MLB Parks Tour #6 – Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA – 2008

I promised last week that I’d get these all out before we go on our trip in June…so far so good. Sorry you’re going to be inundated with baseball posts for a while.

After spending a few days in sunny San Diego (I think it’s prounounced Sawn Diago…), we headed up Highway 1 toward the City of Angels. The trip up the coast was relaxing and beautiful, even if it took us twice as long as the 5 would’ve. After a few stops in Venice, Huntington Beach, and of course the Disney “mall”, we made our way into the valley and toward another iconic ballpark: Dodger Stadium.

Dodger Stadium has been around a while, and because of that, it’s got some mojo that’s hard to explain. Perhaps it was memories from my childhood spent in California, or maybe the overall feeling that Dodger Stadium is from an older era. Whatever it is…we loved being in California, and loved being at Dodger stadium.

A few notes:

Same story as in San Diego, the great weather that seems to encompass Southern California was in full effect once again.

Joe Torre made his managerial debut for the Dodgers in 2008, after managing the Yankees for about a dozen years, and it was great to see a game he managed. I may hate the Yankees, but as with all great historical figures in baseball, there’s no denying the impact Torre’s had on the game. Always good to see a legend at work. (And I’m glad we saw him when we did; he retired in 2010.)

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this trip was made 100% more awesome by the simple fact that we also got to go to Disneyland while we were in LA. Yvette has been basically begging to go back since. Soon, I think.

Dodger dogs! Need I say more?

The game:

Chicago White Sox – 2
LA Dodgers – 0

Thursday, June 26, 2008, 12:11PM
Time of Game: 2:58
Weather: 74° F, Cloudy.

Attendance: 37,956

Winning Pitcher: John Danks (5-4)
Losing Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw (0-2)
Save: Bobby Jenks (17)

The hot dog:

(Hot Dog ratings are for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to hot dogs, either real or fictional, is purely coincidental.)

Like the Fenway Frank and the Chicago Dog…the Dodger Dog is pretty iconic. Overall the dog was pretty good, but not quite the caliber you go in expecting.

Score: 4.5 Dogs

4-half-hotdogs