The Day After

John Stodder made me laugh out loud with his photographic instructions of how to get in and out of Dodger Stadium.

The most responsible thing for Dodger ownership to do would have been to test the new parking system before raising parking costs 50 percent to pay for it. Putting that aside, I'm willing to give those involved time to fix what's wrong. And it should be said that a) some people got in and out of the stadium without trouble, b) some people probably blame the system for a late arrival when they should blame themselves for not leaving for the game early enough c) no system, new or old, can eliminate traffic completely, especially on Opening Day.

But certainly, there are plenty of indications that the McCourts may have made driving and parking in Dodger Stadium worse than before.

Perhaps the most discouraging indication is that the new parking attendants seem to have been hired and schooled in the same manner as the food and beverage concessionaires: without any premium on expertise or efficiency, and indeed, with no small disdain by some of them for the people they are hired to serve. As Stodder writes, "tell the parking lot attendants who were just standing around, watching this mess passively that, if they can't think of what to do about it, at least pretend to care."

That message should go straight to the top. The McCourts need to be responsive to fan complaints, not in denial. Something didn't work yesterday. Something might not work again tonight. If that's true, the Dodgers need to be prepared to say why things aren't working and what they plan to do about it. They need to be able to say what's going to be different tonight or Wednesday.

They can't just blame the fans for not knowing what they should be doing, ask for patience, then be silent. This is the approach they took when they first bought the Dodgers, and it was a disaster.

Like I said, maybe time will heal these parking wounds. If the Dodgers have the last laugh on this, we'll all be happy. But this very morning, the Dodger organization should be preparing for how to address the public in case it doesn't. And those fail-safe plans absolutely should include a rollback of the parking fee to $10 and other meaningful considerations.

The McCourts have uranium in their hands, playing with the driving fates of Southern Californians. If McCourts know what's good for them, they will approach this dilemma with a commensurate level of care.

Don't blame the drivers - they've basically been given no alternative means to get to the ballpark.

Comments

[Daniel Zappala]

1.  I wasn't there, but I think the Dodgers ought to be given the chance to have people leave the stadium on a typical weeknight game, rather than during rush hour, to properly judge whether the new scheme works.

[Marty]

2.  I will be amazed if rolling back the price to $10 is even given a passing thought.

In my most cynical thoughts, I believe this may have been the plan all along. Roll out some temporary parking rules and employees, use that as the excuse to up the parking fees, then abandon the new plan and fire the employees and leave the new pricing structure intact.

[Vishal]

3.  jon "the voice of reason" weisman hits the bullseye once again.

[tskent]

4.  I don't see the problem with the increased rate of parking. Dodgers and Co. has spent a lot of money on improvements to the stadium, the stadium experience, and quality ballplayers. We posted the 2nd best record in the league last season. We look to do it again. That's worth a few extra benjamins a year to me.

[KBL]

5.  I think Jon is right on about no other means of getting to the stadium being offered by those up top. I would love to see a discount for those who arrive early. That is at least a step in the right direction for easing the congestion, but I would ultimately love to see public transportation.

[regfairfield]

6.  Has there ever been a parking lot improvement that actually helped traffic flow? Every change that's been made seem designed to thwart my escape.

[Frip]

7.  Jon: "The McCourts have uranium in their hands"

Interesting phrase. What does it mean?

[old dodger fan]

8.  Living on the east coast now I don't get to Dodger Stadium often. Last summer my wife, daughter and I went to a game that should be as easy as any to get in and out of. Dodgers were playing the Pirates, Tomko was pitching.

We stayed until the last out. I told my wife, "We need to fly out of her now". Her response was of course, "I need to go to the bathroom".

From the time I turned the key it took us well over an hour to get to the freeway. Combine that with the normal LA traffic in and out of the game and we were away from our Hermosa Beach hotel for 6 1/2 hours for a game that took less than 3 hours to play. My wife says she will never do that again. Of course I will but it certainly is no way to build a fan base. I can't imagine facing that on a regular basis.

BTW, my 12 year old daughter is a huge Dodger fan, she named the family dog Dodger and she has seen the Dodgers play 4 times in 4 different stadiums and has never seen them lose.

