Los Angeles Dodgers 5 at Colorado Rockies 7 - September 4, 2013

The NFL Stadium Journey is underway! I flew from New York to Denver on Delta, a remarkably smooth process with no lines at check-in or security that left me relaxed and catching up on my NFL preview magazines before boarding.



The flight was on an A319 (above) and I had a left window seat that allowed me to grab a couple of great pictures on takeoff. Below is Manhattan, and below that is Yankee Stadium.





When I arrived, my friend and fellow stadium traveller Meg picked me up and we went to Coors Field to see the Los Angeles Dodgers visiting the Rockies. Interestingly this will be the only LA team I will see on the trip as the NFL still lacks a team in the nation's second biggest media market. Before we entered the stadium, we paid a visit to the National Ballpark Museum, a private, non-profit enterprise that has tons of memorabilia from all the great parks of yesteryear. At $5 it is worth visiting for any ballpark fan.



We entered Coors Field, still one of the most beautiful ballparks around. I last visited here in 2009 when I first started the blog, so I'm not going to recap the experience.




I was hoping to see phenom Yaisel Puig, but he was nursing an injury. In fact, the Dodgers put out their secondary lineup and both starting pitchers (Edison Volquez for LA and Jorge De La Rosa for Colorado) were incredibly slow. A couple of years ago I discussed a statistic called Pitches Per Minute (PPM) to describe the pace of a baseball game. A quick game will have a PPM above 1.75, while a slow one will be below 1.5. Most games fall in the middle. There were 306 pitches during the 3:35 that it took to play the game (215 minutes) for a PPM of 1.42, which might have made it the slowest game of the year. Anybody have the pitch counts and game times for MLB this season?



Needless to say, I was grumpy by the time Puig (above) made an appearance in the 8th inning where he represented the go-ahead run. Manny Corpas struck him out though, and the Rockies held on for the 7-5 victory.

Next Up

I am writing this from Kansas City, where I am resting up after driving from Denver. I'll continue on to Indianapolis for the Colts home opener on Sunday. I'll have posts on that game as well as the Broncos blowout win over Baltimore, so check back regularly as the NFL Stadium Journey will be the focus for the next four months.

Best,

Sean

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Los Angeles Dodgers 4 at San Francisco Giants 5 - April 12, 2011

After a short flight from Tokyo, I landed in sunny San Francisco to start a 3-week journey across northern California and Nevada with the hope of watching 25 sporting events during that time.

I was quickly reminded about how things don't work as well in America as in Japan. There was the 40 minute wait at immigration including a rather thorough questioning by the final inspector. He asked me what sports I was planning to see, so I started enumerating my schedule (today in San Francisco, tomorrow in Sacramento, Friday in Stanford...) and he seemed bemused, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Surely nobody spends 3 weeks just watching sports. As I entered the 10th day his eyes glazed over and he waved me through, shaking his head in what I will assume to be awe.

When I got to my hotel, the room key was inoperative which necessitated two trips back to the front desk. Once I got in, the wi-fi didn't work and the TV remote was on the blink. I don't need the remote as I just put the tube on ESPN and leave it there for the day, but I do need Internet access. After a few minutes though, it was fixed, and now I'm able to bring you this exciting post.

Getting to the Park

I was staying out near the airport and took CalTrain to get downtown. There is a small, free parking lot at South San Francisco station which is just 20 minutes from the city. An all-day train pass for zone 1 is just $5 (the same as 2 one-way tickets, but you avoid the hassle of buying a ticket on the return leg) and drops you off right next to AT&T Park. If you are coming from the south and want to avoid the trouble of driving downtown, stop in here and take the train. Note that one station further south is zone 2 and the one-day pass jumps up to $9. As well, service is quite rare, about once an hour during the afternoon and limited after the game. There is a 10:40 scheduled train and if you miss that, the last train of the evening is at midnight. I am not sure if they run extra trains after Giant games.

If you drive downtown, parking is $20 close to the stadium and cheaper as you get further out. There are other options such as BART and the Muni that may be better depending on where you are coming from.

