Today we visit Dodge Stadium, second only to Fenway Park (1912) and Wrigley Field (1914), which has been home to the Los Angeles Dodgers since it opened in 1962.
Image source: usatoday
Pitch overview
Home team: Los Angeles Dodgers
Located in downtown Los Angeles
Owner: Guggenheim Baseball Management
Regular spectator capacity: 56,000
Maximum admission: 57,099
Course surface: natural turf
Stadium structure: no roof
Course dimensions: Left outfield 330 feet (101 m) / Left outfield 360 to 375 feet (110 to 114 m) / Outfield 395 to 400 feet (120 to 122 m) / Right outfield 360 to 375 feet (110 to 114 m) / Right outfield 330 feet (101 m)
Construction history: Construction began on September 17, 1959, opened on April 10, 1962, and renovated in 2012
Construction cost: $23 million ($197 million in 2020)
However, this is not the only home stadium in Dodgers history. From its founding in 1883 to 1957 the Dodgers were Brooklyn's teams. Don't underestimate the regional concept of "Brooklyn", although it is now widely considered to be part of New York, but in the first half of the 20th century, Brooklyns not only did not have the identity of "New Yorker", but also hated New York.
The reason why the Dodgers and the New York Giants of the time (now the San Francisco Giants) were sharply opposed, in addition to being direct competitors of the National League, the mutual dislike of each other by the respective fan groups of the two teams was also an important catalyst. Based on this relationship, the importance of Brooklyn's Ebbets Field to the Dodgers is self-evident. The team's current team name "Dodgers" comes from citizens who avoid trams on the streets of Brooklyn, and some domestic fans nickname Dodgers for "hiding people".
Past Alberts Stadium Image source: MLB Cathedrals Twitter
As new York grew, Alberts Field became increasingly out of place. The Yankee Stadium in New York next door has 70,000 or 80,000 seats, and the Giant's Poirot Stadium has more than 50,000 seats, but alberts field is subject to the surrounding municipal layout, unable to expand the audience capacity, and the lack of nearby parking lots makes it difficult for many old fans who move to distant places to patronize.
Walter O'Malley, the team owner at the time, wanted to build a top-notch stadium in Brooklyn that could rival Yankee Stadium, but did not have the support of local authorities. For the sake of the team's long-term development, he resolutely decided to relocate the team to Los Angeles, which was eager to own an MLB team and was willing to provide a suitable location to build the stadium (he also persuaded the Giants' owner to go to California to continue the competitive relationship between the two teams).
Just because of the municipal planning adjustment, Chavez Hill, not far from downtown Los Angeles, has a vacant lot to be developed, which can accommodate a baseball field. Dodge waved his sleeve at Brooklyn and crossed the North American continent to the City of Angels. The entire investment in the construction of the stadium was paid out of the pocket of the team, and the construction party almost bulldozed the entire mountain, carrying a total of 6.1 million cubic meters of earth.
Dodge Stadium under construction Credit: MLB Cathedrals Twitter
During the course's construction, Dodge transitioned four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Arena, the main venue of the two Olympic Games, where he won the first World Series in Los Angeles. In 1962, dodgers were inaugurated, and the formerly crowded Brooklyn corners moved into a new home, taking a tenant — the newly formed American League team Los Angeles Angels, the Dodgers' next 60 years of co-city teams, and then moved into the Angel Stadium 30 miles away.
With a fan-savvy metropolis like Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has 56,000 seats, making it the stadium with the largest number of spectators in MLB today. From 2013 to 2021, Dodge Stadium was a hit, winning the title of the most crowded spectators, receiving about 3.7 million spectators a year in the regular season, more lasting than their reign as the National League West Champion.
The first thing that dodges the field should be the parking lot that gives visitors a visual impact. Los Angeles transportation relies on driving, and to ensure commuting, the stadium is equipped with a total of 16,000 parking spaces. Newcomer fans are faced with a dense array of cars, and it is really unclear whether this is a baseball field with a parking lot or a parking lot with a baseball field.
The exterior aisle in the left outfield displays all of dodgers' retirement numbers, like ace pitcher Sandy Koufax, black pioneer Jackie Robinson and meritopause Tommy Lasorda, among others. In 2017, a new statue of Robinson was erected here, showing him sliding into home base during his rookie years.
Image source: dodgerblue
If you are not afraid of heights, before taking your seat, you can go to the highest grandstand of the stadium facing the infield, as if the view from the mountain peak to the bottom of the valley can fully show the grandeur of the stadium. As the only stadium in the League of Nations with a symmetrical layout of the outfield, the blue sky and white clouds of Qingshan are integrated with the blue tone of the stadium, coupled with two hexagonal electronic screens with high recognition, this scene is beautiful.
There is a separate spectator seat in the right outfield, which belongs to the "All you can eat" area of the course, that is, watching balls plus buffet, hot dogs, cornflakes and soft drinks are enjoyed freely. Today, MLB has more than a dozen stadiums that offer this service, and the first to open the trend is Dodge Stadium. It is recommended that students with larger stomachs come here to punch in, if you buy discounted tickets, you will almost return the cost by eating.
Due to the rapid cooling after nightfall, the increase in air density, and the large size of the stadium, Dodge Stadium is not easy to hit home runs for a long time, and the symmetrical layout of the outfield also reduces the second and third bases brought about by irregular rebounds, so it has long been considered favorable to pitchers, and a total of 13 no-hits have been born.
However, due to the combination of factors such as the shorter retaining wall near the pole and the increasing number of batters adopting the flying ball strategy, the Dodgers' home run production in recent years has exceeded the average of major leagues, although the second and third base runs are still on the low side, and the overall scoring level tends to be midfield. Many Dodgers players give fans the impression that they can only break the game by home runs, which is not unrelated to this kind of stadium characteristics.
Image source: Dodgers Twitter
In addition to being the home of the Dodgers, Dodge Stadium has hosted a number of international tournaments, including the final rounds of the 2009 and 2017 World Baseball Classics, which witnessed Japan's consecutive championships and the United States' first championship. Baseball was held at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as a performance event and is expected to be the venue for future 2028 Olympic baseball tournaments.
Finally, a routine tip: Dodge Stadium is located on the hill, there are only a few roads, it is recommended to arrive at least an hour early, otherwise you will encounter congestion when entering; correspondingly, the queue will be longer when you leave the venue, if you have to leave early in time (ah, what a pity), if you have leisure, you may wish to turn inside the stadium, browse the shops, or in the parking lot overlooking the skyline of downtown Los Angeles.
Lassoda calls Dodger Stadium "Blue Heaven on Earth", and when you come to the City of Angels, why not visit heaven? Friends passing through Los Angeles don't forget here!
beer? hot dog? french fries? Hamburg? If you have the opportunity to go to dodge the dodge court to eat and drink, what will you choose to hold to watch?