Todd Zeile, the Dodgers’ new third baseman, can’t think of anywhere he’d rather be

“There I was, sitting in the dugout of the Dodgers, the best team in baseball, trying hard not to look like a teeny bopper girl who has a crush on a cute baseball player. I was there for something much more important—to interview Todd Zeile, the L.A. kid who now plays for his favorite team, as many of us wish we could. As I waited for Zeile to come out for an interview, I was flooded with memories of great Dodger moments.
• The 1988 National League championship game against the Mets that I went to where I sat in the “yellows” (the best seats) for the first time,
• Orel Hershiser, on and off the field, in slumps or during the 1988 World Sereis, is the definition of a baseball player,
• the first time I remember watching Brett Butler play from the “reds” when my dad told me no matter how he plays he’ll always be behind him because Butler gives his all,
• listening to Vin Scully recapping Mike Piazza’s wondrous first year in the Dodgers last game of 1993 against the arch-enemy Giants when Piazza sent his second home-run of the game out of the park while I ran around the house cheering,
• watching Hideo Nomo pitch his first game in Dodger stadium for the freeway series,
• Making my dad trade our season tickets so I could watch Butler come back after his absence for cancer treatments.

As I waited for Zeile, I didn’t quite know what to expect. I had a list of questions to ask, a speech rehearsed in my head for how I was going to start talking to him and a pair of seats where I was going to interview him.
All of this preparation proved useless against the mystical powers of Dodger stadium. I was reduced to a gaping mouth, and million-mile-per-hour thoughts, that left me with only four words to utter, over and over: “This is so cool.”
As I walked onto the field, I had to stop and admire the sheer beauty of the stadium with its rainbow-colored seats set against the hills of Chavez Ravine. Then I heard the cracking of a bat, some guys laughing, some guys making fun of a completely botched catch one of their teammates made, some guys just sitting in the dugout chilling. This is when I realized what I love about the Dodgers, and what I was doing interviewing Todd Ziele.
Every city I go to with a baseball stadium I try to see a game. I have been to New York’s Shea Stadium, home of the Mets; New York’s Yankee Stadium; Boston’s Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox; and San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, home of the Giants. All of these stadiums were nice, but there was something missing. They played top 20 hits between innings instead of a classic organ. They had advertisements all over the place, instead of a mere two Coca-Cola ads and one Mitsubishi ad. Their hot dogs were boiled, not grilled. The Dodger organization is special and as Ziele said, the stadium itself is “It’s family owned, the last of its breed… It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t followed baseball that this is the one true unique baseball stadium. It’s open air, it has a grass field.” This is the mystical feeling of Dodger stadium that makes it so special, that makes me love it.
This is why I wanted to talk to Zeile, this is why LA is psyched about Zeile, because he knows what we feel. He’s our hometown boy, born on Sept. 9, the same date that Sandy Koufax pitched an amazing no-hitter. While attending Harte High School in Valencia, he admired Steve Garvey (1st base), Davey Lopes (2nd base), Bill Russell (shortstop) and Ron Cey (shortstop), during the great Dodgers days of the ’70s and ’80s. He used to sit in the bleachers and the lodge seats on the first-base line. One of his best childhood memories was when he missed school to watch a Dodgers playoff game on TV. His dad didn’t get mad when he found out, he recalled with a chuckle.
It’s no wonder Zeile turned down a lucrative offer from the Giants to come to the Dodgers.
We fans are constantly put down by articles written by Los Angeles Times sports writters Bill Plashke and Mike Downey about how we leave early and don’t support the team. Zeile said he comes to the fans’ defense. “People have preconceived notions about the fans in L.A., that they’re conceited, superficial Hollywood people who come in the third [inning] and leave in the seventh [inning]. The bottom line is 35,000 fans or more come here. The success that Dodgers have can’t be done without the fans.”
Although Zeile started out slow, his season has really picked up. Even though he told the L.A. Times that he never plays his best in April and May, the age-old question is in the back of all our minds: has the third-base “curse,” which has led to 12 players in 11 years? “So far it still lingers,” said Zeile with a smile. “Seriously, I don’t believe in that stuff.”
Zeile had a great sense of humor, too, as he answered even my most lame questions.
Dodger Dogs? “Love the dogs, grilled not boiled.” He tops the renowned dogs with mustard and onions. (Oh please, it’s all about ketchup and relish!)
What’s up with Mike Piazza’s hair? “I guess the Pert Plus is working,” he chuckled, referring to Mike’s appearance in Pert commercials.
In Todd Zeile, the Dodgers have once again captured what’s true about baseball. It’s not about getting the highest contract or making the most money. It’s not even about winning the World Series, although that would be great. It’s about people being nice to each other, just because. It’s about a game, and games are supposed to be fun, and that’s what the Dodgers make it.”

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