Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (123 page)

In an odd, but wonderful pricing move, the Dodgers offer Top Deck Seats (Aisles 1–14) at cheaper prices than are available on the lower level. These beauties are cheap and right behind the plate, a combination that we love. If you like sitting on top of the action, these seats are better than any of the Outer Reserved seats.

The wavy topped roof that gives the stadium its distinctive look shades the upper sections of these seats. The orange seats up above the middle concourse are the same price as the blue seats down near the fence. So why not head down for the good seats? Often the ticket office will sell out the left-field section before even opening up the right-field Pavilion seats. So if all they have available are the top rows, we suggest waiting them out a few minutes until those crummy seats sell and getting into the newly opened section as soon as it opens.

After a number of instances where Pavilion fans dumped cups of beer, bottles, and trash on Cincinnati Reds left fielder Pete Rose, selling beer was banned in the Left Field Pavilion seats until 2009, when it resumed. That’s a good thing, right? Wrong. The lack of security in these seats makes them some of the most dangerous in baseball, especially if you’re a fan of an opposing NL West team.

No matter what you do, realize this: If you wear the opposing team colors—especially Giants’ orange and black—you are taking your life into your own hands. We wish we were joking about this but, sadly, we are not. There have been many incidents of fights in these sections, often caused by Dodger “fans” taunting opposing players and fans. On a few of these occasions, the fights have turned ugly. On a particularly gruesome Opening Day in 2011, a number of Dodger fans were arrested in an incident where three Giants fans were attacked near the end of the game. One Giants fan, Bryan Stow, was beaten unconscious and subsequently went into a coma following the attack.

Once again, until this situation changes, we recommend avoiding these sections and wearing only neutral colors. Or blue.

At the top of the Pavilion Level is a new area known as Bleacher Beach. Essentially, these are the same old seats as they used to be, only with a bit of marketing spin. Fans in the Lower Reserve sections 55 and 59, along the third-base line, enjoy deejay music, cooling off with misters, and decorations of tiki huts and lifeguard towers. There’s also the benefit of all-you-can eat barbecued chicken and hamburgers, as well as the standard Dodger Dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn, watermelon slices, and soft drinks. And weekend games net you a complimentary T-shirt.

Seeing as the Dodgers keep such a tight watch on everything not directly related to fan safety, there isn’t much of a scalper scene directly around Chavez Ravine. You will find a smattering of ticket sellers at the corner of Academy and Stadium way. If a game is sold out and you like your tickets in hand before heading to town, online ticket brokers are your best bet.

The folks in Southern California sure know how to build parking lots. The twenty-one terraced levels surrounding Dodger Stadium are landscaped to perfection. The only problem is that tailgating is strictly prohibited. Since there is absolutely nothing else to do in these lots, we wonder if the Dodgers know what kind of opportunity they’re wasting here. Think of the possibilities of inebriated entertainment: beer golf, downhill bowling, skateboarding.

Traditionally a ballpark’s exterior is not its most attractive feature. But with all the money spent on landscaping, the Dodgers challenge conventional wisdom. Walking up the hills will bring you alongside all sorts of California foliage, flora, bushes, and desert trees. And the blue and teal exterior paint of the ballpark itself is very soothing. A walk around the exterior is a must, with expansive views in all directions.

Freeways, freeways everywhere. This is Super-freeway-land, so navigating difficult. But if you can find your way to the 101 freeway, shoot on over to the Alvarado exit. Then spin right on Sunset and shoot left onto Elysian Park, which spits you out into the parking lots. From the 110 freeway, take the Dodger Stadium exit and the off-ramp will dump you right out into the parking lots. From Interstate 5 north, exit at Stadium Way. Make a left onto Riverside Drive and then turn left again onto Stadium Way. Follow the blue baseball signs until you enter Dodger Stadium off of Academy Road. From Interstate 5 South simply take the Stadium Way exit and turn left, then follow the blue signs and enter Dodger Stadium off Academy Road.

As you might expect, the parking section of the L.A. chapter will be quite extensive. The first tip is that if you are parking in the lots, get there early. It is possible, as the cars rush to get to the ballpark at some point before the fourth inning, that you will get caught in traffic and indeed arrive with the rest of the throng in the fourth! Earlier is definitely better.

The team lots are all marked by numbered baseballs, twenty-one in all, and are the only ones remotely close. If you intend on parking in the team lots, we suggest parking close to the “Think Blue” sign, near Gate C. The walk to the game will be a bit longer—much longer if you’re not sitting in the outfield. But you’ll thank us when it comes time to leave. While all the other nearby lots feed into the same lane to exit, and thus are backed up for hours, people parking
in these lots are treated to their own exit lane, exclusively marked by cones. You’ll stroll past all the folks who left early and are stuck in the chaos of cars, get into your own vehicle, and be back on the freeway in no time.

For the more daring, there are free parking spaces on Academy Street, just beyond the outermost lots. A word to the wise: Park on the side of the street that faces downhill, otherwise you’ll spend half your life trying to execute a three-point turn after the game. Another word to the wise, if you plan on tailgating in these free parking spaces on Academy Street, please realize that Academy Street gets its name from the Los Angeles Police Academy, which is on the street directly across from where we parked and set up our hibachi.

