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Is Dodger Stadium as dangerous as they say? LAist/Jimmy Bramlett
Notable Notes
With the death of a fan at Angel Stadium during their opening day and the stabbing of a fan at the Dodger's home opener, Steve Mason and John Ireland have been talking about the issue of safety on their radio show on ESPN Radio AM 710. They have bandied about solutions such as more security in the parking lot to prevent drinking in the parking lots, getting rid of alcohol sales in the stadiums and even raising ticket prices to price the jerks out.
As a mini plan holder for the last several years to the cheap top deck seats at Dodger Stadium, not once have I felt in danger. Annoyed, maybe, but never fearing getting into a fight or dying. I get annoyed with the beach balls and the wave. As big of a potty mouth as I am, I cringe when I hear people cuss in the stands knowing there are kids around. Yeah there is the occasional fight the break out, and I have been in the middle of flying food but that is rare.
In fact the most unpleasant time I've ever had at the Stadium was when I sat in the field box seats on the first baseline. I was sitting right under the ledge of the loge section when someone let their half-eaten ice cream fall and land on my head. Boy was I hot, but an usher was right there and straightened out the situation quickly.
But call after call to the Mason and Ireland Show said how unsafe and dangerous Dodger Stadium is, and how they wish for the days when a baseball game was a family activity. I'd really like to know when that happened. Tales are rife back in the 1940s and 1950s of booze-inspired fights at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Even then Dodger manager Leo Durocher went into the stands in 1941 and knocked a heckling fan out allegedly with brass knuckles (Durocher was later acquitted on criminal charges).
I'm not completely naive - there are some jerks who can't handle their liquor and make for an unpleasant time - but I think they are few and far between. For the most part I've enjoyed going to games (apart from that ice cream incident). Even when jawing back and forth with the opposing teams' fans we'd shake hands at the end of the game and go our separate ways.
So what do you think? Am I alone on in think there aside from maybe some added security that there is nothing wrong in going to a Dodger game?
Tonight's Action
Utah Jazz at LA Lakers. Game 2 of the first round. 7:30 pm FSWest, TNT, AM 570 KLAC.
LA Dodgers at Houston Astros. Clayton Kershaw vs. Russ Ortiz. 5:05 pm KCAL 9, AM 790 KABC.
Detroit Tigers at LA Angels. Armando Galarraga vs. Jered Weaver. 7:05 pm FS Prime Ticket, AM 830 KLAA/AM 980 KFWB
