Final Thoughts on the Angels

I've been actively going to baseball games for the last eight years, and I have never jumped on a team bandwagon. A few posts ago, I said that I always would root for my hometown Eugene Emeralds, but they were always perennial losers and rooting for them usually ended badly. As for big league teams, I was always partial to the Mariners, but they too had been mediocre and tough to watch. After I moved to California, I knew this was my chance to finally latch on to a team and really become a fan of it. It was either the Angels, Dodgers, or Padres, and while I would go to games for all three over the course of the season, I wanted to really become a fan of one. 

The Angels geographically are the closest team to me and their Single-A squad is the 66ers, so it was an easy choice to ally myself with the Halos. I got a 10-game ticket package, planned out the trains and bike to/from Anaheim, and settled in to just being a fan. I really didn't know what to expect that first game against the Mets, but I had a feeling that I was embarking in something special. 

Because of my circumstances, I ended up really tuning in to the team and getting to know the players. It seemed like every night for the past three, I have watched the Angels game on tv. When I wasn't watching them, I was getting score updates on my phone. I became acutely aware of their progress to vault to the top of the division, and what other teams around Major League Baseball were doing. By becoming an Angels can, I became more of an overall fan of Major League Baseball. 

I had been to Angel Stadium twice before this season, and it didn't really wow. Even after going to ten games there this season, it still doesn't stand out as a memorable ballpark like PNC in Pittsburgh or Safeco in Seattle. What it lacks in structural integrity, it makes up for in charm. The Big A really is a fan-friendly, family-catered venue. Sure, it may seem Minor League, at times, bu I'd much rather spend an afternoon in that environment than the pressure-packed, and sometimes dangerous, Dodger Stadium. It, and San Manuel Stadium, have now become my "home" ballparks for Baseball Road Trips. 

Sunday was my final regular season game at Angel Stadium. The Halos fell to the Houston Astros 6-1. The loss snapped a 10-game winning streak for the Angels that cemented them as tr top team in the AL West. There's a strong possibility that they may clinch the division this week. In the ten games I went to, the Angels ended up winning eight of them. Ironically, the only two losses they sustained when I saw them were to the two worst teams in the division: the Astros and Texas Rangers. 

Will I go to any playoff games? Gosh, I sure hope so. Tickets are really expensive though, and I don't think I can afford them at present. Just a cursory glance on stubhub had them valued at over $80 for nosebleeds. 

One thing about the playoffs is that I won't be able to ride my bike and do the pre- and post-game routines in Orange. I think that the bike riding for the games really sold me on the viability of biking on Baseball Road Trips. It may have settled into a routine, but it got my mind thinking about how I can use my bike more often when I travel.