Dodger Stadium

A man attacked alongside Bryan Stow testified Friday that the beating in a Dodger Stadium parking lot was completely unprovoked and came at the hands of a violent local fan whom their group of San Francisco Giants fans had tried to ignore. The witness, one of four paramedics who traveled together from the Bay Area to attend opening day last year, recalled how the fan, dressed in a white Dodger jersey, set upon them out of the blue as they crossed the lot, shoving Stow and punching another friend in the face.

Despite complaints about drunken hooliganism at Dodger Stadium, state regulators rarely visit the ballpark and have issued no citations for liquor-law violations there since 1999. Fans and some police officials say that over-imbibing at Chavez Ravine has become a stubborn problem. But not to the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the licensing authority that enforces responsible booze retailing, according to records and interviews. Davey Johnson was still managing the team when ABC last alleged a single instance of a Dodgers vendor running afoul of the rules, such as by selling to minors or inebriated adults or failing to do enough to prevent disruptive behavior due to drinking.

After hundreds of dead-end leads and bogus tips from reward seekers, it was a routine meeting between an ex-con and his parole agent that may have cracked open the case of Bryan Stow's beating. Shortly before 7 on Sunday morning, a SWAT team from the Los Angeles Police Department crept into the courtyard of a dreary, run-down apartment building on Mariposa Avenue in East Hollywood. With weapons drawn, the officers made their way toward apartment 25 -- the rear unit on the second floor.

My favorite new yoga position -- you should try this -- is slanted kind of sideways in a loge-level seat, a bag of peanuts balanced on my knee, a foamy beverage in my left hand like a six-gun. This position stretches the torso and loosens the hamstrings. A couple of innings like this and you'll feel like a new man -- or a new woman, if that's your preference. Honestly, I can't recommend this yoga stuff enough. It's a good season to stay loose, we all know that. The Dodgers are obviously saving their best for the playoffs, which makes these next 15 games sort of a chore for purists like you and me. So it goes.

Musings from the far reaches of Dodger Stadium, while wondering how big the tea pot-shaped Prince Fielder would be if he weren't a vegetarian: From a fan's standpoint, Dodgers games are dramatically better this year, and not just from the win-loss perspective. Security is tighter, the gangy vibe of the last few years on the mend. Families are back, and the entire atmosphere, from field level to the top deck, is vastly improved.

The game ran late, as night games sometimes do, so it was nearly 11 p.m. when the Dodgers finally cleared out of their locker room. With the final players heading for home, clubhouse attendants began gathering crumpled uniforms in a cart. They started two big washing machines going in a room beside the showers. "A lot of laundry to do," said Alex Torres, an assistant clubhouse manager. "We'll be here all night. " This is the part of Dodger Stadium that fans don't see. PHOTOS: Pitch to pitch: A behind the scenes look at Dodger Stadium After the last out is recorded on the field, after the parking lots empty and the lights dim, a new kind of competition begins.

Tom Lasorda calls it "heaven on earth. " The huge stack of printed email on my desk in response to safety concerns and a Giants fan left in a medically induced coma paint an entirely different picture of Dodger Stadium. As one emailer put it in summing up what so many others wrote: "When there has to be a public announcement before a game instructing people that the others around them who bought a ticket have the right to watch the game without being harassed, it's time to find something else to do. I did. " In response to a Page 2 question a few days ago: "Is it really safe to attend Dodgers games?"

SAN FRANCISCO — Hanleywood isn't preparing to make its debut at Dodger Stadium. When Hanley Ramirez played there as a member of the Florida Marlins a few years ago, he recalled, the team's broadcasters used that catchphrase on television. Of course, the term didn't delight Dodgers fans then like the sight of the infielder in the home team's uniform could Monday night. "It's going to be a lot of fun," Ramirez said of his first game at Dodger Stadium, against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Southern California has its share of destination open-air markets — the Rose Bowl Flea Market, the Melrose Trading Post at Fairfax High School, the antique markets at Pasadena City College and Long Beach Veteran's Stadium to name a few. Phillip Dane, who opened the Fairfax High Flea Market in 1991, kicks off the first L.A. Flea Market at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, July 18 in parking lots 10, 11 and 12. The next two L.A. Flea Market events are...

The Los Angeles Police Department announced plans to bring aggressive crime-fighting tactics that it employs on city streets into Dodger Stadium as part of a security crackdown a week after a visiting fan was attacked in the ballpark's parking lot. Overriding a Dodger policy against armed police inside the stadium, Police Chief Charlie Beck said Friday that uniformed officers will be posted throughout the ballpark and will be more aggressive about...