo on Diamondvision:

Here's the Dodgers players in #42:

I also got a couple of videos. Here's Mookie Betts, coming to the plate in the bottom of the first inning:

And here's Shohei Ohtani, with a single in the first inning (he later scored, to tie the score at 1):

And here's the scoreboard later in the game, before the bottom dropped out:

Always a great time at the Stadium, thuough it would have been a lot better if we had won. At least we each got a free cap, I guess.

At-Game Recap (sort of): SoSG Nomo @ the Seoul Series (March 21, 2024)

Sons of Steve Garvey is dedicated to covering the Los Angeles Dodgers from a fan's perspective, oftentimes with a healthy dose of sarcasm. Unfortunately, the Sons' business expense accounts are limited (journalism is a going through some rough economic times, man!).

So we were able to get SoSG Nomo over to Seoul for Game 2 of this series. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford to get him in the Stadium. So Nomo has sent these pictures from just outside Gocheok Sky Dome:

Waiting for the subway

On the crowded subway

At the stadium

Relegated to watching the game at the snack bar outside

Thanks to SoSG Nomo for the photolog! (Now is probably a good time to tell you that subway fares are non-reimbursable by our finance department without a receipt.)