Special privileges: Church, team share benefits
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On their Web site, the Dodgers themselves state that the Church "draws the largest crowd to the stadium every season!" This season's date is Thursday, Aug. 6, in a game against the Atlanta Braves.
Sonja Eddings Brown, a public affairs representative for the Church in Southern California, said the Church is the largest single group that participates with the Dodgers. That means some special perks including, this year, a nationwide search for an LDS member to sing the national anthem prior to the game. Sister Brown formed LDS Open Auditions for a competition whose winner will step up the microphone on "Mormon Night" and sing to an expected-to-be-packed stadium.
"I just thought it would be a great idea this year to throw it open to anyone in the Church who had ever had a dream of singing the national anthem in a big ballpark," she said of her brain child during auditions for about 50 finalists in the Church's Conference Center Theater in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, July 22. About 30 other finalists auditioned in Los Angeles during the same week.
That means the national anthem in the Los Angeles stadium may be sung by someone from Tennessee or Wisconsin. Though most of the finalists, whittled down from more than 500 entries, hail from California or Utah, they represented a total of 12 states from Oregon to New Jersey.
The winner will be representing the Church at the baseball game, Sister Brown said, and entry requirements reflected that.
"Every single one of these contestants had to have a recommendation from their bishop," Sister Brown said, "and so there isn't anyone here who has not been recommended to be a representative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
"Most of the people who are here today have made a big sacrifice, a lot in a financial way, to come and be part of this just because it's a privilege for them to be representatives of the Church. Not just to have the opportunity to be heard, but to be able to stand up on behalf of the Church. It's a great moment for them."
Six finalists will be guests of the Dodgers and take the field prior to the game. The winner will then be announced and step up to the microphone to sing the national anthem. A second winner will sing "God Bless America" during the seventh-inning stretch.
The partnership between the Church and the Dodgers has been a blessing for many talented Church members, Sister Brown said.
"There are a lot of people who have come here to step into the spotlight for one second," she said. "They're not keeping their lives under a bushel basket. They really want to share their talents and we're able to give them an opportunity to be heard and to test themselves.
"For a lot of them, this has been a real challenge. This is the biggest thing they've ever done. They've had to call on prayer and family and their talent to be able to stand up here today and try to do their best. It's been a great experience for them, some in a professional way, and some in terms of experience, and others just in terms of meeting a spiritual challenge."
Elder John Dalton, an Area Seventy in Southern California, explained how the Church benefits from a tie with the Dodgers.
"Having Mormon Night at Dodger Stadium is helpful to the people of Los Angeles to see that we enjoy the Dodgers, we enjoy fun, that we're normal people," he said, noting the challenges the Church has in the area, most recently with the Prop. 8 controversy. "This is a wonderful time for Latter-day Saints to show their great spirit and enthusiasm for a wonderful team."
He added, "It's also a wonderful opportunity to invite our friends and socialize with them outside of a normal Church setting and where they maybe feel a little more comfortable. We'll have, more than likely, a large group of missionaries there in their white shirts."
At the same time, he acknowledged the Dodgers benefit. This is the 10th year of the partnership and sales of special promotional tickets for "Mormon Night" often account for as much as 20 percent of the total attendance, which is around 55,000.
Elder Dalton admitted some bias toward the team, having grown up in the Los Angeles area as a Dodgers fan and noted they are in first place in their division.