[Frip]

9.  Sorry, I thought you said in their heads. I get it now.

[Vishal]

10.  [4] shouldn't that be reflected in the ticket price, though? it's long bothered me that it cost me more to park my car in the lot than it did to park my butt in a seat at dodger stadium. aren't we paying for the game? if they want to charge more money for parking, they should improve the quality of the parking product. on the other hand, if they want to extract money from the parking lot, that just gives me an incentive to park outside the gate and walk into the stadium. traffic's easier that way anyway.

[blue22]

11.  10 - So you're saying they should raise ticket prices...?

[Vishal]

12.  she named the family dog Dodger

THAT is clever. how come i never thought of (or even heard of) that before??

[TellMeTheScoreRickMonday]

13.  SoSG posted a wrapup of Opening Day at http://www.sonsofstevegarvey.com/2007/04/dodgers-home-opener-4907.html , which referenced the parking issue here:

First, parking did seem a little less chaotic getting in (there certainly are tons of attendants pointing you around), but it was a disaster leaving. This may have been due to Opening Day, but I noticed as I exited the stadium that they had stacked a line of cars in the second lane of the inner ring. This was very bizarre, for if you were trying to exit the stadium (by exiting the ring to the left), you couldn't do it at many of the regular exits due to this random ring of parked cars. Why they didn't stack this ring against the outside circumference of the ring, I don't understand. I'll give the parking staff a break since Opening Day is always crazy (I distinctly remember one time I was forced to park above the Think Blue sign and run down the hill in wingtips and a suit), so I'll check out the parking scene again later this week.

I think that mid-ring cirle of cars was a really bad idea, but even getting rid of that will not be a panacea for the mess of this system. I was fortunate that I had a preferred pass and whizzed into, and out of, Lot G (behind the scoreboards)--but I got there early and was forced to leave early due to another appointment. For the poor souls who didn't have parking (a group that I will be in on Wednesday), it appeared to be a much more trying experience.

[Vishal]

14.  [10] no, i guess i talked myself out of it.

[underdog]

15.  I didn't realize, until I read ItD just now, that Furcal's two rehab starts are against Colon and Jered Weaver! That's not fair. Good practice, though.

Josh over there also mentions how they didn't see much feedback yesterday on the parking situation. That's probably because everyone affected was still trying to get out of the stadium. But feel free to send them feedback today.

I've been praying for a public transportation there for years, but figured that was as likely as getting Britney Spears to take up the violin. (Terrible analogy, I know, I haven't had coffee yet.) Still, there's gotta be a way.

[Disabled List]

16.  7 Jon: "The McCourts have uranium in their hands"

Interesting phrase. What does it mean?

It means that the McCourts are defying the UN Security Council and are going to be faced with sanctions unless they allow inspectors in.

[jasonungar05]

17.  It's to bad Ned didn't hire the parking lot attendants. Then they would want to be parking lot attendants.

[Disabled List]

18.  17 That got an actual LOL from me. There's a Pierre/Gonzalez joke to be made here, but I'm not thinking of it right now.

[ToyCannon]

19.  I'd understand the complaint over the parking fee's if the same people weren't forking over $8 per beer. Your forced to pay $15 if you want to park in the stadium but no one is forcing you to spend $32 on four beers and yet that seems to be the norm. I am surprised that no one has ever orchestrated a boycott of beer to make a point about the price. How hard would it be to not drink a beer for 3 hours to make a point.

As Vishal says, it does seem strange to pay more to park then your ticket costs. A normal Laker ticket is now around 95.00 and parking is $20 but can be done for $10 if you want to walk a little further. A Clipper ticket is $45 and parking is $5 - $15. In each case you have the option of the blue or red line which is $3 round trip.

[moondog]

20.  This was my 18th opening day in the past 19 years. What a MESS. Harbor Freeway north.... Got to the Academy/Solano exit at 10:45am. Traffic was backed up all the way onto the freeway and through the tunnel. NEVER happened on that "backdoor" entrance. Got to Lot H at 11:30am. Got out pretty quick the same way and that's after watching the last out from my seat in Aisle 28.

Part of the problem is that they created a "panic" with all of the emails/warnings they sent out. People who normally do not show up early were showing up 3 hours before the game.

They need to open the gates 4 hours before gametime on opening day and hire extra security. Simple as that. This "no tailgate" rule is stupid and antiquated. If the O'Malley's were still running things, I'd be okay with the rule since we WERE a class organization. NEWSBREAK---> we are not (much of) a class organization anymore so why don't you at least allow us to have a good time.

