Category: Stadium Fantasium Trading Block

Back to Life (At the Game: Dodgers vs. Cardinals)

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Dodger Scoreboard Aug 6 2019

Finally! The Dodgers have played over 100 games so far this season and on Tuesday, August 6th, I finally went to my first Dodgers game of the season. Working two jobs certainly reduces the time I spend at the stadium (not to mention my blog-writing time). But hey, things could be worse. I consider myself extremely lucky just to live near an MLB stadium with a team that’s done very well the past six seasons.

So the gf and I got to the stadium gates just before they opened up for the fans. We got to see the Cardinals batting practice.

Cardinals Batting Practice
Cardinals Batting Practice

So after watching Cardinals batting practice, we made our way up to our seats on the Reserve level. On the way, we were able stop by outside the press box named after legendary Dodger announcer Vin Scully.

Vin Scully Press Box

As luck would have it, my day off to see this game also coincided with Clayton Kershaw pitching against the Cardinals. Apparently, actor Rob Lowe and country music superstar Brad Paisley had the night off too, because both were also there to see the game. And of course Tommy Lasorda and Sandy Koufax were there, too.

St. Louis Cardinals Lineup

    Dexter Fowler (S) RF

    Jose Martinez (R) RF

    Paul Goldschmidt (R) 1B

    Marcell Ozuna (R) LF

    Paul DeJong (R) SS

    Matt Carpenter (L) 3B

    Tommy Edman (S) 2B

    Andrew Knizner (R) C

    Miles Mikolas (R) P

Los Angeles Dodgers Lineup

    Joc Pederson (L) RF

    Max Muncy (L) 2B

    Justin Turner (R) 3B

    Cody Bellinger (L) RF

    Corey Seager (L) SS

    Will Smith (R) C

    Matt Beaty (L) LF

    Kristopher Negron (R) CF

    Clayton Kershaw (L) P

The weather was warm but not unbearably hot. (In fact, it got slightly chilly as night fell.) This was our view from our seats in the fifth row of Section 8…

The view from Section 8

The Cardinals jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 2nd inning but the Dodgers got a run in the bottom of the 2nd and one in the bottom of the 3rd.

Kershaw pitched a great seven innings, the Dodgers got an insurance run in the seventh and the bullpen pitched two scoreless innings with Kenley Jansen getting the save.

This was the Dodger’s fourth consecutive win and the Cardinal’s fourth consecutive loss. I’m so glad Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers got the win and I was there to see it. This game marked the 76th win for the Dodgers against 40 losses this season. 

Speaking of 76 wins, one of our local gas station chains (and long-time sponsor of the Dodgers) is running a pin giveaway promotion. Whenever I fill up with at least 8 gallons of gas, I get a voucher with a redemption code. I just enter the redemption code on the redemption website and a few weeks later, a cool Dodger pin arrives in my mailbox. These will end up going into the Stadium Fantasium Trading Block.

2019 Dodgers 76 pins

At this point, it looks like this will be the only Dodger game that I will attend this month. Next month looks better with potentially four games to attend. One of those games will be against Tampa Bay, one of the few teams I’ve never seen in person. I’m also looking forward to seeing the Dodgers vs the Colorado Rockies on Fan Appreciation Day, Sunday August 22. Stay tuned…