Lauren
If you were raised in LA there’s a good chance you bleed Dodger blue. Being a faithful Dodger fan for many years, meeting and talking with Lauren was fascinating to say the least. Everyday many Angelenos commute to work to sit behind a desk for eight hours, but fortunately for Lauren, part of her commute consist of driving up Vin Scully Avenue into Chavez Ravine to her workplace. What is known as work for her, for many other Angelenos, it is known as one of the most beautiful places in Los Angeles, Blue Heaven on Earth, the one and only, Dodger Stadium.
Lauren is a crew member for DodgerVision at Dodger Stadium, and her and her team are responsible for all the video footage and media that you see on those giant video boards hanging over the bleachers in right and left field. When you see a hilarious moment on the kiss cam, a replay of an amazing catch, or video that hypes up the crowd in late innings, you can thank Lauren and her team for that. Their goal each game is to bring exciting entertainment to the fans at Dodger Stadium by providing fun games between innings, loud music, player stats, and endless video of fans and the game.
Lauren is currently in a transitional season as she looks to further her career in video production. She looks for her next step and where life will lead her. After graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors of Arts in Radio, TV, Film, Lauren got her start in video production for sporting events at the UCLA Pauley Pavilion. There a co-worker recommended she apply for the video production team for the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, where she would later be hired.
Being a lifelong Dodger fan, I had so many questions for Lauren. I felt like a kid asking someone what it’s like to work at the North Pole with Santa Claus. She kindly obliged and answered my, sometimes trivial, questions with a smile on her face, even going on to tell some fascinating stories about celebrity sightings, or casually running into Dodger legends in the corridors at Dodger Stadium. She goes on to recall the time she shared an elevator with second baseman, Howie Kendrick, after a game, then gives some insight into Fernando Valenzuela’s odd ritual every time he adds cream to his coffee, where he takes a cup in each hand and pours the coffee with cream back and forth, from one cup to the other, to stir and cool down his coffee. When I asked her if she or anyone else gets star struck when seeing legendary and Hall of Fame broadcaster, Vin Scully, or any other past and present Dodger players around Dodger Stadium, Lauren replied, “I was actually star struck meeting Vin Scully, he’s a legend!” Lauren also added that in the end all the Dodger greats are regular people like everyone else. Ironically Lauren was also star struck when meeting Jason Alexander one night during a game because she’s a huge Seinfeld fan.
Lauren admits that she never thought she would be working for a baseball organization, and had hopes to one day cover Motocross or NASCAR, but now loves her job and where she works. “I love going to work at the stadium and feeling the energy and the electricity,” says Lauren. She also has learned so much about the game of baseball simply by working as a crew member for DodgerVision at Dodger Stadium. Lauren recounts the historic night of Dodgers’ Ace pitcher, Clayton Kershaw’s no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies, and how she was unaware until late in the game that Kershaw had a no-hitter going. She says she can relate to Dodgers’ former organist, Nancy Bea Hefley, when she once said that Dodger Stadium was her school for baseball while playing the organ over the years. Lauren now knows and can appreciate the intricacies of baseball and the game within a game.
When asked what piece of advice she would give her younger self, she replied, “Be more outgoing.”
Before she dies she wants to travel more and one day go cage diving with sharks.
Her favorite current Dodger player is pitcher Clayton Kershaw, not because of his dominance on the mound, but because of his altruism off the field. Him and his wife Ellen are constantly giving back to charities and less affluent communities in Los Angeles and other parts of the world. “He’s also one of my favs because he’s a Christian and it’s awesome to see the platform he’s been given. To see the way the Kershaws live their lives and to see them glorify God in all they do is so awesome and inspiring,” says Lauren.
88 stories to go.
