It’s a Change of Pace, but Stadium Still a Hit

It’s good to know that two years of Fox and $50 million in construction can’t change the essence of Dodger Stadium.

After an off-season of renovation, Opening Day 2000 found most views of the ballpark brought the same familiar sights that always made Chavez Ravine one of the best settings in baseball.

The elegantly symmetrical layout. The hills in the background, looking more lush than ever. The wavy roofs above the outfield pavilions. Even the orange and blue Union 76 ball slowly spinning in the parking lot beyond center field.

And, for good measure, an Orel Hershiser on the mound.

They all won out over the 565 seats in the new Dugout Club or the 30 luxury suites the Dodgers installed over the winter. (Plenty on those later).

This opening day served as a reminder that sometimes the best things in baseball are the simplest, and nothing can be done to take those away.

Does it get any better than a one-run game with the bases loaded, two out, one of the game’s most dangerous hitters at the plate and 53,000 fans screaming?

That was the situation in the top of the seventh. With no room to pitch around Cincinnati’s Ken Griffey Jr., Dodger reliever Terry Adams struck him out with a high fastball to help preserve Hershiser’s status as the winning pitcher in the Dodgers’ 8-1 victory.

And the best thing that can be said about the home opener was it felt like a step backward, to the way things used to be when Hershiser last pitched for the Dodgers six years ago.

The Dodgers have had plenty of upheaval but have not taken any steps forward the last two seasons. That might explain why people were a little apprehensive at the thought of bulldozers and cranes arriving at Dodger Stadium. But when Hershiser took the mound and saw those familiar yellow seats on the field level, he reacted the same way most of us did.

“It felt like Dodger Stadium,” Hershiser said. “It felt like I’m in L.A. It definitely does feel a little bit like a different ballpark, but I don’t think it’s going to take very long to get used to the changes.”

The most noticeable are at the front of the field. The old sunken dugout-level seats are gone, replaced by nine rows of padded blue seats that begin 57 feet behind home plate.

“It’s different looking up from the catcher and [seeing] people right there,” Hershiser said. “Usually you have the optical illusion in the old Dodger Stadium of . . . a catcher and he’s there all by himself with the umpire and the hitter and it’s like you’re out in the middle of nowhere. Right now it’s like the fans are right there on top of you.”

The other obvious change is the switch from a dirt warning track to an artificial warning track ringing the field.

Look, the Chicago Cubs added lights and luxury boxes to Wrigley Field and it retains its old-time charm.

The changes to Dodger Stadium are acceptable if it means the team will stay there.

“I learned a long time ago never say never, but I think it guarantees we’re going to be here for a while, yeah,” Chairman Bob Daly said. “There’s no public funding in L.A., and it’s very expensive to build a ballpark. And this is a beautiful ballpark. And I think we’re going to do more things to it as time goes on. I think it’s in great shape. I hope to be here for a long time.”

The Dodgers need additional revenue sources if they are to continue bankrolling one of the league’s most expensive rosters.

Longtime Dodger fans won’t like all of the adjustments, and there were plenty of gripes Friday.

Fans with seats on all levels of the stadium used to take the escalators to the club level to take advantage of the concession stand (it usually had shorter lines) and bar on the club level. Now that stand is gone, so is the bar.

And accessing the escalators and staircases required more security clearance checkpoints than the Pentagon. They have yet to bring back the Cool-a-Coo. There is a consolation prize, though: Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

That’s just the beginning of the new food choices.

Forget peanuts and Cracker Jack. Next time we go to Dodger Stadium, buy me some oven-roasted baby red potatoes with peppered bacon and caramelized leeks and fresh seasonal fruit.

Those were only two of the menu choices at the Dugout Club restaurant, where a season membership including four tickets can cost up to $100,000.

Friday’s menu choices included a variety of salads, Pepper Roasted Sirloin, Ham and Jarlsberg Swiss, and lo and behold: “World Famous Dodger Dogs.”

The hot dogs are even “Served with a variety of accompaniments to ‘Create Your Own Masterpiece.’ ”

They have another way of saying that in the rest of the ballpark: “Catsup, relish and onions are to your left.”

The usual routine will do just fine for people who don’t want to see any greens at the ballpark besides the infield grass. Other than the old dugout seat-holders (who were displaced to some new field-level seats installed along the foul lines), most fans will enjoy the same views from their same seats in one of the most picturesque stadiums in the country.

Dodger Stadium (in business since 1962) trails only Wrigley Field in National League seniority and it remains among the best.

“I think Dodger Stadium is still one of the gems,” Hershiser said. “If we’re not allowed to rebuild it because of finances or location or politics or whatever it is, then we need to continue to polish the gem.”

It shined pretty brightly Friday.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at his e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com.