So Cal Attractions 2: Angel's Game

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is a convoluted name for a team, but Arte Moreno, who bought the team three years ago and came up with that name, nonetheless has put together a great entertainment experience in the shadow of Disneyland. He's spared no expense in packing a lineup filled with .300 hitters, so if you go to a game, you can expect to see some fireworks.

 

Last night, Julie and I went with Jay and his girlfriend Katie. We received four tickets valued at $28 each for free when KROQ came to our favorite Happy Hour pub, Patrick Molloy's in Hermosa Beach, last week when we happened to be there, but that's another story.

 

Moreno has gone out of his way to make this a family friendly venue, and while the prices for food and drinks aren't cheap, it's certainly lower than I've seen at some stadiums. For example, there were two sizes of Coors Light, at $4.50 or $6.50. Hot dogs started around $4.50, but the deals were on the giant bratwursts and All Star dogs at around $7 or $7.50, as they were monstrously big. There's also peanuts and Crackerjacks, although we followed our family tradition of bringing our own peanuts pre-purchased at the grocery store rather than paying $6 for a decent sized bag that wouldn't be big enough for us.

 

This being Southern California, of course, there are more choices than expected standard ballpark fare. Panda Express featured Chinese food, with a two item combo for $8.50, which I believe is about $2.50 more than we pay by our house, so it's not bad. And besides the cheaper beer, there were places to buy Guinness, Blue Moon, Heineken and Corona at premium prices of between $7.75 and $12, depending on variety and sizes(up to 24 ounces). I was even able to buy a rum and Diet Coke for Julie at $8, which is high but not outrageous.

 

Best of all was our old favorite, an ice cream sandwich made with chocolate chip cookies. They no longer call them Cool-A-Coos, but they were just as good as when we bought them while attending a game with my oldest daughter Gina when she was about five and we would chant for them. At $4.50, they're about three times the price as the freshly made ones at Diddy Riese in Westwood near the UCLA campus (another story for another day), but for a treat at a ball game, it's a deal.

 

Of course, going to the ballpark is not all about food. It's also about people watching. If you want to see America, go to a baseball game. It makes you much more optimistic than an evening in front of the TV absorbing the news and trash entertainment.

 

Oh, and there's also a baseball game. The one we saw was not a pitcher's duel. A see saw battle, the Tampa Bay Rays would just not accept that they were not going to beat the Angels on that day. We saw lots of hits and runs, including real fireworks for home runs by the Angels. There were doubles, a batter hit by a pitch on each team, and a triple, plus lots of singles.  We saw great defensive plays and errors, stolen bases and runners thrown out trying to take third on a base hit to shallow center field. We saw the first baseman catch a line drive and then dive back to the base to try to double up the runner, who also dove back to the bag at the same instant and was barely safe. We booed the umpire who looked like Leslie Nielson when he called a Tampa Bay Ray safe at second when the Napoli's throw obviously beat him but the umpire apparently focused on the arm the runner pulled away from the tag and didn't see the tag on the leg. With the score tied 7-7 in the top of the seventh, former San Diego Padre Gary Matthews Junior was sent to the warning track but pulled in the third out of the inning.

 

After we sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” however, Julie and I realized it was past our high scoring game was running long. We watched the game as we walked toward the gate, and I thought Matthews was at bat, because I heard people chanting what I thought was “Gary.” I told Julie I wanted to see him hit, because I thought he would hit a home run to lead off the inning. Sure enough, he sent one into the right field foul pole, which was right in front of where our seats had been. The ball hit the pole and bounced toward the field for a home run. I looked around, and there were Jay and Katie, who had left a few moments after Julie and I. Jay had also said he thought “Gary” would hit a homer.

 

I didn't want to know any more, feeling that nothing could improve that finish, but this morning I peaked at the sports page. The Angels held on to win, 8-7, but it turned out the home run was not by Matthews but by future Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, the 400^th of his illustrious career.

 

Anyway, if your family is looking for something to do while in Southern California, take them out to the ball game. Anaheim Stadium is a relatively easy drive from either Long Beach or San Pedro, and while you're in town, there's a mouse and some Goofy friends who would like to talk to you.