First Time at Angel Stadium

Since the Padres were on their first road trip of the season in St. Louis, my family and I traveled north to check out Angel Stadium for the first time. This crosses off the third ballpark on my quest to watch a game at all 30 major league ballparks before I turn 30.

We arrived at the game early because we wanted to explore the ballpark and see what cool features it has to offer. As soon as we entered the ballpark, we headed to the team store to buy an Angels hat. Our next stop was Guest Services to get a first visit certificate. Many people don’t know that most ballparks have a cool little freebie to commemorate your first game at their ballpark. Petco Park and Dodger Stadium give you a button that says “1st Visit” and they write the date and game on the back.

There are four levels in this ballpark. On the field level, the main attraction is at Home Plate Gate when you first arrive at the ballpark. They have two giant Angels hats that are size 649½ according to the sweatband inside the hat. Supporting the Angel Stadium signage is 6 large bats with 2 baseballs at their base. The gate also has a full-sized infield with a mound and light up bases. The Fox Sports set is housed below the north Angels hat. It was odd to see the set outside of the ballpark since the Fox Sports set at Petco Park is located on the field level concourse inside the ballpark.

The second level, the terrace level, provides access to the walkway above the outfield. In the outfield, there is a nice, open picnic area with a cool waterfall structure. For those of you over 21, they had a spacious Coors Light patio where you can crack open a cold one and view the game from center field. Above left field, they have three flag poles featuring pennants from all their American League titles over the years. The video board is also located in left field. If you’re taller than 6’3, you might even be able to reach the bottom edge of the board since it isn’t too high above the walkway. Continuing through the terrace level concourse, we came across a life-sized bobblehead of Mike Trout on the first base side.

 

It was almost game time, so we headed up the ramp to our seats, skipping the club level concourse (level 3). Our seats were located on the highest level, the view level. We sat in section 430, which provided a nice view along the first base line. We had a clear view of the right fielders as well.

If you plan on sitting anywhere in Section 400 on the view level, I do suggest sitting in the fourth row or higher. We sat in the first row, and as you can see in the photo above, the railing was in the way a bit. I was able to make it work by slouching in my seat just enough to peer through the gap between the railing so I could see home plate.

Game Highlights:

*Red Denotes Los Angeles Angels, Blue denotes Texas Rangers*

• 3RD INN:
  • Ronald Guzman hit a double deep to the right field wall
    • left game due to tightness in right hamstring
  • Kole Calhoun ran into the right field wall while attempting to catch Guzman‘s double
    • stayed in the game after long consultation with the training staff
• 4TH INN:
  • Mike Trout hit a 458ft Grand Slam to left field
    • First Grand Slam since 2015
    • His 4th home run in 3 consecutive games
• 5TH INN:
  • Logan Forsythe hit a double to left field
  • Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit a single to left field, Forsythe scores.
• 7TH INN: 
  • Albert Pujols hit a 405ft solo home run to left field
    • Pitcher Noé Ramirez caught the ball with his hat in the bullpen
• Pitching:
  • Tyler Skaggs: 6.1 IP 5 H 1 R 1 BB 5 K
  • Drew Smyly: 3.1 IP 6 H 4 R 3 BB 4 K

Overall, my first experience at Angel Stadium was fun. We got to explore the ballpark and witness some well-played baseball. This was my first time watching an MLB game that the Padres weren’t playing in. It was weird not knowing exactly what team to root for, but this allowed me to focus on the game without any biases.

Our next ballpark road trip will be to Phoenix, Arizona to watch the Padres play the Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 14th, 2019. Stay tuned to see my impressions of ballpark #4!