I have booked two trips to Giants games. One to Los Angeles and one from Sacramento to San Francisco via Emeryville. I'm taking the Starlight from Eugene to Los Angeles on the 18th of September staying at the Kyoto Gardens downtown. Having never been to LA I hope I selected a good hotel. Is it possible for me to walk to Dodger Stadium from this hotel? It is near Union Station. I'm used to walking at least 4 miles a day and enjoy walking. On October 1 my sister and I are going to SF for a Giants/D-Backs game on the Capitols. I noticed on the tickets that the thruway seats from Emeryville are reserved but UN-reserved on the return from Moscone Center. I am wondering if this is going to be a problem on game day? Doesn't really matter, Sis and I have suffered with the Giants since Seals Stadium ( 1958 ) and Candlestick---losing a bus seat would be nothing compared to the chill of Candlestick.
Posted by railrev (Member # 2640) on :
The walk to Dodger Stadium from LAUS is probably within your four mile range, but it is nearly all uphill. Is the game at night or in the afternoon? I would wonder if you would want to walk to/from after dark.
There is no public transportation from downtown to Dodger Stadium this year.
Posted by sbalax (Member # 2801) on :
Hmmmm....
I think this hotel was formerly the New Otani. It had a good reputation several years ago, especially with visiting Japanese. It's in, big surprise, JapanTown and close to the wonderful Japanese-American Museum and lots of good cafes. I also think it's very near a new stop on the extended Gold Line. If that is open when you are there you could take the Gold Line to China Town which would put you closer to Dodger Stadium. The walk from China Town to the stadium is NOT one I would do at night. Maybe a cab from Union Station or the hotel would be a better choice.
I hope that helps.
Frank in sunny and warm SBA
Posted by wayne72145 (Member # 4503) on :
Thank you very much for the info---I planned to take a cab to the hotel from Union Station since the Starlight gets in late and I'm not a native of SoCal. The Los Angeles Transit site says I can get a bus at 3rd and Broadway and travel to Sunset and Innes for a buck and a quarter--what a deal. Thanks again.
Posted by zephyr (Member # 1651) on :
Ah, your mention of Candlestick conjures up memories. Night games there could be a misery. Windy, cold, and foggy. Fans who stayed to the end of extra inning night games certainly earned their Croix de Candlestick.
Now San Francisco has one of the best stadiums in baseball.
The last time I went to AT&T Park I also took the Capitol Corridor. I can't help you on the reserved/unreserved bus thing from Emeryville. When I went, three or four buses were waiting at Emeryville to take passengers to locations in San Francisco. One stop was the CalTrain station at 4th & Townsend, which is just a block or so from the stadium.
When the game was over, my wife and I decided to walk down the Embarcadero to catch the Amtrak bus back to Emeryville at the Ferry Building. If I recall, it was a 30 minute +/- pleasant walk. The October 1st game you're attending is a day game, so you might consider this option depending on weather and sobriety.
Other options of getting to Baghdad by the Bay via the Cap Corridor is by transferring to BART or ferry. The Richmond station is shared by Amtrak and BART, and BART tickets are sold on the Corridor. Also, I understand you can catch a ferry at Jack London Square and take a cruise over to Shaky Town. I haven't done this, but maybe someone around here can provide more details.
By the way Wayne, I sure hope you're a Giants fan. If you're a Dodger fan, I take back any useful information I may have provided in this post.
Posted by wayne72145 (Member # 4503) on :
I have been a Giants fan since they came west and my sister and I went to many games at the old Seals Stadium, and after I began to drive we went to Candlestick until she married and moved to the foot hills. This is her first trip to the new park, I usually stay with friends and take BART. Taking the train makes it all so much easier. I'm sure we can get back to Emeryville some how.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
Growing up, watching epic duels between Marichal, Koufax, and Drysdale, we Dodger fans always though Candlestick was just right... seemed our Dodgers won more than they lost.
Remember that 20 inning extravaganza in the early 1970s?
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Not off-topic, but certainly extending the topic, I can remember when "game trains" to Giants-Dodgers games meant taking the subway to the Polo Grounds or Ebbets Field. I'm talking Sal ("the barber") Maglie, Leo Durocher, Carl Furillo, and Jackie Robinson here, folks, when it was a real rivalry.
