Long before former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt decided to renovate Dodger Stadium to include exclusive and luxurious Dugout Club seats behind home plate (which he could sell for upwards of $50,000 per seat per season), there used to be seats behind home plate between the dugouts that were far less luxurious (and less expensive) that were simply called Dugout seats.

Now this certainly is not to say that those old Dugout seats were any less prestigious, as they most certainly were. They allowed those sitting in them (frequently celebrities) the opportunity to interact with players and coaches before the games started, just as today’s Dugout Club seats do. But from an actual game-viewing standpoint the old Dugout seats left a lot to be desired because they were set below the actual playing surface and didn’t allow for the natural curve of the field, thus making it difficult to see the outfielders from the waist down and impossible to see diving catches.

This 1967 photograph of Dodger Stadium shows the Dugout seats behind home plate.
(Photo credit Blake Bolinger – Click on photo to enlarge)

But as a youngster, there wasn’t a better seat in the house than those Dugout seats and I have very vivid and very fond memories of watching Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax pitch a game while I was sitting in those seats one time as a very excited 10-year-old.

Fast forward 50 years.

During a recent interview with Dodgers left-handed pitching prospect Jarret Martin in the Camelback Ranch clubhouse, the 23-year-old Bakersfield native unknowingly brought those cherished childhood memories back to me when, of all things, he shared a similar memory that he had of a Dodger game that he saw from those very same Dugout seats as a youngster.

“When I was growing up, I grew up a Dodger fan,” Martin said. “I looked up to Mike Piazza, Eric Karros, Raul Mondesí, Todd Zeile, all those players, they were like gods to me.

“A friend of mine had a birthday party at Dodger Stadium and we sat in those seats behind home plate when it sunk down,” Martin added. “I’m thinking we were maybe 10 years old. A foul ball goes up and Mike Piazza comes running back towards the net and slides, catches the ball and sprays the entire bottom section with dirt. I had my glove on and I had the dirt, and I’m ten years old, and I’m like ‘This is Dodger Stadium dirt!’ so I put it in my pocket. I had that dirt and rubbed it in my glove. I know what it’s like to be a fan and to be here now in this platform and to play for this organization is unbelievable.”

Although Martin’s dirt story brought back a flood of memories for me, it was even more refreshing to hear his sincere appreciation of what it was like to be a fan. It seems that many players all to often forget their humble beginnings and have lost sight of just how important their interactions with fans can be – fans who look up to them as heroes, just as Jarret did to Piazza, Karros, Mondesí and Zeile when he was a youngster.

“I got my feet wet with the Dodger Community Caravan and with FanFest,” said Martin. “That was an experience that not very many (players) get to have. It’s a lot different than the minor leagues where you have your team-set baseball card and you have your pro debut baseball card, and you get your true collectors or a few fans who want your autograph, but when you see the faces on the people who just truly love the Dodgers and fans of the team, you’re like a hero to them. Just being a part and just being able to socialize, or just take a picture or say ‘hi’ with a fan and then to see them post it on Twitter and say ‘you made my day,’ that’s really cool.”

Martin reads to pre-schoolers during the 2014 Dodgers Community Caravan.
(Photo courtesy of @JarretMartin)

The Dodgers organization is well aware of just how important fan interaction is and they actually instruct their young players how to deal with it.

“They teach you here (at the major league level) how to handle it,” said Martin. “Playing for the minor leagues you don’t really understand it. But there’s a point in time where you can’t sign every autograph and that’s hard because you know the fans are out there waiting for hours and sometimes you just can’t do it. Sometimes they don’t understand but that’s just part of the job and part of the business. Number one is taking care of your work and getting outs.”

Sometimes getting a little dirt on you can be a good thing – just ask Jarret Martin.

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(Author’s Note: Jarret Martin is very active on Twitter and frequently interacts with fans. Be sure to Follow him: @Jarret Martin).