BALLPARK HISTORY

Ballparks are full of history. They each have thier own distinct features, The bricks and ivy in Wrigley, monument park and the mystique of Yankee stadium, the warehouse at Camden, the green monster at Fenway, and more, but when you go to a park its more than to see the game, its to take in the environment. As much as I dislike it, part of going to Turner is listening to the fans do that tommohawk chant. I also enjoy seeing the statues or plaques of players who have contributed to all that history.

Each ballpark also gives you a different perspective of the game. What might be a HR at one park is just a fly ball in another. The site lines, angles and views of a game vary from park to park, even if your sitting in the same general area. Also the in game extras , like the mascot races, or singing the stretch at Wrigley, Sweet Caroline at Fenway, or the 7th inning God Bless America at Yankee stadium.

Another great thing about parks is visiting the local bar near the stadium. Harry Carays and Murphy's in Chicago, Pickles in Baltimore, Hockeytown Cafe in Detroit, Hooters in Anaheim, Rock Bottom Brewery in Denver (and Cinci), Harpoon Brewery in Boston, and Billys sports bar in the Bronx.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Angel Stadium, 2012

#22
Angel Stadium

This was our 5th and final game of our 5 park trip. All 5 parks in Cali in 5 days. We passed Angel Stadium on I-5 on the way up to to Dodger Stadium. We could see the "big A"  and the stadium from the highway. We had 3 other games to got to first but were pumped to come back, and it didn't disappoint.
This was #22 on my list of all the ballparks. 19 current and 3 retired. 


The outside is very sharp. The big A is awesome, but the home plate entrance is really cool. It has baseball bats coming off the wall holding up the canopy. Lots of red color with the banners and the 2 huge Angel hats.

Anaheim Angels

Here is Chris posin' on the Angels baseball in front of the hat. 


They even put the size inside the rim of the hat. 



Angels Stadium

The inside of the park is gorgeous too. We got inside and cruised around to take pics and they were everywhere. The rocks in center field is a waterfall on the backside. We had upper deck seats here but you can see the game while walking through the lower concourse, like Turner field, because it is wide open. 



We moved to the the top behind home plate for some pics, and realized that it wasn't breezy there at all.  We decided to hang there for the game, they were very good seats. Just because it is mid June in So Cal, doesn't mean it is not cold. 63 and 10 mph wind is pretty cool at night, especially when drinking Shocktop. $10 for a 24 oz beer is a pretty good price too. Shawn would be proud of me, because I typically stick to basic beer, like Bud light or Miller lite. Stepping out and drinking that was out of my league. It was very good though. 


So after missing the perfect game in SF by one day, we kept talking about how E Santana had a no-no under his belt, but chances were very slim of something like that happening. After 3 innings it was 2-0 Angels on a 2 run shot by Mark Trumbo.


After 6 innings, still 2-0, but 18 up and 18 down for Santana. After looking at the D-Backs lineup, they didn't have many good hitters left after the top of the order. He made it through the first 2 in the 6th until Justin Upton finally got to him. A ground ball just to the left of 2nd base. That is all he would give up the rest of the game. A 1 hit shutout and SO close to perfection. Well it was still great and a heck of a game to wrap this trip up. Final 2-0 Angels. 


Here are the Mickey Mouse statues from when the all-star game was here in 2010. 




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