Experience the Park Dodger Stadium Fan Guide

Soak up the Scene

Opened in 1962, Dodger Stadium now follows only Wrigley Field as the National League’s second oldest ballpark. But it doesn’t look it. Even before new owners Frank and Jamie McCourt started enhancements, the park shined top to bottom, and had zero obstructed view seats.

It sounds hokey, sure, but when Vin Scully paints his picture of the place at dusk, “mountains behind mountains, purple mountains majesty,” he’s not exaggerating one bit. A fan in any part of the stadium except the bleachers experiences that view precisely (they are the San Gabriel Mountains, for the record). The downtown skyline is visible from several vantage points, flowers and palm trees abound pretty much everywhere, and on the canyon wall beyond left field the Dodgers sport their version of the famous Hollywood sign, this one reading “Think Blue.”

The diamond is symmetrical; 330 down the lines, 375 to the alleys, and 395 to straightaway center. While capacity remains an even 56,000, dugout level, on-field seating has been added during the McCourt era. So pop fouls that used to translate into easy outs now fall harmlessly in the stands. It’s still a pitcher’s park, but not like it once was.

Dodgers fans are known to arrive late and leave early due to LA traffic, and that may be the case (at least compared to, say, Red Sox or Cardinals fans). But they are, in general, a knowledgeable bunch that follow the game closely and expect success. Certainly Dodger Stadium is the one and only sports palace in America where you are guaranteed not to hear the chant, "BEAT L.A.!!" Well, you might hear a few cat calls when the ill-named Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim hit town, but that’s about it.