It’s a long escalator ride from Mary Hart’s $300-plus seats on camera behind home plate to Fat Daddy (Rick) Angona’s $10 seats on the Top Deck of Dodger Stadium.
In Mary’s seats, you get to see the player’s up close and personal, maybe even get a smile from them. In Fat Daddy’s seats, you’re as far away from up close and personal as you can get, and still be in the stadium.
So, why do Fat Daddy and his team of veteran ushers think their fans on the Top Deck have the best seat in the house? And why do they choose to work there when they could work any level closer to the field?
Because the Top Deck, they swear, is “the best kept secret at Dodger Stadium.”
You’ve got beautiful panoramic views, gorgeous sunsets, cheaper seats, shorter concession lines, less crowds, a better view of the whole field, and, maybe the most important thing of all to a Dodger fan — a quicker exit out of the parking lot after the game.
OK, so maybe the players look like ants from up there, but you can always bring your binoculars, and, really, you already know what they look like, right?
For ten bucks a seat, you get a drone’s eye view of the entire field — better than the one either Mary Hart or manager Dave Roberts has from the dugout.
It’s a no-brainer, said Angona, captain of the Top Deck ushers and former manager of the Dodger ushers softball team from the 1970s and 80s — Fat Daddy and the Boys.
They used to play the Angel ushers at the stadium the day after the season ended. Beat those Orange County boys pretty bad, Fat Daddy said.
He came over to the Dodgers from the gas company in 1975. Many of his teammates played their ball for the post office. They did their 20 years, kissed the mail and growling dogs goodbye, and went to finish out their careers with the Dodgers.
“I worked the visiting dugout on field level for 20 years and it was fun, but I love it up here,” Angona said. “You’ve got more time to mingle and talk to the fans, and…
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