[Frip]

21.  All they have to do is higher a logistics expert. It all reeks of amateurism. I get the feeling that management has a little stadium model in the break room with a handwritten note saying "any ideas?" and people tinker with it while munching a Snickers.

[Dodgers49]

22.  16. It means that the McCourts are defying the UN Security Council and are going to be faced with sanctions unless they allow inspectors in.

Or maybe "Shock and awe."

[Zak]

23.  16 It means Jack Bauer will make it from the 5 freeway to inside Dodger Stadium within 7 minutes (before the commercial break), irrespective of traffic, and shoot Jamie McCourt in the thigh. Then the President of Boston Parking Lots will call Frank McCourt and order that he let Jack out of Dodger Stadium without international sanctions.

[FirstMohican]

24.  "tell the parking lot attendants who were just standing around, watching this mess passively that, if they can't think of what to do about it, at least pretend to care."

They are attendants, not parking lot design consultants. If they're not doing their job then call them on it. But their job shouldn't include ensuring we think they like thier job.

---

Also for anyone who experienced the delays, specifically, what is causing the bottleneck? Is it the exit gates at the stadium, the freeway onramps outside of the stadium, or signals/stop signs?

The reason I ask is that it is possible the problem may not be with Dodger Stadium, but just outside, in City or State jurisdiction.

[Greg S]

25.  Obscenity is something that we can't define but we know it when we see it. $15 parking that is a mile from your seat and takes an hour to escape, is obscene.
Ticket prices that have skyrocketed in recent years are less so. I think most people get that supply and demand sets prices for most things including tickets. But when you've ALREADY paid for the ticket, dumping on $15 for a place to park is not okay. The ticket is for the full experience. It's like the ticky tack fees that ticketmaster charges (handling fee, location fee, facility fee, hahayoureasucker fee). Make's everyone crazy.

If McCourt raised every ticket price by an average of $15 and then made parking free, I think he would be celebrated as a hero and would make more money in the process. Make your money on your product and then back off shoving add ons down your customers throat.

[Frip]

26.  It may not be fixable till we all ride bikes.

Where there is no solution, there is no problem.

[Daniel Zappala]

27.  I'm amazed the McCourts haven't bought/built a large parking structure somewhere in downtown LA, then setup a shuttle system to ferry patrons between the facility and the stadium, complete with dedicated lanes for the shuttle. It would be pretty simple to set up and very efficient. In fact, I bet they could do it with the already-provided parking near the Staples Center.

[FirstMohican]

28.  25 - What's the incentive for people to ride their bike, take public transit, or carpool?

[still bevens]

29.  The two biggest problems with the Sunset gate were the following:

1. We got to the gate around 11 and the lines didn't seem any longer than usual, however, there was an entire lane right where the hill slopes up to the ticket booths that was blocked by a sign indicating where the employee parking entrance was. Shouldn't the employees know where to park already, and secondly, does it require a giant light sign that takes up an entire lane to enter the park?

2. Upon exiting, it was anarchy. There were no parking personnel trying to regulate people getting out of the lot on to the main drag out to Sunset. You had a gigantic bottleneck of about 6-7 'lanes' of cars trying to fit into one tiny exit which was already full of cars exiting from the preferred lots. I don't know if its a problem the parking attendants could handle since its bedlam, but the fact that it was a total free for all didn't inspire much confidence in the new 'system' and it didn't even provide any evidence that a 'system' existed in the first place.

[D4P]

30.  The McCourts need to be responsive to fan complaints, not in denial

I'm not here to defend the McCourts, but to be fair, haven't they been generally responsive complaints in the past? Seems to me they've put reasonable effort into responding to (at least some subset) of the fans, whether through personnel changes or stadium renovations.

Whether the changes have been "good" or not is a separate question.

[FirstMohican]

31.  Another thing: Keep in mind that the game ended during peak period. The freeways and streets surrounding the stadium area already to capacity and now have 40k new cars introduced. The queue of cars can extend into Dodger Stadium making it appear as though the stadium is at fault, while it is actually due to factors outside of the stadium that the McCourts cannot control.

I have a feeling tonight will be much better.

[Bluebleeder87]

32.  Star sightings from yesterday: Jaime Jarrin & his dirty Mercedes & somebody next to me said they saw Jaime McCourt & his son drive up.

