Dodgers v. Phillies

Watching the Phillies play the Dodgers in Los Angeles brings back memories of when I was at my peak of baseball fandom (my interest now only somewhat perks up during the playoffs). Back in the late 70's, the Phillies and Dodgers met several times in the National League playoffs. At the time, we lived in California and each year we made a trek down to Dodger Stadium. The first game we ever went to? Yep, Dodgers and Phillies during the regular season.

Dodger Stadium is not located in the heart of Los Angeles. You exit the freeway and go up this hill to get to it. You kinda wonder where this thing is at, then suddenly you come up over the hill and the sky blue stadium sits in the middle of a massive parking lot (which, by the way, is a zoo getting out of).

We usually went down 1 - 2 times a year. Ironically, I was never a Dodger fan. In fact, I rooted against them big time. I grew up a Cincinnati Reds fan, this during the era of Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Pete Rose. So, we often went to see the Reds when they came to town. But, despite my interest in seeing them lose, the Dodgers were an enjoyable team to watch during the late 70's and early 80's. For one, this was when teams stayed together a long time and they had a remarkable team with players like Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Davey Lopes, and many others, including Mike Sciosia, who's now coaching the cross-town rival Angels.

The first game I went to featured home runs by Greg Luzinski and Mike Schmidt of the Phillies. For the Dodgers, Rick Monday hit one and a grand slam was hit by none other than Dusty Baker, now a successful coach in the major leagues. Yeah, not quite sure why I remember who hit home runs for an early season game over 30 years ago, but maybe since it was my first trip to a major league game, that made it memorable. It was also memorable in that we were delayed in traffic several hours getting there (traffic accident on the mountain pass) and delayed again on our return trip (another traffic accident on the mountain pass). Not sure if she sang it at the first game I went to, but I remember multiple times Toni Tenille singing the national anthem (you know, as in Captain and . . .

Dodger Stadium is quite old now, and I think it's the oldest next to Wrigley Field and Fenway Park. I've been to several stadiums in my lifetime, but this one is still the best. Plus, it also has the best hot dogs of any ballpark . . .Dodger Dogs!