Dodger Thoughts

Jon Weisman's outlet for dealing psychologically with the Los Angeles Dodgers, baseball and life

Category: Dodger Stadium (Page 2 of 12)

DodgerVisionaries: Scoreboard operations have gone light years beyond runs, hits and errors

The DodgerVision crew, consisting of nearly three dozen people, delivers the pregame and in-game entertainment at Dodger Stadium at least 81 games per year. (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

The DodgerVision crew, consisting of nearly three dozen people, delivers the pregame and in-game entertainment at Dodger Stadium. (Photos: Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

By Cary Osborne

There’s a picture on a bulletin board inside DodgerVision — the command center for game entertainment at Dodger Stadium. There are 11 men in the photo with a giant scoreboard rising from the Left Field Pavilion. Judging by the fashion displayed by the men in the photo, it was taken in the mid-1990s. It represents almost the entire game entertainment crew for the Dodgers at the time.

Dan Valdivia is one of two people from the photo who still remain working in DodgerVision. He has worked his way up to the position of director. Back then, he said, one of his jobs was slotting Betamax video cassettes into a playback machine that would then relay videos, like bloopers or highlights from a recent episode of “This Week in Baseball,” onto the giant screen hovering over the pavilion.

“I don’t think we did as much fan-interaction stuff,” Valdivia said, “because we literally had three cameras, so we were limited in what we could show.”

If that picture were recreated today, there would be nearly three dozen men and women in it. The DodgerVision crew would include producers and directors, camera operators, scoreboard and LED operators, engineers, a public-address announcer, a DJ and an organist.

They’d be standing in front of one of two high-definition scoreboard/video screens that deliver statistics (including in 2016 for the first time, exit velocity), pre-produced videos and games (created by a team of videographers using Corporate video production services Toronto and editors — led by Dodgers director of production Greg Taylor — and graphic artists — led by Dodgers director of graphic design Ross Yoshida), instant replay and live videos.

Times have changed.

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Under the caps: The inner workings of the Hat Shuffle

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By Kevin Cook

Besides an Adrian Gonzalez home run or the mere mention of Vin Scully, what else gets Dodger fans excited when they visit Dodger Stadium? The Hat Shuffle, of course.

Maybe I’m biased. I’m the senior motion graphics designer for the Dodgers, and I’ve designed the Hat Shuffle for the past seven seasons. I also might just be the Hat Shuffle’s biggest fan.

It didn’t start out that way. When I first joined the Dodgers in August 2009, I didn’t quite get the allure of the game, I think mainly because most Hat Shuffle games I’d seen at other sports stadiums were either too easy or impossibly difficult.

But done right, the Hat Shuffle is a really fun game, and when you visit Dodger Stadium, you should expect to have fun regardless of the score. Realizing that fun is the main priority of what we do here was a good first lesson in my new job and one that I haven’t forgotten.

So I didn’t just want to do the same old Hat Shuffle that I’d seen elsewhere. Our in-house creative team here is constantly pushing itself to do something different every season and better than the previous season. That same effort goes into the Hat Shuffle. There’s been an evolution of complexity to the game every season, and that isn’t by coincidence.

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Farewell, Alan Young — and remembering ‘Mr. Ed’ at Dodger Stadium

Today, we remember Alan Young, the “Mr. Ed” actor who passed away Thursday at age 96. Young and his horse companion made a memorable visit to Dodger Stadium for the 1963 season premiere, highlighted above. Sandy Koufax, Willie Davis, Leo Durocher, Johnny Roseboro and more appear.

‘Top Gun,’ ‘Ferris Bueller’ featured in Dodger Stadium Movie Series

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FBTGBy Jon Weisman

From the year that brought you a career-high 20 complete games from Fernando Valenzuela and 210 hits from Steve Sax, Dodger Stadium is bringing back “Top Gun” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

The two blockbusters, each celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, will be the postgame features this summer in the Dodger Stadium Movie Series, presented by Fandango.

