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Dodger Stadium

Dodger Stadium
Chavez Ravine
Location Los Angeles, California
Opened April 10, 1962
Capacity 56,000
Owned By

Los Angeles Dodgers

Architect:

Captain Emil Praeger

Dimensions:

Left

Medium L.C.


Left-Center


True L.C.


Deep L.C.



Center



Deep R.C.



True R.C.


Right-Center


Medium R.C.


Right

Backstop




330 ft.

370 ft. (1962)
360 ft. (1969)

380 ft. (1962)
370 ft. (1969 - erased 1999))

385 ft. (1962 - unposted)
375 ft. (1969 - unposted until 1999)

390 ft. (1962)
380 ft. (1969)
385 ft. (1977 - erased 1999)

410 ft. (1962)
400 ft. (1969)
395 ft. (1973)

390 ft. (1962)
380 ft. (1969)
385 ft. (1977 - erased 1999))

385 ft. (1962 - unposted)
375 ft. (1969 - unposted until 1999)

380 ft. (1962)
370 ft. (1969 - erased 1999))

370 ft. (1962)
360 ft. (1969)

330 ft.

68 ft. (1962)
75 ft. (1969)

Dodger Stadium has been the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball team since 1962. It was also the home of the Los Angeles Angels between 1962 and 1965. The park is still also sometimes referred to as Chavez Ravine (more formally as Chavez Ravine Stadium), after the name of the site where it was constructed, and the name used by the Angels organization during their tenancy.

Despite being technically in a ravine, it is also on a hillside that overlooks downtown Los Angeles, and is prominently visible, most dramatically during night games.

It holds 56,000 fans and was designed to be capable of expansion to 85,000 seats. It has a unique terraced-earthworks parking lot behind the main stands, which allows ticketholders to park at roughly the level that their seats are, minimizing their climbing and descending of ramps once they get inside the stadium. The design is also alleged to be earthquake-resistent, certainly an important consideration in that part of the country.

It was the only park of its era designed specifically for baseball, and with the construction of many new major league ballparks in recent years, is now one of the oldest still in use. However, being privately owned, and maintained with a level of pride that is typically missing from public facilities, it has stood the test of time very well, and no plans are in the offing to replace it.

Because of overall poor visibility for hitters, fairly large dimensions and a large amount of foul territory, Dodger Stadium has enjoyed a well-deserved reputation as a pitchers' park. Several power pitchers such as Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Fernando Valenzuela became superstars after arriving in Los Angeles. This significant advantage was eroded somewhat in 1969, in general when the rules were changed to lower the maximum height of the pitchers mound, and specifically when the Dodgers moved the diamond about 10 feet towards center field. This also gave the fielders more room to catch foul balls, so there was some tradeoff.

Dodger Stadium was the first Major League Baseball stadium since the initial construction of Yankee Stadium to be built using private financing only, and the last until Pacific Bell Park was built.

2005 will be Dodger Stadium's 44th season, just 1 year shy of the Dodgers' duration at their storied ancestral home, Ebbets Field (1913-1957). In the mid-1950s, team president Walter O'Malley had tried to convince the Borough of Brooklyn to construct a new stadium, complete with dome, to replace the woefully cramped Ebbets Field. Walter eventually got his stadium, except it was in Los Angeles, thankfully in the open air. And barring unforeseen circumstances, Dodger Stadium should outlive Ebbets Field by a good margin.

Source for dimensions:

  • Baseball annuals

External links


Aerial photo

Last updated: 08-22-2005 20:35:26
Last updated: 09-12-2005 02:39:13