[Daniel Zappala]

33.  It's really pretty simple. There are more cars in the lots then there is capacity to carry them out. You can either increase capacity or reduce the number of cars. A shuttle to an external lot is probably the most realistic way to reduce the number of cars, by putting a bunch of people on buses.

[Dodgers49]

34.  24 - The reason I ask is that it is possible the problem may not be with Dodger Stadium, but just outside, in City or State jurisdiction.

>>> Cindy Myers, 50, of Yorba Linda, who said she has attended more than a dozen opening days and "never ever" missed a first pitch or ceremony, breathed a sigh of relief when she got to the Stadium Way exit off the 5 Freeway at 11:30 a.m. But she was still bottled up in the parking lot two hours later when she heard the crowd roar as pitcher Jason Schmidt belted a third-inning home run.

By the time Myers got to her seat, it was the middle of the fourth inning, and she was practically in tears. She planned to demand a refund for the game — and maybe even for the rest of her family's 15-game mini-season pass.

"I don't care if I ever go to another Dodger game," she said. "I can't imagine going there again on Wednesday night." <<<

http://tinyurl.com/yo9j5q

[Jacob L]

35.  19 There's nothing orchestrated about it, but I'm boycotting beer at the park. Also, I had to argue with a concession worker yesterday that she should give me the 4th hot dog that I paid for. And I'm usually defending the concession workers here.

Anyway, I know Jon always gets annoyed when people say this, but I never park in the parking lot, and I recommend that approach to anyone who can manage it. Its good exercise. Even yesterday, I carried my daughter (who ways about 28 pounds) a good 1/2 mile to and from the car, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Also, the other thing I always mention in these discussions is the abandoned Scott Ave. gate. The closing of that gate, when the O'Malleys wanted football, was when the system broke down.

[Jacob L]

36.  35 Ugh. Ways = weighs.

[Bluebleeder87]

37.  33

I'd be all for that.

[Jacob L]

38.  Going for the cycle here. I lived in Echo Park for 4 years before moving last month. I am willing to hire myself out as a "stadium access consultant," who can show you the back roads and secret parking spots that are the key to easy ingress and egress.

[Jon Weisman]

39.  30 - They've been hit and miss, at best.

[underdog]

40.  You can chat with Brett Tomko this afternoon before the game today, at 2pm. (Be kind. Ask him about his art if you have to.)
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/fan_forum/chat.jsp?c_id=la

But more interesting to me is the upcoming chat with DeJon Watson...

[Jacob L]

41.  39 Its worse than hit and miss. They have a general PR orientation, but then they go and do incredibly stupid or insensitive things to tick their customers off. It makes it seem like they're pretending to care.

Did anybody have any comments on the RF pavillion smorgasbord?

[dzzrtRatt]

42.  24 FirstMohican, 29 nails what I was referring to by describing the parking lot attendents "standing around." "Upon exiting, it was anarchy. There were no parking personnel trying to regulate people getting out of the lot on to the main drag out to Sunset. You had a gigantic bottleneck of about 6-7 'lanes' of cars trying to fit into one tiny exit which was already full of cars exiting from the preferred lots. I don't know if its a problem the parking attendants could handle since its bedlam, but the fact that it was a total free for all didn't inspire much confidence in the new 'system' and it didn't even provide any evidence that a 'system' existed in the first place."

To some degree, that's always been true, but at least we didn't have to think about how much of those five extra dollars were going toward paying people to do nothing.

And when I say "nothing," I mean that at one of the free-for-all points, while pedestrians were trying to get across the egress, two orange- suited attendants loitered at the other end, watching the pedestrians get trapped as the drivers continued to push their way through while the pedestrians were trapped.

At the very least, they could have roused themselves to step into the morass and taken control for the 60 seconds that would have been required to help these pedestrians. They did have those uniforms. The cars would have stopped for them if they used a few hand signals.

Then they could have gone right back to their important work of stretching their arms, and looking absently off into the distance.

[Terry A]

43.  I have no experience from which to draw with regards to DS parking, but this appears to have been a complete nightmare.

Congratulations, Mr. McCourt. Sounds like you created the equivalent of New Coke.

Again.

