Dodger Stadium Keeps It Old School

June 17, 2009 at 4:09 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

While Los Angeles is busy celebrating their NBA Champions, The Lakers, with a parade in downtown today, we've got our sights on the city's next hopeful champions-- The LA Dodgers. The Dodgers took a hit earlier in the season when superstar hitter Manny Ramirez was suspended for 60 games over questionable drug use but the team has actually held their own this season.

They are currently the best team in the baseball and the town's hoping they can keep it up all the way through November. Which is why a trip to Dodger Stadium will be worth your while this summer.

Dodger Stadium is a completely different pace from the new Yankee Stadium. It's currently the league's third oldest ballpark, having been first constructed in 1959. Despite its years, it doesn't feel run-down thanks to a bunch of recent small-scale renovations like replacing all the stadium seats in 2005.

And while Dodgertown is close to downtown Los Angeles, the ballpark sits on nearly 360 acres in Chavez Ravine. In overdeveloped Los Angeles, this huge an amount of space for a ballpark is both unusual and sacred. Plus, Dodger Stadium keeps it old school with its corporate-free name. No First Mutual Bank of North Washington Citi America bank name here.

Most of all, we just love the relative calm of the stadium. Yes, there's a Kiss Cam, vendors hawking all sorts of Dodger mementos and too-rowdy fans. Plus disco lights flash when the Dodgers hit home runs accompanied by the "We Likes to Party" song. But the field's wide-open and we felt as if there were considerably less distractions than the other ballparks we've visited in the past year.

In the interest of full disclosure: Yes, we live in Los Angeles and yes, the Dodgers are our West Coast team (We also root for the Mets.) But we love watching baseball in general and checking out the ballparks across the country. It's a great activity to do when visiting a new city and who doesn't love peanuts and crackerjacks?

Here's what you should know before you go root on the Dodgers.

Tickets: Tickets range from $11 for top deck seats to $500 for the dugout seats. But the party goes off in the All-You-Can-Eat right field pavilion for just $25 a ticket. That's all you can eat Dodger dogs, nachos, popcorn, peanuts and soda. Seriously, we were jealous of these folks one game. However, there's a benefit to those cheap nosebleed seats too---sweeping views of downtown Los Angeles.

Getting there: Unfortunately, there's no subway to take you here nor are there any buses so your best bet is by car. Don't worry, the parking lot is huge.

Staying Nearby: There are a few hotels in downtown where you can crash for the night like the Westin Bonaventure, the Omni Hotel or the Standard Downtown. Also, downtown is getting a crazy new hotel hybrid building next March across from LA Live and the Staples Center. The 54-story hotel will house both a Ritz-Carlton and a J.W. Marriott.

Insider Tip: Day games in the summer at Dodgertown get sweltering hot. Bring your SPF, your sunglasses and maybe one of those spritzing water fans. Or you could just buy the Dodger version of that at the ballpark. And if you plan on wearing the opposing team's jersey or hat, then plan on being booed loudly wherever you sit. Dodger fans are fiercely loyal.

Related Stories
· Dodger Stadium [Wikipedia]
· LA Dodgers [Official Site]

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