Dodger Stadium versus SF Giants Stadium

I have fond memories of Dodger Stadium.  We were both born in the same year and while we did not become acquainted with one another for many years after our birth, Dodger Stadium sits at the heart of one my early life milestones.

We lived in Malibu when I was about 13. Living in Malibu had many advantages, but it also meant that as a young kid I was trapped in suburbia. The single escape route was a highway with cars zooming by at 45 mph.  It was too dangerous to ride a bicycle along (even though I did a few times). I longed to be like those kids on TV that could ride their bikes into town.  The only way I went into town was under the escort of a parent, which increasingly became less desirable.

Then came the bus. The bus was freedom. I traveled far and wide on the bus system. I ventured as far away as Disneyland by bus and regularly went to Dodger Stadium.

Before the days of cell phones, I traveled by surface street on three buses clocking well over two hours for the 25 mile journey. The bus finally dropped me off on Sunset Blvd and I walked the final mile up hill.

A general admission child’s ticket cost 75 cents in my day.  I remember sitting up on the fourth deck. We would leave at 9 in the morning to get in our seats by 11:30.  We enjoyed the pre-game experience and secured the best seats on the upper deck. 

Of course we typically had to leave in the 7th or 8th inning to catch the bus to connect to the last bus out to Malibu. But it was an adventure and it was most certainly a major first step out of the nest.

I returned to Dodger Stadium for the first time in at least 20 years. We’ve both held up well, although we both have our own issues that we do our best to cover up. The strip of plasma TV screens that serve as a colorful ribbon of activity is a great addition. The field looked stunning as always and there is no “blue” quite as stunning as the Dodger shade of blue. The 43-year-old stadium looked good.

And yet attending a game is radically different than attending a game a San Francisco Giants home game.

• 40,000 is a disappointing crowd in LA and a sell out in SF

• $24 buys you a view level seat in SF with a view of the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco Bay (oh yeah, the field too), while $12 buys you a reserved level seat in the hot Dodger sun.

• The cheap parking in San Francisco is $20 and still requires a pleasant 10 minute walk while the Dodgers charge half of that. When accompanied by my disabled grandfather the parking is just steps from the gate.

• Wearing full Giants wear my backpack was rejected as being too big while non-Giant clothed people were allowed to enter with identically sized backpacks.

• Helen Dell and her organ was both limited but part of the Dodger Stadium personality and while the Dodgers play a few recorded versions of Helen’s work, it just wanted the same.

• I used to hate the idea of having the bullpen as it is for the Giants and preferred the bullpen out of the field of play and yet I realized I kept forgetting to see what’s happening there and I don’t like the idea of the pitching staff being so far away from the team.

• I saw no mascot. I don’t ever remember a mascot, but I admit to enjoying Lou Seal’s antics in the Giant’s stadium.

• Dodger Stadium is still Dodger Stadium and the Giants sold out for corporate sponsorship.

• Between innings LA has the auto race from one side of the plasma ribbon to the other while SF races cable cars on a big TV screen. LA wins this hands down.

• SF is always cold. I couldn’t have been any hotter in LA.

I enjoyed my return to Dodger Stadium and felt my snob-filled personality quickly grade the 2005 version a “B” to the Giant’s “A” grade. The overwhelming factor is that it takes a total of 20 minutes to go from last out to 60mph on a freeway heading home.  Despite the small crowd it took us an hour to achieve something resembling 60mph. At first I was stunned that there was no Dodger representative managing the foot traffic a little better. The fans created an uninterrupted stream of people blocking traffic for long periods at a time. Then I realized that escaping Dodger Stadium proper was only a license to wait in bumper to bumper on surface streets and freeways.

All of that said, I look forward to returning to Dodger Stadium again as the Harris family enjoyed their intrastate face off.

Regards,

Greg

July 16, 2005

© Greg Harris, 2005