It’s Bradley Who Pulls the Switch

On the first LAPD Night at Dodger Stadium, the home team won, giddily but peacefully.

As uniformed LAPD officers patrolled a sellout crowd announced at 53,689, Milton Bradley commanded center stage. Bradley hit two home runs, including the game-winning grand slam, to power the Dodgers to a dramatic 7-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday.

“We’re at home,” Bradley said. “We always come back.”

After Adam LaRoche hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth, Bradley trumped him with a slam of his own in the bottom of the inning, earning a curtain call from fans waving giveaway towels.

Bradley, who tied a career high by driving in five runs, joined Eddie Murray as the only players in Dodger history to hit a homer from each side of the plate twice one season.

Bradley was thrilled to be in the same company as Murray, his hitting coach with the Cleveland Indians.

“He always told me, you can hit, and you’re going to hit with some power,” Bradley said, then describing how Murray adjusted his swing to make that possible. “Thanks, Eddie.”

Jeff Weaver carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and a 2-0 lead into the eighth, but LaRoche homered on Weaver’s 119th -- and final -- pitch. Bradley got Weaver off the hook with his slam, earning a big hug from Weaver after the game.

Yhency Brazoban, who will yield the closer role to Eric Gagne today, earned the save. In Gagne’s absence, Brazoban converted 11 of 12 save opportunities.

The Dodgers had good intentions in inviting fans to buy tickets for $2 on Tuesdays, generally a slow night at the ballpark. But the LAPD is here for good, and the promotion probably gone for good, because of fan misbehavior that marred the last $2 Tuesday.

“99.9% of our fans are decent people,” Bradley said. “You get the 0.1% of people who come to games to get drunk and get stupid. With a $2 ticket, you get more of the stupid fans. Those people aren’t baseball fans.

“To get more people out here is great. Obviously, they’ll probably have to do it in a different way.”

On a $2 promotion on the Dodgers’ last homestand, the game was interrupted by two teenage boys running onto the field, then delayed as fans in the right-field pavilion littered the field with debris. Fans also reported outbreaks of abusive language.

The Dodgers will offer discounts in the future, chief operating officer Marty Greenspun said. As for the $2 Tuesday, an alliterative nickname that now evokes the aura of trouble, Greenspun said the Dodgers have not scheduled any more of them.

While the Dodgers have added uniformed LAPD officers for special events, such as postseason play, never before has the team committed to hire officers on a daily basis.

At parking gates, attendants distributed a card printed with a fan code of conduct. Greenspun said the cards would be distributed at parking gates again tonight and “on a regular basis” thereafter. Ushers also carried those cards.

In addition, the Dodgers put eight-foot-high signs in front of all turnstiles, with the code reproduced in English and Spanish.

And, in the most visible change, LAPD officers worked in uniform, patrolling the entrances before the game and the stands during the game.

“We’re always looking to improve the fan experience,” Greenspun said. “This is something that was probably long overdue.”