In the morning when I was still contemplating whether or not I wanted to run or just head in to work, I got a FB message from my cousin Juan. He messaged several of our cousins to see if anyone was interested in taking a pair of tickets off his hands for the Dodgers home opener. I mentioned the idea to Sean and he was down. I sent off some emails to work/students and took care of some outstanding tasks. Our program director wished me a happy opening day even before mentioning the game. He knows I’m a big Dodger fan.

Since I was the first to jump at the offer, Juan gave me the tickets. We coordinated a meet-up between his place and mine in East LA around 11:30. Juan mentioned that we might make it in time to see the opening day ceremony beginning around 12:15. Although it was a little over 5 miles from East LA to Dodger Stadium, traffic was happy. Luckily, I know my way around the area (in car and on foot thanks to the LA Marathon!) and we found free parking off Sunset Boulevard and got to our seats in time for the ceremony.

Along with the standard team intros and national anthem, the opening ceremony also featured tributes to hall of fame broadcasters Vin Scully (who had to miss the game due to a cold, first time in 35 years) and Jaime Jarrín, Nancy Bea Hefley (Dodgers organist), the 1962 Dodgers (who played the inaugural season in the new stadium), and a first pitch by Terry O’Malley Seidler (daughter of former owner Walter O’Malley), The Beach Boys sang a sweet rendition of the national anthem.

I’ve been to one opening day game/home opener before. This time was better. It was warmer, we had seats in the shade, most of the game was a pitchers’ duel, Andre Ethier hit the go-ahead homerun and the Dodgers won. Even emo Juan Uribe had a good game going 3-for-3.

The only downside to the game was the annoying group of about 10 people sitting next to us. I get that people are going to drink at games. I’m prepared for that, but I get annoyed when they interrupt my game watching by making me get up 25 times to let them through. One time a guy almost fell on me. Not cool. One of our neighbors was so drunk that stadium security escorted her out. I assume that’s what happened from overhearing the rest of the people who came with her.

Nevertheless, I’m thankful Juan gave us the opportunity to check out our first game of the season. I’m lucky to have several cousins who are generous and love the Dodgers as much — quite possibly more — than I do.

There are a lot of empty seats in Dodger Stadium these days, kind of like when I took this photo, but that was after a game.

Dear Andre,

Congratulations on the hit streak. With the Dodgers’ long and storied history of some excellent ballplayers, I’d feel proud to be second on the all-time franchise hit streak list. Thirty games is might impressive. Even more, it’s cool that with a game loss and end to your streak you still managed to crack jokes about the media attention.

I really enjoyed watching you get closer to breaking the record. I’m sad the hit streak is over.

You don’t know how much I wanted to see you get to 31. It would’ve made my 31-loving heart so incredibly happy. I didn’t even care all that much to see you beat Willie Davis’ 42-year record. I’d actually have been cool if the streak ended at 31 and you just tied him.

Okay, maybe not, but only because your hitting streak has been of the few bright spots in a season with lots of troubles on the field, in the front office, and even in the parking lot.

Yesterday’s game was tough to watch. It wasn’t just that you kept flying and popping out, and struck out in the 8th. No, it was even more difficult because we could have really used a hit in the 8th when Matt Kemp was in scoring position and the score was tied. Worse, the rest of the team seemed to have the same problem. Sigh. I’ll stop complaining.

I’m still a fan. That won’t change. And neither will your place as my current favorite on the team and one of my all time Dodger favorites. You’re certainly higher on the list than Davis. I’m happy I got to see the streak in person (#29 up there) and have been able to watch you grow with the Dodgers over the last five years. You’re proof that good things do come out of Arizona.

Hope to see more great demonstrations of your batting (and fielding) skills this season and hope you inspire the rest of the players to start using those bats as intended.

With mad respect,

Cindylu

P.S. Glad to see that batting power back today with your home run in the Dodgers’ first victory in 4 games. Maybe you do better without the added pressure and media attention.

I received a total of 112 responses to the Dodger Stadium Atmosphere Survey. I’ve gone through and checked the summary of responses Google provides. The above chart comes from that summary. I’ve also read and compiled all the free responses to the questions on experiencing violence or harassment and additional thoughts on the subject. Almost all of the written responses are thoughtful and show that fans care about this issue. There was only one racist comment. I’ll post all of those to view in a later post.

I’ll post the summary as well as breakdowns of how different groups viewed the situation. For instance, did more men perceive a safer environment in the stadium than women?

I’ve been reading a lot about the beating of Bryan Stow after opening day at Dodger Stadium (March 31).

Stow, a 42-year-old Santa Clara paramedic and father of two who traveled to Dodger Stadium on March 31 in Giants regalia. Walking through the parking lot after the game, Stow was accosted by two men, who taunted him, punched him and kicked him as he lay injured. [Source]

His injuries were serious enough to put him in a medically induced coma. He is still in critical condition.

