Hits and misses on opening day

The right-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium have a new identity: the "all-you-can-eat pavilion."

Nicknames for the ballpark's new parking set-up aren't printable in a family newspaper.

The Dodgers' home season opener Monday afternoon -- a 6-3 loss -- marked the first day of all-you-can-eat feasting and the pricier, theoretically more tightly controlled parking. The result was something like a double-header split.

A highly unscientific fan poll found that the all-you-can-eat locale was a solid hit. But the so-called controlled zone parking generally was scored an error.

As he contemplated the long line of cars inching forward in front of him on his way out of the parking lot Monday evening, Armando Pineda of Pico Rivera reached a conclusion shared by scores of frustrated fans.

"It was better the other way," said Pineda, who had already endured one lengthy wait on his way into the parking lot and now was stuck behind hundreds of cars jammed bumper-to-bumper while leaving the Academy Gate.

There was little that appeared orderly about the Dodgers' controlled zone parking, which was designed to avoid the free-for-all approach of years past by filtering cars from the stadium's four gates into specified parking areas. The most common complaints involved longer than usual waits, parking spots far from the seats and unnecessary micromanagement.

Martha Ustick of Long Beach, a 27-year season-ticket holder, called it "the worst parking fiasco I've ever seen." Ustick said the line before the game was so backed up that she had to park near an elementary school well outside the stadium grounds for fear that she would miss the first few innings.

Cindy Myers, 50, of Yorba Linda, who said she has attended more than a dozen opening days and "never ever" missed a first pitch or ceremony, breathed a sigh of relief when she got to the Stadium Way exit off the 5 Freeway at 11:30 a.m. But she was still bottled up in the parking lot two hours later when she heard the crowd roar as pitcher Jason Schmidt belted a third-inning home run.

By the time Myers got to her seat, it was the middle of the fourth inning, and she was practically in tears. She planned to demand a refund for the game -- and maybe even for the rest of her family's 15-game mini-season pass.

"I don't care if I ever go to another Dodger game," she said. "I can't imagine going there again on Wednesday night."