“Top” will play on the DodgerVision screens 15 minutes after the 4:15 p.m. Dodgers-Padres game ends on July 9, while “Ferris” will be shown following the 1:05 p.m. August 13 game between the Dodgers and the Pirates.

For more information, visit dodgers.com/movies or call (866) Dodgers.

Alex Wood: The most extreme home-road Dodger

New York Mets vs Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

You might be aware that Alex Wood’s home-road splits as a Dodger are poles apart, but we’re not talking your typical North and South Poles. We’re talking the North Pole on Earth and the South Pole on Neptune.

How so?

  • No starting pitcher in Los Angeles Dodger history has a lower home ERA than Wood’s 2.00 in eight starts.
  • One starting pitcher* in Los Angeles Dodger history has a higher road ERA than Wood’s 6.79 ERA in 11 starts.

If you include Wood’s time with Atlanta, he has a career 1.78 ERA at Dodger Stadium — a full five runs better than what he’s done on the road as a Dodger.

So yeah, Wood comes across as a wee bit happy to pitch at Chavez Ravine (if also a wee bit inconsistent overall). The formula gets put to the test in tonight’s 5 p.m. game against St. Louis. For the second time in his Dodger career, the 25-year-old Wood is making a second consecutive start at home.

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LADF 50/50 Raffle debuts tonight at Dodger Stadium

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By Erin Edwards

Dodger fans now have the chance to win big by participating in the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation’s inaugural 50/50 Raffle.

This charitable in-game raffle will be launched at Dodger Stadium tonight, continuing here all season, and the proceeds will benefit LADF’s programs and giving to local youth organizations.

During every Dodger home game, tickets will be sold by staff in gold shirts throughout Dodger Stadium. The winning raffle number will be selected during the seventh inning to determine the 50/50 Raffle jackpot winner. The winning raffle number will be displayed in stadium during the eighth inning.

For each and every raffle, half of the 50/50 Raffle jackpot will go to the selected winner, and the other half will go to LADF for its programs and to support youth organizations across Los Angeles.

Raffle tickets will be sold for cash only at three price points: three for $5, 10 for $10 and 40 for $20. Fans can visit kiosks in the Left Field Plaza, Loge Level (behind sections 103/105) and Reserve Level (section 10). Sellers will also be roving throughout the concourse and Top Deck, Reserve, Club, Loge, Field and Pavilion seating areas.

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Beyoncé coming to Dodger Stadium on September 14

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Dodger Stadium will host Beyoncé’s “The Formation World Tour” on September 14. Tickets go on sale to the general public May 13, but Dodger fans can jump ahead with a presale that runs from 10 a.m. May 11 to 5 p.m. May 12 by visiting dodgers.com/beyonce.

The Dodgers are playing an afternoon game at Yankee Stadium that day, part of a 10-game road trip September 9-18 to Miami, New York and Arizona that is their longest of the season.

— Jon Weisman

Guns N’ Roses adds second Dodger Stadium show August 19

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Guns N’ Roses has added a second show at Dodger Stadium for its “Not in This Lifetime” tour, produced by Live Nation.

Tickets for the added August 19 show will be available on a 48-hour pre-sale for Citi cardmembers beginning Tuesday at 10 a.m., followed by a Dodger pre-sale Thursday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tickets for the general public go on sale beginning Friday.

The Dodgers will be in the middle of a seven-game road trip to Philadelphia and Cincinnati, returning home to play the Giants from August 23-25, followed by the Cubs from August 26-28.

— Jon Weisman

Guns N’ Roses to play Dodger Stadium on August 18

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Guns N’ Roses will bring its “Not in This Lifetime” tour, produced by Live Nation, to Dodger Stadium for one night, August 18. A 48-hour pre-sale for Citi cardmembers begins Tuesday at 10 a.m., with tickets for the general public going on sale beginning Friday.

The Dodgers will be in the middle of a seven-game road trip to Philadelphia and Cincinnati, returning home to play the Giants from August 23-25, followed by the Cubs from August 26-28.

