Next Stop: The Coliseum

As Alan Schwarz reports today, the Sox and Dodgers will be playing an exhibition game at the LA Coliseum this Saturday before a crowd expected to exceed 100,000—the largest ever to see a ballgame in this country. The game will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' move to LA. (Seems to me they should play the Mets—their replacements—but whatever.) As Schwarz notes, the Sox should feel comfortable with the dimensions in the stadium: rightfield is but 201 feet away (there's a monster-like fence) and a right-field power alley that should be safe even from Big Papi. A great story from Alan.

Comments

[sf rod]

i will be attending this game. i got standing room only tickets which are on the field just behind the center field wall. essentially standing in what is, on most days of the year, USC's endzone. buchholz gets the start for the sox. the dodgers have claimed closer to 115,000 tickets sold. should be a pretty cool experience, outside of the drunken dodger fans.

[YF]

we'll expect a report sfrod. take a camera!

[Paul SF]

Of course, you mean left is just 210 feet away. Don't forget the monster fence though! I imagine there's a lot of line drives that might be homers even in Fenway that get turned into really loud singles. It'll be fun, either way.

I believe with standing-room only tickets, they're expecting attendance to exceed even Australia's all-time single-game attendance record.

[LocklandSF]

There has to be some good research out there on this, maybe some of the better baseball minds can help us. Fans of other teams like to give us RS fans a lot of crap about the Monster, but is it really that much of an advantage? I mean, most balls that go out over there, just to get over the wall, look like they would be out of most parks. Sure, a few fall on top of the wall that may have fallen short in most parks, especially with the wind blowing in from left, but I've also seen a lot of those loud doubles/singles, those laser shots that would certainly be out of most parks.

I don't know, but from years of watching that wall, it looks like things kind of even out.

[Paul SF]

Park Effects for Fenway have shown for many years that it suppresses home runs to a major extent (Ortiz tied Babe Ruth's record for road home runs in 2006, but fell six short of Ruth's overall total, as a specific example). But it significantly enhances overall offense and doubles especially. I think the Wall is a major factor in this, but I also wonder if the construction of high rises around the park hasn't made it harder to hit home runs as well. Wade Boggs always thought construction of the luxury boxes behind the plate messed with the currents and knocked down would- be homers. I know there were concerns about the high-rises built beyond left-center field, and since they went up two years ago, even fewer homers are hit in Fenway.

Probably a combination of factors, but I think it's safe to say that the Monster definitely aids in offense (line drive singles/doubles that would be outs otherwise because the left fielder would be deeper, as well as the occasional Bucky Dent-type homer). The effect on home runs specifically I'd be curious to see.

[Honkball]

So maybe with Japan and the Coliseum the Sox will have out drawn the Yankees for Spring Training

[jimintokyo]

45,000 for each of the two exhibitions at Tokyo Dome, FYI.

Go here for some amazing pictures. 1st base dugout is practically on the base paths. 3rd base is right where the football goal posts are. The biggest problem is going to be parking.

[JoanSimms]

oops, forgot the link to pictures.

http://www.petecarroll.com/index.cfm/pk/view/cd/NAA/cdid/403534/pid/400025

[JoanSimms]

btw, Pete Carroll hit three bombs over the screen on Wednesday. Imagine what will happen when real players take their licks.

http://www.petecarroll.com/index.cfm/pk/view/cd/NAA/cdid/403697/pid/400025

[sf rod]

i hear you anon. i'm already preparing to pay $80 to park in someones front lawn in south central. it's gonna be a logistical nightmare.

[JoanSimms]

Here are some pictures of the Coliseum the last time it hosted Dodger baseball, late 50's. Since then the Coliseum eliminated the running track, dropped the field another 15 rows, that's why the field real estate is that much smaller, meaning the even shorter left field porch. For Saturday, there will be no "press box" behind home plate. Balls and strikes will be called from the football press box, 90 rows high, down the right field line.

http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/archives/2008/03/pull_up_a_keybo.html#more

[JoanSimms]

I can't seem to get a url correct. Here is the right place to see the Coliseum old pictures.

http://www.insidesocal.com/tomhoffarth/

[sf rod]

joan- i just found out this morning that the dodgers will be running shuttles all day long from dodger stadium for free. i think i'll be taking advantage of that. i also heard you can park on USC's campus for $20 and catch a shuttle over.

yf- you got it. should be some good stuff.

[JoanSimms]

SC parking is $25 and will fill up quickly. The shuttles from Dodger Stadium sound great, however I'm afraid of a huge backlog waiting for the return trip back to the stadium. After SC football, lines for shuttles back to Staples Center sometimes took one hour. Can the McCourts do a better job? You tell me.