This is a long overdue post. If you don't want to read about my trip to Los Angeles, you can skip down to my thoughts on baseball and the playoffs at the end. Anyway, after Sean’s wedding in August, I was on my own in Los Angeles for a couple of days. I was hoping to see Pete, but circumstances prevented that from happening (fortunately I got to see him and Katie in New York a couple weeks later). So I switched from the nice hotel where the wedding was to the Super 8 down the street from Dodger Stadium. I don’t mean to imply that the Super 8 was bad. It’s fine (I had stayed there before so I willingly went back to it this time), but it’s really just a hotel that gets the job done rather than being a nice hotel like the Hilton in Woodland Hills.
I dropped off my bags because I was too early to get into my room. The first thing I did was take a walk down to Philippe’s. It was on Man vs. Food and I had been there on my first trip to Los Angeles back in 2011. They’re known for their French dip sandwiches. I got the beef dip, double dip with blue cheese (unfortunately the clip with Kramer telling Elaine to try the beef because that’s real au jus sauce isn’t on YouTube). It was really good. I didn’t remember how good it was.
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| It's not the most exciting food picture, but this was really good. |
My next stop was Dodger Stadium for a 1:00 tour. It was the third time I’ve done the Dodger Stadium tour. I had done it in 2011 and 2013. Our tour guide was pretty confident that we would see some players at that time of day. You start at the top of the stadium (one of the coolest things about Dodger Stadium is how you can enter the stadium on any level). Usually you work your way down to the field. Because of the time of our tour, the tour guide wanted to get us down to the field as quickly as possible because it was going to be closed to anybody other than players and coaches soon. So we went down the elevator and that lets you out in this hallway where they have a bunch of awards that players have won throughout the years (I think most of them were replicas because the players have the real ones). So the tour guide is explaining about those awards (I knew Greg Maddux won a bunch of Gold Gloves, but I didn’t realize he won 18, every one from 1990-2008 except for 2003) and then the elevator doors opened and out walked Joc Pederson, Clayton Kershaw, and Yasmani Grandal in that order. Every was quite awestruck at the sight of Kershaw. I recognized Pederson. I recognized Kershaw, of course. I did not recognize Grandal, which is weird because he is pretty distinctive looking, especially with all the tattoos on his arms. But after seeing Kershaw, I didn’t really care who the third person was. And apparently I wasn’t the only one. Somebody asked the tour guide later who the third person was. The tour guide told us that Dodger Stadium Security’s codename for Kershaw is Elvis. A couple minutes later Kenley Jansen came out of the elevator. Also later on we were on the elevator going up and Justin Turner was standing outside when the door opened, but unfortunately I was standing in the corner of the elevator and didn’t have an angle to see him. I’m pretty sure we saw Sandy Koufax the last time I did the tour. As somebody who definitely does not look like a Major League Baseball player anymore, he was able to just kind of blend in without anybody noticing, but my Dad thought it was Koufax as well. So we got to go to the field and then we went up to the press box and a luxury boxes. It was a very good tour.
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| Joc Pederson, Elvis, and some other guy |
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| He took the loss that night, but it was still good to have him back. |
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| Me in the Dodgers' dugout |
For the game, I spent a little more on a ticket than I usually would (I mean, why not when I’m going to one game all year at one of my favorite places in the world?). I was on the loge level (one level up from the field level) right behind home plate. That’s a good location if you want a chance for a foul ball. I think you’d have a better chance if you’re a little off to the side a little rather than directly behind home because there were a lot that went to each side, but there was one that landed two rows in front of me (a few seats to the right of landing directly in front of me). I walked all over the field level before heading back up to my seat. By the way, since you can enter on any level, Dodger Stadium restricts access. If you’re on the top two levels (which is where I’d usually sit at a Dodger game), those are the only levels that you have access to. If you’re below that, you can access the whole stadium. I would definitely change that. Of course at every other stadium, you’re entering on the lower concourse and you’re free to walk around wherever you want. Give all the fans access to the field level. That’s one way to improve the fan experience. I would say that my ideal seat for a Dodger game would be low on the reserve level right behind home plate (kind of right above the press box) if I had access to the whole stadium. It's a great view and it's not a crazy price.
Anyway, when I was back up on the loge, I got two Dodger Dogs and a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. When I’m at a baseball game outside of New York, usually I like to go for something more exotic than a hot dog, but when I’m at Dodger Stadium for my only game of the year, I have to get Dodger Dogs. And I like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, but I wish there was a bigger selection of good beer. I can get Sierra Nevada anywhere. I’d like a wider selection of southern California options (there were some, but none that really interested me). So there’s my other suggestion for improving an absolutely great stadium otherwise. The good beer was quite expensive (I think it was $17.50, I used a Visa gift card that I had from my students to pay for my food and drink so whatever). But as somebody who believes in the free market, I can’t complain. I would have had one beer even if the price had been $9 or something not so crazy. But I would say that if I went to ten games at Dodger Stadium per year (like I probably would if I lived out there), I would not drink a beer at every game (which is something that I would do if they were more reasonably priced).
