Chicago Cubs: Dodgers Stadium a great place to see a Cubs win

Chicago Cubs fans that travel over the summer following the team will appreciate this look into the Los Angeles Dodgers and Dodger Stadium.

Note: This is part of an ongoing series dedicated to my recent travels, following the Chicago Cubs and some affiliates. If you want to catch up from the beginning, you can start here.

“Is Dodger Stadium built on top of a volcano?” I recently asked aloud sarcastically as I lumbered what seemed to be miles uphill toward Dodger Stadium. “Next time I’m bringing oxygen,” I added.

Any Chicago Cubs fan that has walked in the front gates of Dodger Stadium knows exactly what I’m talking about. In the first place, there’s no real good way to get to the stadium. The free bus tends to run late, there is no train drop off, parking is expensive and Los Angeles traffic after a game? That ranks with water-boarding and makes Chicago traffic look like a good time.

When we finally reached Mount Olympus, we got in line to enter the stadium. It hadn’t opened yet because this was Kike Hernandez bobblehead night and the goofy Dodger fans that worship him like the Greek God, Achilles, were all huddled outside to get their very own.

A throwback stadium full of knowledgeable Dodger fans

Let me pause here to say that as nutty as I find Dodger fans, I love their old stadium. Opened in 1962, with a 56,000 person capacity, she’s a beauty.

More from Cubbies Crib

• Cubs should keep close eye on non-tender candidate Cody Bellinger
• Cubs starting pitching has been thriving on the North Side
• Make no mistake: the Cubs are very much about power hitters
• Cubs are giving pitcher Javier Assad a deserved shot
• Cubs: It’s time to start thinking about potential September call-ups

Of course, up until 1965, the California Angels played there as well.  Just like Fenway and Wrigley, Dodger Stadium is a classic. The stadium boasts neo-60’s Jetson inspired overhead roof lines. The scoreboard looks like a 60’s Hollywood game show with a mountain range background.

As the sun goes down, the sky turns marvelous colors on top the third base side of the stadium and is postcard ready. If you are ever visiting a stadium, take the stadium tour. You can even take a tour of the Chicago Cubs’ Friendly Confines. It’s interesting to learn the history of the stadiums and see behind the curtain of stadium operations or what happens behind the scenes at game time.

I will have to give it to the Dodger fans that we ran into all week; they were gracious and kind. No one took the losses too seriously and in fact, they were very critical of their own team. One Dodger fan told us on the shuttle bus to Union Station after the game, “Kershaw is pitching tomorrow, but he’s not that great anymore and Kemp is old,” explained the fan.

The L.A. fans were honest about their expectations of their team and knew what injuries were taking a toll. They were friendly even though we won 9-4 and ruined Kike (Hernandez) bobblehead night.