Dodgers - 7/8

Dodger Stadium was opened in 1962, and is currently the 3rd oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball behind Fenway and Wrigley, but has little of their charm.  And, unlike Angles Stadium, has not had any recent facelifts.  She doesn't just look old, this one is closer to deceased! The first deck must have been nice years ago.  It has a bright, airy feeling, with the field side completely open.  Everywhere has a good view of the field.  But the upper levels seem more like a dungeon.  Low hanging ceilings, closed in spaces, and years of overuse had us running for the escalators.

The park has the feel of a small, intimate park.  But surprisingly, Dodger Stadium has the largest seating capacity in MLB, holding 56,000 fans!  Due to a conditional use permit, they may not add capacity, so every time seats are added, an equal number must be removed.

One of our least favorite aspects of this park is the caste system feel of segregated areas.  Entrance to the park is based on the seating section listed on your ticket, and upper level ticket holders cannot visit levels below them.  Of course you can always travel up, but some areas we couldn't even find access to with our field level tickets!

Guest Services is an unmanned kiosk.  A security guard had to summon someone to assist us.  The rep was friendly enough, and suggested some things to see, but didn't provide any of the treatment to which we have become accustomed.  Yes, we're definitely spoiled... but when we are comparing various parks, we can't discount the effect of the schwag on the Belove's overall opinion!

During batting practice, the Dodgers do something we have not seen in any other park.  They invite fans down into the dugout to check things out and get autographs.  Pretty cool, huh?  Well, it took us so long to figure out where guest services are, that we arrived 10 min too late to take advantage of this feature.  Bummer!  How many strikes are we up to?  I think the Dodgers might be out! 

One thing we can say, Dodger fans know how to have a good time.  They are a lively bunch,  always up to something. Whether it's The Wave, a song, or beach balls (which they are allowed to do!), they play along with gusto.  The Diamond Vision provided lots of between-inning entertainment, and some of it things we had not seen before:  A concentration game, This or That, a Jeopardy! take-off, and Andre Ethier "Captain Crunch" comic book animated adventure (it was Andre Ethier action figure night.)

And, our seats were terrific!!  Field level, down the right field line.  Prime foul ball territory, but no such luck!

All in all, seeing Dodger Stadium made the Beloves pretty blue...

Fanfest tomorrow!!