Take Me Out to the Ball Game

My grandmother would probably have rolled over in her grave if she saw me at the Dodgers game this past Saturday. But I like to think she’d cut me some slack since they were playing the Diamondbacks and not her beloved Giants.

And how could I resist? The Dodgers have been an LA institution since 1958.



I’d love to describe the excitement to you when the home team scored 4 runs in the 1st inning, but I wasn’t there. Like any honest-to-goodness LA fan, I arrived late. Why? Well, why else? Traffic, of course!

When we finally arrived, our visiting Canadian relatives used their Canuck charm and maple sugar friendliness to upgrade us to behind-home-plate seats without actually asking for special treatment. Persuasive? Telepathic? All I can say is never underestimate the power of our Northern neighbors.



I spent most of the time focused on everything but the game. I people-watched, gorged myself on junk food, and basked in the SoCal sunshine - ok, we were in the shade of the upper level above us, but that made it even better. I like enjoying the sun without burning to a crisp.



While some fans tossed around a beach ball, others waved their blue foam fingers frenetically as if trying to change the course of the game. Still others flaunted elaborate blue-and-white getups, making me think they were either crazily loyal or just plain crazy.



As for the food: Dodger dogs, beer, even fro-yo. This is the stuff dreams are made of. I still can’t shake the Gordon Biersch garlic fries out of my mind. Coated in garlic and drenched in enough oil to make them fantabulously, artery-cloggingly crisp, I couldn’t stop shoveling them into my mouth by the handful.

While I can’t pretend that I know much about baseball, I did get a few blood pressure surges when 3rd base was stolen or the bases were loaded. And when the crowd stood as one to cheer the 6th inning home run, I stood right along with it.


Regular season starts in April and lasts through September. Check out the official Dodgers site for tickets.

Single-game tix for the 2007 season range in price from around $10 for nosebleed seats up to $225 for Baseline VIP seats.