Atlanta 5, Los Angeles [N] 1: Disappointing night at my first trip to the Stadium this season. Probably the best seats I've ever been legally allowed to sit in (field level, right behind home plate) merely gave me the opportunity to witness a boring, uneventful loss. Eric Gagne made his seasonal debut, allowed back-to-back home runs to the Jones Boys to start the ninth inning, then struck out the side. Julio Franco, who no doubt roomed with Otis Nixon and Cool Papa Bell in the old Negro Leagues, stole a base off the pathetic Jason Phillips. Celebrity spottings: Pat Sajak, Dodger exec Howard Sunkin*, the B.P.L.A., and "TV's Shane", Walt Goggins. No cannabis, gang tats, or drunken, belligerent, shirtless fans, but otherwise, a routine night at the ballpark.

*Classmate of author, Harvard H.S. '81.