Get Off My Lawn!

Count this as my latest of the “Dodger Codger” series.  The older I get, the more I look at myself and realize that I sound like an old man.  And then I realize, “I am an old man.”  I’m nearing 60.  I have followed the Dodgers for 55 years., and I could cite to you incidents from every Dodger season back to my years as a young child.

We are fortunate to follow a traditional team with a respectable legacy. They wear red white and blue uniforms for heaven’s sake.  No awful color combinations like black and orange, or whatever color the Padres or Diamondbacks decide to wear in a given year.  Then we have that Taj Mahal of venues to watch a game, Dodger Stadium.  Spoiled might be the correct word to use when describing what we enjoy.  Could you imagine growing up following a team like the Mariners, Rockies, Rangers or even the current AL Pennant winner Astros?  No offense to those franchises, but the tradition doesn’t approach what we experience.  And then there’s Vin.

When I was on a job assignment overseas, 5 time zones away in Argentina, those PST 7:00 PM games wouldn’t start for me until midnight.  Knowing that I had to get up at 5:30 AM, it was really tough staying up to watch the games.  I found myself putting on the game, through the magic of internet streaming right around the time I was nodding off to go to sleep.  Not sure how I did it, but I’d doze off listening to Vin Scully’s call and when I woke up in the morning, I already knew who won.  I was sleeping and listening to Vin’s call, all at once.  Just as I did in my Elementary School years when Mom wouldn’t let me stay up to listen to the game.  What resulted was the transistor radio hidden under the pillow as I drifted off to sleep to Vin’s dulcet tones.  Almost fifty years later, I was doing the same thing.  Talk about returning to your childhood.  Life had come full circle by way of the Dodgers.  It dawned on me one evening that Vin Scully was still there, making me feel like a 9-year old kid again.  What a blessing to have had that man in our lives.

But that isn’t why I’m writing this piece.  This is part of the “Old Man Complaining” series and I need to rant.  Losing in Post Season play with the best record in team history will do that to you.  I miss the days when the best record in the league was automatic qualification for the World Series.  Wildcard be damned.  Second place should be for losers and losers shouldn’t be rewarded.  Then again, 106 game winning teams shouldn’t lose to second place teams, but it happens.  Ask the 2001 Seattle Mariners or the ’54 Cleveland Indians.  The team with the hot hand often wins when a short series is played.  It should have been no shock to any of us that Washington finally broke through and won it all considering the second half roll they were on. 

The bitterness following the early exit last year had me questioning if all the hours of dedication to following this team was worth it.  But freaking baseball comes calling again as Spring Training starts up.  The juices get flowing and that yearning for the grand old game returns as spring returns.  It’s the best time of the year.  Positivity is in the air, new players arrive with an optimistic slant.  This season, in particular, I never remember being so revved up about how good they will be.  The sun is shining, the days are longer.  Hope springs eternal.  Then the Dodger organization posts updates on the progress of Stadium renovations that are going make it more awesome.  So, when does the negativity of this piece start?  Well, here it goes:

I read on another website that neighbors to Dodger Stadium in Solano Canyon appeared before the L.A. City Council to complain about the latest proposed renovations.  Essentially their complaint is that the Dodgers have failed to be good neighbors.  The lights are too bright, the music is too loud, the drinking at the Stadium has exposed them to numerous intoxicated persons leaving the Ball Park late at night.  To summarize, they aren’t happy with the Dodgers and their failure to address these problems in the past.

So, let me just say:  to a certain extent, I agree with them.

When did Dodger Stadium become a nightly Hip-Hop concert?  We used to sit and watch a game with a backdrop of Helen Dell, or Bob Mitchell playing the Dodger Stadium Conn Organ.  You could carry on a conversation with your neighbor.  In fact, you used to actually hear the transistor radios with Vin Scully as background fodder.  A rally would get going and the organ would whip fans into a tame frenzy with the cadence to “charge!”  Maury would reach base and the “Go, Go-Go!!” chants would startup. 

Dodger fans would cheer.  They’d get loud.  The progression to the noise would be activity on the field.  Not a canned hip hop beat at near-deafening levels.  How things have changed.

