When was Dodger Stadium built?
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, occasionally called by the metonym Chavez Ravine, is a baseball park located in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, the home field to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the city's National League franchise of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened on April 10, 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a cost of US$23 million, financed by private sources.
Dodger Stadium is currently the oldest ballpark in MLB west of the Mississippi River, and third-oldest overall, after Fenway Park in Boston (1912) and Wrigley Field in Chicago (1914) and is the world's largest baseball stadium by seat capacity. Often referred to as a "pitcher's ballpark", the stadium has seen twelve no-hitters, two of which were perfect games.
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium was also the home of the Los Angeles Angels from 1962 through 1965. To avoid constantly referring to their landlords, the Angels called the park Chavez Ravine Stadium (or just "Chavez Ravine"), after the geographic feature in which the stadium sits.
Wrigley Field (Los Angeles)
The use of Wrigley, and enlarging it was studied by the Dodgers, as well as the Rose Bowl in Pasadena and the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Dodgers opted for seating capacity over suitability as a baseball field, and instead set up shop for four seasons in the 93,000-seat L.A. Coliseum (which had a foul line in left field) while awaiting construction of the baseball-only Dodger Stadium, which has a set capacity of 56,000. The decision to play at the Coliseum was vindicated when the Dodgers won the 1959 World Series over the Chicago White Sox, with all three games played at the Coliseum attracting over 92,000 fans including the World Series single game attendance record of 92,706 for game 5 of the series.
Robert Moses
Moses envisioned New York's newest stadium being built in Queens' Flushing Meadows on the former (and as it turned out, future) site of the World's Fair, where it would eventually host all three of the city's major league teams of the day. O'Malley vehemently opposed this plan, citing the team's Brooklyn identity. Moses refused to budge, and after the 1957 season the Dodgers left for Los Angeles and the New York Giants left for San Francisco. Moses was later able to build the 55,000-seat multi-purpose Shea Stadium on the site; construction ran from October 1961 to its delayed completion in April 1964. The stadium attracted an expansion franchise: the New York Mets, who played at Shea until 2008, when the stadium was demolished and replaced with Citi Field. The New York Jets football team also played its home games at Shea from 1964 until 1983, after which the team moved its home games to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey.
Green Bay Dodgers
The Dodgers and Bluejays played at Joannes Stadium beginning in 1940. Located at Baird Street and Walnut Street, Joannes Stadium is still used and was the home of the Green Bay Bullfrogs, a collegiate summer Northwoods League franchise, from 2007 to 2018.
History of Major League Soccer
The league's ongoing financial problems led to the departure of then-Commissioner Doug Logan in August 1999, with Don Garber, a former National Football League executive, hired as commissioner that same month. Under Garber's auspices, Columbus Crew Stadium was built in 1999, becoming MLS's first soccer-specific stadium. This began a trend among the majority of MLS teams and owners to construct their own venues, abandoning their former stadiums whose main tenants were either professional or college gridiron football teams.
Chavez Ravine
Chavez Ravine is a shallow L-shaped canyon located in Los Angeles, California, United States, partially in the Elysian Park neighborhood. It sits in a large promontory of hills north of downtown Los Angeles and was known in the 1860s as the "Stone Quarry Hills" which had other smaller ravines such as Sulphur Ravine, Cemetery Ravine, Solano Canyon and Reservoir Ravine. It is next to Dodger Stadium, a baseball venue that opened in 1962. The name Chavez Ravine can be used to mean either the actual ravine itself in a narrow sense or sometimes in a broader sense the entire promontory and surrounding ravines, and (by metonymy) is also used to refer to the stadium. Dodger Stadium was constructed by knocking down the ridge which separated the nearby Sulfur and Cemetery Ravines and filling those two ravines in. Palo Verde Elementary School was buried in the process. Chavez Ravine was named for Julian Chavez, a Los Angeles councilman in the 19th century. Chavez originally purchased the land in the Elysian Park area, which eventually grew to about 315 acres, in 1844. Nearby "Cemetery Ravine" was named after old Calvary, the first cemetery of Los Angeles.
1962 National League tie-breaker series
The Dodgers and the Giants finished the 1961 season second and third respectively in the NL, with records of 89–65 and 85–69. In an offseason trade with the Chicago White Sox the Giants acquired Billy Pierce and Don Larsen for Bob Farley, Eddie Fisher, Dom Zanni, and Verle Tiefenthaler. The Dodgers moved to a new home field, Dodger Stadium, for the 1962 season.
Gonzaga Bulldogs football
The Gonzaga football stadium, built in 1922, was used for city high school football until it was deemed unsafe by the city after the 1947 season. The white-painted wooden venue hosted a professional preseason game in 1946 under the lights, between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers of the new All-America Football Conference. High school football moved to Ferris Field in 1948 and to the new Memorial Stadium in 1950, renamed for Gonzaga alumnus Joe Albi in 1962. The Gonzaga Stadium football field is now occupied by the Foley Center Library (1992) and its Foley Lawn.
2008 Los Angeles Dodgers season
Wrigley Field in Chicago
Wrigley Field in Chicago
Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
The Dodgers advanced to the NLCS for the first time since 1988 to play the Philadelphia Phillies, in the fourth National League Championship Series meeting between the two teams.
Dodger Stadium
Fleetwood Mac's music video for the song "Tusk" was recorded and filmed at the empty stadium in 1979.Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass at Dodger Stadium on September 16, 1987. Greg Laurie held his Harvest Crusades at Dodger Stadium in 2011 and 2012.
Dodger Stadium
With the retirement of the original Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium in 2008, the park reigned as the largest capacity ballpark in the Majors.
List of Los Angeles Dodgers Opening Day starting pitchers
The Dodgers started playing in Los Angeles in 1958, after moving from Brooklyn. The first Opening Day game for the Dodgers in Los Angeles was played in San Francisco against the San Francisco Giants on April 15, 1958. California native Don Drysdale was the Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitcher that day, in a game the Dodgers lost 8–0. Dodgers starting pitchers won both of their Opening Day starts in their first home ballpark in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Their Opening Day record in their current home park, Dodger Stadium, which opened in 1962, is eleven wins, eleven losses and six no decisions. That gives the Los Angeles Dodgers' Opening Day starting pitchers a total home record of thirteen wins, eleven  losses and six no decisions. Their record in Opening Day road games is 10 wins, 14 losses and 2 no decisions.
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was the first major league sporting venue in New Jersey (though the Brooklyn Dodgers had played seven home games at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City in 1956 & 1957), and its success, along with that of the Giants in the 1980s was a major impetus behind increased pride and enthusiasm among New Jersey residents.
Baseball park
In some cases, there are plans to build a new ballpark for the expansion team, but it will not be completed until a few years after the team is established. This may be for a few reasons, such as delays or a desire to hold off until the deal is settled. In this case, an established building is used as a temporary home, often a minor league park. The first temporary ballparks were not actually used by expansion teams but by established franchises. When the Dodgers and Giants moved to California from New York, they played in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Seals Stadium respectively while Dodger Stadium and Candlestick Park were being built.
