We got into Los Angeles an hour later than expected due to flight delays. This set us back a little as we were worried about making the bus connections at LAX to our hotel over by Union Station. While waiting for the bus at LAX, my girlfriend and I witnessed a man being struck by a car in the middle of an intersection. Traffic came to a halt and people rushed over to assist the fallen gentleman. Paramedics and police swarmed the area and blocked traffic for over an hour while they investigated the scene of the crime. By the time the bus came, picked us up and dropped us off at Union Station, it was after 1am. We had both expected to be in by 11pm.
While our hotel was only a short two blocks away from Union Station, the walk over was certainly shady and creepy. Downtown Los Angeles certainly is not the garden spot of California and we were, in the short half mile walk, approached several times by transients asking for money or drugs/alcohol. It was freaky and was indicitive of the city which we were staying.
I have had some seriously bad allergies all season, and they flared up during the night. I had a fitful night sleep that saw me toss and turn in the bed trying to unclog my swollen sinuses. In the morning, I decided that enough was enough and set out in search of a pharmacy to spend whatever money it took to get the strongest allergy decongestent on the market. It was a noble task that was met with utter failure. It may have only been 9am on a Saturday morning, but Downtown LA was even more dead than the night before. No pedestrians, no businesses open and the population abounded of transients. I walked past the infamous US Court House where OJ Simpson was tried, but it was shuttered like and abandoned building. The mall where the pharmacy was supposed to be located was closed and dark. It was extremely depressing and I immediately retreated to the hotel and rode out the discomfort.
After eating breakfast, we made our way back to Union Station to board a bus to Dodger Stadium. This was my first time to Chavez Ravine, and my anticipation was gargantuan. Dodger Stadium sits atop a hill in Elysian Park overlooking Downtown. It is surrounded by acres and acres of parking lots, but the ballpark itself fits in very nicely with the park setting. It was in these parking lots, however, three months ago, where a San Francisco Giants fan was severely beaten and mugged by a group of hoodlums.
Walking up to the stadium, you immediately noticed the huge police presence. Cops in cars, on bikes and on foot prowled the parking lot. In a span of maybe fifty yards, at one time, I counted five cops. In our section alone, in the left field pavilion, there were seven cops that made regular rounds. It was unmistakable and made you feel like you were under siege of some sort. A baseball stadium should be a place of sanctuary and safety, but with the police presence, however ironic it may seem, you did not feel that. The pall of authority hovered over everybody and put a damper on the atmosphere.
While I attribute the pall to the huge law enforcement presence, I can sympathize for it's intentions. Dodger Stadium was overrun, seemingly, by gang members. Multiple individuals sat in our section adorned with gang-related tattoos and colors. They would pay for innocuous items, like peanuts or Dodger Dogs, with straight $100 bills. They seemed to have zero regard for other fans enjoyment by standing up in front of people's views, using profanity and talking on their cell phones. Nobody in the crowd stood up to them because we all knew who they were and what they represented. It was a tense situation that had absolutely no place being at a baseball game.
The stadium tended to also have an elitist feel to it. Sitting in the cheap left field bleachers, we were only allowed to move within that one small section. I wasn't allowed to wander and tour the park like I normally do when visiting a new stadium. Maybe it is because of all the elite celebrities that frequent the game, but I just don't like the segregation that happened and was strictly enforced.
Dodger fans are notorious for showing up late and leaving early, but the recent debacle with their front office has put a serious dent in their attendance. The stadium was barely half-full at the time of the first pitch and wasn't much better once the game got going. You can understand Dodger fans frustrations, based on the ownership and the safety issues described above, and reluctance to go to games. It is an incredibly sad situation and I can only empathize for the real fans of the Dodgers and Dodger Stadium.
What makes this really unfortunate is that Dodger Stadium isn't that half bad of a place to see a game. It is set in the Elysian Park, offers extraordinary views of both the surrounding hills and skyline. The palm trees in the outfield and wavy roof of the outfield pavilions are found nowhere else in baseball. It has wonderful sight lines that put you fairly close to the players. In fact, the seats were actually closer than those at Safeco or AT&T from the outfield sections. The Dodger Dogs were average at best, but they had they nostalgic sentiment to them that made up for the lack of taste.The uniqueness of the facility is what makes it stand out in my book. Bottom line is this: Dodger Stadium has a lot of potential, but the unmitigated circumstances make the atmosphere really depressing and not enjoyable.
The Dodgers loaded the bases in the fifth, but couldn't push across the runs needed to chase Angels starter Trevor Chatwood from the game. Vernon Wells hit a monster three-run bomb in the eighth to seal the 6-1 victory for the Angels.
After the game, we jumped back on the bus to Union Station and grabbed the train down to San Diego. While tonight's adventures were notable, I'm going to hold-off and write about those in the morning in another post.
Thanks again for reading and I will talk to you all tomorrow!
Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)
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