The Los Angeles Dodgers officially started their 2019 season yesterday (victorious over Arizona 12-5), and their home—Dodger Stadium—is the 3rd-oldest continually used stadium in the country. With a capacity of 56,000, Dodger Stadium is a picture-perfect setting for a ball game, and a time-honored way to experience one of our beloved city’s icons. The stadium can be seen from movie stars’ balconies in the Bird Streets, from Los Feliz Spanish Colonials, and is virtually in the back yards of some homes in Elysian Park (where Stadium proximity can pump-up home values).

 

A time-traveling visitor from the 1960s would recognize the structure’s clean mid-century modern lines, an architectural style that has come to define SoCal. Construction of the modernist stadium was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the City of L.A. The design, by Emil Praeger, called for terraced entrances, huge flying-saucer-shaped planters, acres of exposed concrete, and undulating aluminum shade structures above the outfield bleachers. Construction crews moved about 8 million cubic yards of earth to carve out the stadium’s foundation and flatten the surrounding terrain to create the venue’s massive, baseball-glove-shaped parking lot.

 

In 2013, a massive $100 million renovation modernized the venue with the addition of high-definition video screens and more powerful WiFi, but stayed true to the original colors and materials with new details like hand-painted way-finding signs. Also, the food has gotten better over the last few years. Instead of a classic Dodger Dog, try the Al pastor-seasoned sausage dog, topped with pineapple salsa and cilantro-lime crema ($12.50); available only in sections Field 10, Loge 133, and Reserve 4.

 

GO BLUE!