In-Person Dodgers Games Are Back

And they’re baaack…

Last night I had the pleasure of watching the Dodgers re-opening game at Dodgers stadium.  Many emotions coursed through me as I watched our boys take on the Phillies for the last game of the four game series.  Excitement, relief, and a bit of sadness.  Baseball and the Dodgers have gone through so much in these last two seasons with Covid.  Baseball literally stopped last season and then was reduced to such a few of games.  Then there were the fans, or lack thereof.  So, to see the stadium at full capacity and everything that goes along with fans at ballgames, I was sort of getting emotional.

During the 2020 season and for some of 2021 season, the ballpark was empty.  Only cardboard cutouts of fans to silently cheer on our team, well… until they piped in the fan noise.  Then Dodgers stadium was allowed to have 25% capacity.  It helped.  We got to hear Dieter on the organ.  His familiar songs for certain situations our players get into, like… playing the Twin Peaks chords when it's the first two strikes, two balls, two outs count in the bottom half of the inning.  This always brings a smile to my face. 

Last night, though, we got the full Dodgers experience.  And it did not suck.  As a matter of fact, it was pretty awesome.  We won.  Orel Hershiser and team were a bit confused when the game was called.  But yes, we legitimately won.  The wild pitch/ check swing should have been registered as a strike, but hey… at least the umpire was paying attention.

Then there was Mookie Betts.  His first homerun at Dodgers stadium with a full stadium.  And what a homerun!!!  And what a catch by the fan!!!  Sign her up.  Seriously.  She has some brass on her.

But here is why I feel a bit sad.  Phil Bickford.  The poor kid looked like a deer in the headlights while pitching last night.  Especially when the fans started their cheering and jeering.  It was extremely evident that he was not used to the sounds.  Thankfully, he muscled through and got out of the inning without giving up anything.  However, it’s evident that fans in the stadium make a huge difference.  I doubt there was anything the Dodgers could have done to help this, because piping in crowd noise is much different than having over 50,000 bodies surrounding you in the stands.  It’s intimidating. 

This does not take away from our win or that we broke some sort of record last night, in California, for having the first full capacity game since the Covid shutdown.  All these things make me happy, and they should make you happy too.  It means that baseball is back.  We can go and root for our team, in person… if we choose to.  Just understand that Dodgers stadium has changed a bit, which I will cover in a future article.

So, baseball fans… play ball.  Go forth and enjoy.

Commentary by Jamye Wagner