Life 2.1

Oh Dodger Stadium. We have such a love-hate relationship. By birth, I’m a Giants fan, and was therefore raised to loathe you. Yet, when I entered, I thought, “self, this isn’t so bad. Just rip the band-aid off and go for it.“

And for about 3 innings I was all right. Then the stands started to fill up and I was surrounded by Dodger fans. Ugh. But, points for having a loyal and passionate fan base.

Bobby and Jason picked me up around 1:30 and we got caught up over a hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant near the stadium. Maybe it was the strawberry margarita talking but I went into Dodger Stadium with an open mind. After all, it’s one of the oldest stadiums left with all the rebuilding going on.

Welcome to Dodger Stadium

The boys and I drove into Chavez Ravine around 5:15 and parking was amazingly easy and cheap ($15 compared to $30 at Pac-Bell!) and we proceeded to Will Call, got our tickets no problem and headed up the escalator to enter.

They didn’t let fans in until closer to 5:45 but it was all right, we just stood in line and people-watched. There wasn’t much going on outside the stadium. They have massive parking lots but prohibit tailgating so that’s no fun.

Finally we entered and made our way to our seats to watch BP. We were in the RF upper reserve level, which was a decent view. I was still feeling ok about this whole Dodgers thing.

A shot of that famous LA behind the dish

Before the game got going, we walked around the upper level breezeway and enjoyed an adult beverage, taking it all in. I did appreciate the fact that the ushers didn’t give us any grief about standing in the left field upper reserve shade prior to the game.

We made it back to our seats in time for first pitch and the area around us had really filled up with families and fans, which is another criteria earning positive points. Good family/fan atmosphere. I was thinking it was somewhere around a 7 at this point. Then the game got going and everything was still ok. The stadium had loads of snack bars at which you could buy Dodgerdogs and the lines were never too bad. I happened to be in the world’s slowest line for a bottle of water and a cup of coffee but it was definitely just my unfortunate luck, not standard.

J and me

About the 7th inning, the boys and I decided it was time to walk around and take in some sights of the yard. Only, they wouldn’t let us! It’s baseball fan segregation, I tell you! I’m not looking to swoop on people’s seats down there but God forbid I mix in with the fancy people on the lower levels. Huge point loss for this. I was not a happy camper.

So, in conclusion, the stadium gets points for its history and fan base and snack bar lines but a huge deduction for the lack of pre-game atmosphere and the no-fan-mixing policy. Crowd-control, the usher called it. Whatever. Not my fault that the Dodgers are concerned about their fanbase getting too crazy, but thanks for ruining it for the rest of us trying to appreciate the stadium. On the plus side, I got a chance to take pictures with the guys, since I didn’t have any pics with them prior to 2006. Bob, we’re gonna have to take a re-do, I didn’t realize this was blurry. Fail.

CL and Bob

Right after I was told I was prohibited from mingling with the fancy people, I was feeling like the stadium was a 4 but in hindsight, I give it a high 5. The stadium does come complete with Vin Scully. But since fans don’t get the opportunity to fully enjoy the stadium, I can’t give it higher than that.

Thank goodness I got that one over with.

No Comments | In: Sports, because, have you met me? | tags: baseball, LA Dodgers, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB. | #

• Playing 5-card poker while drinking coffee in the mornings
• Getting a call from a friend who I saw at the airport, who guided me to a secret, shorter security line when he saw how long the line I should have been in was going to be and then following up to make sure I got through the secret line ok
• Getting to go to the ballgame in LA with Bob and J

No Comments | In: Get Meaningful Fridays | tags: Get Meaningful Fridays. | #

I’ve wrapped up two more ballparks in my quest to see all the MLB yards…this swing was a quick one, since I have events at work all weekend but I managed to steal some time for a spin through Arizona to see Chase Stadium and Thursday night will find me in {gag} Dodger Stadium. As a Giants fan by birth, I almost couldn’t event type the words.

Welcome to Chase Field

Wednesday night’s excursion to Chase Field in Phoenix was positive for a couple of reasons. The first being that this was the view from my seats:

This is just how I roll

The second was that they were playing the Mets and I think we all know how I feel about the Mets third baseman. But the Stadium was a nice experience as well, despite me not getting to do much exploring outside of the gates. Upon my arrival at the plaza/entry way where Will Call tickets could be picked up, there was a bustle of activity, like any ballgame should have. Also, the Will Call Kiosks? Very convenient. There was a bar & grill-looking place across the way, which looked to be home to many pre-gaming fans. The area around the ballpark looked as though it was in the process of being developed and my driver kindly informed me that during the Suns-Lakers games, this place was a zoo. I imagine that when events are taking place at the various arenas that are just blocks away, there is a buzz of activity but I also got the impression that without those activities, there wouldn’t be much action on a random Thursday night, for instance.

First pitch to Jose Reyes

I took my seat and enjoyed an adult beverage from the underground restaurant/bar that was directly below my seat and close in proximity. They had go cups, which, after living in New Orleans, I have learned to appreciate. The stadium wasn’t as full as it should have been, but then again the poor Diamondbacks are currently 19 games out of first, so I guess that might have something to do with it.