— Jon Weisman

‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ star Terry Crews on the Dodgers, sports, acting and life

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By Jon Weisman

Terry Crews is as big as they come, but his heart is even bigger. And Dodger Stadium has played a not-so-small part in that.

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Emotional first-pitch salute to Vin Scully opens 2016 season at Dodger Stadium

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By Jon Weisman

In a breathtaking experience that traversed Dodger history from Don Newcombe to Clayton Kershaw, Vin Scully received an emotional tribute before the first pitch of his final Opening Day at Dodger Stadium as the team’s broadcaster.

Al Michaels, who was considered by some a possible successor to Scully four decades ago, hosted the tribute that mixed video (including messages from Henry Aaron and Kirk Gibson) with live presentations.

The roll call of Dodgers that took the field went as follows: Newcombe, Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Al Downing, Rick Monday, Ron Cey, Steve Garvey, Bill Russell, Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, Tommy Lasorda and Kershaw, with Magic Johnson and Peter O’Malley then escorting Scully on to the hallowed stadium grass, before an enormous standing ovation from the crowd.

Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Top series by Jon SooHoo, bottom by Juan Ocampo

A baseball autographed by every participant was then passed down the line to Scully, who truly looked moved by the moment and said afterward he was “overwhelmed.”

Watching him from ground level, as the scoreboard camera circled around him for its closeup, I never felt more how much of a living legend we were privileged to know, and to call our own.

 

All avenues lead to Vin Scully

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

At the end of the street formerly known as Elysian Park Avenue, we witnessed today what happens when an unstoppable force meets a moved city.

In the driveway of his home away from home at Dodger Stadium, a broadcaster without equal acknowledged the formal dedication of Vin Scully Avenue, thanking the grateful fan base that has hung on his words since 1950.

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Opening Day advisory for Dodger Stadium on Tuesday: Come early, respect the neighborhood

DODGER OPENING DAY 2016

By Jon Weisman

Stadium and auto gates will open at 10:10 a.m. Tuesday for Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. Beat the traffic by coming to the game as early as possible, consider the many alternate transportation options and make sure you prepay your parking in advance to save time and money if you do drive.

And also, take note of the following …

The Dodgers and the Los Angeles Police Department are spreading the word that fans should not park on the Avenue of the Palms (Stadium Way) between Scott Road and Academy Road. This street will have a “No Parking” restriction from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.

In addition, in order to keep all attendees safe, LAPD officers will be patrolling the area and will enact a zero tolerance policy for drinking in public or in the parks. Tailgating also is not permitted on the Dodger Stadium premises.

The Dodgers and the LAPD wish everyone a safe and fun-filled day of baseball, and ask fans to respect the neighborhood and stay safe.

Vin Scully Avenue to be dedicated Monday

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Andrew Connorton/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers

By Jon Weisman

Vin Scully Avenue will be officially dedicated Monday at 11:15 a.m. with a ceremony at the corner of Stadium Way and the street formerly known as Elysian Park Avenue.

The Los Angeles City Council approved the renaming of the street January 29, and following a couple of months of neighborhood processes and street beautification, the council today formalized the ordinance.

Members of the public who wish to attend should park in Lots 13/14 on Stadium Way (located just east/downhill of the main entrance to Dodger Stadium) and proceed to the entrance.

Dodgers’ global profile underscored by new deal with Emirates

Sir Tim Clark, President of Emirates Airline and Dodger President Stan Kasten, pose with Emirates staff Ben Platt/MLB.com

Sir Tim Clark, president of Emirates Airline, and Dodger president Stan Kasten pose with Emirates staff this morning. (Ben Platt/MLB.com)

By Jon Weisman

It’s a sign of the growing international popularity of baseball in general and the Dodgers in particular that Emirates has become the official airline sponsor of the Dodgers.

In fact, Adrian Gonzalez will be among a contingent of Dodgers visiting Emirates’ home base (or plate) in Dubai at a future date to lead a baseball clinic associated with the local Little League, whose travel teams themselves will be renamed the Dubai Dodgers.

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