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 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.”
Discussion (73)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Got to go with the buzzers!
Wow. Lot to digest continued:
Music is good at the Ravine… The more than occasional fight is disheartening due to no soft landing on cement!!! Feel for you AC…
Parking ticket??? Haven’t bought one since the buses from the train station started…
Gives me a good excuse to park at Union Station, walk over Phillipes for a world famous double dip beef sandwich , head back to Station and jump the bus to the stadium…
Damn, I’d give anything to be a whipper snapper again…
Beach balls and the wave, still fun to watch…
Ditto on the MILB games. Alot of bang for your buck and an occasional future star you’ll see…
There is some music that is best played loud. I don’t consider ‘rap’ as music and don’t like it at even low levels. If there’s such a thing as good rap I wouldn’t know and not likely to even give it a chance. There are a few talking songs that I love, Woody Guthrie, Ramblin Jack Eliot, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and others, all of which don’t need to be played loud. Beethoven’s 9th and Little Feat is best served loud. Apartment living has got me to store all my playback gear in the closet as I can’t cut loose with it but respect of my neighbors comes 1st. So I’m with you, TURN IT DOWN Dodger Stadium.
By the way, Dennis Santana looked really good in his inning today. 3k to 3 hitters, and his pitches had a lot of movement on them.
Good to see that we have another legit bullpen option!
Wow. Lot to digest.
Yes, the music can get a little loud, but I actually think it has been lower lately with more focus on Dieter Ruehle and his organ.
I’m assuming you’re not being serious about 250 decibels. A rock concert is probably around 115 to 120.
As to complaints about the Dodgers not being good neighbors, yes some people did complain during the public hearing regarding Dodger Stadium improvements. They were in the minority. But having worked in city government for over 25 years, that’s pretty normal. It’s always about traffic, noise and crime, which could impact the neighborhoods. I don’t think the noise issue is significant, but the traffic and fans parking on residential streets can impact nearby neighbors at times. The Dodgers have actually engaged the fan base advising them to not park in those areas. The city has set up barriers and signage on streets to limit access.
Quite a few things out of control during Frank McCourt’s reign and it got a little bit louder as the new Dodgers ownership group attempted to duplicate the Staples Center experience and appeal to a younger fan base. The player walk up music varies in short bursts and that’s something you didn’t have in the good old days.
But, honestly I have no problems carrying on conversations at the stadium. It’s a fun experience or I wouldn’t go. I think increasing ticket prices and expensive parking is more of an issue for the average fan.
Not a fan of hip hop or rap, but many of the songs played at Dodger Stadium, like Thunder by Imagine Dragons is not hip hop.
I am one of the few people my age who has what my Doctor calls “perfect hearing.”
I said: “Don’t tell my wife…”
However, I love loud music!
I like to put frozen pizzas on a turntable and turn it up until my nose bleeds!
Anyone under 60 is a whippersnapper here!
Did Bob Brenly write this piece? If it’s Too Loud You’re Too Old is the saying. I Wanna Rock! I so much enjoy Dieter I blast the broadcasts through my stereo so I can play name that tune.
Ouch! Now Cole is gonna have to pull a Koufax and pitch 3 games in playoffs! Yanks have had a bad injury spell!
AC beat me by one keystroke! 😉
Luis Severino needs TJ.
The Dodgers are now Vegas Favorites!
For all the NYY fans, Luis Severino is out for the year due to TJ.
I will put myself in the Dodger Codger category as it relates to The Wave and Beach Balls. I do not get upset, I just ignore it. But it is unnecessary. The last game I attended at Dodger Stadium, Eric Gagne was still pitching and he came out to Highway to Hell and my wife looks up and says…It’s Gagne Game Over. I do not remember the music being that loud. But I am close to being deaf anyway so I doubt that it would matter.
The drinking has been going for a long time, especially out in the Pavillion. We had a group of 10-12 guys at one Sunday afternoon game in the heat, and one fan who did not like my cheering came down and sucker punched me. My buddies put him on the ground before the police came to get him. His friends backed off. Police asked if I wanted to press charges and I said no. These things happen with alcohol and sporting events. We move on. Does not make it acceptable, and I would like to see it less prevalent.
For the last several years i have enjoyed going to minor league games. They are a lot of fun and the price is generally right. It is more family friendly, so the alcohol intake is not so much. I do hope to get down to see a game or two or three or… this summer, and in October
Evan, I appreciate your comments about the high decibel level. I went to a number of games during the McCourt era when this first started at Dodger Stadium, and by the fifth inning or so, I didn’t even feel like being there, the noise was so incessant and loud. The Guggenheim era is somewhat better, but not too much. I don’t think it has all that much to do with age, maybe more generational cohort.. But I have never liked loud music anyplace but at a concert, and even then, within limits. No sense in complaining about things which are not going to be fixed, but I don’t even like hearing music in a supermarket or restaurant. Why can’t they just let the ambient noises be heard? There was a famous book, at least in the area of the social sciences, written around the 1920’s, the most complete study of the nature of labor in restaurants. And there was mention of the sounds of the restaurant, the clatter of forks, trays, servers walking by, taking orders, the hum of conversation. I like those things, much more than hearing some song I’ve heard two thousand times, and do not like, anyway. (The kind of music I most like, what we might call melodic indiepop, never gets played in business establishments).
Back to baseball, it’s nice to sit with a significant other, or a work group, and let the game come to you, watch closely, but also discuss baseball, what you are seeing on the field, potential trades, all the things that befit a baseball game. Hearing pulsing music, or having every at bat, every interlude between pitches, being filled with loud music and chanting or clapping cues, is an imposition, I think. Yes, I know, “Let’s Go, Dodgers!” Do we have to hear this 800 times per game? Can’t people start their own little chant, or as Evan remembers, every once in a while some fan in the stands having a little kazoo or something, on which to blow, ‘Da da da da da DA!” And some people responding, “Charge!”?
