LA Dodgers 3-1 San Francisco Giants
Dodger Stadium
24 June 2013
Att 40,994
If you have ever wondered what it is like to watch baseball in the 60's then head to Chavez Ravine just to the north of downtown LA and the home of the Dodgers. Give or take a few escalators, video scoreboard and larger merchandising shops the stadium has barely changed. The new owners who took control in 2012, upgraded the club house and boxes which reduced the capacity to 53,275 from 56,000, the first time it had changed since the place opened in 1962.
And the place looks great. Everything you would imagine it to be. My only wish was that I had driven up in a 1960's classic convertible, just to make it perfect.
The Dodgers move west from Brooklyn always fascinated me (strangely more so than the Giants to San Francisco). As a kid I could never work out how this sort of thing could happen. In 2013 in England we are still shaking our head as to how we allowed a football team to relocate 80 miles to Milton Keynes. But this was moving one of the most famous names in sports almost 3,000 miles and confining one of the most famous stadiums (Ebbets Field) to history.
But that is exactly what that is now, history. 5 World Series victories whilst in California (compared to the one whilst in Brooklyn) has helped see to that.
The modern day dodgers have money, serious money. They are second only to the Yankees in team payroll at $216m. And they are prepared to spend more. All of which has resulted in an even greater interest from locals in what has always been one of the best supported teams in the MLB. And as a result we have another big difference between the 60's and modern day Dodgers; the ticket prices!
Todays game saw the Dodgers host the other team that relocated west in the late 50's, the San Francisco Giants, in what is one of the biggest rivalries in Baseball. Both pitchers played well but in the end it was decided in favour of the Dodgers by a great pitching performance from the Korean Hyun-Jin Ryu (to the excitement of hundreds of camera wielding Koreans in the crowd) and a a three hit, one homer performance from the new sensation Yasiel Puig (whose fellow countrymen were not there in such great numbers).
Those of you who have read my blog on my trip to Fenway will know that there are two really old baseball stadiums (Fenway and Wrigley) four that remain from the 60's/early 70's and the rest are from 1989 (the futuristic Skydome in Toronto) or younger. Of these 4 that bridge the gap between the past and the present two more are on this trip (Oakland and Anaheim) the last (Kansas City) I have yet to visit. Personally, do what you like with these, but please retain this wonderful stadium as it bridges the gap between the past and the present perfectly.
And the place looks great. Everything you would imagine it to be. My only wish was that I had driven up in a 1960's classic convertible, just to make it perfect.
The Dodgers move west from Brooklyn always fascinated me (strangely more so than the Giants to San Francisco). As a kid I could never work out how this sort of thing could happen. In 2013 in England we are still shaking our head as to how we allowed a football team to relocate 80 miles to Milton Keynes. But this was moving one of the most famous names in sports almost 3,000 miles and confining one of the most famous stadiums (Ebbets Field) to history.
But that is exactly what that is now, history. 5 World Series victories whilst in California (compared to the one whilst in Brooklyn) has helped see to that.
The modern day dodgers have money, serious money. They are second only to the Yankees in team payroll at $216m. And they are prepared to spend more. All of which has resulted in an even greater interest from locals in what has always been one of the best supported teams in the MLB. And as a result we have another big difference between the 60's and modern day Dodgers; the ticket prices!
Todays game saw the Dodgers host the other team that relocated west in the late 50's, the San Francisco Giants, in what is one of the biggest rivalries in Baseball. Both pitchers played well but in the end it was decided in favour of the Dodgers by a great pitching performance from the Korean Hyun-Jin Ryu (to the excitement of hundreds of camera wielding Koreans in the crowd) and a a three hit, one homer performance from the new sensation Yasiel Puig (whose fellow countrymen were not there in such great numbers).
Those of you who have read my blog on my trip to Fenway will know that there are two really old baseball stadiums (Fenway and Wrigley) four that remain from the 60's/early 70's and the rest are from 1989 (the futuristic Skydome in Toronto) or younger. Of these 4 that bridge the gap between the past and the present two more are on this trip (Oakland and Anaheim) the last (Kansas City) I have yet to visit. Personally, do what you like with these, but please retain this wonderful stadium as it bridges the gap between the past and the present perfectly.