[2011 Baseball Tour] Angel Stadium: Boston Red Sox vs. ...Angels
Just got up after a long day and a long night. Here's the recap.
Before the Game:
-Got up at about 10 PM ET (as my sleep schedule was really fucked up by the work week) and had dinner? breakfast? at BWW. Went straight from there to DTW.
-Wasn't able to fall asleep on the plane. >.<; If I did get some sleep, it was maybe for an hour?
-Landed in LAX, and drove to Anaheim. I do NOT look forward to the return trip.
-Got my room, and DAMN! I love having VIP Gold status. (We're getting that same treatment at ACen!) My room has a patio, I get free Internet here, and free breakfast. (although not free breakfast BUFFET ._.)
-Tried to fall asleep again, failed. XD;
-Decided screw it, let's just walk to the ballpark. I chose the hotel I did so that it was possible to walk to the ballpark (about 2.3 miles), and to save on parking (since I'm paying for parking at the hotel, and the Angels were playing the Red Sox). Got my fill of walking for a whole week. XD
-At the ballpark, I walked up STEEP ramps to the club level, but it wasn't open yet XD; So I went all the way back down to the lower level to take some pictures of batting practice before going back up (by escalator this time!)
-When I finally got to my seat... damn. 4th row from the top. The only place I've sat higher is at Philly (and that's including when neko4 and I sat at the very top row of USCF).
-Abused my 18x zoom, and got a REALLY good photo of Matsuzaka-senshu. I had to zoom in on the taken photo to confirm it was him, though. XD;
-The *ahem* Angels are celebrating their 50th anniversary (born the same year the Twins arrived from DC), but really, it was more like "Celebrating 44 years of Angels baseball--screw the Disney era from 1996-2001 where everything about us was a joke and our best player was a 400-lb Mo Vaughn"
-And in bringing back some old Angels, they brought back one I could definitely cheer for: former Angel (and former Twin) "Got mad hits like I was" Rod Carew!
-And here come the... Angels! They really go out of their way to avoid using the full name of the team. (And I don't blame them; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is a mouthful, not to mention stupid) They should just do what the New York/New Jersey MetroStars did for a while (before they were re-branded the New York Red Bulls) and drop the city name altogether.
-Tonight's pitching matchup: Boston's Jon Lester vs. Anaheim's Dan Haren. Pitcher's duel imminent!
4/22/11 Game Recap - Red Sox 4, Angels 3
Top 1st: Haren strikes out Jacoby Ellsbury to start the game, then gets two more quick outs.
Bottom 1st: Lester, not to be outdone, gets ALL 3 OF HIS OUTS by way of strikeout. I kept telling the guys next to me, "This is probably going to end 1-0."
End 1st: Well here's an annoying stadium bit; Ruby's commercials, complete with 50s-style shoobee-doobee-doo-wop jingle that would get stuck in my head. XD; I'm... going to stick with Johnny Rocket or Steak 'n Shake (which I LOVE both) for 50s-style.
Bottom 2nd: The Angels get something going here! Vernon Wells gets the first hit of the game for either team, and Alberto Callaspo walked, so it's 1st/2nd 1 out for slugger Mark Trumbo, who is on my fantasy team! ...But he grounds into a double play. FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
Top 3rd: With 1 out, Jared Saltalamacchia goes to the right-center gap for a double, then with 2 out, Ellsbury finds a spot in shallow right to drop a double! That would be it for the Sox. 1-0 Red Sox
Bottom 3rd: The Angels get more baserunners (and even two stolen bases), but again, nothing comes from the threat.
Top 4th: After this inning, I bet Haren wants to kill his outfielders. Well first, Peter Bourjos made an AWESOME running catch in left center to get Adrian Gonzalez out, but with 2 out and nobody on, Jed Lowrie walked, and then the usually-good-defensively Torii Hunter misjudged a ball at the wall to give JD Drew a double! (Lowrie was held at 3rd.) And even worse, Carl Crawford, who is hitting in the .130s this year (and most of the boos for him when he came up were from RED SOX fans and not Angel fans) hit a lazy fly ball to shallow center. BUT BOURJOS BOBBLES IT! That scores 2. 3-0 Red Sox
Top 5th: Suddenly, Haren cannot into strike zone! As he walks the first two batters, but he gets out of the inning.
Top 6th: Lowrie doubled yet again, and got to 3rd on a throwing error by Wells in left (oh that Angels outfield! I'd insert an Angels in the Outfield joke here, but they're trying to cover up the Disney era, remember? XD). JD Drew would single him right home. But Haren got out of the inning, and his night was done after 108 pitches. Sucks; if he had a better outfield it would only be 2-0. 4-0 Red Sox
End 6th: Some Boston fans behind me start the BUTT SCRATCHER! BUTT SCRATCHER! bit from Family Guy. I respond with the disappointed "Butt Scratcher... ._.". Also, my batteries died, but I brought a backup set.
Mid 7th: The 8-year-old kid that did the national anthem led the 7th-inning stretch, which was followed by a singalong of Build Me Up Buttercup. OK, I like that bit.