Another Roadtripper

Before the game, I had a chance to meet up with Andrew Van Cleve, who is another sports roadtripper. I first met Andrew last year in Chicago where he resides, but he is a native of San Francisco and is here visiting his parents. We toured around the ballpark environs with his father and caught up over a beer. When it came time to get tickets though, we couldn't find three in a row at a reasonable price, so we had to split up. But he did provide me with one piece of interesting news - StubHub sells tickets right up to game time. As one would expect, prices drop dramatically as first pitch nears, so if you live close to the stadium and can print out the ticket and head over.

AT&T Park

Before I met Andrew, I did the ballpark walkaround. There are plenty of reminders that San Francisco won the 2010 World Series scattered about, a few are shown below:

The park is still beautiful on the outside and in perhaps the most scenic location of any MLB stadium:

However, I noticed how the crowd has changed since the Giants won the World Series. There are far more casual fans here and this made things inside insanely crowded. Lineups for the men's room were extremely long even before the game started and didn't let up all night long. Walking the lower concourse between innings was a struggle. Fortunately, the Giants offer plenty of standing room, so I was able to move around and find a good spot for most of the game, away from the wandering masses.

I'm going to postpone a detailed review of the park until I come back next week as I didn't have time to really tour the inside. You really have to get in as soon as the gates open to beat the crowd and enjoy the park in relative calm.

The Game

I hadn't slept in about 28 hours when first pitch happened at 7:18 pm. I was worried about falling asleep but the Giants and Dodgers put on an entertaining affair that kept me enthralled and reminded me just how good baseball can be.

Tim Lincecum (above) started for San Francisco while the Dodgers sent Chad Billingsley to the hill. The first three innings were scoreless although neither hurler was overpowering. In the 4th, LA managed 4 hits around a Brandon Belt error to score 3 runs. Giants fans started booing here. Yeah, your team sucks people, and Lincecum is crap. I mean, you are one week into defending a championship with one of the game's premier pitchers on the mound and you are upset at a 3-0 deficit? Casual fans are also fairweather fans, and those types dominate when a team wins; they are also the quickest to leave at the first sign of difficulty.

Anyway, the Giants got 2 back in their half of the fourth on back-to-back RBI hits from Buster Posey and Pedro Sandoval. In the 5th they took the lead on RBI singles by Aaron Rowand and Posey. The fairweather fans went crazy. They don't seem to understand baseball is a long, long season. Manic ups and downs this early is just silly.

Tony Gwynn Jr. went 0-5. Dad was not impressed.

Lincecum continued to struggle and was finally removed in the 6th with the bases loaded and only one out. Guillermo Mota relieved and got two key outs to maintain the 1-run lead. But Jeremy Affeldt took over in the 7th and promptly gave up a solo homer to pinch-hitter Marcus Thames. Boooooooo! Affeldt is terrible! Booooooo!

The baseball gods must have been snoozing tonight, because the Giants fans were immediately rewarded for their hostility. Rowand led off the bottom half of the 7th and promptly crushed the first pitch from Blake Hawksworth to the deepest part of the park, legging out a triple. Hawksworth then unleashed a wild pitch and Rowand raced home to give the Giants the 5-4 lead and the fans responded appropriately.

After a scoreless eighth, Brian Wilson (above) came in to pitch the 9th. His ERA was 33.75 after one disastrous appearance, but he showed no signs of letting it bother him, striking out the side in 14 pitches to lower the ERA to 19.29. The crowd went wild; disaster had been averted as the Giants won to move to 5-6.

For me, it was a wonderful way to start the trip. A ton of energy in the park, and although I am slightly exaggerating, some of it was negative which surprised me. The whole season should be fun for the Giants' fans, their team is not likely to repeat so this is the time to revel in last year's success. Leave the booing to Oakland fans, at least those who are still there.

Next Up

I'm in Sacramento now where I spent the afternoon watching the AAA River Cats take on Toronto's affiliate, the Las Vegas 51s. In the evening, I managed to find a good ticket to what is likely to be the final NBA game in Sacramento. Check back for reports tomorrow.

