There's nothing like the feeling as you go through your day and co-workers, friends and family ask, "What do you got going tonight?" and you get to tell them, "I'm going to the Dodger Game." Everyone's immediate response is a smile with a response like, "Oh, that's cool" or "Sweet" or "How fun". "I'm going to the Dodger game," immediately sends peoples Thinking Blue as they envision: The Stadium. The Ravine. Philippe's. Vinnie. Nancy B. Hefley. Dodger Dogs. Ten Dollar Beers. The Pavillion bleachers. The traffic. The parking. The traffic. The parking. We can all, as Dodger fans, relate, reminisce and bond over past, present and future Dodger Stadium memories.
Now one can argue that any fan, of any ball park, of any team has their own quirks, traditions, and specialness that they can lay claim as to what makes its park better than the rest. But Dodger Stadium is more special than anywhere else. More unique. More of an experience. And it's not the metal and concrete and the blue and the hills and the nice weather that make it that way, it's the people.Fenway Park - It's great. Old. Green. The scoreboard. The Monster. Looks cool on TV. But look at the people. The city. Boston. It's white, very white. It's America as it was sixty years ago. And it's not just white, it's wanna-be-tough-guy white, annoying Boston accent white, stuffy New England money white. When's the last time you've seen a Boston hat with a straight bill? Culture mix? Not here. The only Spanish conversation you'll here at Fenway is in the dugout betwen Manny and Papi.
Yankee Stadium - Awesome. The Facade. The Big Bat. Bob Sheppard. An American icon. We get it. But the fans? What can you say they're New Yorkers. Pent-up, stressed out, annoying, whining New Yorkers. Old money snobs mixed with mob-wannabe goons that call their shortstop, "Jetuh". Imagine living in a place where you couldn't just get in your car and drive when you needed to get away. "I gotta get outta here. Just clear my head. Taxi!" Not they're fault, they grew up in that madness, that'd get to anybody and as a result, the fans are all the same. Annoying.
You can go on and on all over America's ball parks. Good people. Great fans. Loyal fans. Just not much variety.There's only one ballpark where all people of all classes of all races of all colors of all religions of the United States go - and that's Dodger Stadium. Where else within fifteen seats in any direction can you find a Jewish father and his two sons sporting Yamikas and Dodger jerseys, a cholo with a forehead tatoo, his buddy with neck tatts, four fantasy geeks talking numbers, Jason Bateman wearing headphones, teenage double daters, eight Korean guys in loosened up suits sans blazers, an old African American couple wearing silky Dodger jackets from the '70's, two strippers sitting with two 'roided up rednecks with faux mullets, a Latino family all sporting blue and white Dodger wigs, kids of all ages,middle aged moms and dads, frat guys and sorority gals, grandmas, bookworms, perverts, thugs, rich dudes, Harrrison Ford and Calista Flockhart, me watching everybody, my wife sneaking paparazzi shots of Bateman with her cell phone, my son waving his foam finger back and forth annoying the guy behind him, and my two daughters who take turns asking me either for snacks, souvenirs or "Are we going soon?"
It's the Dodger Stadium Chex Mix (because we're not exactly blending together but we do rub off on each other to slightly change each other's taste). We're all down for the same cause - The Boys in Blue. And after a Dodger win, it's high fives all around: brown on black, white on brown, tan on black, black on white, tan on brown. It's people who have differences in all facets of life, uniting at the Stadium. It's a model for our blended America of the future and it's a beautiful thing to be a part of.
Keywords: Boston, Dodger Stadium, Dodgers, Fenway Park, Los Angeles, New York, Yankee Stadium
