Olympics set to join Dodger Stadium's storied non-MLB legacy
As the third-oldest active ballpark in the Major Leagues, Dodger Stadium has seen plenty of baseball history since opening its doors in 1962. It's also been host to several other notable happenings in popular culture, sports-related or otherwise.
One such event is coming up in the near future: Olympic baseball is coming to Dodger Stadium for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. When all is said and done, it may very well go down as one of the best non-MLB events at the Dodgers' home ballpark, which we've compiled here in reverse chronological order:
World Baseball Classic championships, 2009 and '17
The second edition of the World Baseball Classic played out its championship game at Dodger Stadium, where Team Japan defended its title with a 5-3 victory over Team South Korea. While it wasn't a Major League event, several big leaguers played key roles in the title game. Among them was Yu Darvish, who gave up a game-tying run in the ninth but was the winning pitcher after Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki's go-ahead two-run single in the 10th.
Eight years later, the championship game returned to Dodger Stadium, and Team USA defeated Team Puerto Rico, 8-0, to seal its first Classic title. A loaded lineup backed a dominant Marcus Stroman, who did not allow a hit until the seventh inning and earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
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Pope John Paul II's mass, 1987
Decades before Pope Leo XIV declared his allegiance to the South Side, Pope John Paul II paid a brief visit to Los Angeles that included a stop at Chavez Ravine. His Holiness gave two masses, one in front of a crowd of 63,000 at Dodger Stadium -- the highest attendance in stadium history -- and another to more than 100,000 at L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
Olympic exhibitions, 1984
Before baseball's debut as an official Olympic sport in the 1992 Barcelona Games, it was staged as a demonstration sport the last time L.A. hosted the Summer Games. A USA team led by future big leaguers Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin and Will Clark was the favorite to win, but Japan pulled off an upset in the first-place game (because it was not yet an official Olympic sport, no medals were awarded).
The Beatles' penultimate concert, 1966
A classic venue in the city of stars, Dodger Stadium has hosted some of the biggest musical acts. The first concert to take place at the venue was none other than the Fab Four, and it was their second-to-last official concert (the final one would take place at Candlestick Park in San Francisco). So intense was Beatlemania that the band had to leave the ballpark in an armored car, a tale that the great Vin Scully recounted 50 years later.
Giant International Ski Show and Grindelwald Ski Swap, 1963
Imagine watching skiers soaring through airspace usually only touched by fly balls -- yes, really! Of all the events to stage in L.A., an international ski show came to Dodger Stadium. There was a 165-foot ski jump by the foul pole in right field and two jumping events, featuring competitors such as Olympian Gene Kotlarek.