The Dodgers have now played the Red Sox in Boston 14 times. They lost all three games played in Boston in the 1916 World Series, but the Red Sox played their home games at Braves Field (even though Fenway Park was around by then). The Dodgers won one out of three in 2004. The Red Sox swept them in 2010. And then last year the Red Sox won both World Series games in Boston. So going into this series, the Dodgers were 1-10 against the Red Sox in Boston and 1-7 at Fenway Park. It would be interesting to know what their record was in Boston against the Boston Braves, but I’m not going to try to figure that out. They split the first two games of this series and I was there for the final game.
It was Hyun-Jin Ryu against David Price. I was hoping to see Clayton Kershaw, but he didn’t pitch in Boston. He did pitch the next day in Philadelphia. I considered going to that one also (I would have gotten to see the Dodgers pound the Phillies), but that would have required either a hotel room or a stop at home (which is out of the way if I was going from Boston to Philadelphia) just to take a shower and get some sleep and stuff. Anyway, the game got off to a good start with former Notre Dame baseball player AJ Pollack blasting a three-run home run in the top of the first (it went like 322 feet and it only would have been a home run at Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium). The bottom of the first wasn’t fun. The Red Sox got five hits and scored two runs. Three of the hits didn’t leave the infield. One of them might have been a double play if not for the shift (I’ve called for the rule that the first and second baseman need to be on the right side of the infield and the third baseman and shortstop need to be on the right side of the infield). There was a play at the plate that the Dodgers challenged and lost. It was really too close to tell. If he had been called out, I don’t think the Red Sox would have gotten it overturned. So Ryu gave up two runs and five hits, but he really pitched much better than that.
 |
| A panoramic shot with my view for most of the game |
Ryu pitched six solid innings after that. He only gave up three more hits and no runs. AJ Pollack drove in another run with a single in the fifth. Then the eighth inning happened. Pedro Baez gave up a lead off home run to Xander Bogaerts. Then he gave up a home run to JD Martinez (I saw that one coming). Dave Roberts came out because apparently he was tipping his pitches (which brings back bad memories of Yu Darvish in the World Series). Then he struck out the next three guys. Baez has been their best reliever other than Kenley Jansen (who has been shaky at times), Julio Urias (whose innings are being tightly controlled after missing most of the last two years with a shoulder injury), and Russell Martin (a catcher). Even though he’s been pretty good, I don’t trust Baez. The Dodgers are really good, but they need some bullpen help before the trade deadline.
The Dodgers brought Kenley Jansen in with runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the ninth. I was expecting to lose at this point. Jansen got Rafael Devers to line out and then struck out Bogaerts (the title of this post was going to be X Gave It to Us if he had gotten the game winning hit).
As I said in my last post, “Megabus had a 1:00 am bus to New York and the game was at 7:00. What could go wrong?” Well, the game went 12 innings. It lasted five hours and 40 minutes. That’s what went wrong. Much like my trip to San Francisco last year, I had to leave the game early because of travel arrangements when I would have been fine under normal circumstances. In that game, I saw the Dodgers take the lead in the 14th and then left (in my mind, that’s how the game ended). This time, I saw Max Muncy draw a bases loaded walk in the 12th to give the Dodgers the lead. They tacked on two more runs. I heard the crowd react to the next one and as I was walking outside the park I saw a TV through a window showing a replay of Alex Verdugo driving in a run with a single. The Dodgers held on in the bottom of the 12th and won 7-4. The Red Sox have a really good record with me in attendance. They were 8-1 with me in attendance before this game according to my Ballpark app, but it's possible that I'm missing games at Shea Stadium (I don't think I ever saw the Red Sox play at Shea Stadium) or old Yankee Stadium (more likely than Shea Stadium). The Dodgers improved to 4-2 with me in attendance this year. I once went on streak of 15 games where they started every game that Kershaw won and lost every game started by anybody else (off the top of my head, Ryu pitched at least two of those). But this year they're 3-0 with Ryu and 1-2 with anybody else (1-1 with Maeda, 0-1 with Buehler).
 |
| The stadium was gradually clearing out. I moved down to watch my last half inning or so before I had to leave. That's Max Muncy at the plate about to drive in the winning run with a walk. |
I’ve now been to eight events at Fenway Park: baseball games in 1995, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2017, and 2019; Frozen Fenway for hockey in 2014; and the Shamrock Series for football in 2015. The last four times I’ve been there, I had standing room tickets or John snuck me in and I didn’t have a seat. Standing room is a good option if you’re in the right spot. I could have gotten a cheaper seat, but it would have been in the bleachers or way out in right field. Either way, you’re really far away from home plate and there’s a good chance that you’re facing some weird direction. I went with first base pavilion standing room, which was something I hadn’t done before. That was pretty good. I like being at a little bit of elevation for baseball because it gives you a good look at the shape of the field and the positioning of infielders and outfielders. I was as high up as possible at Fenway Park, but Fenway Park doesn’t go very high so it’s definitely not too high. For the last couple of baseball games I was at, I stood on the lower level behind home plate (you can’t stand behind home plate on the pavilion level because that’s where the press box is). It’s nice being behind home plate, but we’re way under an overhang and you can’t see fly balls and there’s a decent chance that you won’t be able to see a home run land. So I really liked the first base pavilion standing room, but he only tricky thing is that there’s not a big height differential between the standing room and the rows in front of it. So people’s heads in front of you might be an issue (check out the first picture in this post). I was able to position myself in between people so that I always had a good view.
