Could Dodger Stadium be shrinking soon?

This is not a news flash or anything, but getting into Dodger Stadium is a gigantic pain in the butt. While gorgeous, the Chavez Ravine location makes it not too easily accessible, and when you combine that with L.A. traffic and the fact that 56,000 people can fit in the place and really only have one parking option -- a giant lot -- it’s a recipe for madness and gridlock.

Bill Plaschke describes the scene for last night’s sold out Giants-Dodgers game -- just chaos -- and suggests a possible solution:

The Dodgers need to shrink the stadium. Fewer fans, fewer cars. Shrink it by replacing a bunch of seats with patios and railings and the kinds of restaurants that are landmarks in other stadiums. Transform the mammoth into a more intimate creature that has been so popular in other cities. Shrink it to also increase comfort, ambience and buzz.

And it’s not just one columnist’s idea. Plaschke quotes team president Stan Kasten, who talks as if it’s something the Dodgers are seriously considering. So seriously that one gets the distinct impression that it’s a plan of which Plashcke was made privy at some point and was waiting for a sell-out in order to float the plan out there.

If done right -- and the pleasing Dodgers Stadium aesthetics are maintained, which some other plans have decidedly not done -- it could work. 56,000 fans is an awful lot for baseball these days. If you open up the place a bit, lose some seats and add some other revenue-generating amenities and concessions you could definitely have something nice on your hands.

I think it’ll still be a pain cramming, say, 45,000 fans into the Dodger Stadium parking lots, but then again, they’ve been doing that for 50 years.