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A quick Dodger note for everyone. On Saturday at 10:00am, tickets to the Dodgers exhibition game on Saturday, March 29 against the Boston Red Sox at the LA Memorial Coliseum will go on sale.
This will be a special occasion helping the Dodgers kick off their season-long celebration of their 50th year in Los Angeles. As many of you might know, the Dodgers played at the Coliseum when they moved here in 1958 until Dodger Stadium was completed in 1961.
There were many problems with the Coliseum. The most notable one was because of the oval shape of the stadium, the dimensions of the baseball field was fucked. The distance between home plate and the left field wall was only 251 feet. Even though the Dodgers built a 42-foot tall fence in left field, many pop flies instantly became home runs. Compare this to the power alley that was at 320 feet.
This led to Commissioner Ford Frick to amended rule 1.04 stating that any fields constructed after 1958 must provide at least 320 feet down each foul line. And that’s why this can’t happen during the regular season.
The other problem with the shape was the disparity in foul territory down the first base line and third baseline. The first baseline had almost no foul territory while the third baseline had it a mile long. Hell. Some seats along the third baseline were over 700 feet from home plate.
But as horrible as the Coliseum was to host baseball, it sure did bring some memorable moments. The 1959 World Series against the Chicago White Sox was the first World Series with games played on the West Coast. Not only that, game five set the record for attendance with 92,706 even though the Dodgers lost. But they were victorious in the sixth and final game at Comiskey Park bringing the World Series home in only their second season in Los Angeles.
Being a ticket plan holder, I already got my tickets 11 rows up from the first baseline. I can't wait to see the wacky park dimensions for myself.
Photo taken from Ballparks of Baseball