First Responder Bowl
The Cotton Bowl stadium opened in 1932. Originally known as the Fair Park Bowl, it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair of Texas. Due to the immense crowds that SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s, the stadium became known as "The House That Doak Built." The Cotton Bowl Classic called the stadium home from the bowl's inception in 1937 until the 2009 game, after which it moved to what is now AT&T Stadium. The stadium also served as the original home of Dallas' first, ill-fated National Football League franchise in 1952. Later, and far more successfully, the NFL's Dallas Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home for 11 years, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971, when the Cowboys moved to Texas Stadium. The American Football League's Dallas Texans likewise began play at the Cotton Bowl in 1960, but were unable to compete successfully financially with Cowboys and after only three money-losing seasons moved to Kansas City, where they became quite successful on and off the field as the Kansas City Chiefs.
Norris Poulson
During his eight years as mayor, Los Angeles became the third largest city in the United States, with Poulson instrumental in leading the construction of the Los Angeles International Airport and expanding the Los Angeles Harbor. Most notably, he led the drive to lure baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. This led to what became known as the Battle of Chavez Ravine which result in the removal of residents from land on which Dodger Stadium was later constructed. He helped integrate the city's fire and police departments and initiated a garbage recycling program that proved to be a factor in his defeat in 1961.
Willie Stargell
At one time, Stargell held the record for the longest home run in nearly half of the NL parks. On August 5, 1969, Stargell hit a home run off Alan Foster that left the stadium and measured 507 feet, the longest home run ever hit at Dodger Stadium. He hit a second home run out of Dodger Stadium on May 8, 1973, against Andy Messersmith, measured at 470 feet. Dodger starter Don Sutton said of Stargell, "I never saw anything like it. He doesn't just hit pitchers, he takes away their dignity." Only four other home runs have been hit out of Dodger Stadium.
Coors Field
Coors Field was the first new stadium added in a six-year period in which Denver's sports venues were upgraded, along with Pepsi Center and Broncos Stadium at Mile High (originally sponsored by INVESCO). It was also the first baseball-only park in the National League since Dodger Stadium was built in 1962.
Charles Ebbets
When he built Ebbets Field, he said, “Later I hope the players will capture a pennant, to make the combination complete.” During his lifetime, he saw two pennants (1916 and 1920) while playing under the field that bore his name, although he never saw a World Series title. The Dodgers did not win a World Series until 1955. Five years after the title (and three years after the team left Brooklyn), his stadium was demolished. The Ebbets Field Apartments now stand on the site.
Long Island
Ebbets Field, which stood in Brooklyn from 1913 until its demolition in 1960, was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team, who moved to California after the 1957 Major League Baseball season to become the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers won several National League pennants in the 1940s and 1950s, losing several times in the World Series—often called "Subway Series"—to their Bronx rivals, the New York Yankees. The Dodgers won their lone championship in Brooklyn in the 1955 World Series versus the Yankees.
Dodger Stadium
Dodgers owner Guggenheim Partners internally discussed moving the Dodgers to a new stadium at a Downtown Los Angeles site proposed by the Anschutz Entertainment Group to allow an NFL team to build a stadium at the Dodger Stadium site. Guggenheim Partners also considered allowing an NFL team to build a stadium next to Dodger Stadium. The NFL eventually chose to build a stadium in the City of Inglewood.
Historic Dodgertown
Historic Dodgertown was originally built as a Navy housing base for all of the members of the Navy and Marines that trained at the US Naval Air Station during World War II that was located directly across the street. When Branch Rickey began looking for a permanent spring training site in 1948 he was introduced to a large area of land in Vero Beach, Florida by Bud Holman, a local businessman, as the perfect place to host a fully contained training camp for the Major League club as well as the other 26 minor league teams. The Dodgers and the city of Vero Beach ended up coming to an initial five-year lease agreement that included the naming of the property as "Dodger Town". A stadium was completed in 1953.
1996 Los Angeles Dodgers season
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles 
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles 
Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Atlanta
History of the Los Angeles Dodgers
In the meantime, the Dodgers played their home games from 1958 to 1961 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, a gargantuan football and track-and-field stadium that had been built in 1923, and then expanded to host the 1932 Summer Olympics. The Coliseum's dimensions were not optimal for baseball, and the best way to fit a baseball diamond into the oval-shaped stadium was to lay the third-base line parallel to the short axis of the oval, and the first-base parallel to the long axis. This resulted in a left-field fence that was only about 250 feet from home plate. A 40-foot high screen was erected to prevent home runs from becoming too trivial to hit. Still, the 1958 season saw 182 home runs hit to left field in the home games, whereas just three were hit to center field, and only eight to right field. The Dodgers outfielder Wally Moon, newly acquired for the 1959 season, became adept at launching lazy fly balls over or onto the screen, which became known as "Moon shots." He led the National League with triples in 1959.
Dodger Stadium
For various reasons, Dodger Stadium has long enjoyed a reputation as a pitchers' park. At first, the relatively deep outfield dimensions were a factor, with the power alleys being about 380 feet. Home plate was moved 10 feet toward center field in 1969, but that move also expanded foul ground by 10 feet, a tradeoff which helped to offset the increased likelihood of home runs caused by the decreased field dimensions. Also, during evening games, as the sun sets, the surrounding air cools quickly due to the ocean climate, becoming more dense. As a result, deep fly balls that might otherwise be home runs during the day instead often remain in play becoming outs. The park has been home to 12 no-hitters, while players have hit for the cycle just twice in Dodger Stadium.
Dodger Stadium
Pitchers such as Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Don Sutton, Fernando Valenzuela, and Orel Hershiser became superstars after arriving in Los Angeles. The pitcher's edge is also evident in the fact that 12 no-hitters have been thrown in the stadium, including two perfect games (by the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax in 1965, and by Dennis Martínez of the former Montreal Expos in ). Bo Belinsky threw the first ever no-hitter in Dodger Stadium on May 5, 1962 while pitching for the Los Angeles Angels (that club referred to the park as "Chavez Ravine".)
76 (gas station)
The 76 ball is also a landmark at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the only gas station on the premises of a major league ballpark is visible from the park beyond the outfield stands. Union Oil was a longtime sponsor of the Dodgers baseball team, beginning with their relocation to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958. The sponsorship by the 76 brand continues to this day.
History of the Los Angeles Dodgers
Construction on Dodger Stadium was completed in time for Opening Day 1962. With its clean, simple lines and its picturesque setting amid hills and palm trees, the ballpark quickly became an icon of the Dodgers and their new California lifestyle, and it remains one of the most highly regarded stadiums in baseball even today. Despite the fact that the Dodgers have played in Dodger Stadium longer than they had played in Ebbets Field, the stadium remains surprisingly fresh. O'Malley was determined that there would not be a bad seat in the house, achieving this by cantilevered grandstands that have since been widely imitated. More importantly for the team, the stadium's spacious dimensions, along with other factors, gave defense an advantage over offense, and the Dodgers moved to take advantage of this by assembling a team that would excel with its pitching.
