The Full LA Experience

On Tuesday night, I went to my first Dodger game. Dave and I had been at Target, stocking up on medicine and all that other crap you get when you're at Target, but of course forgetting to get the two things we really did need - kitty litter and laundry detergent.

Actually, what led us to the Dodger game was our decision to try to limit the crap-buying by avoiding Target while the prescriptions were being filled by playing video games at Best Buy (by the way, I suck). As we walked out of the Buy towards Target, two guys in ties came up to us and asked, "Are you Dodger fans?" I nodded my best non-commital nod. I mean, I'm not really a Dodger fan, I just got here and all, and I haven't really liked baseball since the last strike, especially because in Minneapolis there is always some rambling about a new stadium, which would be great, although better school funding would be greater, but, you know, I don't hate the Dodgers or anything, and baseball games are fun, so I nodded, non-commitally.

The guys had two-for-one tickets to the Tuesday game against the Mets. Because I don't tend to think about how easy it would be to print up fake tickets and sell them to schmucks on the street just by wearing ties and carrying a leather day planner, I said, "Okay!" and handed over $30.

So we rode our bikes to Dodger Stadium and were relieved when the tickets actually granted us access to the park and thus seemed to be legit.

It's a great old stadium which somehow seems to have resisted corporatization. First of all, it is Dodger Stadium, not Dodge Ram Presents Dodgers Stadium. And secondly, though there is advertising everywhere (as always has been the case in ball parks), it's not so shiny and sterile and new to seem like a simulacrum. It really is a stadium. We had great seats on the main level just off of left field. The players would throw their warm-up balls into the stands for us.

I did the whole LA thing:

• Ate a grilled Dodger Dog
• Spotted Debra Messing (my second official celebrity sighting), who was also in line for a grilled Dodger Dog
• Did the wave (okay, not specific to LA, but part of the fun of a Dodger game)
• Cheered "Here we go Dodgers, here we go" along with 46,000 other people
• Saw Gagne close the game, entering the field to "Welcome to the Jungle" while the scoreboard flashed "Game Over" along with an icon of his face, complete with dorky sports goggles - this was seriously one of the most exciting sports moments I've ever witnessed; the fans went crazy even before he was officially called to the field, flashes went off all over the place as he jogged to the mound, and he ended the game in four batters with three strikeouts and no earned runs