[D4P]

44.  They've been hit and miss, at best

Do you mean

1. They've ignored problems
2. They've addressed problems, but unsuccessfully
3. Both

[bhsportsguy]

45.  One of the more interesting sights yesterday was watching the interaction between Steve Sax and Tommy Lasorda (they gave each other of those very quick hugs). Sax, who had no blue on at all and I thought it was a little strange to have him there, there was no video of his career highlights (okay maybe standing on deck when Gibby hits his homer is not a big video moment) but still, if he was a Yankee, there would have been something put together. But then I don't think Sax has been a part of the organization since his left so perhaps there is no love loss between the two.

[nick]

46.  ok, this is a self-interested question, but I need to ask. coming in from out of town for a weekend game, why wouldn't I, eg, park in Pasadena, or somewhere at the end of a subway line, take the subway in to Chinatown, and walk to the stadium? this may, of course, simply reveal my naivete....

[Dodgers49]

47.  41 - Did anybody have any comments on the RF pavillion smorgasbord?

The fans interviewed in the article below were happy with it.

>>> Comments were more upbeat from fans who managed to get through the traffic to arrive in plenty of time to scarf down the culinary offerings in the right-field all-you-can eat section. <<<

http://tinyurl.com/yo9j5q

[Jacob L]

48.  46 Entirely possible, but a fairly long and hilly, and unpleasant walk.

[regfairfield]

49.  34 That's insane, two hours to park when you arrive an hour and a half early? Last year it took me about two minutes to park if I got there 45 minutes to an hour before game time.

[Daniel Zappala]

50.  Weaver the older getting pounded by Boston.

[Jon Weisman]

51.  44 3. They have had successes, but often their response has just been off-target.

[tskent]

52.  I noticed Antonio Perez wasn't on the A's roster. It looks likes he at AAA Sacramento.
He's currently OPS'ing .091. LOL...

[D4P]

53.  Weaver has recorded 3 outs thus far on 61 pitches

[bhsportsguy]

54.  42 The lot I left (I think it is number 7 now) out to the Sunset exit had coned off the right lane and traffic moved pretty well.

Of course it took me a hour to get out the night of 4+1 but people that night really didn't complain about that.

I do think that the parking situation is unique because you have people trying to get to a myriad of freeways or surface streets.

The worse traffic leaving a game that I was part of recently was leaving the Rose Bowl from UCLA vs. USC game last December, I later heard that the Pasadena Police Dept. had an issue that day with the Rose Bowl so there were people working that day with no experience with that size of a crowd but it took me 45 minutes to get off the golf course and 1 1/2 hours to get to South Pasadena.

[tskent]

55.  Maybe that WS ring is weighing him down. LOL...

[blue22]

56.  53 - Including 47 pitches in the 1st inning!

47!!

[ToyCannon]

57.  Maybe Weaver should pull a Clemens and skip April/May.

[Marty]

58.  47 So, that's where all the Dodger Dogs went.

[Daniel Zappala]

59.  And now a homer by Drew.

[blue22]

60.  52 - Perez cleared waivers and was sent to the minors prior to the season.

[ToyCannon]

61.  In the end I'm hoping this parking debacle on opening day will force them to consider Daniel's shuttle idea. When we talked about this at length during Jon's request for a quality solution it seemed that shuttles would have to be part of the solution since metro rails to DS are unreasonable at this pint in time.

[D4P]

62.  The next 3 outs took 9 pitches

[ToyCannon]

63.  Greg Brock's demon got a hold of my "point" and turned it into a "pint".

[Snowdog]

64.  A friend of mine, who attended the game, had an interesting comment, noting there were cars parked in traffic lanes. He asked if McCourt was paying off the Fire Marshall to allow this. He said what should have been 4 lanes of egress, was only 2 lanes due to cars parked in 2 of the lanes. In other words, if an ambulance/police car/fire engine has to get in the park for whatever reason while folks are leaving (even coming?) - fuggetaboutit. He ended his rant on parking with: "Dude, I am done with Dodger Stadium and watching all my games on TV."

[bhsportsguy]

65.  Dodger Stadium is unique that it has entrances that are directly related to what area you sit in, most new stadiums that I have been to allow everyone to enter through various points and then they usually walk up rampways to the various levels.

But because of how Dodger Stadium is designed, the preferred lots were put in areas where you could easily access your point of entry while certain GA lots were better for certain entrances.

