I battle the infamous Los Angeles traffic as I crawl down the I-5 to Anaheim to watch the Los Angeles (of Anaheim) Angles take on the Oakland As, to battle for the first place position in the AL West. I left the office in downtown LA early to make the game on time. I get to the big A with 5 minutes to spare. A friendly neighborhood scalper sells me a nice field box in the right field corner by the foul pole about 10 rows behind Vladimir Guerrero.
I know things are going to be good when I get an Alexander Hamilton tattoo in my Cracker Jacks, my favorite founding father is now tattooed on my left arm.
Oh yes the game. What a game! Only 7 hits, Oakland did not even have a runner advance beyond second base. The classic pitchers duel, my absolute favorite: Joe Saunders (5-0) out-pitched Greg Smith (2-1). The only scoring was in the bottom of the 3rd, when Smith issued a one-out walk to Brandon Wood, who advanced to third on Chone Figgins’ double and scored on a wild pitch. Figgins then came home on a fielders choice by Gary Matthews Jr. Smith got the complete game loss while only allowing 3 hits.
Vlad made a really cool grab in the seats right in front of me by a few rows. (I keep an eye out for the Mets score knowing that the Tank is at that game. This is my second west coast game this month and the second time the Tank and I were at games at the same time on different coasts.)
The Big A is an old school stadium and like Shea, it lacks character. It does the job and makes up for the lack of charm with the best looking ball girls and tee shirt cannon girls in the major leagues. The hot dogs are actually grilled so they taste good.
On the way out I visit the 2002 World Series Trophy.
Posted LIVE! by Steve at the Big A.