Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Thanks to good friend and avid blog follower Paul Sabolic, it was finally . . .
"TIME FOR DODGER BASEBALL!"
Paul is a Dodger season ticket holder and was not be able to attend the game due to a work commitment. When he offered us the tickets we thought it over for about 12 milliseconds before enthusiastically saying "YES!!!"
As with everything in our lives, the pandemic had played the major part in our not seeing a game in Chavez Ravine for a long, long time.
We also used the game as an excuse to go out for a pre-game meal at one of our favorite, iconic downtown Los Angeles eatery.
Philippe's is over 100 year old and a
perfect spot to dine before a Dodger game
I'm sure that they serve other things besides French dipped sandwiches but I have no clue what they might be with one or two exceptions.
Our order
A pork French dipped sandwich for each of us with a slab of strong bleu cheese and a dash of Philippe's spicy mustard.
Laurie had her customary beer while I indulged myself with two lemonades.
We shared one of those exceptions to the Philippe's menu, a slice of apple pie.
We instantly recognized that the roll the sandwich was served in was not the same one as usual. Truth be told, it was not as good as I remembered but I'm ready to go back and give them another chance soon.
Besides changing the lineup system to order your food to conform with anti-coronavirus protocols, we noticed one other obvious difference at Philippe's on this pleasant Spring afternoon.
Traditionally, the ladies who take your food order and make your sandwiches in front of you while you wait are, shall we kindly say, experienced veterans of the culinary arts.
Tonight, they were young ladies in their late 20s or early 30s. We guessed that fear of contracting Covid-19 may have forced a generational change in the work staff.
Fully sated, it was time to head the Dodger Stadium, a.k.a., Blue Heaven on Earth.
We needed to adapt to more anti-coronavirus countermeasures in place at the ballpark.
First, you must pre-pay on line for parking. The rates are now $25/car in the general lots or $50/car to the park in one of the preferred lots. Please be sure to have your proof of purchase on your smart phone for scanning.
Preferred Parking is a part
of the season ticket plan
Again, no paper tickets to get into this still gorgeous ballpark that first opened in 1962 making it the third oldest stadium in major league baseball after only Boston's Fenway Park (1912) and Chicago's Wrigley Field (1914). The scanning of our electronic tickets on my iPhone once again went off without a hitch, we were in.
Lots of murals are smartly
found throughout Dodger Stadium,
Home of the 2020 World Champions
Mural of the commemorative pin that
we got during the 2010 campaign
We arrived in time to catch the end
of the Reds batting practice
The old ballpark still looked GREAT to me!
The view from our seats in
Loge Section 132, Row A, Seats 7 &8
NICE!!!
Social distancing and limited seating were both strictly in play at the ballpark as blocks of seats were roped off.
In our eight seat row, a couple sat in seats 1 & 2, we sat in seats 7 & 8 and seats 3-6 were roped off. The entire row behind us was closed to spectator use.
The purchase of all souvenir, dining items and beverages could only be done by debit or credit cards, no cash allowed.
The Dodgers were doing everything they could to help stop the spread of the pandemic.
Still, we were two Happy Campers!
Now, let's set the game up.
The Dodgers entered the contest tied with the hated ones, the San Francisco Giants, for first place in the National League's West Division with a 15-8 record. Unfortunately, the Boys in Blue had lost seven of their last nine games.
As for the Reds, they were currently in fourth place in the NL Central Division with a 10-12 record and had also lost seven of their last nine games.
Walker Buehler's first pitch of the
game to Reds' left fielder Jesse Winker
was blasted deep into the Right Field
Pavilion for a home run and an early 1-0 lead
Buehler settled down to strike out the next three batters to end the opening frame in what was an up-and-down outing for the young Dodger ace. While he totaled ten strikeouts, he also allowed five runs and seven hits in his 6 1/3 innings on the mound.
The Dodgers would lose this one by a final score of 6-5 in garnering only four hits while leaving 12 runners stranded on base. Eight walks certainly helped the Dodgers offensive efforts.
It must be noted that in the bottom of the fourth inning with the Reds ahead 1-0, Laurie channeled her inner Tommy Lasorda and made a bold prediction.
At a time when Los Angeles was still hitless, she announced that Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner and first baseman Max Muncy would both walk and then catcher Will Smith would hit a home run.
And that is EXACTLY what happened, Dodgers 3 - Reds 1.
Unfortunately she had no other positive Dodger vibes the rest of the way.
On a final note, one must remember that the Dodgers traditionally lead MLB in home attendance. In pre-pandemic season of 2019, they averaged about 49,000 spectators per game. Due to the anti-Covid 19 measures, only about 15,000 fans are allowed into current Dodger games.
It makes for short lines at all the concession booths and restroom. Getting out of Dodger Stadium to get to the freeway is usually a nightmare. Given the tiny crowd, we were on the Hollywood Freeway heading to Camarillo about five minutes after getting into our car.
PAUL SABOLIC,
THANK YOU FOR A GREAT EVENING OUT ON THE TOWN!
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