At-Game Recap: Dodgers in Sydney (Part 6)

Here's another post in the series recapping the Dodgers' historic trip to Sydney, Australia, for 2014 MLB Opening Day.

Going into the tunnels underneath the big scoreboard, heading from the Noble and Bradman Stands toward the O'Reilly Stand.

Would you believe, instead of dot racing,...sailboat racing?

Back in the original seats. Wish I could remember what was on the scoreboard at this time, as it's kinda blurry (the scoreboard, as well as my memory).

Game over! Dodgers win!

Diamondbacks sulk off the field in defeat!

More soon!

Earlier: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

At-Game Recap: Dodgers in Sydney (Part 5)

Okay, let's shake it up here from my last four entries in this series (links to which are conveniently posted along the bottom), and instead post some videos. Sure, they're short, but they're videos nonetheless!

First, here's a quick video of Clayton Kershaw doing some warm-up throws:

Next, here's the tail end of Scott Van Slyke's two-run HR (scoring Adrian Gonzalez), which ultimately proved to be the difference in the 3-1 final score (yes, that's me screaming like a madman on the audio):

Finally, along with clay from California, two teams from America, and plenty of tradition: MLB also brought the wave over to the Sydney Cricket Ground:

Man, that was embarrassing; of all the things we could have left in the US, we tried to export the wave. Maybe it was a one-way ticket! In any event, even with the wave, this was a very fun game to watch from these awesome seats. I am indebted to my friend for these awesome Dodgers memories.

More soon!

Earlier: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

At-Game Recap: Dodgers in Sydney (Part 4)

More photo uploads from the Dodgers' Opening Day 2014 in Sydney.

Note the pop-up hat shop on the concourse has NO Dodger hats left in stock. Plenty of Snakes hats, however!

The group singing the national anthem(s). Or maybe the catering.

It was awesome to hear the Australian national anthem before the game. Advance Australia Fair!

Here we go...

Adam Goodes, an indigenous Australian footballer who was named Australian of the Year last year, threw the first pitch.

Here's Wade Miley, getting ready...

First pitch to Yasiel Puig (a strike)!

Puig, larger than life on the SCG scoreboard.

Diamondbacks on the top step of the temporary dugout.

Clayton Kershaw starts dealing.

Kershaw's fans know!

This guy kills us. Here's Paul Goldschmidt, almost in reach.

More soon!

Earlier: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

At-Game Recap: Dodgers in Sydney (Part 3)

More pictures from Sydney and the Dodgers' season opener!

As I waited for the rain delay to end, I took a look over to the Members Pavilion. Look at how these stands blend in with the rest of the field seating. The two-level stands and prominent (view-blocking) vertical support beams reminded me a lot of old Tiger Stadium in Detroit (before Comerica Park).

Members Pavilion, to my right.

Tarp still on the field.

Dodgers get three soundbites, but one mentions Jackie Robinson!

Hey look, it's the Diamondbacks' mascot, a...furry bear with a hat in a speedo? A rabid cat? A bobcat, maybe, sort of? What the hell is that thing?

Wow, really? Is that your idea of a punchline? How intelligent.

No way I was going to sit around watching this stupidity. So, with time on my hands, I went back to the Field Level concourse to shop. Check out the absolutely crazy lines at the merchandise stands: ridiculous!

Knowing that I would be back for Game 2, I didn't bother staying in line here. Let's go for beer:

My god, those beer prices are ridiculous! And it's probably mid-strength crap, as well!

Back to the stands, where some Diamondbacks fans have (as usual) arrived late.

Wait, the tarp is coming off!

And Juan Uribe is loosening up!

Or at least, he was loosening up!

More to come soon!

Earlier: Part 1, Part 2

At-Game Recap: Dodgers in Sydney (Part 2)

Continuing the photo upload from the Dodgers' game in Sydney Australia (March 22, 2014):

The skies had started to get gray so it was not clear if we were going to be able to see our game or not. We made it to the stadium at least two hours early and it was already incredibly crowded, a testament to public demand as well as crappy crowd control efforts.

Gray skies over the SCG Allianz Stadium, which is technically next door to the Sydney Cricket Ground. SO NEEDLESSLY CONFUSING!

Walking toward the real SCG. Dodger fans in the house!

One more look back at the other stadium.