Bottom 7th: BAH GAWD KING! IT'S THE RALLY MONKEY'S MUSIC! Finally, some life for the Angels! 2 out nobody on, Erick Aybar beats out a grounder to 2nd, steals 2nd, and Jeff Mathis singles him home! 4-1 Red Sox
Mid 8th: Throughout the game, I checked my phone to check on the Ducks/Predators playoff game that was going on across the street. The Preds scored the game-tying goal with 36 seconds left in regulation, and they won it in OT. ._. Also, MARKED THE FUCK OUT when they played the Take On Me video on the Jumbotron. ...They just superimposed real-life A-Ha guy with the Rally Monkey. XD;
Bottom 8th: BWAHAHAHAHA HERE COMES FORMER WHITE SOX CLOSER BOBBY JENKS! And he did not disappoint. Started the inning off by giving up a double to Howie Kendrick and a single to Bobby Abreu to score 1, Abreu got to 2nd by wild pitch, then with 2 out ABREU SCORES FROM 2ND ON A PASSED BALL THAT SALTY COULDN'T FIND IN THE BACKSTOP! Eventually, Jenks would get the 3rd out on Maicer Izturis (in for Trumbo ._.), but still. Let's get this shit started. >Jenks 4-3 Red Sox
Bottom 9th: Papelbon, who really fucked up my fantasy team last year, came in to close. OK Angels, here's your chance at redemption: Hank Conger (who looks like he's of Korean descent--check that, yes he is, but American-born) knocked a clean single up the middle, and a home run would win the game! But that home run would not come.FINAL SCORE: Red Sox 4, Angels 3
Post-Game: There was a fireworks show, featuring the best of The Who. They didn't play Pinball Wizard, nor was there a YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH, but they did play all 3 CSI themes.
Today Anaheim sports really got trolled: the Angels teased a comeback but lost, the Ducks lost in OT after giving up the game-tying goal with 36 seconds left in regulation, and the NBA just announced that the Sacramento Kings are likely to stay in Sacramento next season.
After the game, I walked home; it took my entire hour-long "Recently added" playlist to get back. Went RIGHT to bed after uploading pics.
And here are 144 photos from Anaheim. Most of them taken on Katella Road, but I also got some good shots of the game despite being all the way at the top of the stadium.
UP NEXT: Petco Park (in a much better spot this game!), to watch the Padres take on the Phillies. Although the funny thing is, going in to the season there was a lot of talk about the Phillies' big 4 starting pitchers... I'm getting the 5th guy today.
Before the Game:
-Got up at about 10 PM ET (as my sleep schedule was really fucked up by the work week) and had dinner? breakfast? at BWW. Went straight from there to DTW.
-Wasn't able to fall asleep on the plane. >.<; If I did get some sleep, it was maybe for an hour?
-Landed in LAX, and drove to Anaheim. I do NOT look forward to the return trip.
-Got my room, and DAMN! I love having VIP Gold status. (We're getting that same treatment at ACen!) My room has a patio, I get free Internet here, and free breakfast. (although not free breakfast BUFFET ._.)
-Tried to fall asleep again, failed. XD;
-Decided screw it, let's just walk to the ballpark. I chose the hotel I did so that it was possible to walk to the ballpark (about 2.3 miles), and to save on parking (since I'm paying for parking at the hotel, and the Angels were playing the Red Sox). Got my fill of walking for a whole week. XD
-At the ballpark, I walked up STEEP ramps to the club level, but it wasn't open yet XD; So I went all the way back down to the lower level to take some pictures of batting practice before going back up (by escalator this time!)
-When I finally got to my seat... damn. 4th row from the top. The only place I've sat higher is at Philly (and that's including when neko4 and I sat at the very top row of USCF).
-Abused my 18x zoom, and got a REALLY good photo of Matsuzaka-senshu. I had to zoom in on the taken photo to confirm it was him, though. XD;
-The *ahem* Angels are celebrating their 50th anniversary (born the same year the Twins arrived from DC), but really, it was more like "Celebrating 44 years of Angels baseball--screw the Disney era from 1996-2001 where everything about us was a joke and our best player was a 400-lb Mo Vaughn"
-And in bringing back some old Angels, they brought back one I could definitely cheer for: former Angel (and former Twin) "Got mad hits like I was" Rod Carew!
-And here come the... Angels! They really go out of their way to avoid using the full name of the team. (And I don't blame them; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim is a mouthful, not to mention stupid) They should just do what the New York/New Jersey MetroStars did for a while (before they were re-branded the New York Red Bulls) and drop the city name altogether.
-Tonight's pitching matchup: Boston's Jon Lester vs. Anaheim's Dan Haren. Pitcher's duel imminent!
4/22/11 Game Recap - Red Sox 4, Angels 3
Top 1st: Haren strikes out Jacoby Ellsbury to start the game, then gets two more quick outs.
