Dodger Stadium Name: Why is Dodger Stadium called Chavez Ravine?

Dodger Stadium is a baseball stadium in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

It is the home stadium of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.

It opened in 1962, and was constructed in less than three years at a cost of US$23 million (US$206 million in 2020 dollars).

It is also often referred to as a “pitcher’s ballpark”, because the stadium has seen 13 no-hitters, two of which were perfect games.

Dodger Stadium was also the home of the Los Angeles Angels from 1962 through 1965.

Why is Dodger Stadium called Chavez Ravine? To avoid constantly referring to their landlords, the Angels called the park Chavez Ravine Stadium (or just “Chavez Ravine”), after the geographic feature in which the stadium sits.

Dodger Stadium was the first Major League Baseball stadium since the initial construction of the original Yankee Stadium to be built using 100% private financing, and the last until Oracle Park in San Francisco opened in 2000.

Ground was broken for Dodger Stadium on September 17, 1959, after which tops of local ridges were removed, and the soil was used to fill in Sulfur and Cemetery Ravines to provide a level surface for a parking lot and the stadium.

A local elementary school (Palo Verde) was simply buried rather than demolished, and sits beneath the parking lot northwest of third base.