60. See the Dodgers on the Road

You ready to live a little? As definitive as the Dodger Stadium experience is, you can’t ignore the reward of seeing the Dodgers at another team’s ballpark. Away from Los Angeles’ own friendly confines, you’re impelled to root a little harder for a win and die a little harder over a loss. Emotions are more naked when you’re in the minority. But there are several ways to go about this, and it’s worth considering the differences.

Though times have changed since the Giants moved from Candlestick Park to AT&T Park, situated beautifully at water’s edge and offering something of a pacifying effect, the most intense ride for a Dodgers fan on the road remains San Francisco. Showing up in neutral colors will sufficiently expose you to the loathing, but an appearance in Dodgers paraphernalia or even just some pro-Dodgers cheering will give you the added jolt of being a target of Bay Area disdain. There may be no sweeter victory than walking out of a Giants home game wearing the colors of a victorious Dodgers team.

San Diego’s PETCO Park can offer a slimmed-down version of the San Francisco challenge. The Padres are also in a 21st-century facility, though not quite as breathtaking as the Giants’, and the town detests the Dodgers, though not quite as venomously as San Francisco. But one thing to consider is that over the years, the Dodgers have fought more of an uphill battle down south than up north. In the past 35 seasons (1978 through 2012), the Dodgers have had a winning record in San Diego only 13 times.

Trips to the Dodgers’ other NL West rivals, Arizona and Colorado, are only about as intense as the pennant race in that given moment, though Colorado’s Coors Field offers a sensational skyline as a backdrop. Once you leave California’s NL cities, a Dodgers road game becomes less an exercise in traditional rivalry and much more of an excuse to simply view more of the best baseball has to offer. Wrigley Field in Chicago, the only remaining NL park still older than Dodger Stadium (by a lot—48 years), is a must-see for fans of all stripes—not just for the nostalgia, but also because it really is a fun, intimate spot to take in a game. If there’s any ballpark to visit when the Dodgers aren’t playing so that you can soak in the atmosphere without mitigating loyalties, it might be Wrigley. Otherwise, most of the rest of the National League presents a tour of new construction, as nearly every other NL city has something fresh. New York opened two parks in 2009: the Mets’ Citi Field (modeled after Ebbets Field and featuring a Jackie Robinson rotunda) and a new Yankee Stadium for the Bronx Bombers.

Ah, the American League. Nearly the entire 20th century was played without the Dodgers visiting an AL park during the regular season, but interleague play created all kinds of possibilities. Again, modern facilities dominate, with only Fenway Park in Boston providing a true Old School locale. The not-really-in-Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim offer the closest shot at accompanying the Dodgers on the road, but that’s a rivalry that has arguably become less special through frequency, compared with the days when the Angels were a mysterious opponent seen only during March’s Freeway Series.

Ultimately, the Dodgers road experience nonpareil belongs to fans of the team who live in other cities. A pilgrimage to Dodger Stadium from afar, a prodigal son finding home—that’s a win-win. And if the Dodgers win, a win-win-win.