I entered my gate and then took a look at the SCG grounds: wow. It's a full oval, but it's quite intimate, largely because of the Members Pavilion which has different architecture and is steeped in tradition. As soon as I walked in, I saw the field...and the covered tarp:

Tarp is down. Rain is coming!

Loudspeaker announcements said that the delay wouldn't be too long, so I went down to take a look at my seats...which ended up being ROCKSTAR seats that had me drooling (thanks to my good friend, who pulled this incredible maneuver off!).

Right behind home plate!

Other views from the seats:

And finally, just to prove that SoSG was there:

And look, little SoSG fans were there as well! (Note beer in hand: fine parenting, I assure you.)

More to come soon!

Earlier: Part 1

At-Game Recap: Dodgers in Sydney (Part 1)

SoSG readers: I'm sorry.

You all know that SoSG AC and I went to the two Dodgers Opening Day games in Sydney, Australia, this March. These games were awesome; honestly they were some of my all-time Dodger highlight experiences.

And though we promised to upload some pictures to the blog, I've been delinquent in doing so (AC posted Part 1 and Part 2 of photos, but I am lame).

And so, here's my first drop in the series of photos I took from Sydney Australia, back in March 2014.

En route to the game! Qantas offers ipads in each economy seat for domestic flights, which is very cool and can keep one pretty occupied. I had my own ipad on which to play games during the flight (not to mention my own PS Vita), so this wasn't a need for me on this particular flight...

Banners were hung all over Sydney. We got in early on the Friday March 21st so we were able to explore downtown Sydney (which I'd visited once before) a bit. The banners were hung all over the central business district, but the MLB Opening Series was common knowledge down under: with exhibition games against Team Australia on March 20 and 21, the locals knew all about MLB's historic visit. The Diamondbacks lost their exhibition game 5-0, but the Dodgers won their game vs. Team Australia 4-2, off the backs of Yasiel Puig's two-run HR. With those two games out of the way, it was all set for real baseball Down Under!

Dodgers fans make the local newspaper!

Even the local sporting goods store, Rebel Sport, has chosen sides (wisely, I might add).

With a couple of hours to burn that afternoon before the evening game, we opted to take a boat out on the Sydney Harbor...which was beautiful. Sydney from a weather perspective is a lot like Los Angeles (more on this later, as rain threatened at the start of Game 1), and this afternoon it was pretty picturesque. We did some fishing both in and out of the harbor, and on a nice sunny day really enjoyed the striking skyline of Sydney, with its Harbour Bridge and Opera House featuring prominently.

The Sydney Opera House.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

After a successful day of fishing (and much beer drinking, of course). Note the gray skies at the end of the day...a good omen for part 2.

Next up: getting to the "stadium," the Sydney Cricket Ground!

Australia Pictures Game 1

Jet lag is a pain in the ass.  It is so bad, that I JUST NOW woke up from the Australia trip.  And now that I am back on pacific standard time, I am able to upload my Australia pictures. Overall it was a fabulous time.  I had never been to Australia and found the people to be really nice and friendly.  The day before the games, I was walking around Darling Harbor and bumped into Davey Lopes.  He very graciously took a picture with me.  The games themselves were great, and to see baseball in a historic facility like the Sydney Cricket Grounds was amazing.  We were able to see both games there and the Australia fans were great.  Even during warm ups, the crowd was into the game.  The crowd was audibly oohing when Kershaw was long tossing in the outfield.  And every time AJ Ellis would catch the ball on the fly, the crowd would cheer.  Then during the game, a foul ball would elicit a chorus of cheers and shouts.  One guy caught a foul ball with a glove and another Australian fan shouted "My grandmother uses a glove! Be a real man!" Hilarious stuff from those Aussies.  Enjoy the pictures below and sorry for the long delay!

At the Airport

Banners at Darling Harbor

Hitting bombs into Darling Harbor

Floating MLB ball

Met some Dodger Fans from Los Angeles who tweeted us! Thanks @artloc

This is not the stadium

ABL poster

ABL Trophy

Warming up

Super small bathrooms with the good old urine trough

Kershaw getting his yoga on

Do not disturb the ace

Soohoo is just outside of the do not disturb Kershaw radius

One of many Dodger lineups this year

Beautiful SCG

ABL mascot race (w/ that Dback cat)

Panorama

Opening Day

Alcohol and the prices

SoSG Made it!