Like many fans, I’m horrified, disgusted and deeply saddened that some pendejos would do this. I pray for Stow’s full recovery and hope such violence never occurs again at Dodger Stadium (or any other sporting event).

Other fans have expressed outrage online or called in to talk radio shows. Many shared their own concerns about going to Dodger Stadium and some brought up the race element before sketches of the suspects were released. The suspects look like your average pelón gang-banger. The comments section of the LA Times were filled with racist and anti-immigrant remarks. I started reading “thug” as a code word for young Latino male. Honestly, I wasn’t surprised by the racism.

However, I am surprised by the number of levelheaded people I know who no longer go to games, worry for their safety and think the atmosphere is not family friendly. My personal experience is much different and I go to lots of games (even if I grumble about how much I hate contributing to the McCourts’ profits).

What do you think? I’ve written a survey about the atmosphere in the stadium, in the parking lot and the surrounding area. Fill it out and share it with others who go to lots of games or just a few every couple of seasons. I hope to share some of the responses next week.

Dodger Stadium atmosphere survey

Edit: The survey is now closed. You can chime in on the responses when I post about the survey results.

Disclaimer: I’m just a fan. I have no affiliation with the Dodger organization, LAPD or city hall. Thus, the survey is focused on experiences and opinions rather than suggestions for improvement.

I’ve been to a lot of Dodger games, but this one was the best one ever.

It didn’t start out so well. We were down 2-1 and the Cardinals brought in closer Ryan Franklin (who does not deserve #31) to earn the save. The first two batters he faced, Andre Ethier (who hit a homerun against Matt Wainright in the 4th) flyed out. Manny Ramirez flyed out too.

Two outs.

And then comes James Loney. He hits a simple fly ball to left center. Matt Holliday goes for the catch and drops it, making a big error and likely hurting more than his ego. Loney hustles and reaches second on what should have been the game ending out.

Manager Joe Torre brings in Juan Pierre, the Dodgers’ best runner, to pinch run for Loney at 2nd base.

Next up, Casey Blake. Blake goes deep in the count (9 pitches, I think) before getting walked.

Tying run at 2nd base, winning run at 1st.

Next is Ronnie Belliard, a recent acquisition for the Dodgers. On the first pitch, Belliard hits a single right up the middle and brings in Pierre, the tying run.

The crowd goes crazy. Lots of hugs, high fives and general elation.

And now it’s fan favorite Russell Martin. He takes two balls and then catcher misses the third ball. Runners advance on the wild pitch. Martin takes a ball for the fourth pitch.

Bases are loaded! Torre brings in Mark Loretta to pinch hit for pitcher George Sherrill.

There’s a lot of rally towel waving, screaming and excitement in the stadium.

With the count 0-1, Loretta hits a single right up the middle to bring in Blake.

Dodgers win!

There’s elation on the fields, in the stands, in the parking lot and all the way home.

It was awesome.

Listen to Vin Scully call it

I pay little attention to baseball during the off season. Of course, I followed the news on whether or not the Dodgers would re-sign Manny and I had a few conversations about Alex Rodriguez’s confession about using steroids when he played for the Texas Rangers. (Rodriguez was my favorite player from ’96 until he signed with Texas in 2001. After that, I stopped paying attention to his career, but still kept up a pennant from his days with the Seattle Mariners.)

These days, I’m following the World Baseball Classic and hoping Mexico advances out of pool play. Oh yeah… who knew anyone actually played baseball in the Netherlands?

By the time Alfred and I got to our seats in the upper reserve section — just one row from the top — I was hot, hungry and annoyed. The score definitely didn’t help my mood. In the two and a half innings we’d missed while stuck in traffic out- and inside Chavez Ravine, the Phillies had already scored 3 unanswered runs.

I should have just stayed home, I thought. This isn’t going to be good.

Then I turned away from the game to check out the view of Downtown to the south. I changed my mind.

Same photo, different post.

Top of the 8th, the disaster inning

I went to last night’s Dodger game. Yes, game 4 of the National League Championship Series. Yes, the one they lost… and lost bad.

That lost has totally screwed with my mood. I couldn’t sleep last night. I woke up late, went to work sleepy and low on energy. I told my co-worker that I felt hungover despite only drinking water and Dr. Pepper at the game. The smoky air (thanks to the fires in the Valley) irritates my eyes and constantly makes me feel like crying.

Yeah, I’m sad, but it’s also not over. The Dodgers can bounce back. They’ll have to win three in a row. I’ll be crossing my fingers and cheering for Los Doyers.

And now, photos from the game.

