Dodger Stadium: Park at your Own Risk

As I sit in a monitoring cell today, the Dodgers have the best record in the major leagues.  I have no idea how this happened, particularly now with a steady stream of injuries.  (An infielder thankfully was taken to the hospital at the right time, avoiding an amputation - I kid you not)  They finished yet another sweep of a first-place team, this time the Cards.  I'm ready to write another blog about Tommy Lasorda and victory eating, when I read this morning's story:

"Dodger fan beaten as pregnant girlfriend watched in shock."

Son of a bitch...let me guess where this took place...yes, the Dodger Stadium parking lot.

Despite the team's surprising start, last season's opening day crime is still fresh in fan's minds.  Last season, fans had plenty of reasons to avoid games, a parking lot beat-down at the top of the list.  Yet now, they'd like to think all of those negative aspects, including parking lot insanity, faded away. 

The LAPD can call it "road rage" (road rage IN A PARKING LOT?!)  or try to pass the buck with quotes like this because...

“In a Dodger season there are 81 games, they will draw 3 million people and on any given day they can have a sellout with 56,000 people. I don’t believe that any law enforcement agency or any professional sports team could guarantee there would never be any type of incident with those types of numbers,”

AH - I get it.  So really, odds are, someone...what, every month or so...will just get roughed up in the least and nearly killed at most because there's too many people?  Folks, this time it was fan on fan because that Chevy might have hit that Honda, or was it the other way around?  All at 5-10 mph?   Of course, this time, there was enough LAPD on the scene to catch the criminals.  They were there, likely, because last year someone was nearly killed.  Whatever it takes, right?

The perception, however often crimes such as this occur, will be come the reality (correctly or otherwise) to the fan.  Not unlike the New York City subways of the 1980s, if fans think the lots are beat down zones, regardless of increased police presence, they'll stay away.

Speaking of trains, last week a friend and I spoke of the joyous news that a new Metro train line now makes it all the way to Culver City.  This was good for us on the west end of town - park there, train to downtown, shuttle to the stadium.  We talked of good things: saving on parking money, an extra beer...and then the added point "plus, we won't get beat up in the parking lot."  "Yeah," he chuckled.  I meant it as (mostly) a joke. 

I hasten to say it, but this is the new ownership's group first moment to do something positive.  And do it quickly.  Because eventually (and quietly) if the parking lot turns into an L.A. Raiders game, no matter how good the Dodgers are or become, you won't want to see the results...