Bottom 1st: Lester, not to be outdone, gets ALL 3 OF HIS OUTS by way of strikeout. I kept telling the guys next to me, "This is probably going to end 1-0."
End 1st: Well here's an annoying stadium bit; Ruby's commercials, complete with 50s-style shoobee-doobee-doo-wop jingle that would get stuck in my head. XD; I'm... going to stick with Johnny Rocket or Steak 'n Shake (which I LOVE both) for 50s-style.
Bottom 2nd: The Angels get something going here! Vernon Wells gets the first hit of the game for either team, and Alberto Callaspo walked, so it's 1st/2nd 1 out for slugger Mark Trumbo, who is on my fantasy team! ...But he grounds into a double play. FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
Top 3rd: With 1 out, Jared Saltalamacchia goes to the right-center gap for a double, then with 2 out, Ellsbury finds a spot in shallow right to drop a double! That would be it for the Sox. 1-0 Red Sox
Bottom 3rd: The Angels get more baserunners (and even two stolen bases), but again, nothing comes from the threat.
Top 4th: After this inning, I bet Haren wants to kill his outfielders. Well first, Peter Bourjos made an AWESOME running catch in left center to get Adrian Gonzalez out, but with 2 out and nobody on, Jed Lowrie walked, and then the usually-good-defensively Torii Hunter misjudged a ball at the wall to give JD Drew a double! (Lowrie was held at 3rd.) And even worse, Carl Crawford, who is hitting in the .130s this year (and most of the boos for him when he came up were from RED SOX fans and not Angel fans) hit a lazy fly ball to shallow center. BUT BOURJOS BOBBLES IT! That scores 2. 3-0 Red Sox
Top 5th: Suddenly, Haren cannot into strike zone! As he walks the first two batters, but he gets out of the inning.
Top 6th: Lowrie doubled yet again, and got to 3rd on a throwing error by Wells in left (oh that Angels outfield! I'd insert an Angels in the Outfield joke here, but they're trying to cover up the Disney era, remember? XD). JD Drew would single him right home. But Haren got out of the inning, and his night was done after 108 pitches. Sucks; if he had a better outfield it would only be 2-0. 4-0 Red Sox
End 6th: Some Boston fans behind me start the BUTT SCRATCHER! BUTT SCRATCHER! bit from Family Guy. I respond with the disappointed "Butt Scratcher... ._.". Also, my batteries died, but I brought a backup set.
Mid 7th: The 8-year-old kid that did the national anthem led the 7th-inning stretch, which was followed by a singalong of Build Me Up Buttercup. OK, I like that bit.
Bottom 7th: BAH GAWD KING! IT'S THE RALLY MONKEY'S MUSIC! Finally, some life for the Angels! 2 out nobody on, Erick Aybar beats out a grounder to 2nd, steals 2nd, and Jeff Mathis singles him home! 4-1 Red Sox
Mid 8th: Throughout the game, I checked my phone to check on the Ducks/Predators playoff game that was going on across the street. The Preds scored the game-tying goal with 36 seconds left in regulation, and they won it in OT. ._. Also, MARKED THE FUCK OUT when they played the Take On Me video on the Jumbotron. ...They just superimposed real-life A-Ha guy with the Rally Monkey. XD;
Bottom 8th: BWAHAHAHAHA HERE COMES FORMER WHITE SOX CLOSER BOBBY JENKS! And he did not disappoint. Started the inning off by giving up a double to Howie Kendrick and a single to Bobby Abreu to score 1, Abreu got to 2nd by wild pitch, then with 2 out ABREU SCORES FROM 2ND ON A PASSED BALL THAT SALTY COULDN'T FIND IN THE BACKSTOP! Eventually, Jenks would get the 3rd out on Maicer Izturis (in for Trumbo ._.), but still. Let's get this shit started. >Jenks 4-3 Red Sox
Bottom 9th: Papelbon, who really fucked up my fantasy team last year, came in to close. OK Angels, here's your chance at redemption: Hank Conger (who looks like he's of Korean descent--check that, yes he is, but American-born) knocked a clean single up the middle, and a home run would win the game! But that home run would not come.FINAL SCORE: Red Sox 4, Angels 3
Post-Game: There was a fireworks show, featuring the best of The Who. They didn't play Pinball Wizard, nor was there a YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH, but they did play all 3 CSI themes.
Today Anaheim sports really got trolled: the Angels teased a comeback but lost, the Ducks lost in OT after giving up the game-tying goal with 36 seconds left in regulation, and the NBA just announced that the Sacramento Kings are likely to stay in Sacramento next season.
After the game, I walked home; it took my entire hour-long "Recently added" playlist to get back. Went RIGHT to bed after uploading pics.
And here are 144 photos from Anaheim. Most of them taken on Katella Road, but I also got some good shots of the game despite being all the way at the top of the stadium.
UP NEXT: Petco Park (in a much better spot this game!), to watch the Padres take on the Phillies. Although the funny thing is, going in to the season there was a lot of talk about the Phillies' big 4 starting pitchers... I'm getting the 5th guy today.