To live and die in LA
(This blog entry's dedicated to sometimes Wang Chung fan Joe Sirera.)
I've crossed off two more ballparks in my quest to visit all the major leagues have to offer while visiting friends in Santa Clarita, Calif., this weekend. A baseball traditionalist though I am, the nod goes to Anaheim's Angel Stadium over Dodgers Stadium. My apologies to Vin Scully, whose treasured radio voice is the best thing the Dodgers have going for them these days.
Really, this is a question of atmosphere, entertainment value and quality of the on-field product. And beer prices.
Dodgers Stadium has a view -- well, it's situated in a ravine, so not much of one, but better than the Angels' backdrop, which is Disneyland. They also have more history (even when just considering post-Brooklyn) -- I caught myself picturing Kirk Gibson's home run landing in the right-field seats. And, of course, there's Scully.
But the Dodgers are also pretty lousy and have a fairly tuned-out following. JD Drew's broken wrist -- he got hit by a pitch in the game we attended Sunday -- doesn't help a lineup that already features such luminaries as Oscar Robles, Antonio Perez, Olmedo Saenz, Jason Werth and Cody Ross. They lost 9-3 to Arizona this night. It was the 2nd-largest crowd in Dodger Stadium history, but, as usual, it arrived late. At least it didn't bolt early -- there were postgame fireworks.
The Angels had their 17th sellout of the year Monday night (thanks also to fireworks). But, unlike Dodgerland, where signs say "Think Blue" and fans act the part, the LA Angels of Anaheim had their place jumping. With the Angels down late, the Rally Monkey rallied the masses. I thought I was fed up with the gimmick by the end of the '02 World Series, but it's actually a pretty fun crowd-riler when those monkeys start dancing around on the big screen. A lot of stuffed monkeys being swung around in the crowd, too.
Whereas Dodgers-D'backs felt like a midseason Triple-A game, Angels-Twins felt like a playoff game. (The matchup very well could happen in October.) Vlad Guerrero, perhaps the best free-swinger in major-league history, blasted one home run halfway to Burbank. Joe Nathan got Darin Erstad to fly out to preserve a 7-5 Twins victory with a man on and Vlad on deck. Man, what I would've given to see that dramatic tet-a-tet with the game on the line.
They've really done a great job refurbishing and remodeling one of the old toilet-bowl stadiums of the '60s-70s. Dodgers Stadium has been spruced up, too, but I refuse to wash down a Dodger Dog with an $8 Sam Adams (12 ounces). I'd rather pay the almost-as-ridiculous $6.75 in Anaheim for that same beer.
One very Southern California thing about both parks: beachball-bopping in the bleachers. Maybe the thing that pushed the Angels over the top, besides the beer prices: Dodgers fans did several waves. Whenever dorks in the Angels crowd tried starting waves, neighboring sections declined. There was a baseball game going on, after all.