As I lowered my beer into my cupholder, I look up two rows in front of me and see none other than my college team’s centerfielder, who I haven’t seen in a few years. Total pleasant surprise since Matty was one of the guys at UCSD who always made me feel like a part of the club. *Side story, one time, during practice, our left-handed hitting catcher was taking BP and I was sitting Zack Morris style in a chair along the first baseline, watching and charting. I was a ways a way from the field but staying loose since Jeff had some pop and sure enough, he sent a screaming rod right at me. I hopped up quick but it still tagged me in the leg or foot somewhere as I was getting out of the way. The next day, it was Matty who had taken my chair and set up the L-screen and orange cones around it. It was a good one.

For those fans who wanna splash around in the AZ heatGood mix of logos and photos of baseball legends

So back to the ball park…The inside feel of the ballpark is similar to the newer stadiums in that it’s got big, open breezeways, which I have always appreciated. As you walk around the inside, you never lose sight of the action and there are no real field-blocking walls or club seats ahem, CitiField, behind the plate. They have a pool in right-centerfield which is neat and they offer a good selection of ballpark food.

For being a relatively new team, they do try and honor those players of their history, but they also do a nice job of honoring their current club members, with a big wall mural of any D-Back who has ever been selected to an All-Star game. They also have former player races, which are hilarious, since Mark Grace has yet to win one. Randy Johnson, Matt Williams and Luis Gonzalez have all by-passed Gracie in a spin-off of the sausage races of Milwaukee.

A good mix of logos and old-time photos

I forgot my New York Times’ Food Guide but apparently the can’t miss item in AZ was garlic fries from Gordon Biersch so I’m ok with bypassing those.

The game was low-scoring, which wasn’t as exciting but it did go 14 innings (all of which, I saw) but the D-Backs have it tough. As it was explained to me, Phoenix is such a transplant city, most of the people who live there already have team affiliations that aren’t the Diamondbacks, which may explain why they have awesome out of town scoreboards, so the people that go to the game can still keep up with their hometown teams. Whatever the reason, they are large and very visible, which is worth some points in the ranking system.

What 14 innings looks like

Overall, I would definitely go back and give the stadium a solid 6, maybe a 7. They get points for the open feel of the stadium with a solid scoreboard and jumbo-tron but are also saddled with a loss of points for the fact that their fan base isn’t the die-hard base (yet) and the bit of a warehouse-feel the stadium has when the roof is closed as it was when I visited. On the plus side, that roof kept out 110-degree heat. It’s a trade off.

No Comments | In: Sports, because, have you met me? | tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, ballparks, baseball, MLB. | #

• The chemistry of my team at work. Seriously diggin’ it, especially the day before a big event
• Chester Copperpot
• Taqueria Rosita

No Comments | In: Get Meaningful Fridays | tags: Get Meaningful Fridays. | #

KK kinda reminded me that I have a blog the other day and that it hadn’t been updated in ages. Point taken, KK.

For that reason, let’s do a recap of the 4th of July, shall we? Because I gotta be honest, probably the best one I’ve ever had. Typically, the 4th is always fun, but this particular year, I really enjoyed myself.

Big Metal came to visit from North Carolina and we kicked off the weekend in style by stopping at not just one outlet mall, but two outlet malls. We promptly followed this up with naps. The evening found us at Taqueria Rosita (for anyone that knows me even a little bit, this probably shocks you not at all). We met up with some of my friends and we bar-hopped, or as close to bar-hopping as one can do in Napa, and followed it up with a solid movie night.

Then the 4th fun began. I would have began a pictorial recap at this point but apparently my camera decided to go rogue and change settings by itself so all my 4th pics came out blurry. So you’re all stuck with the story. We went swimming and bbq-ed at the aforementioned friend’s house and followed that up with fireworks on the lawn at my previous place of employment. We brought games and all the items to make ice cream sundaes, because, I happen to think that ice cream is a fabulous way to celebrate this country’s independence.

The owner of the winery of my previous place of employment put on one helluva sparkler show that came complete with a finale they drew our applause, it was that solid. And the fireworks themselves were awesome, since we were literally sprawled out on the lawn and they were shot off overhead.

Post-fireworks, we all headed back to Command Central/Morgan’s house. (Morgan, by the way, gets my sincerest gratitude for letting me crash at her place while she was out of town and get back to my independent roots, if only for a few days.) We all enjoyed the sequel to the movie we had watched the night before (Boondock Saints I and II) and in a shocking turn of events, the first was way better than the sequel.

Monday was spent being lazy, which I can get on board with on a holiday, but Big Metal and I did rally enough to go stroll around downtown St. Helena and look at all the expensive things we could buy for the same price as a down payment on a Ford Focus.

My camera began behaving again Monday afternoon and she and I got a chance to do the whole Napa Valely tourist thing by pulling over to take pictures of ourselves next to vineyards. **Note that I said ‘pull over’. As in, I’m happy you’re visiting my valley but we have lots of wineries and vineyards so please be kind to the people sharing the road with you and pull over when admiring them, as opposed to crawling past them at a snail’s pace. Thank you.

We are soNapa Valley

Yep we ARE patriotic

We followed up the trip around the Valley with a BBQ at the roommate’s house, where the food’s free and the rent’s cheap.

It was a super busy weekend and as far as I’m concerned, Big Metal didn’t stay nearly long enough, but I’m glad she was able to keep our new 4th of July tradition of hanging out together despite that whole 3,000-mile difference thing.

I will have to make time to do another post about how I joined a slow-pitch softball team soon. And yes, it is as funny a story as it sounds, you are correct.

No Comments | In: Social Adventures | tags: 4th of July, Napa Valley, vineyard, wine country. | #