DODGERS FANS READY TO PLAY BALL.Byline: Peter Hartlaub Daily News Staff Writer Forget war and taxes, turn off your computer - Vinnie is on the airwaves, and the Dodgers are taking the field. Take yourself out to a ballgame, starting with tonight's exhibition against the California Angels in Anaheim, weekend exhibitions against the New York Yankees  Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism. at Dodger Stadium • • [ or opening day Monday
against the Arizona Diamondbacks This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Diamondback. The Arizona Diamondbacks (also referred to as the D-backs) are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. - if you can get a ticket. ``It's baseball. I'm an American. It's like my duty to go,'' said Jeff Hum of Rosemont, who took the day off in hopes of snagging a few opening-day tickets at Dodger Stadium. No such luck: Opening day has been sold out for weeks, as the Rupert Murdoch Dodgers and pitching ace Kevin Brown The name Kevin Brown can refer to several different people, including the following:
``Actually, I know nothing about baseball,'' said Heather Ridell, who nonetheless stood in the ticket line for tickets that were already sold out. ``I still like to go with my husband.'' The fans have been coming in droves, Dodgers officials say. ``We're looking at four or as many as five sellouts on opening week,'' said Dodgers Vice President of Marketing Barry Stockhamer, taking into account walk-up ticket sales on the day of the games. There were two sellouts last year through all of April. ``I think that speaks volumes about the tremendous loyalty of our fans,'' he said. ``When you look at Dodger Stadium, you're going to see Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. mirrored in the ballpark. In each section there are neighborhoods. All linked by the love for the game.'' While more than 3 million Dodgers fans have visited the park in the last four nonstrike years, they seem particularly amped for the 1999 schedule - which will bring Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Ken Griffey may refer to:
Early start Some were so loyal they came to sit in the stadium before the season actually started. Mike Jordan For the former professional basketball player, see Michael Jordan. Mike Jordan is a British racing driver from Sutton Coldfield, born on February 17 1958. He lives in Lichfield with his wife Judith and his 3 sons. of Silver Lake and John Tremaine of North Hollywood took a few minutes Thursday to watch the ground crews put the finishing touches finishing touches finish npl the finishing touches → der letzte Schliff finishing touches npl → ultimi ritocchi mpl to the pristine field. Jordan is a fan of the Dodgers' continued old-school atmosphere and can name all the team's organ players back to Brooklyn in the 1950s. ``I'm really attached to that organ, It's got kind of a retro-'60s feel,'' he said. ``I get pumped up by what the players do on the field, not a bunch of rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. music.'' Tremaine has been sitting in one of the ballpark's ``neighborhoods'' since 1962, when the team moved to Dodger Stadium, and hopes the tradition never dies. ``The people of this city are decent and kind when it comes to baseball,'' he said. ``When they're in the streets they kill each other.'' Indeed, while other sports teams introduce trendy gimmicks to keep up with the present, the Dodgers seem happy to live in the past. Workers paint a fresh coat of light blue that covers the exact same shade. A renovated souvenir stand still includes memorabilia from 1960s players. Even a subtle change in the road uniforms, which will be emblazoned this year with a cursive ``Los Angeles'' across the front, is a throwback throwback see atavism. to a style from 20 years ago. Greg Nelson, a 52-year-old lifetime Dodgers fan who works in Councilman Joel Wachs' office, wishes the team would get with the times. ``Changes do not come easy at Dodger Stadium,'' Nelson said. ``I arrive at the stadium and I know what to expect.'' Fond memories He remembers when the L.A. team came from Brooklyn in 1958. ``It was the greatest thrill - my team coming to my city,'' Nelson said. The history extends to those who pick up a check at Dodger Stadium, from broadcasting Hall of Famer Vin Scully For the American architecture historian, see . Vincent Edward "Vin" Scully (born November 29, 1927, in The Bronx, New York) is an American sportscaster, known primarily as the play-by-play voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers baseball teams. down to the men and women who serve the Dodger Dogs. Fernando Navarro, who manages the vendors at the stadium, said his 140 workers have a 95 percent return rate. Several have been serving up peanuts, drinks and other ballpark standards for more than 20 years, and many have other jobs. ``I have a teacher, manual laborers, a lot of mail carriers,'' Navarro said. ``You do a lot of walking, delivering the mail. You get used to that kind of environment.'' Nelson has been going to games as long as any vendor. An active baseball fan, he became the commissioner of a rotisserie league seven years ago. This year he's sitting out of the league, where friends and colleagues are still acting as general managers for fantasy baseball Fantasy baseball is a game whereby players manage imaginary baseball teams based on the real-life performance of baseball players, and compete against one another using those players' statistics to score points. teams. In this year's Sunday draft, no surprise, a Dodger was picked first. ``It's hard to fight the temptation,'' Nelson said. ``You see a lot of Dodgers fans picking Dodgers players who are overrated Overrated was a Horde World of Warcraft guild, based on the US Black Dragonflight Realm. On November 2 2006, the majority of the guild members were indefinitely banned from the game for use of (or directly benefiting from) a third-party "wall-hack", used to bypass content .'' Joseph Paul makes deliveries to the stadium and has lived for the last decade in a Los Angeles home that overlooks the park. ``They keep the tradition going,'' Paul said. ``Every year when those lights come on, I feel a little bit happier than I did the week before.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1--Color) Dodgers fan Mike Jordan of Silver Lake issues a thumbs-up after seeing the spot for his season ticket at Dodgers Stadium. (2) Dodgers fans line up to buy tickets under a poster of new Dodgers pitcher Kevin Brown. David Crane/Daily News |
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