We got to the game early enough to catch the starting pitcher, Derek Lowe, warming up with Russell Martin in the bullpen. Our seats were loge level right next to the bullpen.

I was supposed to be Gabby’s date, but she got a single ticket for a luxury box thanks to her boss. She let me invite someone else to use her ticket. Danny was the first person to respond. He told me about his trip to Alaska over the weekend for an a cappella festival. According to him, Sarah Palin isn’t as popular amongst Alaskans as the mainstream media makes her out to be.

The bullpen (aka the heart breakers)

Chicanos sure love their Fernando Valenzuela jerseys.

Los Lobos’ Louie Pérez, David Hidalgo and César Rosas sing the national anthem. I usually feel really awkward during the national anthem (despite having played it dozens of times during pre-game shows in high school and college band). My ears perked up as soon as I heard the announcer say, “3-time Grammy Award winning band from East LA.” They did a good job. Oh yeah, a few minutes later, I heard one of their songs (La Venganza de los Pelados, featuring Rubén Albarrán de Café Tacuba) when Rafael Furcal came up to bat.

I love the way the stadium looks all dressed up with the bunting.

Russell Martin (the catcher) didn’t get hit this game. That’s good.

Orel “the Bulldog” Hershiser threw out the ceremonial pitch. It was a little slow (53 mph), but what do you expect from a guy who won the Cy Young Award 20 years ago?

Time for Lowe to go out, he gets high fives from the rest of the bullpen. Maybe he needed something else, because he promptly gave up two runs.

Danny: what’s Manny doing in the pavilion?

He has a point, that dude looked a lot like Manny Ramirez. I think his dreads were real and not the cheesy fake ones.

Full moon over smoky skies. Did I mention the air quality sucks? By the end of the game, I felt like vomiting (and that was while we were winning) and kept coughing.

Chan Ho Park warming up before coming in to pitch. He’d throw a wild pitch allowing one of the Phillies to steal home and tie up the game at 3-3.

Then Joe Beimel came up to end the 6th inning.

The bottom of the 6th started off good. We should’ve had more runs scored — especially after the bases were loaded — but all we got were two runs. Still, we were high fiving our neighbors, smiling and laughing. Phillies 3. Dodgers 5. Game 4 was almost done and the series would be tied.

Hong-Chih Kuo began warming up and would take over in the 7th inning. He struck out the side at the top of the 7th.

onathan Broxton (the closer) and Cory Wade (another reliever) began warming up in the bottom of the 7th. Just six more outs. I felt good. Broxton is good closer.

But it didn’t turn out that way. The top of the 8th was a disaster. Kuo gave up a hit to Ryan Howard. Torre pulled him out and brought in Wade. He gave up a 2-run homer to Shane Victorino to tie the game. Torre promptly took out Wade and brought in Broxton. Rather than get out of the inning without another run, Broxton gave up a 2-run home run to the Phillies’ pinch hitter. Oh yeah, that was his first home run he’s given up at home since 2006. The Phillies now had the lead.

The energy was sucked out of the stadium. The Dodgers tried to rally in the bottom of the 8th, but didn’t do anything except leave two men stranded.

The 9th inning came and went and the score remained the same: Phillies 7-Dodgers 5.

Losing sucks. At least I was at home for Games 1 and 2. I didn’t have to feel the energy of 50,000+ depressed fans.

¡Vamos, Henry!

I was in Mexico during the 2004 Athens Olympics. It was strange. Rather than have several athletes considered favored in marquee sports, Mexico only had a few. I was so used to seeing the US on top of the podium and in the medal standings. But Mexico, not so much.

In 2004, the hype was all about Ana Guevara, a sprinter favored to win the 400 meter dash. While out dancing one Friday night, everyone in the club stopped to watch one of the preliminary heats. Everyone cheered loudly and ordered celebratory shots when Ana won that heat. On the day of the final in 400 meter, my cousin woke me up cheers of “¡Vamos, Ana!” Almost all Olympics commercials featured Ana. It was pretty exciting. But Ana didn’t win gold, she won the silver. Belem Guerrero, from Ciudad Neza south of Mexico City, surprised everyone with a silver in cycling’s point’s race. Finally, the last two silver and bronze medals were won by siblings Oscar Salazar and Iridia Salazar in taekwondo.

I wondered if Mexicans watched athletes like Oscar de la Hoya (aka the Golden Boy) and if they claimed them. I wonder if Mexicans will claim Henry Cejudo, the son of undocumented immigrants from Mexico City. He was born in LA and moved around with his mother and siblings.

Henry just won the gold medal in the 121-pound freestyle wrestling event. He reminds me a little of Oscar de la Hoya, especially posing with the US flag draped around his shoulders.

Will he be the new Golden Boy?

Photo credit: Elizabeth Dalziel/AP