Best,

Sean

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Fan Violence

A San Francisco Giants fan was beaten up in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the home opener last Thursday night. He was wearing Giants' gear and was taunted by two Dodgers fans, who hit him in back of the head, causing him to fall down and bang his head on the pavement. The two cowards then proceeded to kick him before escaping into a waiting minivan. I'm not sure how nobody in the area managed to get the license plate of the van given that Dodger Stadium parking lots are notoriously difficult to leave after games. Regardless, the two scum who committed the act have yet to come forward, which is not surprising given that those who gang up on somebody aren't going to have the balls to face the punishment they deserve. Authorities describe them as Latino men in their early 20s, but have no solid leads. Turns out that the victim is a paramedic and a father of two, just to make the story sadder.

The Dodgers also look pretty bad in this, with owner Frank McCourt stating, "It's very, very unfair to take what was otherwise a fantastic day — everything from the weather to the result of the game to just the overall experience — and to have a few individuals mar that." With that stunted emotional outlook, it's no wonder he's getting divorced.

As someone who travels to sporting events, often in the colours of the visiting team, this story makes me sick. I've been yelled at, had peanuts thrown at me, and had the home team mascot cover me in silly string, but it was all good natured. Unfortunately, it just takes one idiot who feels that rooting for a different team gives him the right to ruin your experience and possibly your life. Teams have a responsibility to protect visiting fans and as Paul Oberjuce writes, the Dodgers have not been doing it. If it means selling less booze or maintaining a list of problem fans, so be it. But teams are loath to forgo any revenue streams, so don't expect any real changes. If you are a visiting fan, be aware that your safety is your own responsibility in Los Angeles.

I'll be attending a Dodgers-Giants game in San Francisco next week and wondering if anything will happen. I'm not a fan of either team in particular and just hoping to see a good game, but you never know if some inebriated Giants' supporters will try to take revenge. I expect security to be tight and obvious in an attempt to deter more moronic behaviour, and Dodger fans might be a bit less obvious in their cheering. In soccer, hooligans have led to fans being forced to sit apart from each other which means that you get a crappy seat when you are a visiting fan. Here's hoping that American sports don't follow that path because of two louts in LA.

Update: I'm adding a bit to this post as it's getting a lot of media play back home. The victim, Bryan Stow, remains in a coma and might have brain damage, while the perpetrators continue to hide. Their friends and family know who they are but no one has the courage to do the right thing. Shameful, but not unexpected, as cowards run together. I doubt that they are even aware of the damage they are doing to their own community, as all young Latino males at Dodger games are now suspect. It's going to be racial profiling all over again.

ESPN has also been following the story closely. Skip Bayless, America's most obnoxious sports commentator, said that visiting fans shouldn't wear their team's paraphernalia or cheer too loudly. I know it's his job to be outrageous, but this is just stupid. Watching your team on the road can be a great experience and is the whole point behind the sports road trip. It is fun to get to know the locals and have a friendly rivalry during the game. Unfortunately, a few fans base their self-worth purely on the teams they follow and cannot deal with the fact that there are people who root for other teams. It is because of these idiots that I need to keep my Leafs jersey at home? No! Simply put, teams need to protect visiting fans just as much as they do their own supporters. Drunkards need to be immediately removed and repeat offenders banned for life. Security has to be noticeably present throughout the venue, including the parking lots, until well after the game. Visiting fans should be aware of their situation and have an avenue to report any potential problems. And if you are a visiting fan, be mature. Cheering and friendly heckling is OK, being an asshole is not. If your team wins, enjoy it but don't rub it in. You are not a better person just because your team is better. Anyway, the sporting gods never take kindly to such behaviour and will punish you eventually.

The Giants are dedicating the first game of their LA series to Stow among other initiatives. In L.A., there will be far more security at Dodger Stadium. For the rest of us, all we can hope for now is that Mr. Stow recovers and this story stops other morons from taking out their personal issues on those wearing different team colours.

Best,

Sean

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Pittsburgh Pirates 2 at Los Angeles Dodgers 0 - April 29, 2010

When I do these roadtrips, I usually pick a few games that I am interested in and then fill up the empty days with nearby events. Sometimes I am lucky and get some classic matchups such as the NBA games in January, but other times I end up at a game that I wouldn't be too interested in otherwise. Such was the case yesterday when the 9-12 Pittsburgh Pirates were in town to take on the 8-13 LA Dodgers. I was so excited about this game that I forgot to recharge my camera battery, so there's no pics.

