Monday, October 11, 2004
Why would Levi be jealous of me?
I'm over 6 feet tall, I have a full head of hair, I have a cat who doesn't get up on the kitchen counter, and also...
Jason and Todd got tickets through a contact at their job, so there we were in the top deck of Dodger Stadium for Game 4 of the National League Division Series, the Dodgers needing a win against the Cardinals to stay alive.
Jason invited me, and Todd invited his wife Jenn, of course. So here she is eating pizza...
This was the first time I had sat in the top deck at Dodger Stadium. It was not bad. I'm pretty sure I was closer to the field than when I had sat in the upper deck in San Diego in May, and I was definitely closer to the field than I was in the upper deck in Philadelphia in August. And these seats are only $6.00 general admission during the regular season. (They were jacked up to $12.00 reserved for this first round of the playoffs.)
It must be the playoffs, because there's the bunting...
And a special logo painted on the field...
And a blimp...
And what seems like hundreds of umpires...
So many umpires, in fact, that they don't display them at the bottom of the scoreboard because there's only space for four of them (it's not really visible in this photo, but trust me, they'd normally be at the bottom)...
And they handed out everyone's favorite loud and annoying item, Thunderstix...
So let's all think blue! Or think 76 or 980, if you'd rather think about numbers than colors...
Odalis Perez pitching in the top of the first...
And then some stuff happened that I didn't take pictures of because I was trying to follow the game, but night fell with the Dodgers behind 6-2...
It was time to summon the giant floating heads of Eric Gagne...
He did pretty well against the Cardinals, but the damage had already been done...
Noted Kenny G fan Ray King got into the game and was effective against the Dodgers...
Perhaps he and Mike Metheney were humming "Songbird" during their meeting on the mound...
Since this auxiliary scoreboard wasn't needed for its usual purpose of displaying out-of-town scores, it was instead pressed into service for additional statistic display duty...
See the taillights in the parking lot? Yep, people are leaving in the 8th inning, despite the number of come-from-behind wins the Dodgers have had this season...
It's the bottom of the 9th, the Dodgers are down by four runs, the fans are being exhorted to show their blue (not "show they're blue"), and this is all seeming familiar to Jason and me, as if it happened just a week and a half ago...
Speaking of which, the note about Alex Cora that was displayed as he was batting in the bottom of the 9th seemed very familiar...
But on September 28th, the Dodgers were facing the Rockies' bullpen. The Cardinals' bullpen, and Jason Isringhausen in particular, is a somewhat different story. So, long story short, some happy Cardinals...
The Dodgers wish them well in the NLCS, especially if they're going to be playing the Braves...
And even though the Dodgers lost, it was a great and highly improbable season, so the stadium crew thinks it deserves a playing of "I Love L.A."...
Oh, and by the way, this game set a new Dodger Stadium attendance record...
Go Cards.
Levi: Ah, that was a fun series. And I feel really good about Round 2, whomever we face. I'm rooting for tonight's Braves/Astros game to go 22 innings.
And I loved seeing the hugs and handshakes. It made me really happy, and it seemed a better send-off for the Dodgers than just retreating to the clubhouse would have been.
Jason and Todd got tickets through a contact at their job, so there we were in the top deck of Dodger Stadium for Game 4 of the National League Division Series, the Dodgers needing a win against the Cardinals to stay alive.
Jason invited me, and Todd invited his wife Jenn, of course. So here she is eating pizza...
This was the first time I had sat in the top deck at Dodger Stadium. It was not bad. I'm pretty sure I was closer to the field than when I had sat in the upper deck in San Diego in May, and I was definitely closer to the field than I was in the upper deck in Philadelphia in August. And these seats are only $6.00 general admission during the regular season. (They were jacked up to $12.00 reserved for this first round of the playoffs.)
It must be the playoffs, because there's the bunting...
And a special logo painted on the field...
And a blimp...
And what seems like hundreds of umpires...
So many umpires, in fact, that they don't display them at the bottom of the scoreboard because there's only space for four of them (it's not really visible in this photo, but trust me, they'd normally be at the bottom)...
And they handed out everyone's favorite loud and annoying item, Thunderstix...
So let's all think blue! Or think 76 or 980, if you'd rather think about numbers than colors...
Odalis Perez pitching in the top of the first...
And then some stuff happened that I didn't take pictures of because I was trying to follow the game, but night fell with the Dodgers behind 6-2...
It was time to summon the giant floating heads of Eric Gagne...
He did pretty well against the Cardinals, but the damage had already been done...
Noted Kenny G fan Ray King got into the game and was effective against the Dodgers...
Perhaps he and Mike Metheney were humming "Songbird" during their meeting on the mound...
Since this auxiliary scoreboard wasn't needed for its usual purpose of displaying out-of-town scores, it was instead pressed into service for additional statistic display duty...
See the taillights in the parking lot? Yep, people are leaving in the 8th inning, despite the number of come-from-behind wins the Dodgers have had this season...
It's the bottom of the 9th, the Dodgers are down by four runs, the fans are being exhorted to show their blue (not "show they're blue"), and this is all seeming familiar to Jason and me, as if it happened just a week and a half ago...
Speaking of which, the note about Alex Cora that was displayed as he was batting in the bottom of the 9th seemed very familiar...
But on September 28th, the Dodgers were facing the Rockies' bullpen. The Cardinals' bullpen, and Jason Isringhausen in particular, is a somewhat different story. So, long story short, some happy Cardinals...
The Dodgers wish them well in the NLCS, especially if they're going to be playing the Braves...
And even though the Dodgers lost, it was a great and highly improbable season, so the stadium crew thinks it deserves a playing of "I Love L.A."...
Oh, and by the way, this game set a new Dodger Stadium attendance record...
Go Cards.
Original comments...
Levi: Ah, that was a fun series. And I feel really good about Round 2, whomever we face. I'm rooting for tonight's Braves/Astros game to go 22 innings.
And I loved seeing the hugs and handshakes. It made me really happy, and it seemed a better send-off for the Dodgers than just retreating to the clubhouse would have been.
Labels: Cardinals, dodgers, game report, jason kaifesh, jenn carney, photos, todd carney
