Dodger Stadium - Buy Los Angeles Dodgers tickets for Dodger Stadium at TickCo.com! Enjoy Los Angeles Dodgers Tickets for home games at Dodger Stadium
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Dodger Stadium /
Los Angeles Dodgers
When you talk about venerable major-league ballparks, a short list must contain Dodger Stadium. Built in 1962 by the O'Malley family and designed by Emil Praeger on the hillside of Chavez Ravine, Dodger Stadium for many years was the gold standard in ballparks, the facility by which all other ballparks were compared. Too bad it's not true anymore. Dodger Stadium is still an impressive ballpark from architectural and historical viewpoints, a bridge from the old, quaint ballparks of the the 1930s to the retro ballparks of today. But it's not a very hospitable place to actually watch a ballgame, as the current Dodgers management -- so focused on the bottom line -- have forgotten the fine art of customer service pioneered by the O'Malleys. You should go to Dodger Stadium to see a classic ballpark in action, but don't assume you'll fall in love with the experience.
Let's start out by your first exposure to the ballpark: parking and finding an entrance. Dodger Stadium is one of the most restrictive ballparks we've seen when it comes to moving around the ballpark. For starters, you can enter only through the gates next to your ticket location, no matter where you park. (Or, rather, where you are directed to park. Despite having a sea of parking, the Dodgers direct you to park in specific spots; the better for traffic management, we suppose, but still annoying when you arrive early to a game and are shunted to the far reaches of a parking lot when closer spots are open.) Let's say you're directed to a parking lot outside of center field, but your tickets are for a Loge Box seat. You cannot enter in center field and walk through the ballpark to your seat. Instead, you must schlep along Chavez Ravine, outside the ballpark and up the hill, until you get to the gate to your section. Not the most scenic of routes.
You had better like your seat, as there's no way to wander the ballpark. The Dodgers expect you to stick to your assigned seat and assigned section for the entire game. You cannot move between sections -- unless you want to go to the upper deck, and even then you'll get hassled, even on a night when the park is only half full. Now, granted, most fans will want to stay in their seats anyway. But there are those of us who like watching a game from multiple angles; we're probably a little on the restless side, but walk through any MLB or MiLB park and you'll see we're not the only ones. Now, in the Dodgers' defense, there are some practical considerations in limiting fans to their section. Almost all MLB ballparks have some exclusive club level open only to ticketholders, and we don't have a problem with that. Our issue stems from being denied entry to the outfield bleachers in the bottom of the eighth inning; we had purchased on our own spendy tickets to the game, and we wanted to see the action from the almost-empty bleachers. No way, said the guard.
His fellow guard asked him why not, pointing out the game was almost over and there was almost no one left in the bleachers. Because we don't, he replied. Now, good customer service would dictate you allow someone holding a ticket to an expensive seat to move to a less expensive seat in the bottom of the eighth inning. This wasn't a matter of crowd control, nor was it a matter of someone trying to squat a great seat in the second inning. Welcome to today's Dodger Way.
Which is a shame, because I drove up to Dodger Stadium expecting --indeed, wanting -- to be blown away by the experience. And there really is something very special about Dodger Stadium; it is certainly of the three most historic ballparks in the majors (only Fenway Park and Wrigley Field surpass it, and they each have 50+ years in head starts). It just reeks of California in a way that Angel Stadium can only dream of. With the palm trees and idyllic panorama in the background and Hollywood stars occasionally in the stands, Dodger Stadium seems to exist in its own little world. And it certainly is an oasis: the area surrounding Chavez Ravine is more than a little rundown (like most of Los Angels is these days), but enter the grounds of Dodger Stadium and things change for the better. Mostly. But any front office wanting to preserve the historic nature of Dodger Stadium would have known enough not to install ribbon displays on the facade above the main seating bowl. Some readers of this site have derisively dubbed them "NASCAR strips," more applicable to a gaudy racetrack than to a classic ballpark.
The racetrack scoreboard was part of a larger Dodger Stadium offseason remodeling. The Dodgers drew some heat in the offseason for the addition of 1,600 seats behind home plate, with the field adjusted accordingly. It didn't seem to have had much effect on the team or the fans, though Dodgers officials were nervous about it when I discussed it with them during spring training. (Some fans have complained about the layout of the new seats, and one supposes for $400 a game they should be allowed a few gripes.) The new seats were awkwardly integrated into the grandstand, separated from the older seating by a big concrete barrier. Television viewers probably note the new seats more than game attendees; for many years you knew you were watching a game from Dodger Stadium because Mike Brito was in the background, speed gun in hand. There's no more Mike Brito, but life goes on in Dodger Stadium. In fact, owner Frank McCourt plans further changes to Dodger Stadium in the near future: every seat is slated to be replaced, while the center-field pavilion may be overhauled. These changes will be closely scrutinized: the familiar rooftops of the outfield bleachers are certainly part of the Dodger Stadium iconography. The additions of Dodger Vision and a videoboard to the outfield were done sensitively; let's hope further changes to that area are carried out sensitively as well.
Architecturally, Dodger Stadium is still one of the most unique MLB ballparks every constructed. It is literally built in the side of Chavez Ravine, which presented some huge engineering issues for the O'Malley family and architect/engineer Emil Praeger. Building it onto the side of the ravine accomplished two things: it forced a very upright construction (placing the upper-deck tickets close to the action) and it allowed the gorgeous panoramic views past center field.
But Dodger Stadium is aging. Replacing seating and reconfiguring the bowl is a good idea; aisles need to be widened and the rather odd way the Dodgers number seats needs to go. The concourses need a little work; the concession setup is actually fairly efficient (and a little charming in that it's not been changed much since the 1960s), but the lighting is bad and a new coat of paint is definitely needed. Dodger Stadium is a must-visit for baseball fans and ballpark fans. It's too bad the fan experience doesn't match the history of the ballpark.
Ballpark History The ballpark also served as the home of the Los Angeles/California Angels from 1962-1965. |
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