SPORTSMAP EXCLUSIVE
A behind enemy lines look at the hysteria inside Dodger Stadium with Astros in town
Aug 5, 2021, 5:20 pm
SPORTSMAP EXCLUSIVE
When did Dodger Stadium, known for its late-arriving, early-leaving, laid back fans, A-list celebrities and wealthy Hollywood producers enjoying cocktails with their "niece" (yeah right, she's your niece), turn into the Coliseum?
And I don't mean the Houston Coliseum with rabid, crazy fans during the heyday of Paul Boesch and Mid-South Wrestling during the '70s and '80s.
I'm talking about the Coliseum in ancient Rome, where the next-day sports section read more like an obituary page for gladiators.
Last month, my son Andrew and his buddies Matthew and another Matthew said, "We're going to Los Angeles when the Astros are there for two games against the Dodgers. It's going to be wild."
I thought, that's a bad idea.
They added, "We're going to wear our Astros jerseys."
Bad idea just got worse.
Tuesday night they texted a photo of themselves at the game - decked out in more Astros gear than septuagenarian manager Dusty Baker, who dresses like he expects to pinch hit in the ninth.
It didn't help that my son wore his 2017 Jose Altuve jersey with the World Series patch. Nice touch. That's like breaking into a house, robbing the place clean, and leaving a business card.
Second inning I got a text: "This is brutal. These idiot fans are throwing stuff at us."
Like what?
"Beer cans, hot dogs, you name it. This is getting serious. They're ejecting people left and right. These fans are scary."
Before I could say, "I told you so," I remembered a couple of months ago when ESPN 97.5 radio host Charlie Pallilo and I flew up to New York for the Astros' first visit to Yankee Stadium since the Astros cheating scandal was made public – just to see how crazy the crowd would treat the Astros. It was mayhem, same as the Dodger crowd this week, but on a smaller scale because New York COVID-rules limited the crowd to 11,000 fans.
Charlie and I never felt in danger, though. We didn't wear Astros jerseys and caps. Yankee fans' chants of "Cheater!" and "F-Altuve" and "F-Correa" flew over our heads. I was thinking, this is so dumb. Because of free agency, don't these fans know that Astros shortstop Carlos Correa could be Yankees shortstop Carlos Correa next year? No one in Toronto (or Florida or Buffalo) is yelling "cheater" at George Springer this year. These supposedly mortal enemy players are multimillionaires business partners who belong to the same union. F-Altuve? No, Yankee and Dodger fans need to calm the F-down.
Dodger Stadium this week was a lit fuse. They packed the stands 52,000-plus both games, biggest crowds of the year. They threw things on the field, at players. They went after Astros fans. They fought among themselves (no problem with that).
After the games, security directed some Astros fans wearing Houston jerseys to stay in their seats for 20-30 minutes to allow the Dodger crowd to leave. Then security escorted the Astros fans to the parking lot. My son and his friends got a free ride in the back of a police car off stadium property.
"It got serious the first game when three or four security guards came to our seats and told us they were going to stay near us for the rest of the game. They told us flat out, 'You're not safe." They said they would walk us out after the game," my son said.
"They put us in a police car and drove us onto Sunset Boulevard. We didn't expect that. They left us off at a bar but we couldn't get in because the bar required vaccination cards and I didn't bring mine."
What was my son's takeaway from his two nights in the lion's den of Dodger Stadium?
"Nolan Ryan hot dogs are a hundred times better than Dodger Dogs. Dodger Dogs suck."
Acorn … tree.
Coming off the opening series win over the Mets, there's a lot for the Astros to be excited about. The starting pitching led the way in all three games, and Houston's high-leverage relievers delivered when it mattered most.
Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader closed the door on the Mets in games 1 and 3. Bryan King has also looked impressive, and it appears he'll be counted on in the seventh inning to hand the lead to Abreu and then Hader.
If Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski can deliver consistent performances similar to the other starters, the Astros will have one of the most feared rotations in baseball.
Plus, more help could be on the way with Lance McCullers making another step in his rehab pitching for Sugar Land over the weekend.
As good as the pitching has been, there are some legitimate concerns about the offense. Their struggles to hit with runners in scoring position in 2024 are still an issue through the first series of 2025.
Newcomers Isaac Paredes and Christian Walker have yet to do much with the bat, and the only extra-base hits this season (2) have come from Jeremy Pena and Yordan Alvarez.
As far as the learning curve in the outfield, Jose Altuve and Cam Smith are off to a decent start. And despite the shakeup at second base, the team is still getting zero production from Mauricio Dubon and Brendan Rodgers.
It appears Joe Espada's plan in the Mets series was to get everyone some playing time, which seems like a smart strategy early in the season. However, the game plan didn't pay off on Saturday, with Zach Dezenzo, Victor Caratini, and Dubon combining for zero hits.
Polarizing bats
Finally, how are we feeling about the Torpedo bats sweeping the league?
While the Yankees aren't the only team with players sporting these new sticks, their results have been the talk of MLB with the Bronx Bombers mashing 15 dingers over just three games.
With the Astros sitting at one homer on the season, why not give them a try? One thing is for sure, don't be surprised if players opt to use these new bats to break out of a slump at some point this season.
We have so much more to cover. Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday live right after the game. Click here to catch!
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