Having just moved from the Philadelphia area to Los Angeles, I was rooting for a Dodgers-Phillies NLCS. Even before the Phillies beat the Rockies and the Dodger’s swept the Cardinals in their separate division series’, I entered the Dodger’s lottery and bought tickets to Game 1 for my two roommates and me.

Last year, I was beyond luckily to win the chance to buy World Series Game 5 tickets and watch the Phillies defeat the Tampa Bay Rays over the course of three freezing rain-filled nights. Game 5 was my only option a year ago and, by chance, it turned out to be the game in which the Phillies achieved the first Philadelphia sports team championship in my lifetime. I chose standing room-only tickets because I was able to invite two friends, whereas seats were limited to two people. I figured sharing the experience with an extra person was worth not being able to sit down. It also made my choice of who to take a little easier. Me, plus two friends, plus 43,000 towel-waving Phillies fans dressed in red was quite an experience.

This year’s game at Dodger’s Stadium was quite different experience. First, I chose Game 1 instead of ordering tickets for a potential clincher. LA hosted Games 1 and 2 and will host Games 6 and 7 next week, if necessary, so there’s a good chance that the Phillies (or Los Angeles) will end the series at home in Philadelphia. Second, wearing a T-shirt that says “Phillies World Series Champions 2008” gets very a different reaction at Dodger Stadium compared to Citizens Bank Park. This was immediately evident when we stood up to cheer Carlos Ruiz’s three-run homerun in the fifth and everyone behind us was sitting down in disgust. I took the heckling, and a peanut shell to the head, with pride because the Phillies won this nail-bitingly close game 8-6.

Two things I noticed about the heckling, though: 1) The lone peanut shell was just that, a shell. If a Dodger fan was really mad, it would’ve been a whole peanut. 2) The continuous “Phillies suck” chants throughout the game didn’t really say much about the Dodgers since they were losing to the Phils from the fifth inning on.

I wasn’t planning on going to Game 2, but a producer I met while covering Wanted: Weapons of Fate in Los Angeles in March had an extra ticket. I didn’t hesitate to jump at the unexpected, but gracious offer, however, I found out the game started in 30 minutes, so I had to also jump into my car and rush over to the stadium. It’s only supposed to be 20 minutes from Burbank, meaning I should’ve been there 10 minutes early. Of course, that’s without factoring in the traffic. What’s maddening is that the stadium is located on a hill, which for some reason is limited to about four lanes. So, the problem isn’t so much LA traffic, but a poorly designed entrance into the park.

I parked in the lot located above the “Think Blue” letters (imagine: Hollywood sign of Dodgertown), which is where Sony PlayStation used to hold its annual E3 parties for the gaming industry. Game 2’s seats were significantly better because I was almost behind home plate. Sadly, the Phillies lost 2-1 after leading the game until the eighth inning. The series continues in Philadelphia and I hope the only time the Phillies return to my new area in 2009 is if the Angels happen to beat the Yankees and the Phils play them in the World Series in Anaheim.