World Series crowd not quite as hyped for Michelada
Dozens of 24ounce cups dusted around the rim with pepper and salt are lined on the counter before each Dodgers game at a bar just beyond the left-field fence.
Inside each cup holds some of the ingredients that make up the Michelada, a century-old drink from Mexico that has a loyal following at Dodger Stadium. Referred to by some as the Mexican Bloody Mary, the drink — at least in the recipe used here — combines clam and tomato juice ( basically, Clamato), lime juice, limes, hot sauce and other spices with beer.
The total cost runs at least $21 for the Micheladas sold at nearly 20 locations throughout the stadium, although one devotee of the drink said the concoction didn’t seem to be as popular in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday.
“That’s because there are a lot of white people here,” said Nancy Alvarez, who was among the four in her group with a Michelada in hand midway through Game 1, for which tickets on the secondary market were fetching $900 and up.
“The regular people who support the Dodgers can’t afford tickets.”
Alvarez bemoaned the fact that she has to request ice each time she orders a Michelada, which she estimates she has spent at least $400 purchasing this season.
“That’s unacceptable,” said Alvarez, who works for a health care company in Long Beach. “The Dodgers should put ice in. Micheladas have ice in it. They need to be cold, especially when it’s 104.”
Jose Avila is fine without the ice, even in triple-digit heat. “The ice melts,” Avila quipped. Maybe since it can be obscured by the other ingredients, Johnny Vegarra of Santa Fe Springs said the choice in beers doesn’t matter.
“I do it the same way they do it here at home, but I use PBR,” Vegarra said.
The Michelada, which has been sold at Dodger Stadium for several seasons, is another nod to the Hispanic community that was once leery of supporting the team. Chavez Ravine, where the stadium was located, once houses a massive Mexican-American community that was uprooted — some by force — to make way for the club after it left Brooklyn.
Mexican-born Fernando Valenzuela, whose stellar 1981 season included the Cy Young Award, rookie of the year honors and key role in the Dodgers’ World Series title that season, garnered support among the Hispanic community a generation ago that has persisted in the years since.
“Maybe a little bit is because of my heritage,” Avila said when asked why he drinks Micheladas. “I’m Mexican. I was born in East L.A. and raised there. I grew up a Dodgers fan and used to go to the roof as a kid to watch the fireworks from the stadium.”
It can be an acquired taste, however, for some.
“I got one for my best friend,” Avila said. “He’s drinking it. I don’t think he likes it at all.”