The core of the team's success in the 1960s was the dominant pitching tandem of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, who combined to win 4 of the 5 Cy Young Awards from 1962 to 1966, during a time in which only one award was given to the top pitcher from either of the two major leagues. Top pitching also came from Claude Osteen, an aging Johnny Podres, and reliever Ron Perranoski. The hitting attack, on the other hand, was not impressive, and much of the offensive spark came from the exploits of speedy shortstop Maury Wills, who led the league in stolen bases every year from 1960 to 1965, and set a modern record with 104 thefts in 1962. The Dodgers' strategy was once described as follows: ""Wills hits a single, steals second, and takes third on a grounder. A sacrifice fly brings him home. Koufax or Drysdale pitches a shutout, and the Dodgers win 1–0."" Although few games followed this model exactly, the Dodgers nevertheless tallied a high proportion of wins in a low-scoring manner that relied on their pitching and defense rather than their offense – with the exception of a few seasons. For example, in 1962, Tommy Davis led the Major Leagues with 153 RBI, and he led the National League in batting average and in hits. Seasons of over 150 RBI are quite rare by a player in modern-day pro baseball. Davis led the league in batting twice for the Dodgers.
The 1962 pennant race ended in a tie, and the Dodgers were defeated by the archrival Giants in the tie-breaking playoff, but the Dodgers proceeded to win the pennant in three of the next four years. The 1963 World Series was a four-game sweep of the Yankees, in which the Dodgers were so dominant that the vaunted Bronx Bombers never even took a lead against Koufax, Podres, and Drysdale. After an injury-plagued 1964, the Dodgers bounced back to win the 1965 World Series in a seven games against the Minnesota Twins. Game one happened to fall on the Yom Kippur holiday, and Koufax (who is Jewish) refused to pitch on that day, a decision for which he was widely praised. The Dodgers rebounded from losing the first two games, with Koufax pitching shutouts in Games five and seven (with only two days rest in between) to win the crown and the World Series MVP Award.
Patrick D. McGee
Dodgers, 1958. McGee was one of the three council members—Harold A. Henry and John C. Holland being the others—who voted in 1958 against a proposal to turn Chavez Ravine over to the Brooklyn Dodgers for use as a baseball stadium. Calling the proposed pact with the Dodgers stupid, immoral and misleading, he claimed the contract:Trampolines, 1960. He urged the city Health Department to study the health effects of the popular trampoline centers then opening up in the city.
1958 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The Los Angeles Dodgers took the field before 78,672 fans at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 18, 1958, to usher in the beginning of the team's new life in Los Angeles. It was a rough season, as the Dodgers finished 21 games in back of the pennant-winning Milwaukee Braves in the National League standings, but it was the beginning of the second phase for the team. Vin Scully and company moved to KTTV (television) and KMPC (radio) from that year onward, and the Dodgers became one of the first teams that commenced Spanish language radio broadcasts for Latinos, with KWKW as the first station to offer a Spanish-language service.
History of the National Football League in Los Angeles
The Dodger Stadium parking lot was previously discussed by NFL owners, in private, as possibly being the best site in Southern California to build a new professional football stadium. Officials with the Dodgers and the NFL met in secret twice in 2005 to discuss the possibility of constructing a stadium and retail complex adjacent to Dodger Stadium. The 49ers' current home, Levi's Stadium, was built in the parking lot of an amusement park. After the "Boston Herald" reported the details of the plan, political pressure forced both the NFL and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to deny that either party was aggressively pursuing the idea.
Los Angeles Chargers
According to the official website of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Barron Hilton agreed after his general manager, Frank Leahy, picked the Chargers name when he purchased an AFL franchise for Los Angeles: "I liked it because they were yelling ‘charge’ and sounding the bugle at Dodger Stadium and at USC games." The Chargers initially considered playing at the Rose Bowl, but instead signed a lease to play at the Los Angeles Coliseum. There is also an alternative theory about a man named Gerald Courtney of Hollywood who won an all-expenses-paid trip to Mexico City and Acapulco for submitting "Chargers" in a name-the-team contest. The Chargers only spent one season in Los Angeles before moving to San Diego in 1961. From 1961 to 1966 their home field was Balboa Stadium in Balboa Park. As of August 1967, they moved to the newly constructed SDCCU Stadium (then named San Diego Stadium), where they played their home games until 2016.
Dodger Stadium
Between 2003 and 2005, Dodger Stadium upgraded with LED video displays. The large main video display measures 27 feet high by 47 feet wide.
History of the Los Angeles Dodgers
The process of building Walter O'Malley's dream stadium soon began in semi-rural Chavez Ravine, in the hills just north of downtown L.A. There was some political controversy, as the residents of the ravine, mostly Hispanic and mostly poor, resisted the eminent domain removal of their homes (land which had been previously condemned for a public housing project, Elysian Park Heights) and gained some public sympathy. Still, O'Malley and the city government were determined, and construction proceeded. The resistance of the residents against their removal was known as the Battle of Chavez Ravine.
Chavez Ravine
Following the "baseball referendum", promoted by the Taxpayers Committee for Yes on Baseball, which was approved by Los Angeles voters on June 3, 1958, the City made the controversial decision to trade of land at Chavez Ravine to the Brooklyn Dodgers and team's owner Walter O'Malley, in exchange for land around the minor league park Wrigley Field, with the aim of providing incentives for migration to Los Angeles. From 1958 to 1961, the Dodgers played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
List of Los Angeles Dodgers seasons
The Los Angeles Dodgers are the second most successful franchise in the National League and the third-most successful and second-most wealthy in Major League Baseball after the New York Yankees. The franchise was formerly based in Brooklyn and known originally as the "Grays" or "Trolley Dodgers" after the trams which supporters had to avoid to enter games. Later it became known successively as the "Bridegrooms", "Superbas", "Dodgers" and "Robins"; the present "Dodgers" was firmly established in 1932.
2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 2018 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the 129th for the franchise in Major League Baseball, and their 60th season in Los Angeles, California. They played their home games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers suffered a season-ending injury to star shortstop Corey Seager early in the season and started the season 16-26, but went 76-45 to close out the season. Rookie pitcher Walker Buehler had a break out season.
Los Angeles Dons
The team played its first regular season home game against the Brooklyn Dodgers on September 13, 1946 in front of a crowd just shy of 19,000 fans — the first time professional football had ever been played in the Coliseum. The Dons took a first quarter lead on a 55-yard pass from quarterback "Chuckin' Charlie" O'Rourke to Bernie Nygren and never looked back, triumphing over the visitors from New York by a score of 20-14. The Dons went on to open the 1946 campaign 3 wins and a tie before hitting a rough spell and finishing the inaugural season out of the playoffs, mired in third place in the AAFC's Western Division with a record of 7-5-2.
