GAME # 30-Angel Stadium-Los Angeles Angels vs. Cincinnati Reds

WE DID IT! On Wednesday, August 23 we attended our final ballpark at Angel Stadium to complete our tour of all 30 MLB ballparks in the 2023 season. We planned our final stadium to be close to home in order for friends and family to join in our final stadium celebration and Jim’s birthday. We had 20 friends and family members join us with the farthest coming from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We have been to Angel Stadium many times before but this was the first time in 2023. Angel Stadium is the 4th oldest stadium in MLB opening in 1966 with a current capacity of 45,517. There was a period of time when the stadium had a much larger capacity when the stadium was shared with the Los Angeles Rams from 1980-1994. After the Rams left for St. Louis the stadium returned to a baseball only facility. Angel Stadium has some features that are unique, one of those being the “Big A” which can be seen from the freeways and lights up extra bright on an Angels WIN. Also in left-center field is the “California Spectacular” which is a rock waterfall with geysers that erupt when the Angels get a home run or win the game. Additionally the Home Plate Gate is one of the most special entrances with two giant Angel hats and a full-sized brick infield complete with a regulation pitcher’s mound. See our Instagram for pictures of our Canadian cousin Ed winding up on the mound. @ourfieldofdreams2023. The Angels were founded in 1961 by Gene Autry as an expansion team. There is a statue of Gene Autry at the ballpark to honor his 36 years as the owner of the Angels. The Angels made the playoffs three times while Autry was the owner. Unfortunately, Autry who died in 1998 would never see his team win the pennant. The Los Angeles Angels won their only World Series Championship in 2002. I remember that World Series well as they were playing the San Francisco Giants. The Angels have won 7 AL West Division Titles with the last one being in 2014. Over the years the Angels have been known as the Los Angeles Angels, California Angels, Anaheim Angels and now back to the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels are one of three teams who do not have an official mascot. However, I would argue that the hundreds of rally monkeys that are waved across the stadium are certainly as close as it gets to a mascot. When the Angels are trailing by four or fewer runs in the 6th inning the Rally Monkey comes out to the song of “Jump Around.” The Rally Monkey really became a permanent fixture after Game 6 of the 2002 World Series when the Giants were close to eliminating the Angels in a 5-0 lead. The Rally Monkey came out and Angels Scott Spiezio crushed a three-run blast that sparked a come back. The Angels would then go on to score three more runs in the 8th inning to win the game. OH HOW I REMEMBER! The Angels have only six retired numbers with only half of them being players who wore the Angels uniform: #26-Gene Autry, owner; #50-Jimmie Reese, coach; #42-Jackie Robinson, retired by all MLB; #11 Jim Fregosi; #29 Rod Carew; and #30 Nolan Ryan. Here is a bit of trivia for you did you know that Nolan Ryan holds the record for NO HITTERS? Nolan Ryan has 7 no hitters with 4 of them while he wore the Angels uniform. Speaking of pitchers boy did we luck out as the pitcher for this game is the talk of MLB, Shohei Ohtani. We spent some time walking around the stadium with my good friend Cheryl while our friends and family gathered in our seating area. Thanks to Cheryl for taking so many wonderful pictures for us on this final game. Once we arrived back to our seats Jim’s longtime friend from high school Jeff, who works as a head usher now that he is retired, took us to a restricted area to see the players on the field. Since this was a day game there was not batting practice and only a short warm up. Thank you to Jeff for getting us down on the rail and for taking so many great photos for us with Ohtani in the background. Jim did his final hot dog review in the stands with our friends and family looking on. He selected a Pastrami Dog from Crafty Dog which was not only delicious but extremely large! Jim game the Angels Pastrami Dog the highest rating of our tour with a 9.0. The Angels games always begin with the song “Calling All Angels” by Train and of course the National Anthem. As the game began we all took our seats and prepared to watch a great game. In order to keep 20 people engaged in the game I organized a fun “Cup Gambling Game” to be played through the game. Everyone puts a dollar in the cup and then the cup is passed down the row with each batter. The person holding the cup pays or takes from the cup according to their batter’s outcome: Strikeout -2, Fly/groudout -1, Ejection -20, Single +1, Double +2, Triple +3 and Home Run take all the money in the cup. It was a great way to keep a large group in the game. First pitch by Shohei Ohtani was at 1:09pm in front of a crowd of 28,776. It was three up and three down for the Reds in the top on the 1st inning. The first inning for the Angels was the absolute BEST. Following a walk by Luis Rengifo, Shohei Ohtani hit his #44 homer. It was so fantastic to see Ohtani blast that homer! Score Reds 0 - Angels 2. Eric Mauldin wins the cup. The next three batters would go down in order. The 2nd inning Ohtani would walk Spencer Steer and Joey Votto would pop out before tragically Ohtani would leave the mound with arm fatigue. The crowd was not happy to see him leave the mound with over half of the fans wearing Ohtani jerseys. Unfortunately we would later learn that Ohtani is done pitching for the season. The next score would come in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Andrew Velazquez hit a double followed by Luis Rengifo’s double to score Velazquez. Score Reds 0 - Angels 3. In the top of the 4th inning Matt McLain hit a single and Spencer Steer hit a single. With runners on the corners Joey Votto hit a soft grounder to score Matt McLain. Score Reds 1 - Angels 3. The top of the 5th inning the Reds would do some damage, Will Benson and TJ Friedl both flied out with Luke Maile taking a walk. With two outs and a runner on first, Matt McLain came to the plate and would reach on a throwing error by shortstop Andrew Velazquez. With two runners on base and two outs Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz blasted a three-run homer. Score Reds 4 - Angels 3. Shannon Bray wins the cup. The 7th inning began with a pitching change by the Angels with Aaron Loup replacing Tyler Anderson who would not last long. Will Benson hit a single, Luke Maile grounded out and TJ Friedl hit a single. Another pitching change would bring in Dominic Loup. The first batter he faced Matt McLain would take a walk to load the bases up. Rookie Elly De La Cruz came to the plate and blasted a triple scoring 3 runs. Reds 7 - Angels 3. I think De La Cruz is a person to watch! Spencer Steer would hit a single scoring De La Cruz. Score Reds 8 - Angels 3. Fortunately the Angels would turn a double play to end the inning. The Angels sparked a little life in the bottom of the 7th inning with Luis Rengifo hitting a triple. Nolan Schanuel would walk followed by Brandon Drury grounding into a force out scoring Rengifo. Score Reds 8 - Angels 4. The 8th inning would go scoreless. In the top of the 9th inning Michael Siani would walk but soon would be caught stealing 2nd base. Next to the plate was Matt McLain would also walk. Then the threat Elly De La Cruz would come to the plate an thank goodness he would strikeout. Spencer Steer hit a single scoring McLain. Score Reds 9 - Angels 4. Unfortunately it was three up and three down for the Angels in the bottom of the 9th. Final Score—-Reds 9 - Angels 4. Nancy Neill was holding the cup at the end and collected her winnings. What a great day for a baseball game but unfortunately it was not the Angels day. The final score for Our Field of Dreams Tour is 13 WINS and 17 LOSSES for the HOME TEAM. This is very bittersweet writing the blog of our final game. This is not the final post of this blog, as over the next few weeks I plan to write a post recapping our trip with a list of top ballparks and a list of hot dog ratings. People have asked us what adventures we will take on next now that Our Field of Dreams Tour is over. Our answer is we will continue to travel in our RV, spend time with our most treasured gifts (our grandkids) and attend and watch baseball games. Thank you all for taking this journey with us and I look forward to sharing the recap with you soon. Until next time PLAY BALL!