The food and beverage selection is good. I had a Fenway Frank and a Sam Adams Summer Ale. I drink by mood so when the Dodgers played the Red Sox in the World Series, I refused to drink any Sam Adams until it was over. If they didn’t have Summer Ale, I probably wouldn’t have had any Sam Adams beer at the game, but I love Summer Ale and baseball and I hadn’t had one yet at a baseball game this season. I’ve got some minor league games coming up, but my next Major League game might not be until September so this might have been my last chance to drink Sam Adams Summer Ale at a Major League game this season.
I’m going to finish by comparing Dodger Stadium and Fenway Park. This season I’ve seen the Dodgers play at my four favorite current stadiums. Wrigley Field and PNC Park are really good, but I have Dodger Stadium and Fenway Park ahead of them by a pretty good margin. I had Fenway Park first and Dodger Stadium second in my rankings (check this post for my most recent stadium rankings), but let's see if that holds up. As I said, I’ve been to eight events at Fenway Park. I’ve been to 10 games at Dodger Stadium plus three stadium tours.
Location
First, let’s start with the cities. I love Los Angeles and I love Boston. There’s plenty not to like about both (pretty much like there is with any big city), but I focus on all the good stuff. Boston has the history, the Celtics, Fenway Park. Los Angeles has fantastic weather (unlike Boston, you pretty much never have to worry about cold weather or rain affecting your experience at the game), amazing scenery, the Dodgers, and Dodger Stadium. Obviously it’s a lot easier for me to get to Boston. Within the cities, the location of the stadiums is very different. Dodger Stadium is surrounded by parking lots. Fenway Park is definitely not surrounded by parking lots. So that helps Fenway, but Dodger Stadium does have the San Gabriel Mountains in the background so that's pretty cool also.
Slight edge: Fenway Park
Stadium Design
You might think this is an easy win for Fenway Park. Fenway Park is wonderfully weird. The Green Monster is iconic. You have the Pesky Pole. Dodger Stadium is symmetrical. Symmetry can be bad for baseball stadiums when it’s boring (like when the Phillies, Pirates, Reds, and Cardinals played in different stadiums that were all the same, seriously open those links in different tabs, they were all the same). But Dodger Stadium is beautifully symmetrical. The colors of the stadium are classic and you have the wavy roof over the pavilion. The way the stadium is built into a hill is really cool. You can enter the stadium on any level of the stadium. It’s also the biggest baseball stadium in the world (Fenway Park is 30th). Also, I think my favorite play in baseball is seeing somebody leap to take a home run away. The Green Monster (37 feet) is great. But then you have the wall in center that’s 17 feet. The right field wall is 3-5 feet, shorter than the players. At Dodger Stadium, you have the short walls in the corners at 4 feet, but most of the outfield wall is 8 feet, requiring leaping catches to take away home runs.
Edge: Even
Seating
There’s no terrible view at Dodger Stadium. You can get seats with a great view for a reasonable price. You can’t get seats with a great view for a reasonable price at Fenway Park. Many seats have views obstructed by poles. There are lots of seats out in the center to right field areas where you’re facing some weird direction.
Big edge: Dodger Stadium
Food and Beverage
The Dodger Dog is iconic. The Fenway Franks are good, but I’d rank them behind Nathan’s and Dodger Dogs. But as I’ve covered before, Dodger Stadium needs to revamp its beer program. Give me reasonably sized craft beer options for a non-crazy price. You get that at Fenway Park.
Edge: Fenway Park
Atmosphere
Fenway Park is pretty much always sold out. The fans are into the games. Dodger fans are much better than their reputation. They easily lead the league in attendance with an average over 48,000 (more than the capacity at most other ballparks). They also lead in average road attendance and that’s due in part to Dodger fans living in other cities and/or traveling the country and going to games (there were a lot of Dodger fans in Boston with Pantone 294 and they were loud). But it’s tough to beat Fenway Park.
Edge: Fenway Park
History
Fenway Park is 50 years older than Dodger Stadium, but Dodger Stadium is the third oldest stadium in baseball. The Red Sox have played in 10 World Series at Fenway Park (they played the World Series at Braves Field in 1915 and 1916). The Dodgers have played in 10 World Series at Dodger Stadium. It’s Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, Carlton Fisk, Pedro Martinez, and 14 no hitters (they lose points for David Ortiz) vs. Vin Scully, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Tommy Lasorda, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Kirk Gibson, Clayton Kershaw, twelve no hitters (with two perfect games), the 1984 Olympics, the invention of the high five, Pope John Paul II, and the Naked Gun.
Slight edge: Dodger Stadium
Final verdict: It’s too close to call. If you want to say Fenway Park is the best, I’m fine with that. Obviously I’m biased, but I think I made a pretty good case for why Dodger Stadium is right up there with Fenway Park. I’m calling it a tie.
No comments:
Post a Comment