Read Ultimate Baseball Road Trip Online
Authors: Josh Pahigian,Kevin O’Connell
Josh:
Seems self-aggrandizing to me. Even the Yankees waited until Big Stein had headed to that big baseball field in the sky before unveiling a monument in his honor at the Stadium.
Kevin:
Point taken.
The team store is located on the 100 Level. Outside it a classy exhibit displays the 2002 World Series trophy and other mementos from the Angels’ championship, such as a Rally Monkey, a “Yes We Can” Halo Stick, and a World Series ring. Not far from the display, a huge American flag is mounted on the concourse wall. The flag was flown over the US Capitol at the request of congresswoman Loretta Sanchez in commemoration of the opening of the remodeled stadium on April 1, 1998.
Kevin:
Seriously?
Josh:
I guess Congress didn’t have anything more important to do that day.
On the 200 Level behind home plate a timeline reflects in words and pictures the story of the Angels. The history begins all the way back in 1960 when Gene Autry went to the MLB winter meetings looking for a team to broadcast on his radio station and left as owner and chairman of the expansion Los Angeles Angels.
The Curse
To Angel fans their team’s curse is much more frightening than the supposed Curse of the Billy Goat hovering over the Cubs. In Chicago, the players have a history of losing. In Anaheim, they have a history of dying. This caused Gene Autry to publicly consider rumors (which were never substantiated) that the stadium resided on the site of a former Indian burial ground and that angry Native American spirits were to blame for the Angels’ awful luck. The most recent example of this terrible phenomenon was the death of rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart in a car crash. On his way home from Angel Stadium in 2009, after hurling six scoreless innings against the Oakland A’s, the car Adenhart was travelling in with two others was broadsided by a van that had run a red light. The driver of the van fled on foot, but was apprehended and charged with drunk driving. Adenhart was taken to the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, where he died in surgery. The driver of the car, Courtney Francis Stewart, and the other passenger, Henry Nigel Person, were pronounced dead at the scene. While older cases like the untimely deaths of Donnie Moore, Lyman Bostock, Chico Ruiz, Mike Miley, and Bruce Heinbechner are painful memories to a fan base that has watched its idols endure more than their fair share of tragedies, the loss of Adenhart still causes many Angel fans to tear up and ask that most unanswerable question: Why?
While most years get only one or two blurbs of text, no less than nineteen magical moments from 2002 are remembered on the timeline.
While perusing this well-done display, we learned that Yankees pitcher Eli Grba was the first player selected by the Angels in the 1961 expansion draft. The right-hander, who had won eight games in two seasons with New York, went 11-13 with a 4.25 ERA for the Angels in their inaugural season.
Kevin:
Eli Grba. I’d like to sell you a vowel.
Between our first visit to Angel Stadium in 2002 and our most recent trip to Anaheim, we were delighted to find that the Angels took some of the advice we offered in this book’s first edition and seriously upgraded the concession offerings. Well done!
Former Angel pitcher Clyde “Skeeter” Wright may have had a lackluster 100-111 record in his ten-season career, but the Tennessee native serves up a mean Pulled Pork sandwich. Fans can find the affable Wright manning the stand that bears his name just inside Gate 1. Josh also recommends the Brisket and sweet and spicy Franks and Beans.
While we don’t necessarily consider this breed of dog among our very favorites, we did find much to like about the hot dog experience in Anaheim. Rather than getting the basic stadium dog, though, be sure to head to one of the Major League Dog stands (behind Sections 259 and 424), where you can order a freshly made wiener bearing the regional condiments popular in points elsewhere in the big leagues. The Halo Dog is a foot-long frank, wrapped in bacon and topped with jack cheese, beans, and Anaheim peppers.
The
Ruby’s Diner
stand behind the waterfall and rock display in center field has trademark Ruby’s burgers as well as zesty
Parmesan Garlic Fries
and
Milk Shakes
that Kevin gives four stars out of a possible three … in other words, the shakes are off-the-charts good.
For Specialty Sausages, head to the
Home Plate Grill
behind Gate 3. For fresh Mexican, visit
Angelino’s Grill
inside Gate 2. For a grilled sandwich, visit
Panini’s Café
behind Section 112. For a range of healthy chicken menu items, see what’s clucking … er … we mean cooking at
CHIX
behind Section 103.
Josh chickened out when it came to trying the sushi at
Toro
(Section 124) but we did note that sake and several Japanese beers were also available.
Josh:
Where else in the bigs can you get a Sapporo?
Kevin:
That’s an easy one: Safeco Field.
Josh:
Well, beside that?
Kevin:
Are we counting the Nippon Pro League?
Josh:
Never mind.
One nice thing about sunny Southern California is that you can always count on there being a game when the Angels are scheduled to play. As of press time in 2012, the last rainout in Anaheim was 1995.
When the home team is in contention—especially late in the season—Angel Stadium can be a raucous place to
watch a game, with the fans opting not to sit back as simple spectators but to play a part in the action. All it takes, really, is a 3-2 count when the Angels are at bat and the fans start stirring and stand up out of their seats. For the ordinarily laid-back West Coast, we found this impressive.
Josh:
But they were still late getting to the park.
Kevin:
Lighten up, man. You’ll live longer.
Before each game the Angels pump up their fans with a blaring rendition of Train’s “Calling All Angels” while a montage of great moments in team history plays on the big video board. The song doesn’t have anything to do with baseball, but, then again, “Sweet Caroline” doesn’t either, and Red Sox fans seem to never tire of it.
Kevin:
So who are you to criticize Angel fans?
Josh:
I purposely didn’t criticize them.
Kevin:
But you did criticize “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” in Baltimore.
Josh:
I don’t remember that.
Kevin:
As I recall, you said it was an affront to both Abner Doubleday and John Denver.
