Opening Day was successful for the Dodgers. They beat the Diamondbacks 9-5.
(Chris Pisar)

We're a week into the season and baseball is finally back in Los Angeles.
 
No I'm not talking about the Los Angeles Angels of Fullerton ... err Anaheim. (Gotta take my jabs where I can.)

I'm talking about the real baseball team in Los Angeles: the Dodgers, the Blue Crew, the Boys in Blue. You get the idea.

And what a perfect day it was for the Dodgers to play their first home game of 2010: about 70 degrees and sunny with powder blue skies and a few white, fluffy clouds.

But despite the beautiful weather, there was a forecast of rain, metaphorical rain on the parade of the Dodger faithful, that is.

Coming into the game there had been some talk about the LAPD upping the number of officers on-site to crack down on tailgating. They weren't lying. The Los Angeles Times reported that there were 150 officers spread throughout the parking lots at Chavez Ravine Tuesday.
 
The added enforcement resulted in more than 130 arrests. No bueno.

While I am in favor of arresting the people who truly deserve it (i.e. DUIs), I am also in favor of having a pregame brew. Can't a guy have a couple of beers in the car before he goes inside to watch a ballgame? Apparently not.

Why can't they just leave it how it was? The Dodgers banned tailgating so they could cover their hiney. Meanwhile, as long as you weren't causing a scene, you could enjoy your pregame beverages.

Anyway, I digress.

Let's talk about the game.

Drive/Parking

I got to the stadium before the gates were even open.

With the usual amount of traffic blanketing the surrounding freeways, it was slow going all the way until we paid for parking. Once we were in, it was smooth sailing as we parked and moseyed our way inside.

Now leaving the game -- that was a completely different story. Even after the longest Opening Day game in Dodgers' history, it was still bumper-to-bumper traffic some four hours after the first pitch. Not the way I would prefer to celebrate a win, but hey, it comes with the territory.

Luckily for me the game was good.

Game

Back in late March when Joe Torre named Vicente Padilla the Opening Day starter, he had one thing in mind: having young lefty Clayton Kershaw take the hill to kick off the Blue Crew's home opener.

Kershaw didn't disappoint.
 
While he didn't have his best stuff, it was still one of the better starts for the Dodgers on the young season. The southpaw struggled with pitch count but went the necessary five innings to pick up his first win of the season as the Dodgers beat the Diamondbacks 9-5. Kershaw gave up two runs on three hits with seven strikeouts.

The bats weren't too bad either.

The offense posted an efficient nine runs on 10 hits, but most impressive of all was the show of power. No, not the fireworks they set off during Opening Day ceremonies -- we're talking home runs, four-baggers, round-trippers.

The Dodgers exploded for four home runs on the night, one more than they had total coming into the game. Andre Ethier, Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake all put one into the stands for their first homers of the season while Matt Kemp hit his second.

After Kershaw was pulled in the fifth, the Dodger bullpen nearly squandered the lead -- much like they had done on several occasions this year. Three runs later, the bullpen managed to successfully bridge the gap to flamethrower Jonathan Broxton. He made quick work of the Diamondback hitters in the ninth, showing his usual array of 99-mph fastballs and knee-buckling change-ups to seal the win for L.A. (enter Randy Newman, "I Love L.A." over the sound system).

Concessions

The highlight for me, other than the win and the four long balls, of course, was the food.

Whenever I catch a game I always go for a Dodger Dog or two. This time was no different.
Before we even sat down we made a quick trip to the concession stand for a couple of dogs and beers (hot dogs and beer are soul mates you know).

That was great and all, but what was even better was something I had never seen before. Something obviously new to the beverage-and-food counters I had been to so many times before.
 
It's called the Victory Knot -- a fitting name, considering you feel like a winner when you are eating it. It's a two-pound pretzel full of twisty, doughy turns. To top it off, it comes with three sauces that give you the feeling you are eating a three-course meal.

First you have your appetizer pretzel complete with a fancy mustard sauce. When you finish your first course, you move on to the main dish: pretzel a la beer cheese. Then for dessert it's, you guessed it, pretzel with creamy icing, rounding out what is truly a balanced meal.
While the lines at the concession stand weren't bad, the team shop was a different story.

(Note to self: Never go to the souvenir store on Opening Day.)

After waiting forever to ride the elevator to the top deck, we made it to the team store and were greeted by a few hundred people scouring the Dodger garb. Enjoyable? Not so much. We made a quick U-turn and headed for our seats.

The plus side of this trip was the beer we got waiting in line for the elevator after our quick departure from the team store.

All in all, it was another great Opening Day at Chavez Ravine. Let's just hope the success the Dodgers had in front of the sellout crowd on Tuesday will continue all season long.