Have you ever seen those audio hearing identifiers of environmental noise that indicate what hearing levels were dangerous to the human ear?  The decibel level would be stated next to the activity.  For example, a whisper would be 20 decibels and a standard conversation with a co-worker would be 60 decibels.  Or traffic street noise would be at 90 decibels.  And then you’d look at danger levels, like car horns (110 decibels), aircraft engines (140 decibels) and firecrackers (150).    Let me add another category: “Dodger Stadium PA System music – (250 decibels) “ Yes, I estimate it to be off the charts 250 decibels!  That sucker is loud.  So loud it is impeding my ability to enjoy a game.

And this is where I am labeled as a bitter old man because I probably am in the minority here.

I recognize that Dieter Ruehle is entertaining as all get out.  Dude has thousands of songs set to memory and if you really pay attention to the activity on the field, he will play tunes with titles or lyrics that apply to the activity at hand.  The man is creative, and he has a pretty good sense of humor, but isn’t there a time when we can have a few minutes of silence while watching the game?  If the recorded stuff isn’t blasting through the P.A. System via the Dodger’s hired D.J, (DJ Severe), then it’s Dieter’s constant fingering on his keyboard.

I hate to agree with Giants’ Announcer Mike Krukow, a biased Dodger-hating voice that never hesitates to criticize anything blue-related, but he is spot-on correct when he says the Dodger D.J. is out of control.   When commenting on the Dodger Stadium experience he said “The volume is so loud in this ballpark, that it’s really uncomfortable…by far the loudest P.A. system in all of baseball.”

Sitting in the Pavilions has become almost impossible.  A family member was considering not renewing his season seats there for this very reason.  Those speakers are right there.  And then there is that techno stuff they are always playing.  Not a fan at all.  I understand that they must cater to the younger fan base, but wow, there’s some really crappy music being played.  I almost get the feeling that the Dodgers are trying to create a club type atmosphere at the Stadium.  There’s a place for that in the L.A. area and Dodger Stadium shouldn’t be that venue.

I think we are all forgetting that competitive advantage, and maybe the complaints from visitors are something that keeps the Dodger organization blasting the music.  It was brought to my attention that the Dodger players like the music being played.  Not a surprise there, they’re almost all in their 20s.  It just becomes a little much when you can’t carry on a conversation with your family member seated next to you, or you return home with laryngitis due to the screaming to simply converse with someone.  Just play the organ, and back off on that by about 50%.  That ought to make the fan viewing experience at Dodger Stadium a much more enjoyable experience.

Don’t get me started about beach balls.  I’ve written about them in the past.  I’ll save it for another day.

Oh, I almost forgot, and get off my lawn kid!

Mark Timmons: Monday Game & Dodger Notes

• In light of Evan’s great blog, I would be remiss if I did not provide this BLAST FROM THE PAST.
• Unless Clayton Kershaw is injured, he will be the Opening Day Starter. Anyone who says otherwise is a moron! If I am wrong, I will publically title a blog “I am a Moron.” There you have it!
• Cody Thomas with a HR and a HR robbery. What a way to make a great first impression! Just think, at one time he was Baker Mayfield’s backup!
• That Betts guy was 2-3.
• Estevez continues to shine. He had a big fly!
• Chicken Strip, Floro, Kolarek, and Uceta all make good impressions.
• I still see a “steely resolve” on the part of these guys. It’s something only winning can cure.
• This Spring Training is just shaping up nicely…. Only Joc is hurt…
• It turns out that Alex Verdugo is a lover of David Ortiz:

"If I see David Ortiz here, I'm giving him the biggest hug."

Dugie speaking it into existence. pic.twitter.com/rGRVSDcpYf

— Red Sox (@RedSox) February 20, 2020

If you have not read This in The LA Times, you owe it to yourself to read it.

Finally, there’s THIS in THe Athletic about Clayton Kershaw and Driveline Baseball. Kershaw was good last year and many believe he will be better this year. Here’s a snippet:

“All pitchers evolve when they get into their 30s, and that’s what we’re seeing with Kersh,” Friedman said. “As good as he was last year, in his mind, he’s going to be better this year. And I certainly wouldn’t bet against him.”