LAistory is a series that takes us on a journey to what came before to help us understand where we are today. So far we've been to Val Verde, Thelma Todd's Roadside Cafe, a house in Beverly Hills, Echo Park's Bonnie Brae House, Marineland of the Pacific, and Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale. Now we're going to take you out to the ballgame, some decades back... The arrival of the Dodgers in Los......

This is going to be brief. I am lucky to be alive after 3 hours in scorching 90+ degree heat, and my very last ounce of energy will be used to get these photos up before I pass out. Literally. The Dodgers started Loaiza, which is usually a death sentence but today he only gave up two earned runs! This is a huge improvement! The Rockies started Jeff Francis (0-2), who didn't throw nearly......

Tonight's game was a hell of a lot of fun, even though it was cold and windy and we were getting dive-bombed by hummingbird-sized moths. Both pitchers (Lowe and Cain) pitched five shutout innings before giving up a few runs. Lowe took a comebacker to the lower leg to make way for Joe Beimel to come in and allow two runners to score. Troncoso make his ML debut with the bases loaded and one......

To see how this giant poster got here, check poil11's flickr. Shepard Fairey's Obama print appeared on the side of this building in Elysian Park over the weekend. Perhaps the "hope" message will serve as much-needed inspiration for the Dodger Stadium tenants around the corner (except, of course, on the three June dates when Obama's beloved White Sox visit Chavez Ravine). Read LAist's latest campaign coverage here.......

It's official. Joe Torre was formally announced as the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers today in a press conference held in center field at Chavez Ravine. The only real news was that he's also bringing Don Mattingly (whom many thought would succeed Torre as skipper of the Yankees) and Larry Bowa with him from his staff in New York. Torre's speech wasn't exactly inspirational. Let's just say he could have used some help......

Pachuca 4, Galaxy 3 - With a cool million bucks on the line, the Los Angeles lost the final of the first ever SuperLiga tournament. After the Galaxy scored an own goal in the first half, they tied it at 1-1 in stoppage time on a brilliant bicycle kick by Chris Klein. Quarter-billion dollar man David Beckham sprained his knee and could be out another 4-6 weeks. At this rate, he won't be around to......

Things You Can Do In Five Hours: -Drive to Las Vegas from Los Angeles -Run a marathon as fast as P.Diddy -Watch the uber-long extended version of Return of the King -Make an entire baby sweater -Learn a computer programming language Things You Can't Do In Five Hours: -Build Rome -Watch Saturday night's Dodger game from start to finish That's right, Saturday's game lasted 5-hours and six minutes, the longest game at Chavez Ravine since......

Giants 4, Dodgers 2 - Maybe it's better this way. If Barry had tied (or passed) Hank Aaron in Chavez Ravine, it would have been the second time the Dodgers gave up the record breaking shot (yup, Hammerin' Hank hit 715 against the Boys in Blue). That's not to mention the riot that would have ensued. This isn't exactly the most hospitable town for any Giant, much less that Giant. It was a bigger game......

Dodgers 6, Giants 4 - Barry Bonds didn't make any headlines on Wednesday, which was good news for Dodger faithful. Los Angeles needed an eigth inning comeback featuring a home run by Nomar Garciaparra. Nom-ahh also was one of four Dodgers with a stolen base. Russell Martin nabbed one of those bags, matching the team record of 18 stolen bases by a catcher (first set by Con Daily in 1892). For the first time this......

Hey Dodger fans! While the Blue Crew is sticking it to the Giants on the field, here are two ways you can stick it to their fans online: First, invade San Francisco's website and enter the Giant's AT&T Summer Series. You can steal cool prizes from the hippies up north like fantasy batting practice, suite tickets, and a plasma TV. Watch their fans turn red in the face when you paint their town blue. Second,......

Giants 3, Dodgers 1 - Barry Bonds surprisingly was all smiles despite a bitter reception at Chavez Ravine. While he didn't tie Hammerin' Hank for the career home run title, he did reach base on two walks and scored a run. Brad Penny allowed all three runs in six innings for just his second loss of the year. Baseball royalty on hand included Tommy Lasorda, Bud Selig, and Alyssa Milano. Wait, did we just write......

Dodgers 10, Phillies 3 - Imagine how good the Dodgers would be if Jason Schmidt were healthy. On Monday it was another All Star, Brad Penny, who notched his 11th win of the season and gave the Blue Crew their 5th in a row. Jeff Kent and Matt Kemp each contributed a three-run shot. The Phillies trailed by as many as nine en-route to their MLB leading 10,001st franchise loss. Beckham Watch - There's drama......

Marlins 6, Dodgers 5 - When the Dodgers return to Chavez Ravine on Friday they'll be exposed to smoke, haze, and bad condition caused by nearby fires -- just like they're experiencing in Florida. The Marlins are hosting Los Angeles and are suffering from similar early summer blazes near the stadium. Some observed that the conditions are like a fog in San Francisco, but worsened by dry throats and stinging eyes. On Tuesday night the......

We couldn't resist yesterday's noon Dodger game. It was sunny, it was pretty much a pitcher's duel, and it was sweet to hear the school kids in the left field pavilion cheering and trying to start the wave. Yes the home team won, but our little section in the field boxes behind home plate won when this Johnny Knoxville look-alike caught a foul ball and gave it to a beautiful grayhaired woman who had......

Lakers 95, Suns 89 - After getting smacked around in the first two games of the series, the Lakers were looking up at a 17 point Phoenix lead in game three. Then something snapped. Kobe went on a 45 point rampage and -- surprise! -- Kwame Brown had 19. Lamar Odom had 18, but more important were his 16 rebounds (6 on the offensive glass). Los Angeles finally has the spark of hope that sometimes......

