Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (124 page)
Read Ultimate Baseball Road Trip Online
Authors: Josh Pahigian,Kevin O’Connell
3725 Sunset Blvd.
Farther down Sunset, in the Silver Lake neighborhood, is a place worth the extra drive, especially for those who appreciate a nice craft-brew. The Good Microbrew and Grill is a hipster’s paradise, with more than one hundred beers available and plenty of them on special. If you’re coming to the ballpark from Hollywood, up Sunset Drive, or heading there after the game, this brew house makes the perfect stopover.
1805 W. Sunset Blvd.
This hipster hangout is another beer bar, as it appears that L.A. has (finally) discovered the snobby beer bar craze known as the microbrew revolution. El Prado bills itself as featuring: beer, snacks, and records. If you’re stuck in the ’70s this is your place. The sound system is a record player … that’s right, vinyl rules! The walls are covered in dark wood and the tables and brass fixtures are like the ones you might expect at the Regal Beagle (the bar the gang from
Three’s Company
frequented). El Prado has a nice selection of beer and wine—they carry drafts from the Eagle Rock Brewery, one of the few breweries in L.A. It is small and can get very crowded, but it’s a solid choice if you manage to snag a table.
1760 Vermont Ave.
Remember that scene in the movie
Swingers
where Mikey, played by a thin Jon Favreau, finally stops whining over his girlfriend back in New Jersey, goes out swing dancing, meets Heather Graham, and gets her phone number? That scene was shot at the Dresden, which has since become a place where hipsters drink with their “beautiful baby” friends.
Kevin:
Is this where the Dresden Dolls got their start?
Josh:
Um, I’m pretty sure they’re a Boston band.
Kevin:
Really?
Josh:
Trust me.
1831 Hillhurst Ave.
Near Silver Lake in Los Feliz, this small, dark quasi-sports joint caters to hipsters and locals. Waitresses heavily adorned with tattoos and piercings serve beer and mixed drinks. Like many of the folks in Silver Lake, the gals want to look like Bettie Page and the guys are aiming for a Beck-like quality of cleanliness.
1800 Hillhurst Ave.
The Los Feliz/Silver Lake area has become one of the coolest neighborhoods in town in recent years, and another of its many cool spots is the Drawing Room. This bar is cool in
Kevin’s sense of the word. In other words, it’s a dive. You’ll find would-be actors, bikers, and local hipsters drinking it up in happy spirits.
2366 Glendale Ave.
With German beers on tap in the authentic outdoor beer garden on the second floor, and the waitresses bringing them wearing their traditional German dirndl serving outfits (think the girl on the St. Pauli Girl label), this place is a must for any self-respecting German. So bring your lederhosen. Go for the knockwurst, liverwurst, and bratwurst. Check out the wall of fame on the stairs, dedicated to famous Germans and German-Americans.
PINK’S HOT DOGS
Corner of Melrose and La Brea
Kevin’s brother, Sean, who lives in L.A., took us to this place, known as “Hot Dogs to the Stars.” Since 1939 Pink’s has been doling out dogs, and no visit to Hollywood would be complete without a stop. Options range in price and Pink’s has found as many dog variations as any place we’ve visited. Sean had the Huell (Howser) dog, named after the host of California’s Gold travel show. The order had two hot dogs stuffed into one bun if you can believe it. Kevin had the Brooklyn pastrami dog and it was delicious. Josh sampled the chili-cheese dog and was very pleased as well. Hoffy is the brand name for these dogs that are made especially for Pink’s and they were some of the best cased meat we ate on the entire trip. The word is out on this place, so expect to stand in line for at least twenty minutes, regardless of the time of day.
For great Mexican restaurants and Mexican culture, head down to Olvera Street, located in the pueblo at the heart of downtown. Olvera is a cobblestone street that boasts many places to eat, shop, and even listen to roaming mariachi bands. Try
La Luz Del Dia Mexican Restaurant,
or if you’re like Kevin, simply pick a restaurant at random.
4427 Sunset Blvd.
There’s just something wonderful about a top-notch tiki bar, and if that’s what you’re hankering for, the Tiki-ti will not disappoint. When you’re surrounded by wooden tiki masks, the fruity tropical drinks from the South Pacific go down fast. The fishbowl drinks may cost $12 and up, but one’ll do ya.
1001 N. Alameda St.
Now this is the kind of place you’re not likely to see again. Philippe’s is an old-style L.A. lunch counter that’s been in this location since 1952 and in business since 1908. Offerings from behind the huge stainless steel warming counter include pork sandwiches a full breakfast, pies, potato salad, and much more. Regular coffee is just nine cents. But the specialty of the house is the French dip sandwich, which they claim to have invented. It’s a piling of roast beef served on a fresh baguette and dipped in
au jus
. While most places will serve the
jus
in a cup on the side, these originators submerge the bread completely before it’s assembled, for a deliciously wet meal. Near the front door, an old wooden and glass drugstore counter contains candy and cigarettes for sale. The back room is dedicated to train memorabilia, and there are even a handful of early Dodgers photographs and signed baseballs displayed, with signatures rapidly fading.
Don’t miss the lunch counter waitresses. With traditional uniforms and hair piled high, these women give the place its aura. The system of payment is unique, as the waitresses aren’t allowed to actually touch the money. You place your bills down on a plate, then a nice lady hands the plate back to the cashier who makes your change, which is brought back to you on the same plate.
Ocean Seafood Restaurant
(747 N. Broadway St.) is one place we can recommend in Chinatown, and
Yang Chow
(819 N. Broadway) is another. But there are literally hundreds of restaurants to explore, if you’re game. Old Chinatown is a great tourist spot where many movies have been shot.
