After another short night in Vegas, Heidi and I loaded the mini-van and hit the road for Los Angeles. The drive was full of spectacular views -- first desert, then mountains, then plush hills, and finally the City of Angels. On the way we stopped in Baker, CA, the home of the largest Thermometer in the World. I dropped Heidi off at LAX around 3:00pm and made my way to Anaheim Stadium.
To say the roads around Los Angeles are a maze would not be giving the designers enough credit. Every lane out of LAX goes a different direction and off ramps aren't really labeled until you are right on top of the exit. You find yourself dodging other drivers while looking for your correct direction and with speeds reaching 70 mph, it feels like you are fighting for your life. In comparison, once you reach Anaheim, the signs are clear, the streets are wide and calm, and the stadium is easy to find.
A friendly halo welcomes fans to Anaheim Stadium and parking is easy (with more than 25,000 parking spots in the lots surrounding the stadium). But that is where the luxury ends with Anaheim stadium for the moment. That is because Anaheim Stadium is undergoing a massive renovation -- part of which is already complete -- that will entirely change the stadium by the beginning of the 1998 baseball season.
Currently, most of the stadium is behind curtains or walls indicating ongoing construction. The outfield is closed to fans, no seats are available on the middle level of the stadium (usually reserved for "club seats") and there are no sky boxes or other suites. Most of the seats in the stadium (the entire upper deck and everything beyond the bases on the lower level) are faded and uncomfortable -- the expensive seats behind home plate were replaced in the past year -- but every seat that remains does have a good view of the action on the field.
The walls for the outfield are plastic tarps covered with cleat and other markings, the bullpens are dirt floors protected by chain link fences, and a large pile of dirt sits beyond the left field wall (where seats used to be located). There are two scoreboards, both will live action diamondvisions, (neither too impressive in size) and scaffolding for the new scoreboard climbs high up beyond the right field seats spoiling what would be a beautiful view of the California countryside. All in all, this stadium needs some serious help.
But, help is on the way -- thanks to the Disney Company. Phase One of the renovation of Anaheim stadium is complete including the removal of all football related seating and press facilities, the replacement of the sod and infield dirt (now a beautiful dark brown color), and the renovation of the dugouts and clubhouse areas. The dugouts are spacious and are highlighted by beautiful hardwood benches. The clubhouse, which looks like all the other clubhouses in the league, is said to be twice the size of the old clubhouse and comes complete with a television (no kidding) larger than my mini-van. The players lockers are decorated with baseballs as supports and leather couches give comfortable resting areas for the tired major leaguers.
Phase Two of the construction is underway and will be completed during the 1997 baseball season. The outfield seats will be removed and replaced with a waterfall (similar to that of Kansas City) and a new scoreboard will be constructed in right field (the scaffolding as indicated before is immense). The Club level will boast new and improved sky boxes and other seats, a Terrace Level Concourse will be constructed, and the bullpens will be relocated. And, Phase Three, which includes the construction of a new stadium club restaurant, exterior plaza, and elevator towers, along with the replacement of all the seats in the ballpark will begin after the 1997 baseball season ends.
When construction of the "new and improved" Anaheim Stadium is complete, it will be one of the nicest ballparks in the league. Until then, it is something of an eye sore, with all the scaffolding, dirt, and construction equipment clogging the view. I will just have to come back when construction has been completed to get a full idea of baseball in Anaheim.
I had some trouble gaining access to the field because all of the accessible entrances to were blocked by construction debris and danger warnings. When I finally made it to the field, I took a seat in the Angels dugout and waited for players to arrive. I was supposed to be met during batting practice by either the General Manager or Assistant General Manager so I spent most of my time looking around and trying to read name tags, not yet able to match faces to names for most of the ballclubs. The majority of the local sports writers (more than a dozen of them) were gathered in the dugout with me. I was somewhat surprised to see them all helping themselves to beverages and chewing gum, but, trying to look as natural as I could, I grabbed a piece of bazooka for myself.
