LOS ANGELES -- A record crowd of more than 115,000 was expected Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the Dodgers return to their original home in Los Angeles for an exhibition game against the World Series champion Boston Red Sox.
VideoMore than 115,300 tickets have been sold for the exhibition, part of the yearlong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers' move to Los Angeles, according to Josh Rawitch, the team's vice president of public relations and broadcasting.
"I'm just unbelievably grateful and humbled with the overwhelming outpouring for this game," Dodger owner Frank McCourt told City News Service. "On the one hand, I can't wait for it to happen. On the other hand, the excitement that's building about the game is a feeling that I hope we have every day."
Baseball's largest crowd was an estimated 114,000 for an exhibition between the Australian national team and an American services team during the Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia, on Dec. 1, 1956. The largest for a game in the United States is 93,103 for the Dodgers' May 7, 1959, exhibition game at the Coliseum against the New York Yankees honoring catcher Roy Campanella, who was left paralyzed in an auto accident.
All net proceeds will go to ThinkCure, the Dodgers' official charity, which seeks to raise funds and find a cure for cancer. The game will generate more than $1 million for ThinkCure, while McCourt and his wife, Jamie, have pledged to match the first $1 million with a $1 million donation of their own money, Rawitch said.
Additional funds for ThinkCure will be raised by an online auction of game-worn Dodgers jerseys that will continue through April 10 on www.dodgers.auction.mlb.com.
The game was the result of a suggestion by Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas, D- Los Angeles, that the Dodgers play at the Coliseum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their move to Los Angeles, Frank McCourt said.
The Dodgers played at the Coliseum from 1958-61 when Dodger Stadium was under construction.
One of the most remembered facets of the Dodgers' days at the Coliseum was the field's quirky dimensions, including a left-field fence that was just 251 feet from home plate.
Then-baseball Commissioner Ford Frick ordered the team to install a screen to prevent pop flies from becoming home runs. At its highest point at the foul pole, the screen was 42 feet high.
"You felt like you could reach out and touch the screen with your hand" from home plate, said Dodger manager Joe Torre, who played eight games in the Coliseum as a rookie catcher for the Milwaukee Braves in 1961.
The removal of the Coliseum's running track in the 1990s so additional seats could be installed will mean the left field screen will be just 200 feet from home plate tonight. To simulate the original Coliseum experience, an approximately 60-foot screen, with the words "ThinkCure", will be erected.
The field likely will have the smallest dimensions for a game involving major league teams -- 280 feet to the left field power alley, 375 feet to center field, 352 feet to the right field power alley and 300 feet to right field.
"It will be the longest game in baseball history with everyone trying to hit home runs," Coliseum Commission Vice President David Israel said at a news conference in November to announce details for the game.
Because of the expected record crowd, the Dodgers are advising fans to carpool, exit the freeways early, arrive as early as possible and allow extra time for congestion.
A shuttle service will be operating from Dodger Stadium beginning at 11 a.m. and will continue running two hours after the game ends. The shuttle service and parking at Dodger Stadium will be free, but fans are asked to call 323-224-1507 to make reservations.
Parking at USC will be $25 with lots opening at 8 a.m. Parking will be available at the gates at Exposition Boulevard and Watt Way; Figueroa Street and McCarthy Boulevard; Jefferson Boulevard and Royal Street; Jefferson and McClintock Avenue and Vermont Avenue and 36th Street.
A family-style baseball festival will be held outside the Coliseum beginning at noon, with a variety of children's activities and former Dodger players signing autographs. Gates to the Coliseum will open at 4:10 p.m. allowing fans to watch batting practice for the 7:10 p.m. game.
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