Josh:
Wow. I must have been having a bad day.
Leave it to a movie hub like L.A. to borrow its team’s mascot from such a high-quality flick as
Ace Ventura, Pet Detective.
But if it works—who are we to judge?
The Rally Monkey may look like nothing more than fun and games on TV, but there’s actually a method to the madness that first began in Anaheim during the 2000 season. First, the Rally Monkey cannot make his first official appearance until the seventh inning. Second, the Angels must be trailing in the game when the monkey squeaks his first shrill cry of encouragement on the video board. Third, the Angels must have at least one runner on base for the monkey’s spirit to be properly invoked. Fourth, once he does appear, fans are free to whip out whatever monkeys of their own they may have brought with them, or to start monkeying around if the spirit moves them (you know: picking bugs out of each other’s hair, swinging from the rafters, and making general baboons of themselves).
Now just so we’re clear, when we talk about the Rally Monkey we’re not talking about that ridiculous twelve-year-old in the orange orangutan suit who kept running up and down the aisle behind home plate during the 2002 postseason. He was a poor excuse for a monkey and a little too old to be dressed like that in public as far as we’re concerned. We’re talking about the real Rally Monkey. The one from the Angels TV commercials who lights up the stadium with his effervescence and enthusiasm, kind of the way Kevin lights up a barroom when he stumbles in singing “Irish Eyes are Smilin’.” You’ll know him when you see him: a crazy little bugger with a long tail and beady eyes.
It may be hard to understand how or why Angels fans get so excited over this moronic monkey, but they do. Whenever he appears on the screen, they hold up their own mini-monkeys and wave them back and forth frantically. Whether you laugh at this ritual as we did, or buy into it, you have to admit that the power of the monkey often proves legitimate.
Hey, as long as you’re embracing the circus theme, you might as well have some peanuts. The Angel Stadium ushers wear straw hats and old-style vests. During the seventh-inning stretch they stand on the field facing the crowd and with varying degrees of enthusiasm lead fans in the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.” When it gets to the part in the song that goes, “Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,” they throw bags of peanuts into the crowd. When the song finishes, they take a bow. So weasel your way down to the front row by the middle of the seventh, and you might be in for a treat.
Kevin:
Almost as much fun as the square-dance in Milwaukee.
Josh:
I still prefer Toronto’s “OK Blue Jays.”
Kevin:
Don’t forget about those cheerleaders, too.
Josh:
Oh, I haven’t.
Cyber Super-Fans
We tip our caps to a couple of excellent Angels bloggers:
The Angels really do it up with fireworks when one of their players goes yard. And they offer a weekly fireworks show after Friday night games. Maybe the team is still working its way through Disney’s leftover rockets or maybe Arte Moreno owns stock in a pyrotechnics company. Most parks that use fireworks send two or three colorful rockets into the air when the home team has something to celebrate. But at Angel Stadium more like a dozen rockets launch from the rock display.
Sports in (and around) the City
Catalina Island
From 1921 to 1951 the Chicago Cubs spent their pre-seasons on Catalina Island, a seventy-six-square-mile paradise twenty-five miles off the coast of Los Angeles. Cubs owner William Wrigley acquired a majority interest in the largely undeveloped terrain in 1919, hoping to turn it into a resort. The chewing gum millionaire installed streetlights and sewers, erected hotels, and built the world’s largest dance hall—the Avalon Grand Casino. But with the Great Depression looming, the island failed to catch on.
Catalina did, however, provide the Cubs with an exotic Spring Training base for the better part of three decades. The island featured a practice field—named Wrigley Field—that matched the exact field dimensions of Chicago’s regular season Wrigley. Even the famous Waveland Avenue rooftop-viewing decks of Chicago’s North Side were mimicked by clubhouse patios built into the mountainside overlooking the field.
Cubs players would get in shape by running along the island’s many goat trails. Then afterward they would soothe their burning feet with fresh eucalyptus, which grows on the island. A few weeks before the regular season, they would head to the mainland to scrimmage other teams.
But after several rainy springs, the Cubs left Catalina in 1952 in favor of Mesa, Arizona. Today, the beautiful island has finally become the beach resort Wrigley envisioned, offering visitors a glimpse of what California looked like two centuries ago: a wilderness of oaks, cactus, and sage surrounded by the sea. The island is just a fifteen-minute helicopter ride from Los Angeles and makes for an enjoyable day trip or longer excursion—especially if you’re road tripping with your significant other and want to give her a treat after so many days spent in the smelly road-trip car.
As for the ballpark? It was razed years ago, but the Wrigley Memorial remains—featuring a botanical garden and the Wrigley Mausoleum.
Josh:
As if there isn’t enough smog out here already!
Kevin:
Go back to Maine, country boy.
If you can hear them over the most unholy din baseball has to offer, Angel fans will happily tell you that Thunder Sticks debuted during the playoffs that led up to the fourth-ever all-California October Classic in 2002. We say these things—which always seem to rear their head come playoff time—should be banned. This ain’t NASCAR. It’s baseball.
No, we didn’t go to Disney. While we were in Anaheim, we went in search of the Angels’ roots, a quest that inevitably landed us back in Los Angeles.
With Kevin’s brother, Sean, leading the way, we fearlessly ventured into South Central Los Angeles to find the site of old Wrigley Field, which had housed the expansion Angels in 1961 and the Pacific Coast League Hollywood Stars before them.
Arriving at the Gilbert Lindsay Recreation Center on Central Avenue, we were happy to find several youth ball fields and a skater’s park on the eighteen-acre site, but no remnants of the old ballpark. After stomping around for about fifteen minutes with our eyes on the ground—looking for an historical marker or old home plate laid in the ground—we were ready to abandon our quest.