Posted by zephyr (Member # 1651) on :
Yes, the Giants and Dodgers have had an historic and interesting rivalry. Remember the Johnny Roseboro incident?
Now, that was an object lesson for Little Leaguers on how to properly use a bat.
Posted by HopefulRailUser (Member # 4513) on :
Oh dear, you are bringing up memories of going to the LA Coliseum with my dad to see my heros, Koufax, Drysdale, etc. And I just recently discovered that Candlestick Park, that windy place, was no longer in use. Shows you how much removed from the sport I have become.
Saw Sandy strike out 18 batters from our seats behind that high left field fence. Have the scorecard to prove it. And I don't think steroids were a happening then. What has happened to the game?
Posted by zephyr (Member # 1651) on :
Sandy could sure keep opponents from scoring. But though a lefty with a great pick-off move, he couldn't keep Bernie Madoff from stealing. ------------------------------------ Zeph in always sunny and beautiful FFA Land.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
Live and in Black and White on KTTV Channel 11. Vin Scully was at the mic at the moment. I was 8.
Of course, there was more than one Roseboro-Marichal moment... that was just the biggest.
Posted by dns8560 (Member # 15184) on :
zephyr - Funny remark about Madoff! LOL!
Posted by wayne72145 (Member # 4503) on :
Dodger Stadium is now the 3rd oldest park in Major League Baseball---one reason I'm taking the trip. I have a memory of Alvin Dark having the groundskeeper at Candlestick wet down the base paths to slow Wills down and ended up with "The Swamp Fox" nick name.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
1) Fenway 2) Wrigley 3) Dodger
Grief, I can recall Chavez Ravine being built....and, being from the New York area, the rhubarb when first the Giants then Dodgers took John Soule's and Horace Greeley's advice.
Posted by PullmanCo (Member # 1138) on :
KFWB channel 98 was the original Dodger radio station in LA.
Then, KFI got it... and from then on, by imperial fiat from management, KFWB air folk never referred to Dodger Stadium as such... it was always "and at Chavez Ravine..."
Posted by cubzo (Member # 4700) on :
A little trivia here, since Mr Norman brought up Wrigley field. L.A. was the home of the first stadium with that moniker. Wrigley FField of Los Angeles is where the Los Angeles Angels played.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
I have to correct Mr. GBN on the chronology of the moves to the Golden State by the Dodgers and Giants. It was, essentially, a simultaneous move, and history credits Walter O'Malley (with a push from "Power Broker" Robert Moses, who wouldn't build a new stadium for the Dodgers in Brooklyn over the Long Island Rail Road terminal there) as being the prime mover.
This from another website:
"On October 8, 1957, O'Malley announced that after 68 seasons in Brooklyn, the Dodgers would be moving to Los Angeles. In a move to bring baseball to all parts of the country, O'Malley also convinced Giants owner Horace Stoneham to move his Giants the same year to San Francisco. Just a little more than six months later, on April 18, 1958, the Dodgers played their first game in Los Angeles, defeating the Giants 6-5 before 78,672 fans at the Coliseum."
Posted by railrev (Member # 2640) on :
quote:Originally posted by zephyr: Ah, your mention of Candlestick conjures up memories. Night games there could be a misery. Windy, cold, and foggy.
DAY games there could be "a misery, windy, cold and foggy."
Only thing better than Giants-Dodgers rivalry was the Pacific Coast League LA Angels/Hollywood Stars at LA's Wrigley Field and Gilmore Field in "Hollywood."
Remember when the only TV games we got in LA were the 11 or so from San Francisco.
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by Ocala Mike: ....with a push from "Power Broker" Robert Moses, who wouldn't build a new stadium for the Dodgers in Brooklyn over the Long Island Rail Road terminal there....
Rail related of sorts is that Moses moved the waters of the Red Sea, Moses also moved "the earth" to lay pavement wherever he wanted in the New York area.
Robert Moses was likely the most visionary urban planner to walk this planet, but like it or not, he was a "train-hater". Passenger rail was simply not part of his "vision'.