Now, I think for every game where you hit 48K and above, you are going to have parking and traffic issues, anything smaller you are going to be okay. But as their average ticket sales get above 47K, I think the parking lot design and frankly the stadium design causes real logistics problems. And when you add folks wanting to get to their various freeways, I don't know how you address it.

[tskent]

66.  60 - He's a mirror image of Wilson Valdez.
Just without the stroke or the glove.....LOL

[Marty]

67.  63 Interesting typo coming from a guy advocating a beer boycott :)

[natepurcell]

68.  i think this was mentioned in the last thread but...

delywn young: dodgers

scott hairston: dbacks

[Mr Customer]

69.  54 The Rose Bowl definitely takes the prize for traffic hell. The only redemption is that the games are on the weekend, and they do not usually bump up against rush hour.

Really, though, we're talking about an LA problem, not a DS problem. If I had any other way to get to a game rather than self-piloting, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

[natepurcell]

70.  66

both players are basically replacement level players at this point. Valdez is just currently hot and it wont last.

[regfairfield]

71.  68 I don't think it's a valid comparison. Hairston destroyed AAA last year, Young was pretty bad for a corner outfielder.

[nick]

72.  48--ok, thanks!...the alternatives also sound unpleasant, and more time-consuming to boot--

[natepurcell]

73.  71

hairston did destroy AAA last year and I think Young is going to destroy AAA in the same sense this year.

both were originally 2b moved to corner outfield spots because they couldnt field. both have hit at every stop in the minors. Both are known to be very good hitters. Both players are parts of orgs that basically wont give them a chance unless of a ton of injuries.

[ToyCannon]

74.  71
But Hairston was repeating AAA for the 3rd time. Last year was Young's first full season in AAA. This year I expect he will destroy AAA much like Hairston did last year. Seems like a valid comparison to me.

[KBL]

75.  46

I think I mapped out that walk once since I am in Pasadena, and it is about 3 miles, mostly uphill to the stadium from there.

[blue22]

76.  73 - Isn't Hairston their starting leftfielder? Quentin is down, but I don't see anyone else in his way.

[ToyCannon]

77.  The other thing about D Young is that if you look at his minor league history he always struggled the first few months in a league and then was usually the best hitter in the league over the final couple of months. It was surprising that he didn't do the same in Vegas last year but he'll do some damage this year.

[natepurcell]

78.  73

yes finally after being pinned on his last option and the dbacks not having the ability to send him down anymore at the risk of not losing him.

hes finally getting his chance now but when quentin comes back i think hes going to struggle for ABs again.

[Daniel Zappala]

79.  I don't suppose it's possible to get a taxi from Chinatown to the stadium and back afterwards?

[ToyCannon]

80.  76
Davannon is on the DL or he would be playing. Once Quentin and Davannon come back Hairston will be a 5th outfielder.

[Eric Enders]

81.  I haven't been to Dodger Stadium since I was 10, so I've never had the pleasure of negotiating the traffic. However, there seems to be an obvious reason why the McCourts would never allow an option like wholesale shuttling of fans from an external site: They'd lose $15 for each carload that took the shuttle. Obviously they could charge for a shuttle, but (a) they probably couldn't get $15 for it, and (b) Any charge would provide a disincentive for people to use it and thus put you back at square one.

[ToyCannon]

82.  How far is it from DS to the 1st Chinatown Gold line stop?

[regfairfield]

83.  73 I guess that's where our evaluations differ. I don't think Young can come anywhere near Hairston's .323/.407/.591. Young couldn't hit lefties at all last year, and that's going to prevent him from putting up a near 1.000 OPS.

Was his .198/.235/.325 against lefties a fluke last year? If it was, then maybe he can tear it up. Until then, I don't see much out of him other than 25th man material.

[Marty]

84.  82 I would guess it's a couple miles to the gate.

[tskent]

85.  The Dbacks will struggle to finish .500 this season. Webb will regress from last season. And when you look at starters 2-4, you see they are .500 fodder at their best. (Johnson, Davis, Livan) Their catching situation is worse with the loss of Johnny E. Jackson has shown he has no pop. Tracy has proven to be average at best. I like Hudson and Bynres. They will put up similar numbers to last season. Then you have Drew and the other young outfielders who don't have the experience for the rigors of a 162 game season. Their bullpen doesn't give me the willies either.