Dodger Stadium
In the mid-1950s, Brooklyn Dodgers team president Walter O'Malley had tried to build a domed stadium in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, but was unable to reach an agreement with city officials for the land acquisition, and eventually reached a deal with the city of Los Angeles. The land for Dodger Stadium was seized from local owners and inhabitants in the early 1950s by the city of Los Angeles using eminent domain with funds from the Federal Housing Act of 1949. The city had planned to develop the Elysian Park Heights public housing project, which included two dozen 13-story buildings and more than 160 two-story townhouses, in addition to newly rebuilt playgrounds and schools, and a college.
Dodgers–Yankees rivalry
In 1920, the Giants notified the Yankees that they would have to find a new stadium of their own for the 1921 season. The Giants rescinded that eviction notice and allowed the Yankees to stay until the end of the 1922 season, when the Giants renovated the Polo Grounds and increased seating capacity from 38,000 to 50,000. Before that however, the 1921 World Series between the Giants and Yankees became the first Subway Series, as match-ups between the Dodgers and the Giants were not referred to as Subway Series. After losing to the Giants in that World Series and again the following year, the Yankees moved across the Harlem River to the original Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, where they captured their first ever World Series from the Giants in 1923.
Dodgers–Yankees rivalry
Mattingly succeeded Torre as manager of the Dodgers after the 2010 season. The Dodgers never played a regular season series at the original Yankee Stadium. The teams finally met up during the 2013 season. The double header of June 19 was not just the Dodgers return to the Bronx after a long absence; it was also Mattingly's first return to the Bronx since he became Dodger manager (excluding Mattingly's visit to new Yankee Stadium on the night they honored George Steinbrenner with a monument in Monument Park). Former Dodger pitcher Hiroki Kuroda won the first game for the Yankees while the Dodgers rebounded in the night cap behind the pitching of Chris Capuano. The two then split a 2-game series at Dodger stadium. Their most recent meeting occurred from September 12-14, 2016 at Yankee Stadium, where the Dodgers took two out of three games from the Yankees.
1959 World Series
The 1959 World Series was the last one for Comiskey Park, and the only one for Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The White Sox would move into U.S. Cellular Field, originally "New Comiskey", in 1991; the Dodgers would move into Dodger Stadium in 1962. This was the most recent World Series to host the final World Series games of both its host venues, a "distinction" it lost to the 2003 World Series after the original Yankee Stadium (1923) closed following the 2008 Major League Baseball season and the Florida Marlins moved out of Sun Life Stadium after the 2011 season.
Dodger Stadium
In 2008, the Dodgers announced a $412 million project to build a Dodger museum, shops, and restaurants around Dodger Stadium. In a press release, the team described the various features of the renovation as follows:
Dodger Stadium
The Dodgers devote significant resources to the park's maintenance. For example, it is repainted every year, and a full-time crew of gardeners maintain the site. As a result, it has stood the test of time very well, and no plans are in the works to replace it. Renovations were made in 1999 and again in 2004 that initially added additional field level seats, particularly behind home plate where previously the only person seen there was legendary scout Mike Brito, in his trademark Panama hat and cuban cigar tracking pitch speeds with a radar gun. After some criticism of the sightlines with these new seats, they were replaced with box seats.
Chinese home run
In 2008, to celebrate their 50th anniversary in Los Angeles, the Dodgers played a preseason exhibition game at the Coliseum against the Boston Red Sox, losing by a score of 7–1. The wire mesh screen was restored, this time at the height Frick had sought because an additional section of seats had been added there since 1959, shortening left field to . A Dodgers executive noted that it mimicked the Green Monster in left field at Fenway Park, the Red Sox' home field.
Candlestick Park
The NFL awarded Super Bowl XXXIII to Candlestick Park on November 2, 1994. Candlestick Park had planned to make major renovations in preparation for the game; when that did not happen, the NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XXXIII to the Miami area during their October 31, 1996 meeting in New Orleans.
In , the Giants moved to the new Pacific Bell Park (now called Oracle Park) in the China Basin neighborhood, leaving the 49ers as the sole professional sports team to use Candlestick. The final baseball game was played on September 30, 1999, against their long time rivals the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won 9–4. In that game, all nine Dodgers starters had at least one base hit, while the stadium's final home run came from Dodgers' right fielder Raúl Mondesí in the 6th inning. The National League rivalry between the Giants and Dodgers, one of the oldest and most hotly contested in the Major Leagues, dated back to when both teams were based in New York City. When first the Dodgers, then the Giants, moved to California in 1958, the rivalry continued unabated.
Dodger Stadium
Built on top of the historic Los Angeles neighborhood of Chavez Ravine in Solano Canyon, the stadium overlooks downtown Los Angeles and provides views of the city to the south, the green tree-lined hills of Elysian Park to the north and east, and the San Gabriel Mountains beyond the outfield pavilions. Due to dry summers in Southern California, rainouts at Dodger Stadium are rare. Prior to 1976, the Dodgers were rained out only once, against the St. Louis Cardinals, on April 21, 1967, ending a streak of 737 consecutive games without a postponement. On April 12, 1976, the second home rainout ended a streak of 724 straight games. April 19–21, 1988 saw three consecutive rainouts, the only time consecutive games have been rained out at Dodger Stadium. No rainouts occurred between April 21, 1988 and April 11, 1999 – a major league record of 856 straight home games without a rainout. That record has since been broken, with no rainouts since April 17, 2000, 1,471 consecutive games through April 15th, 2018
Dodgers–Giants rivalry
The rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in the New York City area. The Dodgers played in Brooklyn (then a separate city, before being incorporated as a borough of Greater New York in 1898) and the Giants played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan.
Dodger Stadium
In 1992, baseball games from April 30 to May 3 were postponed due to the 1992 Los Angeles riots. Three consecutive days of double headers were held later in the season.
Mexican Americans
The Battle of Chavez Ravine has several meanings, but often refers to controversy surrounding government acquisition of land largely owned by Mexican Americans in Los Angeles' Chavez Ravine over approximately ten years (1951–1961). The eventual result was the removal of the entire population of Chavez Ravine from land on which Dodger Stadium was later constructed. The great majority of the Chavez Ravine land was acquired to make way for proposed public housing. The public housing plan that had been advanced as politically "progressive" and had resulted in the removal of the Mexican American landowners of Chavez Ravine, was abandoned after passage of a public referendum prohibiting the original housing proposal and election of a conservative Los Angeles mayor opposed to public housing. Years later, the land acquired by the government in Chavez Ravine was dedicated by the city of Los Angeles as the site of what is now Dodger Stadium.
Joannes Stadium
Joannes Stadium was built in 1929. Not much is known about its early history. In 1935 the stadium hosted an exhibition game between the St. Louis Browns and Pittsburgh Pirates. Rogers Hornsby played first base, Honus Wagner was the coach of the Pirates. Over 3,500 people attended the game. From 1940 and throughout the 1950s to 1960, Joannes was home to the Green Bay Dodgers, a Class D Minor League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians and Brooklyn Dodgers.
From about 1970 to 2006 Joannes was home to a number of local teams, including the Green Bay Blue Ribbons, Green Bay Sultans and the Green Bay Billy's.
