View from the Pavilion (LA speak for bleachers) in 2001.
In 2008 former Red Sox pitcher Derek Lowe was the starter for the Dodgers. When he came up to bat (National league, no DH) they played the hook of “Low” by Flo Rida.
Lowe delivers the first pitch on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. In typical LA fashion, most fans didn’t show up until the 3rd inning.
Our seats were in Row 7 a little way beyond first base. The stands have no rise at all at that point, but the seats are padded and there was a two-level shelf in front of you.
Legroom is probably triple what Fenway is in the grandstand.
The Dodgers’ shortstop, batting 8th, was a guy named Chin Lung Hu. He has to be the only major league player ever with two names that are body parts. Personally, I thought that instead of playing Hu at short they should put him at 1st. He might have a sister name Cindy Lou, but I’m not positive. Every time he came to bat they’d play “Who Let the Dogs Out (Who, Who)?” by the Baja Men.
Mark Laurence took this picture of me at Opening Day in 2001.
Romeo from Kiss 108 took this shot of me with Amanda Giles from Magic 106.7 at the Dodgers-Cubs game in 2008.
The night game I went to with Barbara. There was a rare LA rain delay.
Looking at downtown LA from the Dodger Stadium upper parking lot.
The first time I was there, 1991, I bought a $5 ticket to a future game – just to do it. I wasn’t even going to be in LA for the game.
My tickets for Opening Day 2001 never arrived, so they issued this replacement.
First visit: September 1991. I stopped in LA on the way to the NAB Convention in San Francisco. The Dodgers were out of town, but I bought a ticket to the upcoming Friday game against the Braves. I wasn’t going to be there for it, but I wanted the ticket stub. I walked around the ballpark and sat in several seats. Then found an open gate leading to the outfield and stood in center field. Seriously thought about doing a windup on the mound but feared getting arrested so I hooped in the car and got the hell out of Dodge. r.
Second visit: April 1st, 2001. I was in LA for a Stevie Nicks artist showcase on Saturday night. This was to publicize her new album “Trouble in Shangri-La.”
I met Stevie, who signed my invitation. Also met Cheryl Crowe and David Spade at the cocktail reception.
On Sunday afternoon I went to Dodger Stadium and saw a Rockies-Dodgers exhibition game. The wierd thing about Dodger Stadium, which is the 3rd oldest ballpark still in use, is that it’s built into the side of Chavez Ravine – which is a big hill. When the stadium was built in the late 1950s there was a sizable hue and cry because there was a large community of migrant workers who live there and were displaced. You could never do that today.
Because the stadium is cut into the side of the big hill, you can get out of your car in the parking lot right next to the entrance to the 5th deck behind home plate. I later learned that only works at an exhibition game. There wasn’t a big crowd for an exhibition, so I got really close. Had a Dodger Dog. It really wasn’t any better than a Fenway Frank, but it was warmer. I sat in excellent box seats, which are nowhere near as close to the action as Fenway box seats.
The next day, April 2nd, was Opening Day. Dodgers v. Brewers. It was the fifth place I had seen a home opener, and the sixth place I had seen the Brewers play. I had a pair of bleacher seats I bought on the Internet for $12. The tickets never showed up in the mail, but I got replacements at the Will Call window.
Mark Laurence, my longtime Music Director at Magic 106.7, was also in LA for the Stevie Nicks event and I went (he was also in LA for the Stevie Nicks event – and we got into a major LA traffic jam getting there. When we finally arrived we the place was packed and had the usual Opening Day buzz. I got an Opening Day towel. Gary Sheffield homered for the only run of the game and the Dodgers won, 1-0. We had to leave early and rush – REALLY RUSH – to get to airport on time. I made it – barely.
Third visit: June 7, 2008. I was in LA for a promotional junket for the TBS TV show “My Boys.” They took us to a Dodgers-Cubs game including entry to the Baseline Club. Dodger Stadium was decked out with signs celebrating 50 years of Dodger baseball in LA.
Had a couple of Dodger Dogs in fancy Dodger cups. – the Dodger Dog was the winner of the best ballpark hot dog award in the book “Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks” (the book that inspired my ballpark tour) and they were only okay. Nowadays you can find much better at many ballparks. They were better than the one the day before – maybe because this was a real game that counted. But still.
LA has are no special musical segments – they do “Day O” and the typical Reveille and Charge. There was a pretty decent wave in the 8th inning when the Dodgers didn’t need it. I’m putting it at #2 on my all-time Best Wave countdown – Fenway easily leading the pack, with Safeco a distant third. During the 7th inning stretch, following “…so it’s root, root, root for the…”, there was an impressive number of fans yelling out “Cu-bbies!” Lowe was the winning pitcher as the Dodgers beat the Cubs, 7-3. 2008 was the 100th anniversary of the Cubs last World Series win, and it was the 20th anniversary of the Dodgers last World Series win. They wouldn’t win again for another 22 years. I was rooting for the Dodgers because I believe in rooting for the home team – unless it’s a Red Sox away game.
Fourth visit: April 25, 2012. I was in LA for the All Access Radio Convention. I was staying with my sister Barbara at her house in Pasadena. Tuesday night I was invited to the set of “Dancing with the Stars” by Tom Bergeron, who had been may morning show host at Magic 106.7 in Boston before he went to New York to do TV for Fox. My sister-in-law Helen Tierney, who was the producer for Tom’s radio show at Magic and took off for TV work in the Big Apple along with Tom, was in LA at the time so we had a nice reunion. During warmup of the TV show I actually danced on the stage floor with Chelsea Hightower. Had dinner with Tom and Helen at the Grove that night. Great time. The next night Barbara and I went to see the Dodgers and the Braves. During the game Barbara pointed to the top deck on the 3rd base side and said she was sitting right there when Kirk Gibson hit the famous home run off Dennis Eckersley. That’s when Eck coined the term walkoff. Which actually does not refer to a batter hitting a walkoff home run, it means if you’re the pitcher and you serve one up that “goes yard” there’s nothing for you to do but walk off. Meaning the mound.
During the game there was a rain delay. What?? A rain delay…in LA? It wasn’t very long – I don’t think they even have a tarp to roll out – but the Dodgers apologized on the PA and said you could use your tickets to go to any future weeknight Dodgers game. So I gave my ticket to Barbara. That’s why there’s no picture of it below. I think she spiffed a client. The Dodgers lost, 4-2. The save went to future Red Sox heart palpitation-inducing closer Craig Kimbrel.
Interesting tidbit: This was my fourth trip to Dodger Stadium and they were all work-related so I never had to pay for any of them.
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