Dodger Stadium facts for kids
Dodger Stadium is a famous baseball park in Los Angeles, California. It is the home field for the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. Built in 1962, it is one of the oldest baseball stadiums still in use today. Only Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago are older. Dodger Stadium is also one of the largest baseball parks, holding many fans.
Building Dodger Stadium cost $23 million dollars between 1959 and 1962. A neighborhood called Chavez Ravine was cleared to make way for the stadium. The Los Angeles Angels baseball team also played here from 1962 to 1965. They called the stadium Chavez Ravine Stadium before moving to Angel Stadium of Anaheim.
Millions of people have watched games at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers have won the World Series four times while playing in this stadium: in 1963, 1965, 1981, and 1988. There was once talk of tearing down the stadium to build a football field, but that never happened.
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What Makes Dodger Stadium Special?
How Was Dodger Stadium Designed?
Dodger Stadium was one of the last baseball parks built just for baseball before stadiums started being used for many different sports. It was built close to several major highways in downtown Los Angeles. A huge parking lot surrounds the stadium. Today, it is the third-oldest baseball park still used in Major League Baseball and the oldest on the West Coast.
The stadium has some cool design ideas. One unique feature was a special covered seating area right behind home plate. The Dodgers' owner, Walter O'Malley, got this idea after seeing it in Japan. This special seating was changed in 1999, but other stadiums have copied the idea.
Two of the most recognizable parts of Dodger Stadium are the wavy roofs over the outfield sections and a tall, 10-story elevator tower behind home plate, which has the Dodger logo on it.
The parking lot is also special. It's built on different levels, like terraces. This means fans can park their cars at roughly the same level as their seats, so they don't have to walk up many ramps inside. The stadium was also built to be strong against earthquakes, which is important in California. It has survived several big earthquakes.
Dodger Stadium first had two big electronic scoreboards above the left and right outfield sections. The right-field board showed game information, while the left-field board showed scores from other games. Over the years, these boards have been updated with modern video screens and ribbon displays.
In 1999, strobe lights were added. They flash when the Dodgers come onto the field, after a Dodger home run, and after the Dodgers win a game.
You can see the retired numbers of famous Dodger players like Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax displayed on the stadium's upper deck. On April 15, 2017, a bronze statue of Jackie Robinson was placed in the left-field area to celebrate 70 years since his first major league game. The statue shows Robinson sliding into home plate.
The Dodgers work hard to keep the park looking great. For example, it is repainted every year, and a team of gardeners takes care of the plants. There are no plans to replace the stadium. Renovations in 1999 and 2004 added more seats closer to the field.
Where is Dodger Stadium Located?
Dodger Stadium was built on a historic area called Chavez Ravine, within Elysian Park. From the stadium, you can see downtown Los Angeles, the green hills of Elysian Park, and the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance.
Because Southern California has dry summers, games at Dodger Stadium are rarely stopped by rain. Before 1976, a game was rained out only once. Since April 17, 2000, there have been no rainouts, which is a record for Major League Baseball!
How Many People Can Sit at Dodger Stadium?
Dodger Stadium is special because its seating capacity has stayed around 56,000 fans since it opened. Even when new seats are added, an equal number of old seats are removed to keep the total the same. In 2009, a record 57,099 fans attended a game by selling standing room tickets.
In the past, beer sales were stopped in some sections after fans threw things onto the field. Beer sales were brought back in the right-field section in 2008. This area became the "All You Can Eat Pavilion," where fans can enjoy unlimited hot dogs, peanuts, and soft drinks. Beer costs extra.
After Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium closed in 2008, Dodger Stadium became the largest capacity stadium in Major League Baseball. As of 2010, it has over 2,000 club seats and 68 luxury suites.
After renovations in 2012–2013, the exact maximum capacity is a bit less than 56,000, but the team still reports it as 56,000. A crowd of 53,393 is considered a sellout. The highest attendance since the renovations was 56,800 fans during the 2008 playoffs. In 2007, the Dodgers had their highest total attendance for a season, with 3.86 million fans.
What About the Field and Playing Surface?
Dodger Stadium has often been known as a "pitcher's park," meaning it's a good place for pitchers to do well. This is partly because the outfield fences are quite far away from home plate. Also, during evening games, the air cools down quickly, making it denser. This can make long fly balls that might be home runs in other stadiums stay in play here.
Many famous pitchers, like Sandy Koufax and Fernando Valenzuela, became superstars while playing for the Dodgers at this stadium. Twelve no-hitters have been thrown here, including two perfect games. A perfect game means no batter reaches base at all! Sandy Koufax threw one in 1965, and Dennis Martínez threw one in 1991.
In 1969, home plate was moved 10 feet closer to center field. This made the outfield a bit smaller, but it also gave fielders more room to catch foul balls. After the 2004 season, more renovations happened. Seats were added closer to home plate, and the dugouts were moved closer to the field. This changed the park to be more balanced for both pitchers and hitters.
Dodger Stadium is one of only four stadiums in Major League Baseball with symmetrical outfield dimensions, meaning the left and right sides of the outfield are the same distance from home plate.
Images for kids
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Dodger Stadium seats being removed during the 2005 offseason.
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The new all-you-can-eat buffet section in the right-field pavilion.
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Dodger Stadium during a post-game "fireworks night," showing the new HD screens.
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Tommy Lasorda's Trattoria, an Italian restaurant inside Dodger Stadium.
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Statue of Jackie Robinson at Dodger Stadium.
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Dodger Stadium and Downtown Los Angeles.
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Dodger Stadium hosting the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
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Dodger Stadium upper seating on June 15, 2018.
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Dodger Stadium Express bus at Dodger Stadium.
See also
In Spanish: Dodger Stadium para niños
