September 4, 2006: Anaheim, California

Orange County, California…the OC, surf and sand, horrendous housewives, a ridiculous FOX melodrama and baseball. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim baseball isn’t the first thing most people think about when the OC comes to mind, although the Angels have called the OC home since 1966. The Angels’ presence in mainstream America would not show until their 2002 World Series victory, when a team of gritty contact hitters and a great bullpen overcame a 5-0 deficit in Game 6 to defeat the San Francisco Giants. The Angels’ World Series run was aided by the Rally Monkey, a primate dressed in Angels’ paraphernalia encouraging Angel fans to root, root, root for the home team. Since their ascension onto the national stage, the Angels have been sold to Arte Moreno (baseball’s first majority Hispanic owner), changed the name of the franchise to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim from Anaheim Angels, and set attendance records in consecutive seasons (3.4 million fans in 2006). [Read more…]