I don't get out much.
Martin Rodriguez knows this. He's my next door neighbor. So when he called to invite me to go to a Dodger game with him, it wasn't so much an invitation as it was an order. "Hey, I know you're not a big Dodge Fan, but you're going to a game next Wednesday. Clear it with Rocky." A neighbor knows your wife's name. A good neighbor also knows when your wife wears the pants in the family . :)
He's not usually that aggressive, so to be frank, he kind of freaked me out a bit. I was truly afraid to say no. I'm glad I didn't.
Martin scored four tickets to the Dodger's Dugout Club.
For those not familiar, this is the absolute best place you can be in Dodger Stadium. The Club is right behind home plate and the tickets come with everything, including Dodger Dogs. Those in LA are going to kill me for saying this, but I've never understood what the big deal was about Dodger Dogs, so I opted for the Wolfgang Puck and Levy Restaurants buffet.
Nothing says baseball more than Roast Pork rubbed with Italian seasonings.
Martin also invited John Evarts of Classic Property Management of Santa Clarita and Arif Halaby of Total Financial Solutions. Both guys were a pleasure to be around and all three of them knew more about the Dodgers than I'm EVER going to know, so they were my own private game color commentators.
The Dodgers won and the game was great, but the game was really secondary.
Tommy Lasorda was hanging out when we arrived, so we got our photo taken with him. Larry King was within spitting distance. And Alyssa Milano was in the row behind us. Guess which one got more of my attention?
Now, I could have walked up to either of them and asked to take a photo with them as well, but trying to get a photo on the sly was WAY more fun. I felt like one of those photographers for the Planet Earth series, hiding in the jungle for weeks waiting for just the right moment. Alyssa was tough to photograph. She's a major Dodger fan, so she spent much of the game with her ear pressed against a radio listening to the play by play. But I don't give up easily. The Show below will give you a glimpse of the winning shot. :)
Martin, John and Arif were content to let me play my little photo safari game. They teased me all night about my efforts, but I know they were secretly rooting for me to get the shot as much as they were rooting for the Dodgers to win the game - as evidenced by John's emails today asking for the photo. As if I'm going to share it with him.
All kidding aside, I haven't had that much fun with a group of guys in a long time. See for yourself.
Martin, thank you again for a great evening.
Jeff Turner aka respres
Kaushik... thank you.
Cyndee... are you up early or late? :) Ahh... pampering. I'm going to see if I can get permission for some of that.
Hey Jeff, it sounds like you had a blast. Great seats at the ballpark, check. Getting you picture taken with Tommy Lasorda, awesome. Stalking L. King & Ms. Milano (who by the way gets extra points in my book for being a former 90210 cast member), nice; but geeking out at the game and not one twitter sent, you lost some serious geek cred. haha, j/k ;)
Randy... I've never been to Wrigley. That's one place I've always wanted to go and catch a game.
Andy... I lose geek cred whenever someone realizes my cell phone is 7 years old. :)
When I was little, our parents took us to a Reds/Dodgers double header. I'm not a baseball fan but it was a great time! And that was the greenest grass I'd ever seen! Like you, it was about the experience and fun much more than the game itself.
You did a great job with your stalking! ;o) I was reading aloud to my husband and he was only half paying attention until I said Alyssa Milano. MEN!!
Jeff,
Sounds like it was alot of fun! Btw, have you ever been to Fenway? The best Italian sausage sandwich anywhere! :)
Sorry Jeff..but even though you are a great guy I would have preferred the A. Milano picture...not Lasorda..he is not my type!
Seriously Tommy Lasorda is such a popular guy...I know because he used to show up at many Mets games when I used to go when I lived in NY..not sure you are aware,he was part of the Mets org many years ago.
Thanks for sharing and now i need to have a few hot-dogs this weekend.I'll be sitting in the Marlins picnic area which is in their bullpen..maybe I'll get a few shots with some players. I'm really a Yankee fan but they are playing the Mets.
so now you have become Paparazzi??!! That was great Jeff!
Never been to a Dodgers game, but have beens to Giants and A's and had a great time even without the fabulous seats your friend scored. I'm very glad you went and enjoyed.
Fran
Jeff, thanks for putting the show together. That was an awesome night. And let me tell all of you, Jeff is very proficient at sneaking pics of people. I don't know where he gets all the practice, but the word voyeur comes to mind. In fact, I think I remember him saying that word after getting that pic of Alyssa, and it just rolled off his lips with a little twinkle in his eye....
Seriously, Martin, can't thank you enough for the opportunity. The seats were incredible, the stargazing was exhilirating, but talking to Jeff Turner and Arif Halaby for 4 hours was.......priceless. Thanks a million, friend. See you Thursday.
Jeff, thanks for sharing your secrets. I wish I had a recorder with me. What was I thinking?! Anyway, it was a true pleasure spending time with you. For any of you wondering, he is just as genuine and selfless in real life.
Arif, what a great time, eh? I hope your kids liked the baseballs. I will talk to you soon.
John... truly my pleasure! In every way. And you're way to kind my friend.
Midori... the pants, the shirt, the shoes. She wears it all. :)
Rochell... she knows where to find me.
Cyndee... I'll email you some times.
Hi Jeff - I LOVE this show and of course perfect music to go along with it!! ;-)
Sounds like you had an awesome time! Don't you just love it when a night, or a day, or whatever turns out to be that enjoyable? Great memories of a great time - thanks for letting us share it with you through your post and pics!
Ann
{SVW Hubba}...
Did someone say stalking? You better NOT be stalking anyone or I'll tell TLW...ROAR! :)
Oh Wow...
Do they serve spam at the Dodgers Game. SVW.
Would you like me to log in now. LOL.
Okay...
I'm back and I do have a comment to make that actually relates to the post :)
We don't get out much either. We count on people like you posting events like this so we can live vicariously.
So let me wrap this up by saying...Thank you as I SVW.
TLW...ROAR!
Jeff..
The post, the pics, the video.. WOW.. Very Nice. A Grand Slam post.
What a fun night that was for all of us. Personally the magic was being there with the 3 most influential friends that I have in this business. (of course I only have 3 friends). I'm glad you enjoyed it, but I didn't realize that I forced the tickets on you so strongly. Hey can you blame me? I was competing with the American Idol grand finale....
Thanks Nikki, Jeff, Arif and John...
Martin
PS.. Final score 5-1 Dodgers over Brewers.. and yes the dugouts cleared out in the 6th inning as a hockey game almost broke out.. No punches thrown so it didn't make the news.. But it was a crazy night.
Good For You Jeff! I'm glad you went and you got some great photos too! Love the last one of the empty field. Looks like you had a great time! We all need to get out and have some fun once in awhile.
Martin... thank you again! It was a great night.
Lysa... I love th empty field photo too!
Great post, Jeff! I'm the same way...sometimes there's a lot more action and interesting developments in the stands than on the field!
p.s.---after reading several of your blogs, I'm just wondering......IS THERE ANYTHING THAT YOU CAN'T DO?
:) You're like the superman of the blog world!
Great Blog Jeff. Nice to see fellow dodger fans showing their dodger pride!!!!!!
Great camera work also kudos to you
Eddy
Jeff,
Great post, and way to show how a very short video can tell the whole story!