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium was originally equipped with two large Fair Play electronic scoreboard units above the left- and right-field pavilions. The right-field board displayed in-game information. The left-field board displayed scores of out-of-town games and other messages. Smaller auxiliary scoreboards were installed at field level on the box seat fences beyond the first- and third-base dugouts during the inaugural 1962 season. The left-field message board was replaced by a Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision video board in 1980. The field-level auxiliary scoreboards were replaced by larger units installed on the facade of the Loge (second) seating level in 1998; these, in turn, were replaced by a video ribbon board in 2006. Field-level out-of-town scoreboards were installed on the left- and right-field walls in 2003.
Dodger Stadium
Due to renovations made in the 2012–2013 offseason, the current maximum capacity of Dodger Stadium is less than 56,000, although the team's president, Stan Kasten, refuses to provide an exact number. A 53,393 attendance is considered a sellout. The high water mark since the renovations is 56,800 in Games 3,4 and 5 of the 2008 NLDS. The team's 2013 media guide and website still report the capacity as 56,000. The record attendance for the Dodgers was in the 2007 season, with 3.86 million in total attendance.
Multi-purpose stadium
During the height of the multipurpose stadium construction era of the 1960s and 1970s, three baseball-only stadiums were constructed: Candlestick Park (1960), Dodger Stadium (1962), and Royals Stadium (1973; now Kauffman Stadium). Anaheim Stadium (now known as Angel Stadium), although designed primarily for baseball, opened in 1966 with a press box in the upper tier on the third-base line oriented specifically for football, along with space beyond right field for moveable grandstand to accommodate an additional 13,000 fans for a future pro football franchise. This additional grandstand was indeed added to Anaheim Stadium in 1980 to accommodate the Los Angeles Rams' move from the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Anaheim Stadium was renovated to a baseball-only facility in 1997, three years after the Rams' departure for St. Louis. Similarly, Candlestick Park was renovated into a multipurpose stadium in 1970 to accommodate the San Francisco 49ers' move from Kezar Stadium and converted to football only after the San Francisco Giants moved to their new ballpark in 2000. Another baseball stadium, Denver's Mile High Stadium, was also renovated with additional seating, including a 4,500-ton, three-tier movable grandstand to accommodate both baseball and football configurations. Mile High Stadium was home to the AFL/NFL Denver Broncos and the MLB Colorado Rockies franchises.
Los Angeles Dodgers
O'Malley wanted to build a new, state of the art stadium in Brooklyn. But City Planner Robert Moses and New York politicians refused to grant him the eminent domain authority required to build pursuant to O'Malley's plans. To put pressure on the city, during the 1955 season, O'Malley announced that the team would play seven regular season games and one exhibition game at Jersey City's Roosevelt Stadium in 1956. Moses and the City considered this an empty threat, and did not believe O'Malley would go through with moving the team from New York City.
Dodger Dog
The Dodger Dog is a hot dog named after the Major League Baseball franchise that sells them (the Los Angeles Dodgers). It is a 10 inch pork wiener wrapped in a steamed bun. The hot dog is sold at Dodger Stadium located in Los Angeles, California. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, the projected number of 2011 season hot dogs sold at Dodger Stadium was 2 million—establishing Farmer John Dodger Dogs as the leader in hot dog sales of all those sold in Major League Baseball ballparks.
Dennis Martínez's perfect game
Dodger Stadium, the site of Sandy Koufax's perfect game in 1965, became the first stadium to witness two perfect games; it has since been joined by Yankee Stadium, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum and Safeco Field.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The attendance for the exhibition game on March 29, 2008, between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers, was 115,300, setting a new Guinness World Record for attendance at a baseball game. The previous record of an estimated 114,000 was in the 1956 Summer Olympics at Melbourne Cricket Ground for an exhibition game between teams from branches of American Military Forces and Australia.Several factors allowed the city of Los Angeles and its metropolitan area to become the footballing central United States, both for local and international football . Including the common demographic factor in the area since the mid-twentieth century began to hold thousands and then millions, especially Mexican Latin American immigrants ; California leading the city's fondness for soccer called . To this incipient city footballing tradition dating back to 1902. Initially found joins football stadiums hosted a small area like Wrigley Field (Chicago Stadium homonymous) and Veterans Memorial Stadium, however the growing fondness for football, moved the dispute encounters the biggest stage in the city, the Memorial Coliseum.
Dodger Stadium
With the opening of Citi Field and the demolition of Shea Stadium in 2009, Dodger Stadium became the only stadium with symmetrical outfield dimensions remaining in the National League and only one of four total in Major League Baseball. The other three symmetrical fields are Kansas City's Kauffman Stadium, Toronto's Rogers Centre, and Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, all in the American League.
Proposed domed Brooklyn Dodgers stadium
The Dodgers were playing at the 32,000-seat Ebbets Field. Feeling that the stadium was too small for their needs, they wanted to move to a newer, more modern facility. Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley wanted to exploit new revenue streams to capitalize on the rabid fans of the Dodgers. O'Malley commissioned Norman Bel Geddes about renovating Ebbets Field and first proposed a dome. He also talked to Buckminster Fuller to design a domed stadium.
Fort Dodge Senior High School
Brick-walled Dodger Stadium is home to Fort Dodge Senior High football, baseball, soccer and track teams. It is also home to Saint Edmond Catholic High School and Iowa Central Community College football teams. It remains one of the state's best athletic facilities, with permanent seating for 5,000 persons in the two concrete bleacher sections. The stadium is located in the north central section of the community on an tract of land. Built in 1939–1940, Dodger Stadium is a product of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's plan to get depression-era America back to work. In 2008, the school district received just under $1,000,000 in pledges for private donations to renovate the stadium's locker rooms and grandstands and replace the natural grass playing surface with artificial turf. Work was completed on the turf in August 2008, with the inaugural game taking place on August 29, 2008. Renovation plans for the restroom and locker room areas have stalled due to lack of funding. Also included in the plan are new bleachers and a new scoreboard.
Tinker Field
The field first saw use for baseball in 1914; the first known stadium built on the site was in 1923. It was all wood construction and seated 1,500. For the next 10 years, the Cincinnati Reds would call Tinker Field their spring training home til 1933. The Brooklyn Dodgers trained there in 1934 and 1935. In 1936 Clark Griffith moved the Washington Senators to Orlando where the Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins would train until after the 1990 season. The stadium was rebuilt again in 1963, and when Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C. was demolished nearly 1,000 of the stadium's seats were moved to Tinker Field. The remaining seats were sold by the City of Orlando in 2015. The old press box next to the home side dugout was the original press box and can be seen in photographs as early as the 1920s.
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium was one of the last baseball-only facilities built before the dawn of the multi-purpose stadium. It was built near the convergence of several freeways near downtown Los Angeles, with an expansive parking lot surrounding the stadium. With the construction of many new MLB ballparks in recent years, it is now the third-oldest park still in use, and the oldest on the West Coast.
