Dodger Stadium and fans ready for Monday afternoon NLCS Game 2
Excitement is in the air at Dodger Stadium as the Boys in Blue enter Monday's 2024 National League Championship Series Game 2 on a 33-scoreless inning streak.
The Dodgers won Game 1 of the series Sunday night, shutting out the Mets 9-0, the largest shutout win in Dodgers postseason history. Dodgers broadcaster Jerry Hairston Jr. said the Dodgers are starting to hit their stride.
"Fans it's ok to shower -- make sure you clean up, be loud, make sure you support your team. The Dodgers will take care of the rest," he said.
Fans started arriving hours ahead of the 1:08 p.m. start time and were greeted by mariachi music. The stadium is prepped for postseason play, with special logos painted in front of the dugouts, and the head groundskeeper Jordan Lorenz attesting that staff went over everything with a fine-tooth comb.
Lorenz has been with the team for 18 years, and while he watches the game as a fan, he's also watching the field.
"It's a little bit of both, especially this time of year watching as a fan. My guys, you can hear them screaming in the break room during the game, but we're also watching just how the field is playing, making sure everything is playing like it should and the players are all happy with it, and there's no weird bounces, so a little bit of both," Lorenz said.
It's not just the field that is ready for the NLCS. The kitchen also kicked it into high gear with a special menu -- ramen noodle burgers, colossal kabobs, and a very loaded baked potato, in case fans want more than a Dodger Dog to fuel the cheers and chants.
Dodgers Historian Mark Langill warns fans that you never know what will happen.
"It's like climbing Mount Everest, you're not done yet, you can't high-five in the middle of the mountain," Langill said. "So, it's nice to win the first game, but you got to keep going."
Hairston Jr. also gave the Mets credit. "They are a talented team, they aren't going to quit."
The Mets and Dodgers have met three times in the postseason. New York won the last encounter in 2015 when the Mets edged Los Angeles, 3–2. The Mets also swept the Dodgers in the 2006 Division Series. The first match was in 1988 when the Dodgers won the series four games to three. The Dodgers then went on to World Series Champions after defeating the Oakland Athletics in five games.
"Yes we also faced the Mets in 2006 and 2015 in the division series -- but 1988, those are the golden memories we hang on to," Langill said.