Tales from the Road

So I attended my first Dodgers game today. I had tried unsuccessfully for a few years now to try and get down to Cincinnati to see the Dodgers in person. I'm pretty glad that this 2009 team was my first to see in person, just because I know I was pretty frustrated last year and wouldn't have enjoyed myself as much as I did today had they won last year compared to if they had even lost today.

A friend of mine who's a big Reds fan and I attended the game and decided to watch the game from left field. I'd been to a few MLB games, but I hadn't had a chance to sit in the outfield, and to get to see Manny do work (if you can call it that) up close was going to be really neat. While I wasn't surprised at the large amount of Dodgers fans at the ballpark, I was surprised at the left field stands being split nearly half and half. While you could see Dodger fans sprinkled throughout the stadium in their blue, our section was full of Dodger fans with dreads, Mannywood signs, and drunken waves that would never achieve full cohesion beyond our section.

Though I doubt I'll be able to get out to LA to see a game at Dodger Stadium anytime soon, it was nice to be in a part of the park that had as close to that feel as I could get in a rival park, even though the Dodger fan in front of me was a full moon rising whenever he stood up. As for Reds fans and Manny, the Reds fans relentlessly heckled Manny in the outfield, requesting a fan that caught a warm-up ball from Manny throw it back on the field. Manny even got into a jawing match with one patron, but Dodger fans obviously showed much love and support, and I found it hard to not get swept up in the Manny support as well.

As for the game, yeah, I know we all enjoyed it. Orlando Hudson's homer landed four seats from me, an empty four seats I might add, bouncing off the railing into the reactionary fist of an old man. Unfortunately, the ball found its way into the sun and I had lost sight of it before I heard it clank just feet away from me. It's no doubt something I'll carry with me for my entire life that I had a very realistic chance to catch a Dodger homer, but lost it in the sun and couldn't peg where it went before it was too late.

I was having a difficult time registering that I was actually at the game for the first two innings. Looking down to see Manny Ramirez right in front of me and Juan Pierre a few yards away, to see guys that I've been a fan of for as long as they've worn the Dodgers blue in person, it was really neat. It's not something I get from seeing any other team I cheer for because I usually do it with some sort of regularity.

For anyone who hasn't been to Great American Ballpark, I'll say that the left field stands offer a nice view, but I don't recommend them, especially for day games. The sun sets right in your line of vision and to top it off, the jumbotron is literally above your head. If you aren't in the first five or six rows, you will never see a replay.

As it turns out, my parents attended the game and (I assume) took the pictures I didn't. They sat above the Dodgers dugout, so I can post pictures from their seats when I talk to them next, which should be tomorrow. I would've talked to them after the game about it, but even then, I doubt I'd want to post them tonight since I'm beat and I want to see how the Colts fared in their preseason game tonight (and see if Eric Gordon is in attendance again) before I went to bed, but I just wanted to share my first experience seeing my favorite baseball team, however late it may be compared to anyone who gets to see them with any regularity or spent their childhood in Chavez Ravine.