July 29, 2014
Scheduling our trip to where we could watch both the Angels and Dodgers within a reasonable amount of time required careful planning because for the most part, with both teams in Los Angeles, they’re almost never at home at the same time. We had to find a time when one team was ending a home-stand, meaning the other team would be starting a home-stand. Because of this, we went to an Angels game on Sunday, getaway day, and the Dodgers were now coming into town.
After visiting all the iconic Hollywood sights, it was time to head to Chavez Ravine. There’s a saying around baseball that the Dodger Stadium parking lot is the Disneyland of parking. I don’t know about you, but I thought Disneyland was supposed to be fun. Parking in Dodger Stadium is quite the task. After awhile, we finally got in and parked, but now came the most fun part: finding the right entrance. We tried to enter through center field, but apparently we had to enter the gate where our seats were. The way Dodger Stadium is built into this ravine, the parking lot is layered, it feels like climbing a mountain, and there are endless amounts of stairs. Plus, my mom and I got behind my brothers, so we were walking alone.
Before entering, we took some pictures with a few of the dozen statues outside the stadium. The Los Angeles Dodgers sure do have a rich history filled with legendary players and therefore a lot of retired numbers and even statues of rings. Anyways, after seemingly miles of walking, we had at last made it inside Dodger Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Dodgers!
Thankfully we got here before the gates opened because tonight was Vin Scully Microphone Giveaway Night! Each of us got one as we walked in, and we were so excited! My dad, Adrian and Alan are all Dodger fans, so for them, this was home. We walked in at the very top deck of the stadium, so we went ahead and took our behind home plate picture now. The view from up here, with the hills of Chavez Ravine in the distance, was beautiful. We now went to our seats, but like in every other stadium, we wanted to explore the whole stadium. However, for some reason, the Dodgers join the Chicago White Sox in being the only two teams that don’t allow you to go to other levels other than the one you have tickets in. This made my mom and I very upset. The game was about to start and we were in our seats, but I still wanted to walk around. That’s when my mom and I walked to fan services, explained to them our whole mission and how we wanted to see every stadium, and luckily they gave us passes to walk around on every level for a while.
With these passes, we were able to truly get to know Dodger Stadium, but it was only my mom, Alan and I. My dad and Adrian stayed in their seats to watch the game. We went down the elevator and first got to see some great memorabilia in the suite level as well as the outside of the Vin Scully Press Box. Next we made it down to the lower level, and there was a clear difference down here. Everything was much livelier to say the least. We walked to the outfield where I took a picture with a cool gold glove statue, and we also met some really nice employees. While talking, the game had begun, and Matt Kemp hit a two-run home run to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead over the Atlanta Braves. Also, out of nowhere, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Yasiel Puig and Justin Turner announced on the scoreboard that Vin Scully would be returning for another year, and the Dodger Stadium crowd roared and gave Scully a rousing standing ovation. What a cool moment!
Before returning to our seats, I bought some pasta from Tommy Lasorda’s Trattoria. That’s where we ran into Blue Velvet, a worker we had talked to outside the stadium. She started talking to us again and asked us where we were sitting. She had to go, but she said she would come by our seats soon, so we went back up to our level and returned the passes to head back to our seats. In the game, Kemp hit another home run and the Dodgers were up big. Fans even began to mock Atlanta’s tomahawk chop. All of a sudden, Blue Velvet showed up to our seats with a goody bag in hand. She handed it to me and said she hoped I enjoyed “Blue Heaven on Earth.” Wow! I couldn’t believe how nice she was!
The game came to an end and the Dodgers pulled out an 8-4 victory, much to the delight of this rowdy crowd. We stopped by the team store so that my brothers and dad could look around, and they did end up buying a few shirts. Unlike the comfort of Angels Stadium, we now had to walk all the way back the way we came to get to our car. Yes, that means more stairs. With very tired feet we arrived in our car and exited Dodger Stadium. We got off to a little bit of a rough start, but all in all we had a fun time in Blue Heaven on Earth.
Traffic is a bummer I agree and the stairs are a bit much. You guys gotta come back next year, we are renovating our stadium for the all-star game for next year.
I would love to visit again!