Somehwere in this life I had been to Jones Beach, but until this past Tuesday, I had never seen it from the air. On approach to KJFK Rwy 31R, the flightseeing was perfect, and I could clearly see the massive bridge built over Rockaway Inlet, the massive traffic circle and four lanes of highway that otherwise went nowhere (did he have visions of running an expressway the length of Fire Island? Be assured when he got to Point O' Woods, they would have been fighting to the last man - with Martinis in hand - well more likely with the most heavy hitting lawyers $$$ could buy).
One wonders how much less land would have been "grabbed" had rail been the primary access to this State Park built on what otherwise would have been a desolate sand dune?
Fortunately, (highway interests would say otherwise) plans such as a ten lane expressway cutting THROUGH Lower Manhattan and tunnels under both Rivers got derailed.
Off topic, but if I'm not mistaken KJFK 31L is okay'ed as a space shuttle alternate.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Gil, between 1972-1978 I worked in the Legal and Revenue Departments of the Jones Beach State Parkway Authority, a quasi-state agency that Robert Moses created. During that time, I had access to a vast trove of Mr. Moses' private papers which were archived at the Belmont Lake State Park, Babylon, NY headquarters. He was arguably the single most powerful man in the NY metropolitan area for decades; nothing got built (or would have gotten built) without him. If he had turned his talents towards rail transportation instead of cars, we'd have the world's best system today instead of wringing our hands like we do on this board.
Posted by Railroad Bob (Member # 3508) on :
I lived smack in the middle of the LA "donut" for a couple of decades, and still have my 213 mobile number as a "souvenir." Never had a serious problem there and walked almost everywhere, but caution you not to walk from your hotel to Dodger Stadium, esp. at night. Much of that route is a low income, gang and drug infested Bladerunnerish-nightmare. OK, that's overstating it a bit, but the message is**don't do it.** I used to take a Sunset Blvd. bus to Elysian Fields, and walk up a little hill to the Stadium. Even waiting for the bus to get back home was dicey- I was the only fan who did it~~ tells you something about car-centric LA, huh? In the early 90s, I was literally caught in a gang crossfire near Dodger Stadium while driving my car in a neighborhood called Echo Park-- I can still remember the muzzle flashes of the 9mm pistols the 'bangers were firing right across the traffic lanes on Sunset Blvd. Other than that, I still love LA, (slice of world culture that it is) and hope you have a good time at a game! Few things are better than a major league game under the gently wafting palms, Vin Scully calling the plays there at the "Ravine." Just stay safe...
Posted by Gilbert B Norman (Member # 1541) on :
quote:Originally posted by dns8560: Off topic, but if I'm not mistaken KJFK 31L is okay'ed as a space shuttle alternate.
Well, I guess at 11248ft it could be.
Posted by Ocala Mike (Member # 4657) on :
Yes-- but can't comment on it, since I never saw that particular film. EP is a "mixed" neighborhood; interesting place, but not where I would choose to live, if I moved back to LA. The nearby Silver Lake neighborhood is pretty cool; I know a retired Amtrak engineer over there who was featured in a lengthy Los Angeles Times article when he took his pension. His wife ran a Buddhist temple in the house.
Posted by TwinStarRocket (Member # 2142) on :
Forgive me for going non-coastal with this topic, but by next spring the new Minnesota Twins ballpark (baseball only) will be opening at the end point of two new rail lines.
Minneapolis Hiawatha Light Rail from Mall of America and the airport will now extend through downtown to the new ballpark. A non-revenue extension of track will also provide parking for idle trains to be ready when the game ends. Formerly called the "Train to Nowhere" by opponents, platforms are now being extended to allow 3-car trains. They have already exceeded ridership projections by several years.
Northstar Commuter rail will end by the ballpark also. Opening in December, it will go to Big Lake and eventually St. Cloud on the same tracks as the Empire Builder.
Light rail between Minneapolis and St. Paul will open in 2014. One end will be the Twins ballpark and the other will be St. Paul Union Depot, which will be a transportation hub for Amtrak, commuter rail to Red Wing and possible HSR to Chicago. A new ballpark for the very popular minor league St. Paul Saints (of Sen. Larry Craig bobblefoot doll fame) will open near Union Depot.