After a few minutes of twiddling my thumbs, Angels outfielder Orlando Palmeiro, gestured towards me and pointed at my camera. He walked over a few seconds later and asked "what are you doing here? What's up with that camera". Stammering slightly I said "nothing. . just watching you guys warmup." He chuckled and then said "I'll be back in ten or so minutes. . . I have to hit. . . but then I want to talk to you about your camera -- I'm thinking of getting one for myself." After fifteen minutes (and a few whopping hits) he returned and took a seat next to me. I offered him my camera and he took a couple of looks through it as if he were testing it in a store. We spoke for about five minutes about my camera (the Canon Rebel G) and all of its features before he had to leave to take the field for practice. On his way out of the dugout he thanked me saying "I'm glad I asked you. . . now I have no doubts about buying that camera." Funny enough, I didn't get a picture of him.
For the rest of batting practice I walked around behind the plate talking to various security guards and Blue Jays personnel. Howard Starkman, the Director of Media Relations for the Blue Jays, recognized me from my visit and we talked briefly about how the trip was going and what I was looking forward to at college. And, one of the Angels security guards, Joe, and I talked at length about the renovations to the stadium and other related topics. I stopped by the clubhouse on the way back to the press box and watched some of the Pirates vs. Phillies game on television with some of the players.
I was sort of dissappointed not to be able to meet with someone from the Angels front office as I was particularly interested in their stadium renovations and what moves, if any, they though were needed to beat the Seattle Mariners in the race for the AL West division title. I had received a very nice letter from the General Manager of the Angels before I left on my trip, and spoken regularly with Kathy in the baseball operations office to try and set up a meeting. On the day of the game I spoke with Kathy and she said someone would try to meet me on the field during batting practice -- but, nobody ever showed up and all my questions went un-answered. Oh well.
The Press Box at Anaheim Stadium was one of the first areas to be renovated by the Disney Company when it started the transformation of the complex. Hundreds of seats were added, each equipped with phone and electrical outlets, a large cafeteria style restaurant was created, and the whole box was lowered to give the media a better view of the field than almost any seat in the stadium. The box is wide open and spacious, allowing members to walk around and talk to each other on the main level without interrupting the other working press, and the box is open to the field making the members of the media prime targets for screaming foul balls.
The attendants in the press box were all very nice. The folks in the restaurant were all very nice. And, the other members of the media were all very nice. But there was a weird feeling in the press box -- a combination of the feeling you get when you aren't supposed to be somewhere and the feeling you get when you do something wrong. The only reason I can figure I felt that way was because I was actually sitting at my computer and writing before the game when everyone else was eating dinner, talking to each other, and generally avoiding their work. Most of the members of the media walked past me at one point or another -- all trying to figure out what I was doing, but not willing to ask for themselves -- and the media relations staff whispered quietly in the corner about me trying to figure out who I was.
I sat in the stands for the entire game so I didn't get to see what was going on in the press box. There was a regular crowd of foreign media -- I think Japanese this time -- that followed the Angels (and one of their pitchers, Shigesi Hashegawa, in particular) but none were around on this night. There was also a rather large contingent of hispanic media outlets with permanent positions -- a significant number of their reporters were present on this night. And, since the relaxed work atmosphere seemed to foster teamwork and cooperation, I can only assume that all of the reporters worked together and talked regularly throughout the night. When I returned after the game to pick up my stuff, the media relations folks had left me an advance of the following night's promotional gift -- a whiffle ball and bat with Angels logos on them. That pretty much ended any suspicion I may have had about the staff
THE FOODThe food at Anaheim Stadium is pretty boring, mostly the regular fare of hot dogs and nachos (it is almost uncomfortable to think of nachos as the "regular" fare at a ballgame). There are two different sizes of everything -- normal and jumbo -- including the hot dogs, nachos, sodas, popcorn, and ice cream. Frozen items, not surprisingly, are very popular at the stadium -- especially with the heat and humidity regularly present in Southern California. But, there is not a whole lot of selection compared to other parks, the special foods include only pizza and a deli stand, and I can only assume that the food stands will be remodeled as well when the stadium is renovated.
