One of my earliest memories of baseball is when my mother took me to my first baseball game at Dodger Stadium. If you've never been there, then it is one of the most beautiful baseball stadiums that you could ever go to. I've been to Wrigley and Fenway and they are both amazing in their own way but going to Dodger Stadium on a summer evening is magical. I was probably around 8 or 9 years old and I can still remember walking through the tunnel and seeing the field unfold in front of me. We were in the upper deck and I remember my mom telling me that they have double headers sometimes where you can watch two games for the price of one. I was so excited and my mom turned around to the ladies seated behind us to ask if that game was part of a double header and they said no. I was disappointed but still excited to watch a baseball game, a Dodgers baseball game live. The team had an awkward third baseman by the name of Steve Garvey who dropped a popup in the infield and I remember everyone booing him. Later in the game he hit a home run and suddenly he was everyone's hero. The Dodgers lost the game but I didn't care. I was now a fan for life.
We used to go to Dodgers games because my sisters would get free tickets due to good grades but I remember we would always have to leave around the 7th or 8th inning to beat the traffic (an unfortunate habit that I carried into my adulthood). We also went to Angels games because we were only about 20 minutes away from the stadium and the Angels weren't that good so we could get cheap tickets close to the field. As I entered high school, I started going to a lot more Angels games and my love for them started to grow. They always seemed to have bad luck and we used to joke around that the stadium must have been built on an ancient Indian burial ground. One time my cousin and I decided to go to a Rams game when they used to play at Angels Stadium and we weren't sure which tickets to buy. As we stood outside of the ticket booth trying to decide what seats to buy, someone walked up with an extra ticket and gave it to us. We were shocked but then thought, hey, maybe if we hang out here long enough somebody else might give us a ticket. Sure enough, not more than five minutes later someone came up and offered an extra ticket. I think companies bought a block of tickets and not everyone could go so they would try to get rid of the extra tickets. We got in for free and we just walked around the whole game without ever going to the seats that were given to us. I then decided to try my luck at Angels games so I would go before the game and stand in front of the ticket booth waiting. It worked. Somebody always had extra tickets and would offer me one so I would get in for free. It may sound really lame but I would go to the right field stands and find an empty seat and when someone would hit a home run to right field, I would stand up and wave and then go home and watch the 11 PM news. There I was! Standing and waving! I know, lame...but I enjoyed doing it.
I kept going to games and they won the division in 1979 and 1982. I was able to get ticket to game 5 in 1979 but they never made it that far falling to the Orioles. I was able to get tickets to game 2 in 1982 but they ended up being the first team ever to win the first two games and then lose the next three. 1986 seemed to be the year that they would go to the World Series but again, they were one strike away from going when Dave Henderson of the Red Sox hit the home run to crush our dreams once again. They ended up losing both games in Boston and that was it. The next year I remember going to their first home game and Donnie Moore (who gave up the home run to Dave Henderson) came into the game and people booed. I was one of them. He ended up killing himself and it haunts me to this day. He tried his best and I booed him. I remember it being a turning point in my life.
We moved back to the States where I continued to follow the Angels and in 2002 I remember it was the first time that Rachel would sit down with me and watch Angels games with me. We watched a lot of games that summer so when the Angels made the playoffs as the Wild Card team, it sure seemed like a special year. We got tickets to the first game against the Yankees and they gave us Thunder Sticks that when banged together were very loud. We were in the right field bleachers and the noise was deafening. The Angels came from behind and won and it was spectacular. We got tickets again, just Rachel and I against the Twins and when the Angels won, we were walking out and some man picked up Rachel and gave her a hug because he was so happy. I think she'll always remember that. Then came the World Series. I got a single ticket to Game 1 and the Angels lost but I couldn't believe I was there watching. For Game 6 we went to our friend's house and watched again as the Angels came from behind to beat the Giants. I tried to get tickets to Game 7 and almost had one but somebody outbid me at the last second and I wasn't able to go
After that and over the years we've had our ups and downs. We went through the Vlad years which to this day he is still one of my favorite players ever. His home runs were magical to watch. We then got Pujols and CJ Wilson and things seemed to be getting better and we finally had some guy named Trout that made watching baseball so much more fun. It has been awhile since we've been in the playoffs but I know our time will come soon enough. This week it was announced that the Angels were going to sign Shohei Ohtani from Japan which makes me think of Spring Training and how I can't wait to see how he fits in our club.
I will always bleed Dodger Blue but I will love the Angels always...and hopefully Rachel will too!
Rachel and I loving baseball!
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