Parking lots are also available closer to downtown and are fairly cheap for ballgames. But the walk up the hill is a killer.

Speaking of a killer walk, you might be tempted to enjoy some pregame time at Elysian Park, which surrounds Dodger Stadium, before the game. After all, it seems close, parking is free, you can take your shoes off and toss the Frisbee around before the game. What’s not to like, right? Well, first, there are no open containers of alcohol allowed in L.A. city parks. And second, the walk is another thing that’s what not to like. It is a long walk uphill and across the parking lots to get to the game. And even if you do it early enough, after the game you’ll be walking on the street (there are no sidewalks) alongside traffic that would rather run you down than share the road. If you want to hit the park before the game, do it early, then drive up and park nearer to the ballpark. You’ll thank us.

While we were busy laughing, L.A. has been busy building subways. Still, none of them go to Dodger Stadium … yet. We’re still holding out hope.

For folks who still prefer the bus, its best to contact Metro Bus via the Web at
www.mta.net
.

If you can find your way to the Union Station/Gateway Transit Center, shuttle service on the Dodger Stadium Express runs from Union Station to Dodger Stadium every ten minutes, beginning ninety minutes before the game and ending forty-five minutes after. Plus, it’s free if you can produce your game ticket.

Reminiscent of the “Hollywood” sign and sitting atop a small hill just beyond the parking lots is a sign in Dodger Blue that reads only “Think Blue.” Well, we thought “blue” for about as long as we could bear to, but being that we’re not Dodgers fans, we didn’t come up with much. Perhaps this is some new brand of philosophy, a particularly Dodger-esque form of existentialist thought. Or it could be just a gimmick cooked up by Tommy Lasorda and the gang. We’re not sure. But we do like the fact that the sign lights up at night.

There is a gas station beyond the center-field fence in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium. We are not kidding. Could something this perfect be made up? Now while we could make a cheap joke here about how the lines to get out of Dodger Stadium are so long that you will inevitably run out of gas and require a fill-up, we won’t. Let’s just call this a particularly Californian convenience, and leave it at that.

Shorter fans (or Josh sitting on a footstool) can catch a view of a sellout game through small fences beyond the outfield walls. Only four times have these West Coast “knotholers” been lucky enough to chase balls hit completely out of the stadium and into the parking lot. Mark McGwire did it most recently in 1999. Before Big Mac, a Mike Piazza shot left the yard in 1997. And before either of them, Willie “Pops” Stargell sent two shots out, the first in 1969, the second in 1973.

If you’re an autograph hound like Josh, hang just outside the lower level gates in right field after the game. The visiting players walk right past this gate on their way to their cars, and there are usually only a few people waiting so the players don’t seem to mind. It’s a little-known fact but a very easy way to get autographs.

With the maze of parking lots that cover Chavez Ravine, and with tailgating strictly prohibited, there is no place to have a pregame meal or drink in the area without getting back into your car. But of course this is L.A., and no one ever expects to go anywhere without a car, so it all has a strange sense of normalcy to it. And as L.A. is far too huge a city to try to list any number of cool places to go out, we’re sticking to places close by the ballpark and places we like.

The Echo Park neighborhood is overloaded with places to eat, drink, and have a coffee.

Drive down Sunset Boulevard and you can find great Mexican food, Cambodian, Chinese, Vietnamese, French places, and more.

1455 Sunset Blvd.

This Echo Park dive is tough to find. There’s no sign posted anywhere on the darkly painted building. Look for the sandwich board sign out front that lets you know what the drink specials are each day. The Short Stop used to be an LAPD hangout where officers hung up their guns to knock down a few. Now it is the quintessential Dodger bar and a great place to go before or after the game. Why? How about this: longest happy hour in L.A.! We also like the drink specials. Free pool. Cheap beer on game days. And if that’s not enough, how about a DJ?
And
it’s owned by a former member of the Afghan Whigs.

A culinary attraction found in L.A. and one that you might not want to miss as you drive toward the ballpark are the bacon wrapped hot dogs you may (or may not) find available from street vendors. There are usually a couple of these vendors outside the Short Stop. These are the “guerilla warriors” of the hot dog world, as selling grilled hot dogs on the street, by a non-approved vendor, is strictly illegal. Apparently, only boiled hot dogs are allowed in the city. Just like L.A., these dogs are part Mexican, part American, and all delicious. Get yours with onions, tomatoes, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and on occasion, a poblano chile. Now you see them, now you don’t; don’t be surprised if one of these purveyors of dog deliciousness picks up his makeshift sterno grill and bolts upon seeing one of L.A.’s finest arrive on the scene.

Kevin:
Bacon wrapped dogs are so good, it’s no wonder they’re illegal.

Josh:
Shut up and eat. We need to get four more before this guy gets busted.

Sunset Boulevard and Alvarado

Though its reputation has slipped lately, the Burrito King still offers cheap “drunk food.” It sure hit the spot when we visited, though we can’t recall for certain exactly what we ordered.