Dodger Stadium, showing signs of age, begging for a facelift. (Commentary).

THE Hall of Fame philosopher Yogi Berra once advised, "When you get to the fork in the road, take it." Unbeknownst to the Yankee catcher, his wisdom increasingly applies to Dodger Stadium.

Now more than 40 years old, Dodger Stadium has welcomed more than 110 million fans, many of whom view it with a sense of reverence seldom seen beyond Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and, of course, Yankee Stadium.

Because these venerable parks are located in major media markets, they have been able to maintain their personalities as each generates significant sums from cable television. Therefore, their owners have been less inclined to turn their facilities into the sterile corporate venues that dot America's sports landscape.

But lurking beneath the unequivocal charm and ability to transcend Southern California's sports, business, political and cultural communities, Dodger Stadium is at a crossroads.

In a sense, it is approaching a mid-life crisis, a delicate one that will force its ownership to make fundamental decisions about its economic viability and legendary attachment to generations of Angelenos (a great many of whom have been resistant to any changes at the ballpark).

How can it survive in Chavez Ravine without fundamental renovations that will yield a (new) owner the necessary revenue streams commonly required and allocated to field a consistently competitive team? On the other hand, would it really still be Dodger Stadium if there were state-of-the-an corporate amenities found in new ballparks?

Three years ago, the Dodgers completed a modest -- and entirely privately financed -- $55 million stadium nip and tuck by adding field level seats, an expanded dugout section with an adjacent club area, and luxury suites. At the time, Major League Baseball was entering discussions about increasing the amount of revenue shared by and among franchises. The Dodgers did not want to undertake a massive renovation if, in the end, they would have to cover all the costs and only get to keep a fraction of the revenue generated by such upgrades.

Yet Dodger Stadium runs the risk of becoming a relic by current sports business standards. For instance, the stadium remains "unwired" -- or unable to accommodate credit card transactions at concession stands, a notable lapse these days. While it may make little short-term sense to undertake the capital improvements necessary to establish such a payment system venue-wide, in the long run such creature comforts could encourage patrons would spend more freely.

If we, as Southern Californians, have learned anything over the years it is that fan preferences are a function of "what's in," whether that is a particular home team (Lakers) or the glitziness of the venue in which it plays (Staples Center). Which means that Dodger Stadium cannot afford to rest on its laurels like an aging beauty queen.

David M. Carter, principal of the Sports Business Group, teaches the Business of Sports Entertainment at the USC Marshall School of Business and is co-author of "On the Ball: What You Can Learn about Business from America's Sports Leaders."