Baseball park
Angel Stadium of Anaheim has seen many changes throughout the years. It was originally a modern park, similar to the Angels' previous home, Dodger Stadium. When the NFL's Los Angeles Rams left the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1980 and set up shop in what was then Anaheim Stadium, the first round of renovations began. The grandstand was expanded to completely enclose the stadium, turning it into a multi-purpose park. The Rams left in 1994, leaving the Angels alone in the large, 65,000-seat stadium. After a two-year renovation, the steel was painted green, and what concrete remained was painted sandstone, including the sweeping curve of the entrance plaza. The seating configuration was significantly altered, most notably by tearing out most of the outfield seating except for parts of the lower decks in left and right fields, to more closely resemble the original design from the park's first 15 years. The finished product in 1998 was a retro-modern ballpark.
Sports in the New York metropolitan area
Throughout the twentieth century, the city has had several historic sports venues: the original Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 2008, before the team moved into their new stadium in 2009; Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 until 1957, which was torn down in 1960; and the Polo Grounds in northern Harlem, which was the home of the New York Giants of Major League Baseball from 1911 to 1957 (and the first home of the New York Mets) before being demolished in 1964. The Mets, who previously played at Shea Stadium, moved into the newly constructed Citi Field in 2009. Also the current Madison Square Garden, atop Pennsylvania Station in Midtown Manhattan, is actually the "fourth" separate building to use that name; the first two were near Madison Square, hence the name, and the third was at 50th Street and Eighth Avenue.
List of Major League Baseball records considered unbreakable
The largest currently-used MLB ballpark is Dodger Stadium, with a listed capacity of 56,000. It is the only current ballpark that could theoretically break the MLB single season attendance record under the current schedule of 4,483,350 (55,350 per game), set by the Colorado Rockies in 1993 during their inaugural season at Mile High Stadium. The Rockies were on pace to break their record in the 1994 season before it was cut short by a strike, and moved to the 46,897-seat Coors Field the following year. The second largest MLB stadium is Rogers Centre, home of the Toronto Blue Jays and the first ballpark to record four million fans in a season, but which at a current listed capacity of 49,282 could not break the Rockies' record even under the most improbable one-game playoff scenarios.
1988 National League Championship Series
This was the first postseason Game 7 to be played at Dodger Stadium; the next one would come 29 years later in the 2017 World Series, where the Dodgers would lose against the Houston Astros 5-1, clinching the Astros' first World Series championship.
2009 Los Angeles Dodgers season
2009 saw the Dodgers open their brand new spring training facility, Camelback Ranch-Glendale. The 13,000 seat stadium and surrounding facilities that the Dodgers share with the Chicago White Sox replaced their former facility at Holman Stadium in Vero Beach, Florida, where the team had trained in the spring since 1948. This also marked the Dodgers debut as a member of the Cactus League.As National League West Champions, the Dodgers faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series and held home field advantage. They swept the Cardinals in three games.
Major League Baseball relocation of 1950s–60s
With the post–World War II population shifts south and west and the rise in transcontinental airplane service, many West Coast cities were actively pursuing Major League Baseball to relocate there; among them Los Angeles and San Francisco. Rosalind Wyman, the then-head of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, was one of those championing a major league team in Los Angeles. Beginning in 1955, with the city's blessing, she began to solicit several major league teams, including the Dodgers, with the idea that they move to Los Angeles. Wyman and city officials attended the 1956 World Series between the Dodgers and the Yankees, at Ebbets Field, initially to meet with Washington Senators owner Calvin Griffith who was attending the game, to convince Griifith to move his ailing Senators to Los Angeles. O'Malley, upon hearing of the planned meeting, immediately summoned Wyman for a meeting and earnestly began negotiations with her expressing his intent to have a new modern stadium built for the team, a request Wyman and city officials assured O'Malley would be no problem. Initially O'Malley planned to use his negotiations with Los Angeles as a ploy in his dealings with New York's all-powerful public building and development czar Robert Moses, who was preventing O'Malley from obtaining the site he was looking for in Brooklyn for his new stadium. However, as negotiations with Moses deteriorated — Moses wanted the Dodgers to move to a new stadium site in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, which eventually became Shea Stadium— O'Malley realized that a deal with Los Angeles began to seem more of a reality. In addition, in Los Angeles, the Dodgers would be given land at Chavez Ravine free of charge to build a stadium, which would eventually become Dodger Stadium.
Chavez Ravine
During the years when the Los Angeles Angels were tenants of the Dodgers (1962 through 1965), the Angels referred to the stadium as "Chavez Ravine Stadium" or simply "Chavez Ravine". Los Angeles City Council designated the property as "Dodgertown" in October 2008. The United States Postal Service assigned postal code "Dodgertown, CA 90090" in April 2009.
Peter O'Malley
In 1996, after earlier consideration and partly owing to a phone call from Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan on August 22, 1995 at 3:25 p.m., Peter O'Malley met with NFL officials to discuss the possible construction of a football-only stadium on Dodger-owned property surrounding Dodger Stadium. His plan offered solutions to a number of problems faced by the NFL in locating a team in Los Angeles, following the departure of both the Rams and the Raiders. First, it provided for scarce, centrally-located land. Second, the proposal came attached to highly regarded, established sports franchise management via the O'Malley involvement. Third, like Dodger Stadium, the new facility would be privately financed, and thus not entangled in lengthy municipal funding debates. Fourth, the plan called for alignment with an expansion team, meaning that no existing franchise would have to be moved.
Dallas Cowboys
The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1932 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as the Fair Park Bowl, it is located in Fair Park, site of the State Fair of Texas. Concerts or other events using a stage allow the playing field to be used for additional spectators. The Cotton Bowl was the longtime home of the annual Cotton Bowl Classic college football bowl game, for which the stadium is named. (Beginning with the January 2010 game, the Cotton Bowl Classic has been played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.) The Dallas Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home for 11 years, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971, when the Cowboys moved to Texas Stadium. It is the only Cowboys stadium within the Dallas city limits. The Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers for the 1966 NFL Championship at the Cotton Bowl.
Seals Stadium
On May 28, 1957 the New York Giants and team owner Horace Stoneham announced they intended to leave the Polo Grounds in New York and move the franchise to San Francisco. The rest of the major league owners approved the move under the condition that the Brooklyn Dodgers would also complete their intended move to Los Angeles. The Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley and San Francisco Mayor George Christopher had worked to partner with Stoneham on the move to San Francisco, as both teams moving to California together made sense for balance and travel. On August 19, 1957, after both teams and both cities worked out the logistics, the final announcement of the move was made. The Giants would play at Seals Stadium for two years while Candlestick Park was under construction and the Dodgers would play at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, bypassing the smaller Wrigley Field (Los Angeles), while Dodger Stadium was under construction.
Jersey City Giants
In addition, the baseball color line was broken in Jersey City's Roosevelt Stadium when Jackie Robinson of the Montreal Royals made his organized baseball debut there as a visitor on April 18, 1946. Robinson made a spectacular playing debut with four hits in five at-bats, including a home run in a game that ended with a 14-1 win for the Royals. A decade later, in 1956–1957, Roosevelt Stadium would host select Dodger home games as owner Walter O'Malley parried with public officials over a new stadium in Brooklyn. The Dodgers (and the MLB Giants) ultimately abandoned New York for California in 1958.
