Visiting L.A.'s Ballparks

Anyone who knows my husband Darren and I knows that we are huge baseball fans.  One of our goals is to visit each ballpark together, so each season we try to cross a few more off of our list.  This year we planned a trip to Los Angeles to visit my brother and sister-in-law, and we strategically planned it so we could see both the Dodgers and the Angels when we were there.  On Sunday, the Dodgers were playing the St. Louis Cardinals, and we had gotten tickets in the outfield in the "all you can eat" section.  This was a good plan, because not only did we have great seats, but we could eat all of the famous Dodger Dogs that we wanted!  Dodger Stadium is a classic ballpark, built in 1962, and it was returned to the stadium's original colors in 2006.  There are pretty amazing views of Los Angeles there, and it was exciting for us to visit, because the Dodgers were celebrating their 50th anniversary in L.A.  The weather started out looking pretty gloomy, but fortunately soon turned nice for the game.     

It was a great game!  The Dodgers had called up Clayton Kershaw from Jacksonville, so Sunday's game was his Major League pitching debut.  His first start was impressive with him striking out seven batters in six innings and giving up two runs.  The Dodgers were ahead when Kershaw left for the dugout, but the Cardinals rallied for a run in the seventh inning, and the game ended up going into extra innings.  The "Boys in Blue" did not let us down though with Andre Ethier getting a two-out run-scoring hit in the tenth inning.  It was so fun finally seeing a game at Dodger Stadium and pretty exciting to see Joe Torre there too.  I am not a Yankee fan, so I am very happy that he is a Dodger now, since I have always really admired him!

Monday was Memorial Day and it turned out to be beautiful weather.  The Angels of Anaheim were playing the Detroit Tigers, and we had club seats for this game.  Angel Stadium is a newer ballpark, since it was renovated in 1998, and it is a really nice stadium!  There are dugout-level suites and incredible landscaping.  We got there early so we could walk around, and it was a very impressive stadium.  Our seats were good too.  We were in the outfield again and had some pretty nice views, especially of the terraced bullpens.  The service in the club section was great and we were able to eat something besides typical ballpark food, which was a good idea since we had stuffed ourselves full of hot dogs and nachos the day before!

It was an interesting game, not a typical one for an American League game, because there were no runs throughout the entire game.  The Tigers and Angels were both 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position.  Jon Garland was pitching for the Angels and he was able to keep the Tigers pretty quiet for the 7 1/3 innings he pitched.  So, the game went into extra innings.  The Angels kept up the good pitching and defense and were able to make it to the bottom of the 12th inning.  With the bases loaded, Garret Anderson was walked by Bobby Seay, sending Maicer Izturis home.  It was not quite as dramatic a win as the day before, but winning is always a good thing!

So, now it is time to focus on our Nationals again.  We will be at the game against the Giants on Sunday.  I am so sad that my two favorite players are on the disabled list.  Austin and Ryan, please heal quickly, we need you on the team!  In fact, it seems like half the team is injured right now.  Boy, do I hope that things start improving, or we will never move out of the bottom of the National League East!