At fifty-six thousand seats, this stadium is now the biggest ballpark in terms of seating capacity, but does not suffer intimacy issues when compared to the smaller ballparks in the league. Dodger Stadium offers some of the best seats in the game. If you’re looking for a ballpark filled with quirks, you should move on. Completely symmetrical in every way, Dodger Stadium has never been described as a quirky ballpark. In fact, it’s the only completely symmetrical outfield left in the National League, and one of only four left in baseball. The other three are the O.co Coliseum, Rogers Centre, and Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. But inside this house of symmetry, there is plenty of charm to keep fans happy.
Jackie Robinson
Born on January 19, 1919, Jackie Robinson first put on a Dodgers uniform and stepped onto Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947—a moment in the history of baseball, the importance of which cannot be overstated. A brilliant second baseman for the Kansas City Monarchs as well as the Montreal Royals—a Dodgers minor league team—Robinson was hand-chosen by Branch Rickey in 1945 not because he was the best player from the Negro Leagues, but because Rickey was, in his words, “looking for someone with the guts not to fight back.”
Jackie Robinson had a history of exceptional success as an athlete. He was an All-American at UCLA, breaking school records in football, basketball, baseball, and track and field. He was the school’s first four-letter man, and as such had achieved a certain degree of national fame. The fact that he was allowed to compete on the same field as white athletes in these other sports and that he excelled was a powerful argument for the integration of baseball.
Another important factor on the résumé of Jackie Robinson was the fact that he had been a soldier in the US Army from 1942 through 1944. Robinson had served his country during World War II, and was a decorated platoon leader. Also significant during his career in the military was an incident that was to set Robinson ever further apart from the field in terms of character. He fought a court-martial leveled against him over an incident in which he refused to give up his seat on a bus. Jackie Robinson was not court-martialed, but rather discharged from the Army honorably after the trial. His strength of character had already been proven, as he had fought racial injustice and won a significant if small victory.
But even Rickey—who expected Robinson to succeed—must have been impressed by the inner strength of character Robinson displayed on the baseball diamond. Robinson was called ugly names, was intentionally spiked by players, was ignored by teammates as if he wasn’t even there, and had his own life and the lives of his family members threatened constantly. The St. Louis Cardinals threatened to strike rather than play Robinson’s Dodgers. But on May 9, 1947, Ford Frick, the National League president, stopped them, stating: “If you do this, you will be suspended from the league…. I do not care if half the league strikes…. I don’t care if it wrecks the National League for five years. This is the United States of America, and one citizen has as much right to play as another. The National League will go down the line with Robinson, whatever the consequence.”
While many have stated that Rickey’s interests in breaking the color barrier had financial undertones—the Dodgers instantly became black America’s favorite team—the fact is that Rickey and Robinson needed one another to accomplish what they did. And though it may have been true that Robinson could not have accomplished all he did without Rickey and Frick, it is also true that these accomplishments would have not been possible for lesser men than Jackie Robinson. Imagine, being kicked and punched, and not taking any action to defend yourself, when you’d be very morally correct to do so. After all, which is easier? Giving in to your emotions, your natural feelings of rage and anger, or fighting anger and hatred with an air of indifference? Robinson taught us all (again) that the strength needed not to fight is far greater, surely.
After his career in baseball, Jackie Robinson continued to fight injustice. He marched in Birmingham, Alabama, with the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He testified before Congress on the unequal treatment of African Americans, and he worked for his people’s causes in the political arena as well.
On October 23, 1972, Robinson died of a heart attack in Stamford, Connecticut.
People like Jackie Robinson make us all proud to be fans of the game of baseball. And perhaps the most laudable act of Commissioner Bud Selig was retiring Robinson’s number 42 throughout all of baseball, never to be worn again.
TRADITIONALLY A PITCHER’S PARK
Since its beginnings, Dodger Stadium has always favored pitchers. Even after lowering the mound and adding Field Level seating that has all but removed the expanse of foul territory that once gave Dodger Stadium its distinctive design, this yard still makes things easier on the hurlers. Its deep power alleys (385 ft.) certainly help, but the symmetrical shape also works to contain extra base hits. There are two signs that look to be in dead center which read 395 feet, but in fact these are to the right and left of true center field, which is 400 feet.
Other than the multi-colored seats, perhaps the most distinctive feature of the ballpark is the roof that covers the outfield Pavilion. Slanted up and down, it’s a wavelike design that looks like a row of cabana huts lined up. This architectural design element can be seen surrounding the upper deck of the park as well, though television cameras rarely show this.
Nearly hidden in the very blue outfield wall between the ads are the numbers most significant to Dodger history: 104 was the number of wins for the Dodgers in 1942 when they finished second to the Cardinals, who won 106 games, and is the number of bases stolen by Maury Wills in 1962; 382 was the number of strikeouts Koufax had in 1965; 153 is the total of RBIs in 1962 by Tommy Davis; 6 is the number of Dodgers World Series titles; 233 is the number of Don Sutton’s victories as a Dodger; 81 was the magical season of 1981 for Valenzuela and Co.; 59 was the year the L.A. Dodgers first won the World Series, as well as the number of consecutive innings pitched by Hershiser without giving up an earned run; 49 is the team-record number of home runs hit by Shawn Green in 2001; and 52 is the record number of saves in a season by Eric Gagne in 2002.
The Dodgers also boast their share of retired numbers, which hang below the pavilion roofs in the outfield. They are No. 1 for Pee Wee Reese; No. 2 for Tommy Lasorda; No. 4 for Duke Snider; No. 19 for Jim Gilliam; No. 20 for Don Sutton; No. 24 for Walter Alston; No. 32 for Sandy Koufax; No. 39 for Roy Campanella; No. 42 for Jackie Robinson; and No. 53 for Don Drysdale.