Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles Dodgers)

Los Angeles

   

     

  

 

  

 Ballpark Assessment

Category Score (0 to 10)					TOTAL (0 to 50)
Location	Atmosphere	Food	Exterior Architecture	Interior Architecture
4	6	4	4	5	25

Well, this stadium was surely different from many of the others; not necessarily in a good way.

First of all, the exterior of the stadium was very difficult to navigate.  The entrances were not clearly marked and, in many cases, you couldn't get from one entrance to another on the exterior of the stadium without ascending or descending flights of stairs.

Second, the fonts used on some of the Dodgers signs scattered throughout the stadium look really really old.
Third, the stadium is only accessible by car as it is located at the intersection of the 5, the 110 and the 101.  However, I guess it wouldn't be LA if public transportation was an option.

On a more positive note, the stadium is massize!  It takes a while to walk around the entire thing.  Also, the stadium does have one healthly food stand with salads, etc. (although it did run out of food about two thirds through the game).

Game Comments (courtesy of MLB.com)

Game Date: July 5, 2010

Attendance: 47,801

Weather: 70 degrees F, clear

Length of Game: 2 hours, 44 minutes
Final Score: Florida Marlins 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 5

The Marlins put the Dodgers in an early hole, and the Dodgers could never climb out. Wes Helms keyed Florida's outburst with a two-run single, and LA's near-recovery was powered in part by Rafael Furcal's homer.

Stories from the Road

The next morning I visited Santa Monica pier (aka Muscle Beach).  Not much to report here although I did see a large chess board and a guy punching the air to music.

Mid afternoon, I went to see the famous La Brea Tar Pits.  Growing up I had hear and read a lot about the tar pits, which were right in the middle of the city.  Somehow, I had gotten images of vast holes in the ground with excavators removing skeletons of prehistoric animals amidst a bustling city with cars going every which way.  What I saw turned out to be slightly different from what I had imagined.  There were statues of elephant-like animals in and around the tar pits, which were within a small gated park with a visitor center.  The whole park smelled of a type of griese that I imagine would eminate from a tire manufacturing facility.

Next up was the obligatory picture of the Hollywood sign, which took me a good half hour to initially spot (and another half hour to find a suitable location for a picture).  Afterwards, I drove around Hollywood for a while before heading off to Pasadena to visit my friend from college before we both head to Dodger Stadium.

After the game I had to make a mad dash to LAX to catch my red eye flight back to Chicago.  Crazy!