Dodgers Stadium Dissed in Best Sports Venues List Yet Again
If Dodger Stadium had feelings, they'd be wounded. By a dagger to the heart. And if Dodger Stadium could talk, the exclamation would be "what am I, chopped liver?!" Cue the Rodney Dangerfield "no respect" video here, please.
Because in the space of 18 days, the ballpark at Chavez Ravine has been disrespected in not one, but two best-of pieces at prominent publications.
I suppose we can give the Washington Post a semi-benefit-of-the-doubt because they use the label best "sports venues," as opposed to big league ballparks in the most recent example. If I were in a forgiving mood, which I'm not. And especially not with Oracle Park, Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and old Tiger Stadium making the list. Yeah, yeah, yeah, the 1968 World Series, the 1984 Series and the 1971 Reggie-light-standard All-Star Game, but Tiger Stadium? C'mon.
Moreover, if you're going to include an L.A. venue (although technically in this case, Pasadena), the Rose Bowl over Dodger Stadium? Please. I've been to three Rose Bowls and love the place, but no. Not ahead of Dodger Stadium.
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For a more offensive example of disrespect, see CBS Sports' Matt Snyder, who ranks Dodger Stadium 13th on his best ballparks list. Thirteenth. Parks with a higher ranking include Minute Maid Park ("huge fan of the train horn when the Astros take the field"), Globe Life Field ("OK, so I've obviously never been"), Comerica Park and Truist Park ("I haven't been here, but all the reports are excellent.").
Here is Snyder's Dodger Stadium listing in its entirety: "It would be toward the top if not for the issues with travel. Entering the ballpark from behind home plate at the top level and looking down over the ballpark and the mountains in the distance beyond the outfield is breathtaking. I just can't get past taking three hours to get out of the parking lot afterward."
What, no mention of beach balls, Matt? And three hours? In my lifetime-worst experience, we're talking an hour and 15 minutes. When I was barely old enough to see over the steering wheel. Most nights I'm out of there in 20 minutes or less. I'm experienced, sure, but if you don't know the particulars, ask someone who does. Three hours, my cleat!
Snyder is a pal and a sport, by the way, and I warned him that this was coming. I mentioned that I took umbrage especially at his mentioning of the traffic issue twice in a 1400-word piece.
Witness this from the introduction: "For my personal taste, some things that matter: Ease of access to the stadium, including easily flowing traffic. Sorry, Dodger Stadium, I cannot possibly rank you any higher because it's absolute hell to get in and out of that damn parking lot." Because you're a rookie, sir.
For clarification I asked the author if he'd been to Dodger Stadium as a fan or a reporter and he said both. As a member of the working media, he would've parked either in Lot P ("P" for press) at the Top Deck or in one of the overflow lots on Stadium Way. In the first example, exiting after post-game interviews and filing a story (by definition, an hour or more after the final out), an escape from Lot P to the Sunset gate exit is a breeze. Shouldn't be more than five minutes. What he's doing for the other two hours and 55 minutes, I have no idea. And if he parked in a Stadium Way lot, his car is outside of the actual stadium lot, so how he could possibly require three hours to exit a place from which he wasn't in? And slow going entering? Get an early start. It's not rocket science.
OK, that's off my chest. Keep calm and carry on.
And remember, glove conquers all.
Howard Cole has been writing about baseball on the internet since Y2K. Follow him on Twitter.
