A’s at Angels

The West Coast tour continued last Saturday as I made my way down to Anaheim for the A’s and Angels game. I only wish I could have gone to Disneyland while I was down there, but there’s always next time!

Being an A’s fan, I naturally have a strong dislike (or hatred) for the Angels. I like to mock their name, especially since they are not in Los Angeles or even Los Angeles County, and to add to the mocking is the stadium name. It’s Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Again with the ‘of Anaheim’ in there.

All mocking and joking aside, the stadium is actually really nice. Out front of the main gates there are the giant Angels hats and on the stadium walls are pictures of their star players. They had a bunch of booths all set up giving some stuff away and fan interaction, including the Angels All-Star Mickey Mouse which you can get your picture taken with.

Me with the All-Star Mickey Mouse

Outside the main gates

I was excited to about going down there because I have family down there that I don’t get to see too often. They were nice enough to pick me up and give me a ride to the game as they got tickets to the game as well. Aside from the fact that they had on Angels gear, it’s old school Angels gear from the California Angels days so I’ll let it slide. I also got to finally meet my friend Mike (@MyHami) from Twitter at the game. It was great meeting you!!

I should mention that there was a country music concert after the game. I am not really a country music fan. I like some, but not a lot. There were a lot of country music fans there, or at least a lot of people with cowboy hats and boots. The dress entire down there was different from any other stadium I’ve been to, aside from the country western apparel. I’ll leave it at that before I go all fashion major on you. Since I’m not a fan of country music, especially for people I’ve never even heard of, I got out of dodge. Plus, I had just driven 6 hours and had to drive another 6 hours home the next day, so I walked back to my hotel and got some sleep. Also, I realized walking back that I’m still not OK with what happened in Baltimore.

Moving on. We got there nice and early to see batting practice, which was cancelled due to a freak rain storm. Judging by how the A’s played, they needed to take BP. However, the rain had let up enough for them to workout on the field before the game. It was great to see the guys and they were out there signing autographs for everybody, which I always like to see, especially when fans of the other team where over there. The highlight was watching Jerry Blevins, Sean Doolittle doing running exercises with Yoenis Cespedes. He’d beat them and kind of chuckle looking back at them.

The Angels had my least favorite pitcher on the mound for them in CJ Wilson. I don’t hate him for being extremely corny in his Head & Shoulders commercial, but for his comments about Oakland and how much he hates playing there. Good, we hate you too. Sadly, he was very CJ Wilson like, pitching 8.1 innings allowing 0 runs on 3 hits. It was painful to watch. On the flip side, we had Dan Straily pitching, who despite a pretty good start, got the loss. Straily pitched 7 innings allowing just 2 runs, one on sac fly and the other on a solo home run. I’ll take the blame on the home run. I got up to go get my mini bat from the team shop and before I even got to the concourse, Alberto Callspo hit his fifth homer of the year. The employee at the entrance to the team shop felt the need to get all up in my face talking smack, so much so that another employee had to come over to him to tell him to stop. Yeah, an EMPLOYEE of the Angels. I expect that from the fans, but not somebody that works there. Klassy.

I was really excited to see Grant Green play, finally. I met him at FanFest this year and he’s the nicest guy, so I wish him well. I hoped his first hit would be like Stephen Vogt’s first Major League Hit, a home run. That didn’t happen. Clearly. Unfortunately, Green was just sent back down to Triple-A, but I’m hoping he’ll be back and better in the near future.

Some cool things at the stadium, the fountain/rocks in the outfield with a big A in the rocks. Fitting since the stadium is known as The Big A. They also shoot fireworks off from there. I admit, it’s cool. Nearby there is a Jack in the Box. Yes, there is a Jack in the Box in the ballpark. Not as cool as Fat Burger (AZ), but still fun. On the main concourse and to the right of the main gates is something cool. They have the trophy from the 2002 World Series, the one where they beat the San Francisco Giants, on display along with photos and other mementos from that season. Across the concourse from that is a memory wall with photos celebrating their achievements over the years. Pretty cool. I like when teams do that, I know Houston and Philadelphia both have something like that.

The 2002 World Series Trophy

Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA

#Shame

It was perfect timing. Last night, not long after talking about things I’d like to see and not like to see in the A’s new stadium, a tweet was sent out by a CBS Sports journalist. I should mention, I said the A’s should have some of the same features in the new stadium as their current one.

I love the O.co. It may not be the best stadium in use, but by all means, it’s not the worse. And yet, people feel the need to talk badly about it. I don’t come to your house and talk shit about it, so don’t do that with my stadium. That’s like my other home, well my other, other home. I would much rather go to a game in Oakland than San Francisco. I dislike ATandT Park so much that in my baseball bat collection, I’m paying somebody to pick up my bat from there so I don’t have to ever go back.

In case you somehow missed it, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, felt the need to send this tweet out last night:

Tweet from Jon Heyman of CBS Sports

Somebody has some brass stones. It’s one thing to think stupid thoughts like that, but to actually type them out and hit send. Whoever said there’s no such thing as bad press is sadly mistaken. I’d rather be a nobody than be hated by thousands of people. I was planning on going to bed early last night after many of late nights recently, but I couldn’t stop refreshing my Twitter feed on my phone. Everybody rallied behind the A’s and the coliseum. Proving once again, we have the best fans in baseball.

We might not sell out every game, but that’s not the point. Even with 15,000 fans in the stands, it sounds like a sell-out. Plus, people are there to see the GAME. It’s a crazy concept. That’s what I don’t like about going to games in San Francisco. There are way too many people who are more interested to being at the game to say they were at the game than the game itself. Take tonight for example. The people sitting behind home plate, not one of them has a Giants jersey on, and there is a total of 3 SF hats. Plus they’ve been carrying on like they’re hanging out at a restaurant, chatting away.

Something that came out today that was worth a chuckle though was CJ Wilson’s comment. If you remember, Wilson when he was with the Rangers, talked major smack about the coliseum and is now booed every time he pitches in Oakland. Somebody mentioned him in a tweet with Heyman that they must be ‘friends’ hating Oakland to which Wilson responded with “hell no that guy sucks”. I still don’t like you CJ Wilson, but I don’t like you a little less.

Something I loved even more than the fan support was that the players even chimed in. Sean Doolittle made some good points and hilarious comments back. Heyman’s only response was that the thought the players wanted a new stadium. Of course they do, but until that happens, O.co is their stadium, their home.

Let’s Go Oakland! See you out at the O.co soon, but not soon enough.