[ToyCannon]

86.  81
They have stated repeatedly that a huge goal for the organization is 4,000,000 fans. As Daniel said I don't think they can reach that target without more effective options for the fans to get to the game. As they sell more tickets more problems will arise and tickets sales will stagnate at a certain level. That would be the incentive but you might be right. Normally I'd disagree but the proof is in the pudding with the $15 parking price.

[Marty]

87.  Somebody already suggested the answer to this problem. McCourt should build an off-site parking structure. Then he gets to keep the parking revenue and reduce traffic.

Now, all he has to do is find some land.

[Daniel Zappala]

88.  81 But if the shuttle was to a parking lot they owned and they collected the parking fee, that might be different.

Also, even if wasn't their parking lot, their incentive would be to improve the fan experience, which would bring more fans and more money over the long run. If the shuttle was free or a nominal cost, the incentive for fans to use it would be that they would have a free lane to quickly get out of the stadium. I'm sure you'd pay for a fast $5 shuttle out to a $10 downtown lot.

[DodgerBakers]

89.  I remember going to a Dodgers-Braves game at the old Fulton County Stadium back when the Braves were really good and in our division. Dodger won 5-3 which was great. Even though the game was well attended and we left after the last out, we got out and onto a freeway within about 10 minutes. I think the Dodgers should hire whoever designed that parking to fix theirs.

[Bob Timmermann]

90.  I got home from the USC-UCLA game in about 45 minutes, most of that the walk to my car.

For a sold out event there, it's best to pony up to pay people at outside lots instead of parking at Brookside Park. A golf course is not designed to be a parking lot.

Then again, Dodger Stadium's parking lots are designed to parking lots and they have an equally bad mess.

And you can take public transit to the Rose Bowl fairly easily, by taking the Gold Line to Memorial Park and then either walking to the Parsons Lot to take a shuttle or just walking all the way in.

The Rose Bowl's problem last year was in ticket taking. I got stuck for over an hour trying to get in there and missed the first 7-8 minutes of the game.

[Benaiah]

91.  81 - Wouldn't people have to pay to park there? Couldn't McCourt set up a deal with that parking facility, or just charge a few bucks for the shuttle and make money back that way?

[ToyCannon]

92.  83
I agree that he won't be a star or maybe not even a starter but I do think he'll eventually carve out a role as a solid 4th/5th outfielder. When you look at the Marlins playing Borchard/Ross/Anza I think he will have a major league future. I'll be surprised if he doesn't end up with a pension.

[Daniel Zappala]

93.  Even a much smaller venue like the Hollywood Bowl has a shuttle system established.

[Bob Timmermann]

94.  A shuttle lot requires a dedicated lane for ingress/egress for the shuttle buses. I don't know where that could be built.

I also don't know where a shuttle lot could logically be constructed. The Coliseum uses remote lots by Staples. The Rose Bowl uses a remote lot in Old Pasadena.

I suppose the big lot in front of Staples could work, but that would likely only be used if Staples were dark (which it isn't a lot) and for people coming from the south and I think a lot of Dodger fans are coming from the SFV.

[Bluebleeder87]

95.  Really, though, we're talking about an LA problem, not a DS problem.

Exactly.

[Eric Enders]

96.  85 FWIW, I disagree with basically every one of those player assessments.

[underdog]

97.  I'm rooting for Delwyn Young personally because I saw him play at Sta Barbara City College. He may very well be only 4th/5th OF material at best but solid, if not in LA then somewhere.

[Bob Timmermann]

98.  93
But the Hollywood Bowl operates for a very brief period and almost at night.

And because it's small, it doesn't need very big lots. The Hollywood Bowl only seats around 17,000.

Also, some of the shuttle services are terrible. Some times the MTA just forgets to send a bus to certain locations to pick people up.

[bhsportsguy]

99.  90 Let me know where I can find those lots, I think the Notre Dame game will rival the USC game, at least in attendance.

93 I think the thing about the Hollywood Bowl shuttles is that they are limited so they know that they will only need a certain number of buses and drivers.

Even the Parsons lots are run only 5-7 times a year on Saturdays or New Year's Day.

Also concerts and football games have reliable ending times, baseball games as George Carlin said never know when they are going to end.

[underdog]

100.  I think we should kill two birds with one stone and ask Brett Tomko what he thinks of the parking situation.