First Time at Dodger Stadium

*Author’s Note: This post has been backdated to the day the event occurred. It was written on April 4, 2019, to the best of my recollection.*

With San Diego and Los Angeles being so close to each other, it’s natural to have a rivalry when it comes to sports. Especially, since the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers are both in the National League West division of MLB.

I’ve been to many Padres vs. Dodgers games at Petco Park, but I decided it was time to cross my second ballpark off my list. My Tio Pancho, is a huge Dodgers fan, so I figured for his birthday, we could take a trip up to LA to watch our favorite teams play each other. I bought tickets for my parents, Tio Pancho, and me to attend the game on August 25. There were 3 reasons why this was the perfect game to attend:

1. It was the first weekend series at Dodger Stadium after Tio Pancho’s birthday
2. It was against the Padres so I could attend my first Padres road game.
3. The Dodgers were giving Dave Roberts jerseys to every fan in attendance. Even though they were Dodger’s jerseys, it was important to me because Roberts grew up in San Diego, used to play for the Padres in 2005 and 2006, and then returned to San Diego as the Padres bench coach from 2011-2015.

My family and I were all very excited about this mini road trip. We arrived at the ballpark as soon as the gates opened. We explored the ballpark for a little and went down by right field to see the Padres warm up during pregame. After pregame, we stopped by guest services to pick up some “1st Dodger Game” buttons and then headed back up to our seats on the top deck behind home plate. It was an awesome view for such a great price!

 

 

 

During the 2nd inning, my best friend Gus called me to let me know he just got into the game. Gus is a freshman at CSU Long Beach. His school was nice enough to host a freshman field trip to the Dodger game that night. Gus’s favorite food is a California burrito from Lolita’s Taco Shop in San Diego. Since he lived in Long Beach now, the one thing he missed more than his friends and family was Lolitas. Being the best, best friend that I am, I brought Gus his favorite little piece of home to the game, a Lolita’s California burrito.

The Padres were down 3-1 until Franmil Reyes hit a solo home run to left field in the top of the 7th. Dodgers answered back in the bottom of the 7th with a homer to center from Max Muncy making it 4-2. Padres scored one more in the 8th, and Austin Hedges tied up the game 4-4 in the 9th with a solo blast to left field. Dodgers couldn’t answer back in the bottom of the 9th, so we got some FREE BASEBALL a.k.a. extra innings.

Still tied 4-4, the excitement didn’t happen until the bottom of the 12th inning when the power went out in the stadium. The backup generators turned on right away to light up the screens, but the stadium lights took about 20 minutes to warm back up. While the stadium lights were warming up, the teams went back to their clubhouses before play resumed.

As soon as the lights came on, Justin Turner was up to bat. Matt Kemp was on second base. The first pitch from Robert Stock to Justin Turner resulted in an RBI walk-off double, scoring Matt Kemp. The Dodgers won 5-4 after 12 innings.

Although the Padres lost, my family and I had a fun time attending our first game at Dodger Stadium. We can’t wait to go back this season and make this a yearly tradition!