My Grandma Joan's strategy for life is simple: you have plan A and if that doesn't work, then you best have a plan B (and C, D, E, etc). The more plans you have, in theory, the more prepared you are for when life comes at you and changes must occur.
At the beginning of this trip, we had thought yesterday would be a travel day. We would stop by the Grand Canyon and end up somewhere near Phoenix, AZ. Then, the next day (aka today), we would head to the city, catch our night game and then afternoon game the following day and then take about a day and a half (with two time zone changes) to get to Houston for our next game.
However, upon looking at our trusty atlas, we discovered there's a lot of land between LA and the Grand Canyon and although the group enjoys a good long car ride, the thought of several long car rides in a row (the stretch from Phoenix to Houston is nasty) persuaded us to skip the Grand Canyon this time around and spend another day in Pasadena. With another night booked at the Saga Motel, we thought it might be fun to check out another park, like where the Angels or Padres play. However, both stadiums weren't offering tours so instead, we found ourselves back at Dodger Stadium for some Friday night baseball.
I have to say, Dodger Stadium really grew on me. There was something about the place, how it's built into a hill, how it really hasn't changed structurally since being built in the 1960s, or maybe it's the pretty blue throughout the stadium that gives it a magical sort of feel. Whatever it is, we nabbed seats on the second level, first base side.
It was a beautiful night for baseball. We saw the Dodgers play the Pirates and unfortunately, the Dodgers just couldn't pull together a win. They started with pitcher Josh Beckett, who about a week before had just pitched the Dodger's 21st no hitter in Pittsburgh. The jumbotrons showed a nice recap of the game and how excited the team was for Beckett's success.
Beckett and the Dodgers kept things under control until the third inning, which started off with a hit by pitch, a walk and two singles (one bringing in one run). The Pirates continued to hit the ball and a solo home run by Davis in the fourth made the game 2-0, Pirates. However, the Dodgers just couldn't score, leaving up to three men on base (fifth inning). In the eighth, it looked promising for the Dodgers, a single by Chone Figgins to start the rally. Figgins advanced to second on Puig's (the big name for the Dodgers) sacrifice fly and eventually scoring on Hanley Ramirez's single. The crowd really got excited when Figgins came in. But the Dodgers couldn't bring Puig in. We hoped for a spark in the bottom of the ninth, but the Dodgers were at the bottom of their order and couldn't put anything together, the three outs coming all in a row.
Post game, Denny's sponsored a fireworks night at the park. It was a nice display, accompanied by music about California. While fans could take the field to watch, our group chose to stay in our seats. It was pretty incredible how many people actually stayed for the fireworks and how many chose to watch from the field.
This morning, the group hit the road about 7 AM, headed for Phoenix. It was only about a five hour drive and once again, we saw the topography change as we got closer to the California/Arizona state line. We arrived at our hotel safe and sound and let me tell you, it's hot out there. No humidity (which is quite weird for this Wisconsin chick!) but lucky for us, the stadium is a dome that is air conditioned. Looking forward to more baseball tonight!
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