No Red (Sox) this July 4th

But plenty of (Dodger) white and blue. We caught the Dodger game on the Fourth of July.

We had good seats. Here is our view.




Prior to the game the USAF provided a flyover by a C-17 cargo plane. We admit to being disappointed when we heard it was a cargo plane. No stealth bomber? No F-15s? No helicopters? Not even a B-1? Yawn.

Disappointed, that was, until the C-17 came in. Here are some photos.

The approach.



Directly overhead.


The photos do not do justice to the size of the thing, or to how low it flew. Like being on a whale watch, but you were underneath the whale. After the thing passed over the field, the plane banked and turned toward right field. Amazing to watch - a huge lumbering plane suddenly becoming this fast and agile warplane. Like watching John Candy suddenly vault a pommel horse. (Here’s a huge version of the above photo.)

We sat next to the Dodgers dugout, and had a close up view of Grady Little.


We resisted the urge to heckle him out of consideration for our hosts, who were seated behind us. (The Dodgers lost anyway)

Also had a great view of the batters as they waited in the on deck circle. Here's another Red Sox expat.

Viewed up close, MLB Players are huge. We worked at Fenway Park in the late 80’s, and saw a lot of the players. They were nowhere as big as these guys. Brad Penny got on the elevator with us when we left the game; he looked like an off duty WWE wrestler, not a major league pitcher.

Our take on Dodger Stadium? It’s a good place to watch a game (Which people have been telling us nonstop since we first got here. “You gotta se a Dodger game, bro.”) We went up to the cheap seats - still offered a good view, and hey were only $25. Lots of beer stands, few beer lines. The new owners (from Boston) have apparently done a lot to upgrade the field, and it shows.

But it’s no Fenway. We’ve been to a few other stadiums, and here is how we rank them thus far, in order from best to worst:

Fenway. When you walk up the ramp behind home plate, and you emerge from the tunnel and the park opens up before you, there is a feeling comes over you. We’ve made that walk more than 500 times since 1986, and it never, ever fails to make us as giddy as this guy. We’ve yet to experience anything like it at any other park we’ve been too. (Same thing happened at the old Garden, too, but that’s irrelevant to this discussion)

Minute Maid Park, Houston (ne’ Enron Field). One of the few new stadiums we’ve seen that has character. A hill in the outfield, a cool looking outfield wall, even a Citgo sign. Initially underwhelmed, it’s grown on us as the years have gone by and we’ve seen some other parks.

Wrigley. Can't remember anything about the stadium, but we remember the traditions that enveloped it. Great bars outside, a brass band that walked the aisles during the game, the seats on the rooftops surrounding the park... you felt like you were in a shrine.

Dodger Stadium. See above.

Petco Park. It’s what they did with the concrete box that Dodger stadium came in.

Turner Field, Atlanta. This isn't a baseball stadium, it’s a shopping mall with a playing field in the middle. It’s also an outdoor stadium in one of the hottest and soggiest places in the nation. Brilliant. We couldn’t wait to leave.

Yankee Stadium. A dump once you take your eyes off the field, with only one viable drinking option outside the Park (But even at that place you’d better leave w/in an hour of the game ending. We didn’t, and at the 61st minute, we found ourselves living a Bronx version of Dusk Till Dawn.)