Dodger Stadium

Located at the confluence of the 101, 110, and I-5 freeways, the stadium is the 3rd oldest in MLB, having been opened in 1962.

Parking is $15 but there is free parking along Academy Road just north of the stadium. The LA Police Academy is here, so it is safe and about a 15-minute walk to the gates.

There are 4 distinct seating sections in the main bowl; field level, loge, reserve, and top deck. Each level has its own colour of seats, although they are fading after so many years in the sun. There are many seating options so I won't go into them. I would suggest that you avoid getting tickets at the box office on game day as they go up in price; I was able to find a ticket online for half-price. Which leads me to the pricing here. I had a great seat, 4th row in field level section 12. But there is another section known as Dugout Box which has 10 rows in front of the field level section. My seat had a face value of $120 which goes to $130 on game day. That's ridiculous, even at half-price it is too expensive for 14 rows from the field, even just off the plate.

There's also two outfield pavilions, one of which is all-you-can-eat. Avoid that unless you want to be disgusted. I didn't eat here myself although Dodger Dogs are the most famous food in MLB.

I really like Dodger Stadium. Yeah, they've raised their prices way too high, especially if they continue to play like this, but it's unique, seems the same as it did 20 years ago when I first visited, and doesn't blast loud music during the inning breaks. Fans come late and leave early, but that means more room for me. I enjoyed just sitting back and watching the game without distractions. Definitely worth a visit if you've yet to be here.

The Game

I thought I was in Candlestick Park as the game got underway; it was very windy and cold. According to the radio broadcast after the game, this sort of weather is quite rare in Dodger Stadium, yet another reason to have stayed home.

Clayton Kershaw, who led the league in average against in 2009 (.200), started for LA while Brian Burres was recalled from AAA Indianapolis to make a spot start for the Pirates.

Kershaw was wild to start, walking the first two batters before striking out the next two. Ryan Doumit then stroked one to center that skipped by Matt Kemp all the way to the wall. Both runners scored and Doumit ended up on third with a triple. I thought an error was due to Kemp, but both runs were earned.

As it turned out, that was all the scoring. Burres lasted 5 1/3 giving up 4 hits and 4 walks and Jack Taschner and Evan Meek were perfect, retiring the last 11 batters in a row to preserve the 2-0 victory. It was Meek's 1st major league save, so perhaps he's making a claim for the Pirates' closer role.

This game was dull but not in the way I expected. I figured the Dodgers would break out of their slump against the pathetic Pirates pitching and win in a blowout, but the opposite happened. LA never threatened though, getting only 3 runners to third base, and there was no excitement after the top of the first. It lasted 2:51, far too long for a 2-0 game.

Notes

Blake DeWitt was creamed by a foul ball off the bat of Russell Martin in the 3rd. DeWitt was on third base when Martin crushed the ball right at him. There was no time to move and the ball hit him squarely on the thigh. But he walked it off and stayed in the game. It was a reminder as to why you stand in foul territory when you are on third; DeWitt would have been out if he had been in fair territory.

Attendance was 40,185 according to MLB.com but there were maybe half that in the stadium. Would be nice if they counted gate attendance rather than tickets sold (or even better, both numbers were announced - would be nice to know how many weather wimps there are in LA).

With two out in the bottom of the 9th and two strikes on Ronnie Belliard, a fan jumped on the field and raced to center field where he was finally tackled. Idiot. He wasted 2 minutes of my time as well as everyone else there. I think he punishment should be equal to the number of total minutes wasted. That would be 80,370 minutes, or nearly 56 days. I think if they publicized that he got nearly 2 months in jail, we might see less of this annoying behavior.

Next Up

Tonight I'm planning to go to UCLA to check out a baseball game with Arizona State visiting.

Tomorrow I fly to London for a relaxing two weeks. I won't be watching much sports there, but am hoping to catch an EPL game on Sunday and some cricket action at Lord's mid-week. Updates will be spotty but check back occasionally.

Best,

Sean

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