Dodger Stadium

Tom Lasorda clearly was glad to be back at Dodger Stadium, even if it was only in civvies. The Los Angeles Dodgers manager, recuperating from an angioplasty after a mild heart attack, had a happy, poignant homecoming last night at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers stopped a 30-inning scoreless streak when Dave Hansen's pinch-hit single in the 10th beat the San Diego Padres, 1-0. The win gave LA a two-game lead over the Padres in the National League West. Returning to the stadium for the first time since he was hospitalized June 24, Lasorda said his physicians haven't set a date for him to resume his managing duties.

Multimillionaire apartment developer Alan Casden has said that if he is successful in buying the Los Angeles Dodgers, he would move them to a new downtown ballpark and raze Dodger Stadium for new housing. The chairman and chief executive of Beverly Hills-based Casden Properties told the Los Angeles Times his proposal amounts to "a $1 billion commitment to the city. " Casden, who has offered a reported $400 million, is not the front-runner in the bidding for the Dodgers, according to sources close to the team.

Phillies players pulled on fresh new uniforms - complete with an arm patch commemorating the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier - and walked down the runway where the green grass and fresh blue paint of Dodger Stadium awaited yesterday. "Just walking into a big-league park this time of the year gives you a rush," Curt Schilling said. The club held its final workout before today's opener. The agenda included stretching, hitting and running the bases.

Once upon a time, it was the goal of Michael Mimbs to throw seven shutout innings in Dodger Stadium on some glorious Sunday afternoon. And sure enough, yesterday he did. Except it was against the Dodgers, not for them. He wound up pitching 7 1/3 terrific innings in the Phillies' 2-1 win over his former team. He gave up five hits and one run. And now he has more wins (four) than any Dodgers pitcher except the pitcher he beat, Ramon Martinez (now 6-4). But as good as this one had to feel, not even a truckful of pasta delivered personally by Tommy Lasorda could have made Mimbs admit it. "It feels good to get any kind of win in the major leagues," he said, through his soft Georgia drawl.

Cost estimates for a major renovation of Dodger Stadium are coming in much higher than expected, so executives from Fox Group are contemplating tearing down the 36-year-old ballpark and building a new one. "We've gotten to the point where we have the initial cost estimates, and the costs are substantial in terms of the renovation plan we're looking at," Bob Graziano, president and chief executive officer of the Dodgers, said in yesterday's Los...

Before the Dodgers took the field against the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles last night, Roy Gleason threw out the first pitch - the first ball he's touched in Dodger Stadium since his rookie season 40 years ago. In September 1963, the stars aligned for Roy Gleason. Now, four decades to the month later, the cosmos has fallen into place again. In the meantime, Gleason's world exploded - first in Vietnam, where he sustained permanent injuries, then in a car accident that finally ended his baseball dream.

LOS ANGELES Dodgers fans and players are thrilled Magic Johnson is part of the group that bought the team, but many are wondering how Frank McCourt could remain connected to the franchise he was forced to sell. The Johnson group, largely funded by Guggenheim Capital chief executive officer Mark Walter, agreed to purchase the Dodgers, Dodger Stadium and a 50 percent stake in the parking lots surrounding the ballpark from McCourt for $2.15 billion. Sources with knowledge of the agreement told ESPN.com that the group will purchase half of the Dodger Stadium parking lots, deemed to have a total value of $300 million, with McCourt keeping the other half.

It was Fan Appreciation Night at Dodger Stadium. But, there wasn't much for the Los Angeles fans to appreciate. Vinny Castilla's two-run double that centerfielder Otis Nixon lost in the twilight highlighted a five-run, sixth-inning outburst and the Colorado Rockies went on to beat the fading Dodgers 10-5 last night. A crowd of 53,903 - the 10th sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium this season - attended the game, and the fans showed their displeasure by booing the home team on several occasions.

He's no longer "Bulldog," but Orel Hershiser showed he's still got some bite in a triumphant return to Dodger Stadium. Hershiser, a standout on the mound with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 12 years before leaving after the 1994 season, pitched six strong innings as the visiting San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers, 5-3, last night. Hershiser was pitching at Dodger Stadium for a team other than the Dodgers for the first time in his career. He played for Los Angeles from 1983 to '94, and ranks 10th on the franchise's victory list with 134 wins.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were left to wonder why unruly fans at Dodger Stadium weren't warned that the game might be forfeited if they didn't stop throwing souvenir baseballs onto the field. With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Thursday night and the St. Louis Cardinals leading, 2-1, the decision was made to stop the game after some in the sellout crowd of 53,361 on Ball Night littered the field with balls for the third time in the game. "We gave them three chances.

