Working Through Emotions

Drove to Dodger Stadium for Opening Day today -- twice. I got all the way there and was pulling into the Parking Lot when I realized I'd left my ticket at home. Fortunately, I'd gotten an early start and I don't live that far from the stadium.

By the time I'd gone home and back -- fighting really intense traffic near the stadium -- the game was nearly starting. But I got the see the Stealth Fighter flyover from the parking lot as well as all the doves they release every year.

The first thing I did once I was inside was the purchase my "Opening Day Baseball" -- a ball marked with today's date that is only sold today at Dodger Stadium. I have a collection of them from every Opening Day going back to 1993. By the time I got there the souvenir stand only had three left. For the first time in many years GeezBob wasn't able to go to Opening Day and I was under assignment to buy his Opening Day ball. So I quickly bought two and breathed a sigh of relief.

Dodger Stadium used to be one of the most beautiful places in America to see a baseball game. Unfortunately, the new evil owners -- Frank and Jamie McCourt -- have junked up the entire stadium with advertising. It's really out of control this year.

During the off-season the Dodgers got rid of some of my favorite players -- Shawn Green, Adrian Beltre and Jose Lima.

They also added 10 rows of seats on the field, in front of my seats while significantly hiking ticket prices. So I had an ambivalent feeling about rooting for the Dodgers this season.

Today the Dodgers distributed a season schedule with a stadium map listing tickets prices. Prices increase the closer you get to Home Plate. According to this map our season ticket seats should have cost 25% less than the Dodgers charged. This deserved an investigation!

First I found a Supervisor of Season Ticket Sales. He was certain that based on the map and what we paid for the season tickets we must be sitting in the incorrect seats. I explained to him that after coming to Dodger Stadium for 15 years I had figured out how to find my assigned seat. But since he agreed that the map showed a lower price for where I was sitting I asked for a refund of the difference. He explained that his job was to sell NEW season tickets and once you were suckered into buying them, renewals were handled by the Ticket Office. So off to the Ticket Office I went.

On the way, passing through the Club Level Suites area I had a Celebrity Sighting: Tom Hanks and Jon Lovitz were hanging around outside of Hanks' suite. They both were kind of sweaty.

I plead my case to the Ticket Office and the Window Lady left to consult with her superiors for the longest time. She finally returned to tell me we had been charged the right amount, the "price border" was actually an aisle over from where we were seated and that the map was "a little unclear." We went a couple of rounds with me explaining that the map was not "unclear," rather it was wrong. She didn't seem too impressed by my suggestion that the next time they print the maps the fix their mistake.

But the Season Ticket Sales Supervisor actually seemed appreciative when I went back to show him the mistake on the map. He said he would make sure it got fixed before the next printing. He may well have been shining me on, but like a good salesman, he made me feel good about the situation.

My friend Julie Gallaher is a die hard Giants fan. Actually, I think she's more of a Dodger-hater. She calls them the "Smog Dogs." Julie is having her 50th birthday party this August in Ireland and I'm looking forward to attending. But you can imagine my surprise when I was walking around the stadium today and I saw Julie wearing a Dodger jersey, jumping up and down when a Dodger got a hit. I started to go up to her to say I was looking forward to seeing her in Ireland when I realized the woman was not Julie, but her Dodger Doppelganger. I tried not to stare, but it looked so much like her I couldn't help it.

But what about the game? you ask. Well, the Dodgers trailed the entire game but ended up beating the hated Giants 9 to 8 by scoring 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The crowd (what was left of it) went crazy.

And between pointing out the map error and the exciting finish to the game -- I feel all better now and I'm ready to root them on for the rest of the season.