The game was interesting. It was Alex Wood against Austin Gomber. Jose Martinez hit a solo home run in the first. The Dodgers loaded the bases with nobody out on two singles and a hit batter. Then Cody Bellinger fouled out and Matt Kemp lined into a double play. No good. The Cardinals scored two more in the fifth. Manny Machado singled home a run and Cody Bellinger brought home a run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-2. Max Muncy tied the game with an RBI single in the seventh and it felt like all the momentum was on the Dodgers’ side. Kenley Jansen made his return from the DL in the ninth with the score tied. The fans were excited because the bullpen was figuring out how many ways they could lose games when he was out, but it did not go well. Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter (one of my least favorite players) hit home runs and the Cardinals won 5-3. The Dodgers had their chances. They went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base.
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| This is a really good view, but I would prefer to be a little higher (if you're not too much higher, I think it's actually a better view) for half the price. |
The next day I had a really late flight so I went to Santa Monica. My first stop was Bruxie, which was on the Los Angeles episode of the new Man vs. Food. I had the Southern BBQ chicken and waffle sandwich. As I saw people getting their food, I was a little upset that I didn’t order fries. But then my food came and the sandwich was so big that I definitely didn’t need fries. The sandwich was amazing. I would totally go back to Bruxie whenever I’m in Santa Monica. I took a walk to the beach and stopped at Pinkberry. And that was my trip to California.
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| This one was as good as it looks. |
Shortly after returning to New York, I got to another Man vs. Food spot. The original Man vs. Food had New York, Brooklyn, and Long Island episodes and I’ve never been to any of the places that were on the show. I got to a place that was on the New York episode of the new version of the show. Kyle and I got dinner at Clinton Hall. I got the fondue burger, which is what Casey had on the show. The presentation is excellent and it was tasty, but there were a couple of issues. First of all, who wants to eat a burger with a knife and fork? And the cheese is great at first, but it quickly loses its value as it cools off.
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| After it cools, this one isn't as good as it looks. |
I’ll finish up with some thoughts about baseball. It was a very weird season in the NL West. The Dodgers got off to a bad start. They’ve done that before, but this one felt different. There were a lot of injuries and it just didn’t seem like things were going to get turned around. Then they did get it turned around and I thought that everything was back to normal. Once they got to first place, I thought it was over for the other teams. But it wasn’t. The bullpen was generally good, but it was terrible when Jansen went on the DL. Shortly after the game I went to at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers found themselves four and a half games out. It seemed once again like this wasn’t going to be the year. But they did a great job against the two teams they were competing against late in the season. They went 11-3 against the Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Cardinals from the end of August through September 19. But they lost series against the Mets, Reds, and Diamondbacks after they were eliminated in September. And after being swept by the Dodgers to fall two and a half games out, the Rockies went nuts. They went 9-1 for the rest of the season. The Dodgers had to sweep the Giants in San Francisco to force a tiebreaker. And it was still complicated. If they beat the Rockies, they would have home field advantage against the Braves. If they lost, they’d have to play the Wild Card Game on the road against the loser of the NL Central tiebreaker game. Fortunately they won that won fairly easily to win the division for the sixth straight year.
What will happen in the playoffs? I have no idea. They definitely have enough talent to win the World Series. Kenley Jansen hasn't been as dominant as usual this year, but the Astros figured out a way to win a World Series without a great bullpen. Since the middle of May (I was there the weekend they turned their season around the first time), the only team that won more games than the Dodgers is the Red Sox. But they could definitely lose in the first round against the Braves. Playoff baseball is stressful. Last year it was pretty stress free for the Dodgers until Game 2 of the World Series. My first sports memory is being aware of Kirk Gibson’s home run and the Dodgers winning the World Series in 1988. But I was four years old. I’ve experienced the Celtics winning an NBA Championship (I was 24, and that’s going to happen again soon). I need to experience Notre Dame winning a National Championship in football (that also last happened when I was four, but I have no memory of that, basketball would be great too, but I’ll settle for just football) and the Dodgers winning the World Series. It really broke my heart that the Dodgers got so close and lost. It’s so hard to get to the World Series (it’s not like the NBA where if you’re good enough, you know you’re going to get to the Finals). I wasn’t looking forward to the prospect of having to do all the work to get to a point where they had a chance to win the World Series again. But here we are. The Dodgers are 11 wins away from being World Series Champions. Maybe this will be the year. Let’s Go Dodgers!
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