L.A. Home Opener 2012 (some pics)

it's the home opener - here we come :)

our tiny, but beautiful downtown. Dodger Stadium to the right !

word was out that we get to tailgate today. really? tailgate at the stadium ??? well, not exactly.

entering the lot for the first time in 2012 ! this is the backside, behind the outfield bleachers.

we got there at 10:58, two minutes ahead of schedule.  immediately we noticed cops EVERYWHERE

i think every cop in LA was deployed to our lot.

our men and women in the service were well represented

there were cops on horseback

mounted police HO !

did i mention cops were EVERYWHERE?  you can't hear it, but there was an LAPD chopper circling overhead the whole time. how much do you think that cost?  wouldn't it be cheaper to build some crow's nests and deploy cops with binoculars?

back to baseball.  not a cloud in the sky.  it's perfect weather for opening day

Dodger Blue was everywhere

once inside...crowds galore

first cold one of the season.  a nice pour !

here's the view from our seats. that concrete butress in the upper left is the next level of seats above us.  down there by home plate are the beach boys.

brian wilson was there. we got a nice rendition of 'little surfer girl'

oh - weee - ooooohhh

after team introductions, they unfurled Old Glory and shot off fireworks

the beach boys also sang the national anthem

we got a fly over from a pair of F-18s.  those tiny specks above the light tower are our jets coming in.

then they introduced the players from the 1962 Dodger squad.  Their opening day was 50 years ago to the day.  i was really pleased to see so many surviving players.  coming down the line greeting his teammates is HOFer, maury wills. waiting at the end of the line (in the blue sweater) is tommy lasorda.

PLAY BALL !!  the first pitch from kershaw (ball)

7 innings later, score tied 1-1, andre ethier comes to the plate with 2 outs.

BAAAM !!  sheeee iiiiizzzz GONE !!  we go up 2-1.  the stadium home run lights flash, the crowd goes bonkers, and the scoreboard says 'happy birthday' to 'dre.  what a day!

9th inning.  in comes 'lights out' javy guerra.

this is the final pitch to mccutchen, who guerra gets to hit into a DP to close, save, and WIN THE GAME !

the guy in the hat is pointing to show us the Dodger outfield is coming together for the big bump.

congrats all around as WE WIN ! 

a couple of notes on the side: one sobering moment was the pregame announcement that vin scully was not here ! he was home sick.  wow.  vinny missing opening day is like old faithful not going off.  for a second there, as the news sunk in, the stadium fell silent. get well soon, vinny !

as noted here before, the 'think blue' sign was gone from the hills beyond the bleachers.  i miss that sign. :(

also missing this year - walk-up music for the batters.  ALL the batters.  was the music guy home sick also, or is the music gonna be gone all season?  personally, i like it without the music. it's kinda pure this way.

all in all, it was a great opening day.  good times!