Looks like the era of good feelings in Los Angeles had a short shelf life. Less than a month after new ownership seemed to sweep away the gloom generated by the seedy Frank McCourt era and last season's hideous mugging of a fan on opening day, criminals struck again. A fender bender in a stadium parking lot led to the beating of a driver and the arrest of four people, police said Monday. The latest attack occurred Sunday when a man in his 20s had a collision with another driver and three men pinned him down, police said.

LOS ANGELES Dodgers fans and players are thrilled Magic Johnson is part of the group that bought the team, but many are wondering how Frank McCourt could remain connected to the franchise he was forced to sell. The Johnson group, largely funded by Guggenheim Capital chief executive officer Mark Walter, agreed to purchase the Dodgers, Dodger Stadium and a 50 percent stake in the parking lots surrounding the ballpark from McCourt for $2.15 billion. Sources with knowledge of the agreement told ESPN.com that the group will purchase half of the Dodger Stadium parking lots, deemed to have a total value of $300 million, with McCourt keeping the other half.

SAN FRANCISCO - Police sought suspects yesterday after gunfire erupted the night before in a stadium parking lot following a San Francisco 49ers NFL preseason game, injuring two men, including one victim who was wearing a "F- the Niners" T-shirt. That 24-year-old man, who was in serious condition, was shot several times in the stomach before stumbling to Candlestick Park stadium security for help, police said. Another man sustained lesser injuries in a separate shooting, police said.

A Los Angeles earthquake The most amazing story in baseball continues to be the ocean of empty seats in Dodger Stadium, once one of the most attractive places to watch a major-league game, but now a nightmare worse than the Vet at its nadir. These days, the phrase "boys in blue" refers to the scores of uniformed police summoned to patrol one of the most dangerous venues in professional sports. "Oh my God, it's like an armed camp in there," fan David Hamlin, a communications consultant who attended a game last month, told the New York Times.

Police believe many fans witnessed the beating of a San Francisco Giants fan that left him critically injured after the Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium and they're asking for their help in identifying the attackers. Two men in Dodgers clothing followed three men in Giants gear as they walked to their car after Thursday night's 2-1 Dodgers victory, Sgt. Sanford Rosenberg said. He said the men yelled slurs against the Giants and began kicking and punching the men, causing one victim to suffer a head injury.

Citizens Bank Park was voted the No. 1 ballpark in a recent survey by Sports Travel and Tours, which sponsors road trips and has been doing this survey since 2000. About 1,200 people participated in the survey. Voters could select five ratings: 1, Excellent; 2, Very good; 3, Good; 4, Poor, 5, Very poor. There were 19 survey questions and the Bank received 12 "Excellent" ratings and seven "Very Good" ratings. Here are the criteria and how the Bank fared:  CATEGORY: RATING Parking: Excellent Access to ballpark Excellent Seat comfort Very Good Field view from group seats Excellent Directions (access)

9 Oldest 1. Fenway Park (April 20, 1914). It's got a quirky charm - and aroma - all its own. 2. Wrigley Field (April 23, 1914). It's got its own quirky charm, but thanks to the hapless tenants not nearly as much history. 3. Dodger Stadium (1962). A mountain atmosphere in the heart of the nation's second-largest city. 4. Angel Stadium (1966). Redone more times than Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the place has endured nearly as well as adjacent Disneyland. 5. Oakland Coliseum (1968)

A young catcher with the Milwaukee Braves, Joe Torre was in his first full season in the big leagues in 1961 when a veteran lefthander, now in the Hall of Fame, boiled down the art of pitching to him in one sentence. "I was able to catch a guy like Warren Spahn," the Los Angeles Dodgers' manager said yesterday. "And he taught me a long time ago that hitting is timing and the pitcher's job is to upset that timing. I think Cliff Lee is that type of guy. " The timing for Lee to take the mound couldn't be better for the Phillies, who must overcome Friday's potentially deflating 2-1 loss to the Dodgers if they are to take the lead in the National League Championship Series with a win tonight in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park.