Dodger Stadium
Although the distance to center field has been marked at 395 feet since 1973, it is still actually to center, as has been the case since 1969. The two 395-foot signs erected in 1973 are to the left and right of dead center. However, curvature of the fence between the posted distance signs is not exactly radial from home plate, thus the distance from home plate directly to center field is most likely 5 feet farther than the posted . As of 2012, distance to center field is indicated , and is located virtually exactly at the center field point.
Dodger Stadium
In order to comply with a conditional-use permit limiting Dodger Stadium's seating capacity to 56,000 it was the only current MLB park (through 2005 ) that had never increased its capacity. Whenever higher revenue lower seats were added some in the upper deck or pavilion were removed to keep the number the same. Through the sale of standing room only tickets, the Dodgers' 2009 home opener drew 57,099 fans, the largest crowd in stadium history. Following a number of incidents in the early 1970s in which fans showered Cincinnati Reds left fielder Pete Rose with beer, bottles, cups, and trash, the sale of beer was discontinued in both pavilions. Beer sales were reinstated in the right field pavilion in 2008, when that section was converted into the All You Can Eat Pavilion. Fans seated in that section can eat unlimited hot dogs and peanuts and also have access to free soft drinks. There is a charge for beer.
Great Lakes Loons
Naming rights for the Loons' stadium were purchased by Dow Chemical, which is headquartered in Midland. The company named the stadium "Dow Diamond." Ground was broken on the stadium on April 11, 2006, with construction taking just 367 days to complete. In September 2006, the team announced its new affiliation with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In November 2006, the Loons named Lance Parrish as the team's first manager since the move to Michigan's Tri-City Area. The first home game was played on April 13, 2007.
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
The stadium also was the temporary home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball from 1958 to 1961 and was the host venue for games 3, 4, and 5 of the 1959 World Series. It was the site of the First AFL-NFL World Championship Game, later called Super Bowl I, and Super Bowl VII. Additionally, it has served as a home field for a number of other teams, including the Los Angeles Raiders of the NFL, and UCLA Bruins football. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on July 27, 1984, the day before the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Proposed domed Brooklyn Dodgers stadium
A proposed domed stadium for the Brooklyn Dodgers, designed by Buckminster Fuller, was to replace Ebbets Field for the Brooklyn Dodgers to allow them to stay in New York City. The Dodgers instead moved to Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles. First announced in the early 1950s, the envisioned structure would have seated 52,000 people and been the first domed stadium in the world, opening roughly a decade before Houston's Astrodome. The stadium, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, would have been located at the northeast corner of Flatbush Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, on the site of the Atlantic Terminal. It would have cost $6 million to build and been privately financed. It was never built.
Downing Stadium
In 1966, the Continental Football League's Brooklyn Dodgers, unable to find a suitable field in Brooklyn (Ebbets Field had been torn down in 1960), played their home games at Downing. (Coincidentally, the football Dodgers wound up playing under the same lights used at Ebbets, as they had been moved to Randalls Island upon the older stadium's destruction.) The club would play only three games at Downing before the league took over the franchise and shifted their remaining home games elsewhere. Eight years later, Downing Stadium became the home of the New York Stars of the WFL; like the Dodgers, the Stars left the stadium before the season ended, shifting to Charlotte.
1995 Los Angeles Dodgers season
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles 
Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles 
Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati
Ebbets Field
The Dodgers found themselves victims of their own success soon thereafter. Ebbets Field never seated more than 35,000 people (the smallest park in the National League by seating capacity), and the constraints of the neighborhood made its expansion impossible. It had almost no automobile parking for Dodger fans who had moved east to suburban Long Island, though it was near a subway station. Walter O'Malley, who obtained majority ownership of the Dodgers in 1950, announced plans for a privately-owned domed stadium at the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn (currently the site of Barclays Center), where a large market was being torn down. However, New York City Building Commissioner Robert Moses refused to help O'Malley secure the land, instead wanting the Dodgers to move to a city-owned stadium in Flushing Meadows in the borough of Queens (the future site of Shea Stadium and Citi Field). O'Malley refused to consider Moses' proposal, famously saying, "We are the Brooklyn Dodgers, not the Queens Dodgers!" As a result, O'Malley began to flirt publicly with Los Angeles, using a relocation threat as political leverage to win favor for a Brooklyn stadium. Ultimately, O'Malley and Moses could not come to agreement on a new location for the stadium, and the club moved west to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. During their last two years in Brooklyn, the Dodgers played several games each year in Jersey City, New Jersey's Roosevelt Stadium, a tactic by O'Malley to force a new stadium to be built.
Buzzie Bavasi
In 1948, Bavasi became general manager of the Montreal Royals, one of the Dodgers' top two Triple-A farm teams. Around that time, as a result of continued prejudice against Brooklyn's African American ballplayers during spring training, the Dodgers sent Bavasi to find property at which to establish a permanent spring training facility. Bavasi chose a site outside Vero Beach, Florida, at which to establish Dodgertown, anchored by the newly constructed Holman Stadium. The Dodgers continued to train there virtually without interruption through 2008 before moving to a new facility in Glendale, Arizona.
1981 Los Angeles Dodgers season
October 13, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
October 14, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles
October 16, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
October 17, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
October 19, Olympic Stadium, Montreal, Quebec
The Dodgers met the New York Yankees in the World Series once again, this time beating them in six games to claim their first championship since 1965.
Dodger Stadium
A unique terraced-earthworks parking lot was built behind the main stands, allowing ticketholders to park at roughly the level of their seats, minimizing use of ramps once inside. The stadium was also designed to be earthquake-resistant, an important consideration in California, and it has withstood several serious earthquakes.
Dodger Stadium
The Dodgers won the 1963 World Series over the New York Yankees, sweeping the Yankees by winning game 4 by a score of 2-1. Through the 2018 season, this remains the only time the Dodgers ever clinched a World Series at home.
Park Slope
Baseball had also played a prominent role in the history of the Park Slope area. From 1879 to 1889, the Brooklyn Atlantics (later to become the Dodgers) played at Washington Park on 5th Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. When the park was destroyed by a fire, the team moved to their part-time home in Ridgewood, Queens and then to a park in East New York. In 1898, the "New" Washington Park was built between Third and Fourth Avenues and between First and Third Streets near the Gowanus Canal. The team, by this point known as the Dodgers, played to an ever-growing fan base at this location. By the end of the 1912 season, it was clear that the team had outgrown the field, and the neighborhood. Team owner Charles Ebbets moved the team to his Ebbets Field stadium in Flatbush for the beginning of the 1913 season. The team went on to have historic crosstown rivalries with both the New York Giants and New York Yankees.
Truman Sports Complex
In addition to that, the stadium was the last baseball-only park that was built in the majors (not counting temporary facilities) from 1966—1991 and one of the few baseball-only facilities built in the majors during the heyday of the cookie-cutter stadium era, as well as one of two such facilities (alongside Dodger Stadium) that are still active and were never converted for use as multi-purpose stadiums.
