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North County Times, Monday, April 7, 2004
by Greg Ball
Dodger Stadium is, by all accounts, misplaced in the world of major-league ballparks, stuck somewhere between the old and the new, the beloved and the bemoaned. Most of all, it's a park that seems to split the middle between those who deem it a relic and those who would like to see it replaced.
After Petco Park and Philadelphia's Citizen's Bank Park open in the next week, exactly half of Major League Baseball's 30 teams will be playing in "modern-retro" ballparks opened since Camden Yards set off the craze 12 years ago.
Dodger Stadium, opened in 1962, is the fourth-oldest facility in the big leagues, behind only Fenway, Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium. Some say it's time to let the old place go, while others take a more sentimental hue.
"I've walked underneath there plenty of times leaving the stadium, and there's a few cracks underneath there," said Angels hitting coach and former Dodgers player Mickey Hatcher. "I would endorse (replacing it) before it falls on me one day."
Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta, who in his career has worked at ballparks old (Network Associates Coliseum in Oakland) and new (Jacobs Field in Cleveland) countered those thoughts.
"This is a pretty special place," DePodesta said. "It's just over 40 years old now, but you'd never know. It's immaculately maintained. It has a special feel to it."
What makes Dodger Stadium unique is that it doesn't fit among its contemporaries. Few fans stood in the way of the wrecking ball at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium or pleaded for the Pirates to stay at Three Rivers. Other "concrete doughnut" multipurpose stadiums built in the 1960s and '70s ---- in Cincinnati, Atlanta, San Francisco and San Diego ---- produced little emotional protest when their baseball teams moved on.
Dodger Stadium, though it has hosted other events, was never built for anything other than baseball. It is set in the hills above Los Angeles rather than in a far away suburb, and its views, of the city and the hills behind the mostly open outfield, are some of the best in baseball.
It's thought of as one of baseball's cleanest and most well-maintained facilities. Players almost universally laud the field as the best in the game, and pitchers love the mound.
"It's just a beautiful stadium ---- they've kept it up," Padres left fielder and Westminster native Ryan Klesko said. "There's a lot of history here, a lot of great players that have come through here. I've always enjoyed playing at Dodger Stadium."
Added Dodgers pitcher Jeff Weaver: "I don't see any reason why they need a new ballpark yet here."
Mostly, the preservationist camp argues along the lines of maintaining the team's storied history in its current home. The Dodgers have won six World Series titles, five since joining the Giants in becoming the first major-league teams to move to the West Coast.
The O'Malley family, which owned the team from its time in Brooklyn through 1998, ran a class operation and established a loyal following in Los Angeles.
"It's essentially timeless," said Steve Garvey, a long-time Dodgers infielder who ended his career in San Diego. "A lot of history has been made here at Dodger Stadium ---- world championships, playoffs, All-Star Games. It's as pristine as it was when it opened, probably even more."
Still, since Rupert Murdoch bought the team from the O'Malleys in '98, and even more so since Boston real estate developer Frank McCourt's purchase in February, word has been that Dodger Stadium could be on the way to being replaced. Even as it has managed to remain relevant in the age of new ballparks ---- the Dodgers regularly draw more than 3 million fans a season ---- some say a new home would give the Dodgers the financial muscle to return to their glory years.
The Dodgers haven't been to the postseason since 1995, and they last won a playoff game in 1988.
"People have to keep up with what's happening in the 21st century," said Padres minor-league hitting coach Mike Davis, who played for the Dodgers in 1988 and '89. "In that business, people are trying to create new forms of revenue, and that's what all the new stadiums have done."
A new outdoor stadium hasn't been built in the L.A-Orange County area since Anaheim Stadium back in 1966.
"There is a trend toward building baseball ballparks, and it's going to happen here eventually," Garvey opined. "Those fond memories here will be emblazoned forever, and new memories will start at the new ballpark. But the history is always there."
(C) 2004 North County Times
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