Field of defects?Patt Morrison’s magazine column in...

Field of defects?Patt Morrison’s magazine column in The Times about urban folk tales prompted KNX radio sportscaster Pete Arbogast to relate a Dodger Stadium yarn.

“If you sit up high behind home plate,” wrote Arbogast, who is also the Dodgers’ public address announcer, “you’ll notice that there is a portion of the hill on the far reaches of the center-field parking lot that appears to be carved out in the shape of a stadium. It’s now used as a police shooting range.”

According to legend, Arbogast says, “The original contractors were going to put the stadium there, but after a couple of months, a baseball fan/engineer realized the batters would all be facing into the sunlight. So they abandoned their project and put it in its current locale.”

What did he think his glove was for?Arbogast’s note reminds us of a minor urban tale involving the giant moths that occasionally flap about in Dodger Stadium. A Dodger outfielder of the 1960s, it is said, faded back for a fly ball and accidentally swallowed one of the creatures. Doesn’t compare to a Dodger Dog, we’ll bet.

Hopping right along: Before signing off, Arbogast also contributed a bit of lore about a section of Atwater near his Glendale residence: Frogtown. And this, he says, is no urban myth.

“Every 10 years or so, the baby frogs that inhabit the adjoining L.A. River come out and invade the streets for one night,” he said. “Literally tens of thousands. I’ve seen this happen so I know it’s true.”

Frogtown isn’t L.A.’s only colorful, unofficial suburb, either. Just east of Dodger Stadium, near an animal shelter within barking distance of the river, lies Dogtown. (It seems to us that considering how the team is doing this year, Dodger Stadium should also be considered a part of Dogtown.)

And, of course, there’s a bigger area with a similar name. All Angelenos live in Smogtown.

Honey, I’m Home (cont.): Arlando Smith says our list of TV husbands who had jobs in pre-recession America should have included George Jefferson of the long-running series, “The Jeffersons.” Jefferson owned several dry-cleaning stores, outdoing his old neighbor, Archie Bunker.

Holey art: Anne Friend of L.A. recently entertained an out-of-state visitor who had this comment about the sculpture (see photo) at Temple and San Pedro streets downtown: “You people really do take your drive-by shootings seriously.”

We can almost hear None of the Above applauding: Bev Place Chance of Montrose draws sympathetic beeps from motorists when they see her bumper sticker: “If God had wanted us to be voters, He would have given us candidates.”

miscelLAny:

Ken Rosenhek of Beverly Hills read our item about Dr. Frank Sinatra, an L.A. gastroenterologist, and called to point out that one of Dr. Sinatra’s colleagues is Dr. Dan Thomas.