Dodger Stadium
In addition to those of Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax, and Don Sutton, the retired numbers of Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Tommy Lasorda, Walter Alston, Roy Campanella and Jim Gilliam are mounted on the club level facade near the left field foul pole. On April 15, 2017, to mark the 70th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut, the Dodgers unveiled a bronze statue of the player in the stadium's left-field plaza. The 800-pound sculpture depicts Robinson sliding into home plate as a rookie.
1961 Major League Baseball expansion
In 1961, Wrigley Field, a former minor league stadium, served as the home of the Angels; for the next four seasons, they shared Dodger Stadium with the Dodgers. Los Angeles won 70 games in its first season, exceeding expectations. The following season, they held first place in the AL as late as July 4, ending the year with 86 victories. However, the team's performance declined in future years, as its strategy of drafting "recognizable names" led to a barren minor league system that was unable to replace aging talent.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Real estate businessman Walter O'Malley acquired majority ownership of the Dodgers in 1950, when he bought the 25 percent share of co-owner Branch Rickey and became allied with the widow of the another equal partner, Mrs. John L. Smith. Before long, he was working to buy new land in Brooklyn to build a more accessible and better arrayed ballpark than Ebbets Field. Beloved as it was, Ebbets Field was no longer well-served by its aging infrastructure and the Dodgers could no longer sell out the park even in the heat of a pennant race, despite largely dominating the National League from 1946 to 1957.
Multi-purpose stadium
Subsets of the multipurpose stadiums were the so-called "cookie-cutter stadiums" or "concrete donuts" which were all very similar in design. They featured a completely circular or nearly circular design, and accommodated both baseball and football by rotating sections of the box seat areas to fit the respective playing fields. These fields often used artificial turf, as it could withstand the reconfiguration process more easily or be removed for nonsporting events, plus it could be used in domes, which many of these stadiums were. The first of these stadiums was Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium. It was followed during the 1960s and 1970s by Shea Stadium, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum, the Astrodome, Jack Murphy Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Busch Memorial Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Veterans Stadium, and the Kingdome. As of 2016, seven of these 11 stadiums have been demolished. Only Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, the Oakland Coliseum, and Jack Murphy Stadium (now known as SDCCU Stadium) remain in use. The Astrodome has stood empty since 2008 because it fails to meet current fire code. Shea Stadium, Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, Riverfront Stadium, Busch Memorial Stadium, Three Rivers Stadium, Veterans Stadium, and the Kingdome were all demolished between 1997 and 2009. The Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres baseball teams have since moved out of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium and SDCCU Stadium, respectively, although the latter stadium is still home to the San Diego State Aztecs college football team.
Holman Stadium (Vero Beach)
In 2001, the Dodgers seriously considered moving their spring training operations to Arizona, but the city of Vero Beach persuaded them to stay by purchasing the Historic Dodgertown complex from the team and leasing it back for a nominal $1 per year. In 2006, the Dodgers again received offers from several Arizona cities, attempting to persuade them to move. Ultimately, the offers were too lucrative to overcome the burden of having to reimburse Vero Beach for purchasing the complex. With the Camelback Ranch opening in Glendale in 2009, the Dodgers joined the Chicago White Sox to share the new facility. The Dodgers' last spring training game in Vero Beach was on March 17, 2008.
1978 Los Angeles Dodgers season
Tuesday, October 10, 1978, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
Wednesday, October 11, 1978, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
Friday, October 13, 1978, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York
Saturday, October 14, 1978, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York
Sunday, October 15, 1978, at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York
Tuesday, October 17, 1978, at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles
Teams in BOLD won League Championships
List of Major League Baseball records considered unbreakable
Several Major League Baseball attendance records cannot feasibly be broken in any currently-used MLB ballpark. Several of these were set by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the cavernous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The all-time record of 115,301 was set there during a pre-season game on March 29, 2008 between the defending champions Boston Red Sox and Dodgers. The same facility also holds the attendance records for games played in the regular season (93,103) and postseason/World Series (92,706), with both of these marks set in 1959 before Dodger Stadium was completed.
Dodger Stadium
The stadium hosted the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1980 - and will host in 2020 - as well as games of 10 World Series (1963, 1965, 1966, 1974, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1988, 2017, and 2018). It also hosted the semifinals and finals of the 2009 and 2017 World Baseball Classics. It also hosted exhibition baseball during the 1984 Summer Olympics. It will also host baseball and softball during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
The stadium hosted a soccer tournament on August 3, 2013 featuring four clubs, the hometown team Los Angeles Galaxy, and Europe's Real Madrid, Everton, and Juventus.
1962 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 1962 Los Angeles Dodgers season was the fifth for the team in Southern California, and the 73rd for the franchise in the National League. After spending the previous four seasons at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, they began the season by opening Dodger Stadium, the team's new ballpark. The stadium opened on April 10 with a game against the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers proceeded to win a Los Angeles record 102 games and tied the San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League. The Giants won the ensuing playoff series two games to one.The "Los Angeles Times" described the Dodgers' season as a "gamut of sublime" and "ridiculous", noting their successes—such as Maury Wills' 100 stolen bases breaking Ty Cobb's single-season record, Don Drysdale's 25 wins, and Sandy Koufax's no-hitter on June 30—together with problems such as the 18 unearned runs the defense had allowed for the season behind Drysdale, and other fielding issues.
Busch Stadium
The Cardinals played two games in Busch Stadium against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series. The first two games of the Series were played at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, and the teams each won a game there. The Series then moved to Busch Stadium, and the Cardinals won the next two games, to win the Series 3-1 and advance to the National League Championship Series.
Multi-purpose stadium
In stadiums that were primarily football stadiums converted to baseball stadiums, the stands were at nearly right angles. This allowed the football field to be squared within the bleachers, but left the baseball configuration with many undesirable views farther away from home plate or facing away from the diamond, such as at the Kingdome, the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, and the venue now known as Hard Rock Stadium. For stadiums such as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Los Angeles Dodgers played their home games from 1958 through 1961 while awaiting completion of Dodger Stadium, this also had the undesirable effect of having unusually short foul lines, making it easier to hit so-called "Chinese home runs". Baseball stadiums that converted to football stadiums had more of an obtuse angle between the stands. This made the football viewing farther away, and in some cases partially obscured as in Candlestick Park.
History of the Brooklyn Dodgers
The inclusion of Robinson on the team also led the Dodgers to move its spring training site. Prior to 1946, the Dodgers held their spring training in Jacksonville, Florida. However, the city's stadium refused to host an exhibition game with the Montreal Royals – the Dodgers’ own farm club – on whose roster Robinson appeared at the time, citing segregation laws. Nearby Sanford similarly declined. Ultimately, City Island Ballpark in Daytona Beach agreed to host the game with Robinson on the field. The team traveled to Havana, Cuba for spring training in 1947, this time with Robinson on the big club. Although the Dodgers ultimately built Dodgertown and its Holman Stadium further south in Vero Beach, and played there for 61 spring training seasons from 1948 through 2008, Daytona Beach renamed City Island Ballpark to Jackie Robinson Ballpark in his honor.