LOS ANGELES -The Grossmont College baseball team, the Griffins, will be playing half its games on the road this year against teams such as Fullerton, Compton, Southwestern and S.D. Mesa. I don’t know how our fans feel when they’re attending the away games but I know how some people worry when they travel, as I did, to Chavez Ravine, also known as Dodgers Stadium.
On March 31, the opening day of the 2011 baseball season, the Dodgers hosted the defending-world-champion San Francisco Giants. Before the game, outside in the parking lot, Giants fan Bryan Stow was attacked by two Dodgers supporters. Two attackers pummeled Stow, resulting in critical brain damage. Stow is currently recuperating, where he is making attempts to speak again. The Dodgers denounced the incident.
Around the end of May, Giovanni Ramirez, 31, was arrested in connection with the case.
With all the fear of going to Chavez Ravine as a supporter of another team, my relatives and I still went to a game last week. Against all suggestions, I wore my “SD Beat LA” t-shirt that was given to me at a Padres game against the Dodgers earlier this year.
Despite my best rooting, the Padres lost the game 4-2, extending their losing streak to 7 games for the second time this season. The Dodgers in sweeping the series meanwhile won 11 of their last 15 games.
Dodger fans are more mellow than the opening day incident might indicate. During the game the only “trouble” I was given was by a fan who asked, “why are you wearing a Padres shirt? They’re the wrong team!”
While participating in the seventh inning stretch I sang as loud as I could “root root root for the Padres” which didn’t even come close to the amount of noise made by the hometown crowd. Still, I think the fans sitting next to me got a good laugh out of it.
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Burke is a student in Media Communications 132. This devoted Padres fan may be contacted at [email protected]
