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Even though the Dodgers lost 6-2, there was a lot of buzz in the stadium today with the Yankees in the house for the first weekend ever (excepting World Series appearances). The seats were full, footage of the '63 Series win over the Yanks ran on the video screen, and Ron Cey came back from the '81 champions to throw out the first ball. Smatterings of pro-Yankees cheers were heard when the New Yorkers did something, drowned out by boos for Jeter and Sheffield. Hideo Nomo pitched his first decent game of the season, held the highest-paid baseball player to a walk, and hit the Dodgers' only home run.
But it was a bigger day for the Yankees' starter, Brad Halsey: called up in the morning, he struck out the first batter he faced in the major leagues, stroked a single in his first-ever at bat, threw 70% of his pitches for strikes and got the win. As Jon Weisman observes at Dodger Thoughts, the Dodgers have unveiled their new rock-and-roll stadium persona, and relegated the organist to the seventh inning stretch. But I spotted the most untraditional twist out in the left-field pavilion. Along with the usual bouncing beach balls, fans tossed around a life-size inflatable female doll.