As for the pretzel, Anaheim Stadium was the FIRST stadium in the league to actually offer me my choice of salted or un-salted in the regular pretzel at the concession stand. I opted for unsalted, and was suitably impressed by the product handed to me by the server (after a lengthy wait while I assume she heated the pretzel fresh for me). The Pretzel had a hint of the plastic taste that ruins so many other stadium pretzels, but it had such wonderful texture (light and almost fluffy) that you just smothered it in your choice of spicy or yellow (Tempura Paint) mustard and devoured it. Far from the best pretzel in the league, it was a good way to top off a ballpark meal.
The Anaheim Angels came in to Friday's game as the hottest team in baseball -- only a half game behind the Seattle Mariners for the lead in the AL West riding a ten game winning streak (one win shy of the franchise record). But, when I asked folks on the field how many fans they were expecting, they guessed a most maybe 20,000. They weren't very far off -- the crowd was very small (even though they announced the paid attendance at over 26,000) and filled mostly with young children.
At first I thought the crowd was very loud and involved in the game. But, when I mentioned that point to Kevin Arnovitz (a friend who joined me at the game), he pointed out that most of the young children were just screaming at the top of their lungs -- in comparison to say a baseball fan cheering on a good play. Indeed, the children screamed and yelled, beach balls occupied most of the fans attention, and the free giveaways (which took place almost every half inning until the seventh) were the most popular attractions on the evening.
I was interested to notice the diversity in the ballpark. Anaheim Stadium boasts the cheapest baseball tickets in the game and the result is more young fans and minorities being able to come to the ballpark. There were a lot of folks for which English was not their first language, and a whole host of others who it appeared were not regular baseball fans -- coming to their first game of the season and bringing their children to get them interested in the National Pastime. I was told by one local that there is not much else to do in Anaheim on a Friday evening so baseball was becoming a pretty popular attraction. Obviously, Disney has figured out what it takes to bring new fans to the ballpark -- cheap tickets and a good product on the field -- and maybe all the other teams should take notice.
As mentioned above, I was joined at the game by Kevin Arnovitz, a friend of mine from politics and a loyal baseball fan himself. Kevin took a similar pilgrimage to all the baseball stadiums during the 1991 baseball season and was instrumental in helping me set up my schedule and plan my route around the nation. Having grown up in Atlanta, Kevin is a long time Braves fan and wore his Atlanta jersey on this night to show his support for his out of town favorites. We spent most of the game analyzing the crowd, comparing the stadiums, and watching the first true pitcher's duel on the trip.
The action on the field was not exactly what I was expecting when I looked at this particular game on the schedule. The Angels are the hottest team in baseball and have been hitting the ball very well over the past few weeks. In comparison, the visiting Toronto Blue Jays have struggled on offense, but relied on their strong pitching (mostly Roger Clemens and Pat Hentgen) to get them their limited wins. On this night however, it was the Blue Jays fourth starter, Woody Williams, who matched pitches with Allen Watson of the Angels to stymie hitters on both sides. The game was a true pitchers duel, with few hits and some spectacular defensive grabs on both sides. Watson threw two bad pitches on the evening, both resulting in solo homeruns for the Jays and lost the game 2-1. The ten game winning streak was snapped, the Angels fell to a game and a half out of first place in the AL West, and everyone was frustrated by the silent bats.
I want to acknowledge one fan in the crowd, Kevin Marsh, who has been following The Great American Baseball Trip regularly since its beginning. Kevin had sent me an e-mail hoping that we could meet during the game in Anaheim and outlining exactly where he was sitting. After the long drive from Las Vegas, the stress of the LA traffic, and the excitement of the reunion with my friend Kevin Arnovitz, it completely slipped my mind and never found Mr. Marsh during the game. As I walked to the elevator, one of the press box attendants grabbed me and pointed Mr. Marsh (who had spent most of the game looking for) out and we spoke for a while as we traveled down to the parking lot to exit the stadium. My apologies to Kevin Marsh, it was entirely my fault and I hope you didn't spend too much time during the game trying to find me instead of watching the action.
My trip to Anaheim Stadium was not very interesting. The fans weren't talkative (thank goodness I had Kevin to compare notes with), the press folks weren't very interesting, and the stadium was under so much construction it was really unpleasant to look at. I am sure I will have to come back to Anaheim Stadium in two years to get a real feeling for baseball in Southern California and see what kind of show the Disney folks can put on for me then.
