Dodger Stadium Sucks!

Well, it doesn't really suck. But the sports blog Deadspin has started a weekly feature called "Why Your Stadium Sucks." I think I can nominate Dodger Stadium.

My cousin and I went there while visiting the Left Coast. It was a Sunday afternoon, and we were dropped off outside the parking lot. We walked up the parking lot, as the parking lots are multi-leveled in Chavez Ravine. We immediately come upon pictures of Dodgers adorning the outside of the top of the stadium. But there were no signs of a ticket booth. Plenty of people were selling in the parking lot, but I don't trust sellers in the day of printable tickets.

So we continued to look for a ticket booth or an information person. I saw a woman, wearing a Dodger-blue shirt and a gaudy striped vest, standing near the gate. I asked her where I can purchase tickets. She took out her ear buds and informed me she didn't work there. I new LA had people who dressed weird, but not like a Disney employee.

We finally found an information person who gave us two locations. We could go up the elevator, and then the stairs at the top of the hill or find the booth in the parking lot. Huh? So we went up since it was closest. We purchased our tickets at a booth outside the third base line. Our seats were in the left field pavilion.

Now it was time to enter. The security line was long. There wasn't anyone telling anybody that there was a line if you didn't have bags. So we get to the gate and were informed that we can't enter there because our tickets were in left field. Huh? Our tickets didn't have a gate number.

So we walked and found another gate. Strike two. "Keep walking down the hill to your right."

Finally we enter the left field pavilion gate. Now we were in section 307. Where's the sign for section 307? Luckily I saw 309 and that was to our left. There was no 305 to our right. Must be straight.

Time for lunch. Four food stands all selling the same crappy Dodger Dogs. At most ballparks, you can explore the stadium for food. Not in "Dodgertown (Yeah. Dodgertown is in Vero Beach.) where all are welcome." Instead we were quarantined like we had the swine flu. So I had to get a crappy Dodger Dog. It was $1 more for beef. My cousin got "Brooklyn Dodger" pizza. The Hollywood lies continued.

Finally we made it to our seats. Fortunately, we were in the first row under the roof. Great? Nope. Can't see the jumbo-tron with the replays because they placed it behind the left field seats instead of in center field where everyone can see it.

And the announced attendance was 49,000+. I kept looking at a sea of yellow seats in the rest of the stadium where the beautiful people could sit and stand and roam the concourses in this stadium that looked like 1950s Miami Beach. I heard Dodger fans show up in the third and leave in the seventh. No, they don't show.

All-in-all, it was worth it. Tickets and food cost less than $30 and we got a great game in the shade. The Dodgers lost, so Old Blue Eyes lamented about LA on the audio instead of Randy Newman's "I Love LA."