Dodger Stadium, 2012

#20

This was the 2nd of our 5 game trip in 2012. This is a classic stadium, in the sense of the history and the age of it. I, like most, probably remember the Gibson home run more than anything, but a lot has happened here. 

 It has a nice view from behind home plate. It is just mountains but still a pretty nice view. The outside of the park is pretty basic. Lots of foliage around the park that covers a lot of it up, but what you can see is basic. 

Once inside the park, we headed to the upper deck for some pics, and right behind home plate is the sign with the Dodgers logo on it. One thing I didn't like here is they do not let you move around the park to take pictures. When so many people are doing trips like this, why wouldn't parks let people move around to see the park. I understand not letting people try to sneak better seats, but all parks deal with that issue and still let you roam the park if you want. 

The scoreboard here is kind of outdated, but still nice. It has a classic look and fits the park well, but with the new ownership, I wouldn't be surprised to see it updated. They could keep the same look and update the boards, they did it in KC and it came out great.

So on the way to the stadium, Chris says to me, "Do you think the cup will be there?" Well, since the Kings just won the Stanley Cup, and both LA teams were gonna be there, kinda like when the Blackhawks won a couple of years ago they did it at Wrigley. Well thats what happened . It was pretty cool too. They got pics with the teams and all lined up and threw a  first pitch to all the dodger players at the same time. 

So on to the game. It was a pitchers game. 2-1 win by the Halos. 2 solo shots by the Angels. But the most interesting thing to happen that night was during the 7th inning I heard on the monitor in the concourse that Matt Cain was perfect through 7. So I was keeping up with that while watching the last few innings here. He ended up pitching the Perfect game, and we were headed up there the next day. 1 day away from seeing a perfect game. Bummer. 

So, now about the biggest negative here. The parking situation. The parking lot does not open until 2 hours before a game. NOT a minute earlier. There were people pulling in to the entrance and told to turn around and come back. The roads all approaching the park were lined on the sides with cars waiting to get in. Then even with that, once you get in and park, which is only $10 by the way, the stadium doesn't open until 1 1/2 hours before the game.  For most I guess its ok, but when you want to look around, kinda sucks. 

We didn't eat at the stadium. I was planning on it, but when we couldn't get into the parking lot and was told to come back at 5:10, no earlier, we went to eat to pass time and, well we were hungry. I guess its their loss, cause Chris eats like a horse. 

So we got to LA real early that day since it was only 2 hours from SD. So I figured why not check some stuff out. Without a plan, we just made our way around and went up the mountain with the best view of the HOLLYWOOD sign. What a ride. It was tight and curvy, I wish I had my MINI! 

After seeing that, we went down to Hollywood Blvd and walked around the walk of fame or whatever it is. It was pretty cool and passed the time. Chris was hoping to see a famous person, but no such luck. No biggie.