Phillies Vs Dodgers 8 Aug

Front Row, Baby!

Published on August 9, 2004 By chiprj In Sports & Leisure

Yesterday, we spent our second day in LA by going to the Dodgers game. We got up early and had a nice breakfast, courtesy of Staybridge Suites. Don't know if it was special for Sunday morning, or if the usual breaksfast selection is always as great, but they had a great spread. I took a tray of food back up to our room and my wife got to have breakfast in bed.

We got ready to go slowly and hung around the room enjoying the free high speed internet access (I can't get anything faster than dial up at home because the military housing area is ancient). We checked out around 1030 and left for the stadium. The games start time was 1 PM and the website said the parking lot would open 90 minutes early. We got there just moments before the gates were opened and we were able to sneak up to near the front of the line to get into the lot. We parked in one of the outer lots thinking it would be easier to get out later.

When we got to the stadium, the Dodgers were taking batting practice. I came really close to shagging two balls during BP, but alas, they were just outside my reach. That's all right, though. We sat on the visitor side, so there was little chance of getting an autograph from a Dodger, but many of the Phillies were warming up right in front of us in the right field grass. Randy Wolf came over to talk to a guy he knew in the stands and I was able to get a picture taken with him. He seemed like a good guy and was very friendly with the fans while he signed autographs. See here:

The game was a lot of fun. We had front row, field level seats with a lot of leg room in front of us. I got a bunch of pics of the game. Quite a few of Hee Seop Choi and of Jim Thome, two of my favorite players. I've been a big fan of Thome for years and it was a shame to see him leave the Tribe.

The Dodgers lost and Choi left the game early on, so that was a little disappointing, but overall, we had a blast at the game. We both bought hats and my wife got a shirt. I also bought a little water spraying bottle with a fan attached to cool off with. The Dodger Dogs were good and the weather was great. I'm still smiling like a boy thinking about how great a time I had. I've never sat that close to the field for anything bigger than a unit softball game, so I was really happy to be there.

Here's a couple pics. Hopefully they can be seen.

and

If you can't see the pics, go here: Link

Comments

Gideon MacLeish

on Aug 09, 2004

Well, I have always been a fan of baseball, baseball, and, well, BASEBALL, so the article was well appreciated.

We're definitely going to take the family to some Cactus League action next spring (we haven't been since 2000), as baseball's a family sport for us. Meanwhile, I'm still sorting out who I want to root for in the fall (I'm leaning heavily towards the Cubs, now that they have Nomar).

So glad you guys had a great time. Baseball should always be fun.

Estrogen Lass

on Aug 10, 2004

How do you get the baseball players to talk to you? No fair.
: )

chiprj

on Aug 10, 2004

How do you get the baseball players to talk to you?

Here's how you do it:
1. Find field level tickets for a stadium near you (ebay is how I got mine).
2. Drive your significant other (my wife in my case) crazy by making a big deal about being insanely early.
3. Pay no attention to the ushers or people that have assigned front row seats (I had assigned front row seats and had a crowd of people standing right in front of me during most of warmups and BP) and stand at the railing while the players warm up. Call out to them a lot.
4. Get lucky when one of the players knows someone in the crowd and stops by to chat.
5. When the chat is over, ask to get a picture (this actually only worked 1 out of 2 times as another Phillie told me he didn't have time to pose).

I actually got my picture with another player, too. He's on the DL but still travelling with the team. But since he's not as well known, I didn't post the pic to the blog, but it is at my yahoo photo album linked in the article. He was realy nice, too. He spent a good bit of time working his way down the right field line signing autographs and taking pictures with the fans.

I was told by some fans that the Dodgers are really great about coming out to see the fans on the left field line, too.

Estrogen Lass

on Aug 11, 2004

Ok...thats a lot easier than flashing them (not that I have tried that). I will have to try that next time. : )

Estrogen Lass

on Aug 11, 2004

Nice pictures, by the way.

chiprj

on Aug 11, 2004

Nice pictures, by the way.

Thank you very much!

Estrogen Lass

on Aug 11, 2004

You're welcome very much : )

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