It's a high-flying ball, going, going -- it's way out there over the center-field fence, past the right-field pavilion! It's a solid hit!
No, that's not Vin Scully describing a Shawn Green home run at Dodger Stadium. It's Chuck Mercier, talking about the unusual gas station that for 41 years has stood in the middle of the stadium parking lot.
Most fans pay no attention to the orange Union 76 ball that rotates over the station in Lot 37. Until, that is, they notice that their fuel gauge is on empty and they're a long way from home.
Gas station -- An article in the July 17 California section about the Dodger Stadium 76 station referred to "Royal Triton" gasoline. That is a brand of motor oil, not gasoline.
Then they're only too happy to learn that Mercier's service station is the only one of its kind in major league baseball.
"I was absolutely ecstatic to see it here," fan Synthia Durazo of Diamond Bar said after she limped into the station "on fumes" to buy $20 worth of regular during a recent game.
As she pulled out, Will Acosta of El Monte pulled in. His Chevy Suburban was loaded with friends and low on fuel. "We barely made it," he confessed. "We were stalling out coming up the hill."
Behind him was Javier Gonzales of Santa Monica and his 9-year-old daughter, Sienna. He didn't want to risk running out of gas "in case we get stuck in gridlock after the game," he explained.
No money-maker, the station is open only during home games and sometimes sells only 600 gallons of gas a day. But it's been in continuous operation since Dodger Stadium was built in 1962.
In fact, the metal-framed station, its canopy-covered pump island and the non-automated pumps themselves are originals -- throwbacks to an era when uniformed attendants filled your car's tank, washed its windshield and checked its engine oil level for you.
These days, a row of trees shields the station from the view of fans sitting in the stadium. But its distinctive orange ball can be seen. And during night games, its glow can't be missed.
The prominent location is no accident. Union Oil Co. helped build Dodger Stadium.
Company records indicate that Union Oil's then-chief executive, Reese Taylor, was among the local leaders who helped lure the Dodgers to Los Angeles from Brooklyn in 1958.
When the team built the stadium in Chavez Ravine, Union Oil helped finance the $23-million project. In exchange, it became a major sponsor of Dodger radio and television broadcasts, according to Kathleen Post, a spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips, owner of the Union 76 brand.
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- DODGERS / HISTORY LESSON Sep 14, 1999