Is it the feeling that businesses have, that to increase profits, to keep the consumers’ attention from wandering off, they have to keep playing music or sounds at them? A baseball game can be exciting, but is also meant to be relaxing, and communal. If I wanted to hear rap music, I would go to a rap concert, but I don’t, because I do not like the repetitive monotonous sound of most of it. I was never a big fan of the song selections of Helen Dell, but it was pleasant enough to hear a bit of an old song between innings, and then back to the game. Instead of the music virtually being the game. But I know that many people like hearing “Let’s Go, Dodgers!” before every other pitch, it’s a generational thing, I guess. To me, it’s sort of totalitarian, to be given those constant musical and cheering cues. “Let’s Make Some Noise!” How about making noise if we feel like doing so? But I know that if it came to a vote, most fans would prefer the music. It’s just my thought that they have been conditioned to it, like at the restaurants and supermarkets and department stores, so that the sound of relative silence, or just the sounds of nature, and of human interaction, are somehow unsettling to them. But that’s another issue for another place, and one which would undoubtedly be a distinct minority position.
Count me among the old codgers, Evan. I don’t enjoy going to a Dodger game near as much as I used too. The noise is one factor, it’s deafening and it’s constant. Beach balls are another. I don’t understand why you would pay good money for a ticket, only to start wasting your time slapping around a beach-ball. I also think that it is high time that “the wave” went the way of disco dancing, and just plain disappeared. One of the more disturbing aspects of the Dodger Stadium experience that bothers me the most, is the vulgarity and rudeness that accompanies the amount of alcohol consumed at a game. I don’t go to a game to fight, have beer spilled on me, and listen to a constant barrage of “F” bombs.
That being said, I still find Dodger Stadium to be one of the more beautiful in which to watch a game. So, whenever, I do go now, I suck it up and buy the more expensive seats through Stub-hub. You can also count on me to attend, when Mark springs for a LADT suite!!
I know this looking ahead a bit considering the awesome team we have for this season. I’m thinking in two springs the pitching staff saying will be
“Buehler, Grey, May call it a day!”
Kershaw may start opening day but we all know who the “Ace” is. The guy who starts game 1 of a playoff series.
Can we assume that because Kersh is starting a day ahead of Buehler this week that he will be our opening day starter barring any injuries?
I want to see Peters knock one completely out of Camel Back! That guy is massive! If he could just be a little more patient and wait for his pitch.
From Kevin Gurnick
Tentative Dodgers starters:
Wednesday — Josiah Gray
Thursday — Tony Gonsolin
Friday — Clayton Kershaw
Saturday — Walker Buehler
Sorry to change the subject a little, but yesterday’s game highlights to me were: Stripling had an awesome inning. For the young guys: Cody Thomas, Estevez, and Raley, among others had good games. Still like a lot of what I see from McKinstry.
Agree with Jeff. The Giants announcers are really good and know their baseball. Of course they’ll criticize us, but they do it in a fun way, and not in a jealous or hate type way whasoever.
And as someone who actually loves all music, from 50’s to today, Dodger Stadium is not a “hip hop concert”. Perhaps anything loud or with a beat is considered hip hop to Evan, but there’s as much pop, top 40, and rock that’s played at the stadium as there is hip hop. The atmosphere in the stadium plays music that’s catered to all. If you don’t like the music atmosphere for a Dodgers game, I guarantee you’ll hate going to an LA Kings game, where there’s tons of loud music and song playing all the time!
The players walk up songs are mostly today’s music (hip hop, rock, pop, etc). Nobody walks up to an organ playing some song from 1917 anymore.
For those get off my lawners, I highly suggest bringing headphones or earplugs to the next sporting event you attend.
Evan,
Mike Krukow-‘a biased Dodger-hating voice that never hesitates to criticize anything blue-related’???
I’ve listened to Mike for years and consider him one of the best baseball announcers in the game. To label him like this is total BS and I’m surprised you’ve sunk this low in your assessment. When the Dodgers and Giants are playing each other, I will always try to listen to the Giants broadcast because of the astute and fair observations that Kruk and Kuip are known for. Last season, they were always commenting on the strength of the Dodgers and the way they were constructed, not in the homey way Orel goes about it, but as two guys who know baseball and are speaking about what they are actually observing without any bias like two grown men.
SPOT ON Evan!
Keith Law said that Keibert Ruiz just missed the Top 100 Prospects:
Ruiz’s stock has definitely slipped in the last year for a variety of reasons, not least of which is that the Dodgers have appeared willing to trade him, unlike their other top prospects. (The presence of Will Smith ahead of him and Diego Cartaya behind him might also be a factor). A second reason is that Ruiz repeated Double A last year but performed worse in his second go-round, slugging just .330 in 2019, albeit with the minors’ second-lowest strikeout rate (minimum 300 PA) after Nick Madrigal.
Good article Evan and so true. I do not get to go to many Dodger games anymore, mainly because of the distance I live from the stadium in NoCal. However, it sounds like I might not enjoy it as much as I did in the past when you could talk to your seating neighbor and the team just might hear your cheers without ruining your hearing in the stands because of the loud music even though I love Dieter. So Evan, keep up the Dodger Codger columns. I love them.
Huh??! Can you speak a little louder, I can’t hear you!
Living in southern California in the 60’s and 70’s, we were spoiled having 3 A+ announcers of our major sports in Vin, Chick Hearn and Dick Enberg. I’m not much of a hockey fan but I’ve been told the Kings play by play man was special too.