The Dodgers were swept. I was also yelled at by 3 traffic cops on my way to the stadium. Juan Pierre missed the sign for the squeeze. I had to look at Barry Bonds. Nomar represented the tying run with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th and he struck out to end the game on his own bobblehead night. I don't really want to talk about it right now. So instead I offer......

Despite the fact that the biggest villain in sports was playing left field, the loudest boo of the night at last night's Dodgers/Giants game was heard when the blond bomber herself, Paris Hilton was shown on the jumbo screen. Don't get me wrong, Barry Bonds got more than his fair share of hatred from the Chavez Ravine faithful last night. Each time he took the field and stepped to the plate, the "Barry Sucks" chants......

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Dodger Stadium parking fiascoes are old news now. I probably shouldn't even be bringing this up right now, but yesterday the spark re-ignited my Dodger Parking kindling and I'm back on the rampage. You see, I thought I'd come up with a good system, as one night last week I waited for less than 6 minutes to get out of the lot and I was very very proud of my ingenuity......

Pretty amazing game at Chavez Ravine last night. 48,995 (announced) fans watched the Dodgers come from behind and beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 on a dramatic 10th-inning grand slam by Russell Martin. Better Known Friends of the Column, Joe Beimel (pitched a scoreless 8th against the heart of the Pirate order) and Wilson "El Gato" Valdez (scored the tying run in the bottom of the 9th on some aggressive baserunning, pictured), also contributed heartily to......

This video was posted by a disturbed San Diego fan after seeing some not-so-classy behavior in Chavez Ravine. Not that rowdy fans are anything new, but something about the tone of LA fans should be improved. We all expect Dodger Stadium to start clearing out in the seventh inning, except for those fans who sauntered in around the fourth and still haven't finished their Dodger Dog. As if the local reputation for bandwagon fans......

The night before tens of thousands at Chavez Ravine celebrated the anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier, a few miles west, in Hollywood, an African-American star on one of the most popular tv shows in the nation was being denied entrance into a new club. Last night Gary Dourdan was told that he wasn't (choose one: famous enough, cool enough, on a hot enough show) to come into the Hollywood Blvd. club......

One of our favorite LA photographers, Malingering, went to the Dodger game last night. She has a great eye for both fashion and sports. We wonder if she would ever be an LAist contributer? Hmmmm. One can dream. Last night, of course, was Jackie Robinson Day all around the country, including Chavez Ravine, where Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson and even Jennifer Hudson showed up to honor an American hero. Way more pictures after......

Anyone who has clicked their way through Malingering's hilarious Flickr galleries know that outside of The Grove and the 3rd Street Promenade, some of the worst fashion accidents occur in the stands of Dodger Stadium. Enter NY transplant and Dodger season ticket holder, actress Alyssa Milano who has come to the rescue. Men have no problem wearing team-logo fashions and don't mind looking like slobs, but women, especially here in LA, have a higher......

- (1) Go to Circuit City today after 2pm, (2) ask if they have Super Paper Mario in stock, (3) if they don't have it in stock ask and then receive a Circuit City $20 gift card, (4) dance around with your free $20, (5) thank your pals at LAist and at - Joystiq - A state panel in Oxnard basically killed any hope for a floating offshore natural gas terminal to be built......

Dodger Stadium opened for business last night, with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim taking advantage of Randy Wolf's eight-million dollar arm and chalking up an easy 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the opening game of the annual pre-season Freeway Series. And while the on-field stories (Orlando Cabrera goes 3-for-3! Russell Martin can't throw anyone out!! Brady Clark makes his Dodger Stadium debut in right field and hits into a 4-3 triple......

We keep getting these emails from the Dodgers telling us about their all-you-can-eat Right Field Pavilion, and while it does seem quite appealing in a Glutton Bowl way, the biggest problem with the bleachers at Dodger Stadium is you cannot get a beer there. It appeared that the Dodgers were saying that the type of Dodger fan who would only pay $6 or $8 for a bleacher seat would be the kind that would......

For a city that loves their superstars so much, Manny Ramirez might leave Boston and nobody would care... unless he goes to the Yankees. But the best rumors have him coming to Chavez Ravine. As much as LAist loves baseball, the Dodgers, and Dodger Stadium, it's been hard to cheer for anyone lately in Dodger Blue not named Nomah. Manny could solve that problem. Here's what people in Beantown are saying: "I think Manny......

When the Dodgers had just a two game lead on the Padres, LAist was shocked at the air of confidence that locals had that the Blue Crew were going to just cruise into the playoffs without a care in the world. Well yesterday the other shoe dropped and so did the Dodgers when San Diego continued their dominance over LA with a 2-1 victory, extending their season series lead over the home team to......

“There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.” Dorthy clenches her fist while she shuts her eyes. Her heels click as her ruby shoes shine. While gnashing her teeth against each other she slowly chants those important words. There is nothing better than a trip home. For Dorthy and the Dodgers coming home is where they are at peace and everything is right in the world. It’s also a place the Dodger......

The fear was that Dontrelle Willis was done losing ball games. The high-flying cocked-capped southpaw came to life last night at Chavez Ravine, striking out nine Dodger batters and even helping himself at the plate with a long ball that hit the wall for a triple. But the thrilling and dazzling pitcher couldn't do it on his own, and the home team's victory was led by Nomar Garciapara, one of the team's many shortstops.......