The parking lots around Dodger Stadium were observably dry on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023, after Tropical Storm Hilary passed through.
Tessa McLean/SFGATE
Those viral images of Dodger Stadium may have been a bit misleading.
Images of Dodger Stadium surrounded by apparent flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary circulated widely on social media on Sunday and Monday after the storm hit the Los Angeles area.
But Dodgers spokesperson Joe Jareck told SFGATE that “the stadium is fine and open for business as usual,” adding that he had “no idea” what was behind the viral images. He also told Insider that “I just see a very wet parking lot.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
Hilary was the first tropical storm to hit Southern California in decades, dumping record amounts of rain on the region. It weakened from a hurricane before making landfall in Baja California on Sunday morning. Los Angeles saw heavy rain, while San Bernardino County was hit by flash floods.
The images of the parking lots forming an apparent moat around the stadium seemed to be some type of optical illusion. An SFGATE reporter visited the stadium Monday and observed dry conditions in the lots around the stadium.
The Dodgers winked at the viral images, posting pictures of the stadium Monday with the caption, “Dodger Stadium trending? We get it. It looks beautiful this morning.”
Advertisement
Article continues below this ad
As the storm was approaching LA on Saturday, the Dodgers moved a home game scheduled for Sunday into a Saturday doubleheader with the Miami Marlins. The team will spend this week on the road with games in Cleveland and Boston; their next scheduled home game is Monday, Aug. 28, against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The San Diego Padres also moved a Sunday game into a Saturday doubleheader. (With 1.82 inches of rain, Sunday was the wettest day in San Diego in more than six years, according to the National Weather Service.) The Padres are still scheduled to host the Marlins for a three-game series beginning Monday night.
At least one Southern California baseball stadium appears to have taken some damage. Like the Padres and Dodgers, the Angels — who play in Anaheim despite the “Los Angeles” in their name — hosted a doubleheader Saturday to avoid playing Sunday. The Angels announced Monday that their scheduled game for the evening would be pushed back to Wednesday “due to the effects from yesterday’s storm.”