a night with the angels

Last night I had the rare opportunity of enjoying 6th row tickets at an Angels game. And I'm talking sixth-row-from-the-dugout sixth row. The-players-look-like-real-people sixth row. I-think-when-I-yell-"Go Vladie!"-he-can-actually-hear-me sixth row. They were the best seats we'd ever had. Thank you Brad Fielder!! The tickets were originally offered to my grandpa, who invited my dad along, who invited me and Caleb along. And not only were the seats and the company great, we won 6-1! (After the previous night's shameful loss of 4-13, it was a satisfying and much-needed redemption.) Weaver pitched nearly perfectly, and the Angels offense was on fire! (Well, at least in the first inning, in which they scored 4 runs, which turned out to be enough. Vladie hit a 2-run homer later in the game to up the score to 6.) Great seats, great game!! Here's a few pics ...

Caleb sitting in our seats, a mere hair's-breadth from the visiting dugout (which for this game was Tampa Bay).

Grandpa and Dad.


A man sells snacks while Vlademir Guerrero prepares to hit.

This man is actually a Dodgers fan ... in an Angels hat ... and the inner turmoil is beginning to show on his face.

Tampa Bay players.

Me and Caleb (Interesting tidbit: Not long after this picture was taken, a Tampa Bay player hit a foul ball into our section. Well, those things come screaming at you pretty fast, there's little to no reaction time, and the lady sitting behind us, just on top of Caleb's hat, next to the guy with the mohawk, took it in the face. The left side of her eye, just at the end of her eyebrow was broken open and was bleeding. Within minutes there was practically a triage team down there making sure she was ok, stopping the bleeding, etc. She was fine, other than a huge cut above her eye, and the guy behind her and her husband, who actually caught the ball after it bounced off her head, gave it back to them, which I thought was nice. When she finally stood up to walk out, everyone in our section clapped. We were all quite glad she was OK!)

Scot Sheilds came in to pitch and close the 9th inning, which he did in characteristic Scot Shields style .... 1, 2, 3 batters, and the game is over! Halos WIN! (Scot Shields is one of my favorite players.)