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Diamonds are a Fan's Best Friend
Our Seats in the Diamond Club, with the Diamond Club
Restaurant directly behind us and the Press Box above.
- Our Day in Edison Field of Anaheim's
Best Seats
DIAMOND CLUB REPORT
by Darryl Musick
© 2002
It started off as a cool, somewhat cloudy day. There was even a threat of a few showers. Indeed, our house got rather soaked in a rain storm the night before. But the weather was not going to cloud over our day...our team is finally going to the playoffs.
Our team being the Anaheim Angels. The Halos. The Cowboy's team. Or as the rest of the country calls them....Who?
After many memorable collapses...Donnie Moore giving up a home run just one strike away from going to the World Series, bus crashes, players slipping in the dugout, being up 17 games but blowing the gigantic lead (and losing a one-game playoff with Seattle), having your expensive free agent sit out the season with a sore elbow...and then complain about wanting to be traded, and on and on and on...
While we still haven't made the World Series yet, this year the team has finally gelled under the able leadership of former Dodger catcher Mike Sciosia. This year we're at least guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.
It's the last day of the regular season. Fan Appreciation day at the Big Ed. The playoff berths have already been locked down...the Angels will appear as the American League Wild Card team...and today we have no pressure to win but are here to celebrate the best season in franchise history and to give a big send off to the guys as they head off to do battle with the Bronx Bombers for the pennant.
Our tradition is to splurge once a year on the best seats the stadium has to offer. We attend the last game of each season sitting in the Diamond Club. This is the area of super-premium seats just behind home plate. It's where the best accessible seats in the stadium are located. There are exactly 28 accessible seats here...12 wheelchair locations plus 14 companion seats.
The perks are wide, padded seats for your companions, cup holders, waiter service to your seat, a private restaurant and bar exclusively for Diamond Club ticket holders, plush bathroom facilities, and being as close to the batter as the pitcher is. It's also a foul ball paradise as many errant shots fly over the screen and into these seats. This year I was shut out on foul balls but last year I caught two.
The Size 649 ½ Helmet Next to Our Parking Space
We arrive early and get our usual handicapped spot by the first-base side giant helmet (size 649 ½). The security check line is a little long, but it moves quickly when the gates are open.
Our first stop is the Team Shop behind home plate for souvenirs. In the past, they always marked everything down 50% on the last day. This year, no discounts...the manager tells me the stuff is flying off the shelves and there's still some playoff games looming, why mark it down?
The Angels management has requested that fans wear red today as a show of support. I pickup a bright red Angels 2002 Playoffs shirt for $25...my wife and son had the forethought to buy their earlier Angels clothing in red...and change into the appropriate uniform of the day.
The team's hot Venezuelan rookie fireball thrower, Francisco Rodriguez, is signing autographs in the first base food court area. The line is already very long and Mr. Rodriguez is nowhere to be seen so we take our leave and head over to the Club.
We do make a quick stop on the way to pick up some delicious, warm, fresh baked Tollhouse cookies in the food court.
At the entrance to the Diamond Club, the usher checks our tickets to make sure we belong there, and then stamps our hands. We now have access to the Club and the rest of the stadium too.
Another View of the Seats
We find our seats, 12 rows behind home plate and meet our new neighbor, Clark. This is what makes the Diamond Club superior to the suites, in my opinion. You see, in the suites (which cost about the same on a per capita basis), you're insulated with your own group. Down here in the Diamond Club, you still get all the amenities but you also get to sit with your fellow fans. Meeting new people, debating the merits of players or manager's decisions, cheering your team with total strangers...who are not strangers by the end of the game...that's what it's all about.
It's an hour before game time and the field is mostly empty. Usually, this would be the time when the visiting team is taking their batting practice. Today, the Seattle Mariners are nowhere to be seen.
My wife decides to kill some pregame time by shopping. Tim, Clark, and I get to talking about the amazing season that's now coming to an end. I glance down at the field and see Rex Hudler taking the field to start his pregame show. Rex is the Angels' TV color man up in the broadcasting booth. Our family, as most Angel fans are, are big fans of Rex. I grab a baseball and a Sharpie out of Tim's backpack (we keep a few there just in case) and run down the stairs to get his autograph.
Rex sees me and motions for me to throw him the ball. I do, he signs it, and tosses it back. He's asked if he will be calling any postseason games and Rex tells us no, this is the last game of the season for him. That's a shame because the rest of the country will now be robbed of his infectious enthusiasm and encyclopedic knowledge of Angels players and tactics.
I thank Rex and return to our seat and show Tim his new prize.
Game time is getting closer and the stands are already just about full. Today's game will make it an even dozen for sellouts this year. The Angels have increased attendance by more than 300,000 over last year's numbers.
I watched the Dodger game on TV the day before. Even though the Dodgers were technically still in the playoff race, the stadium was about 1/3 full. What a pity.
The fans have listened and the stadium is a sea of red. As you look at the pictures on this page, keep in mind that the seats at Edison Field are green...that's red-clad fans filling it up, not empty seats. I call my mom, who's sitting in right field today (and also a big Angel fan), and she asks me where we're sitting. I tell her, and jokingly say to "look for the guy in the red shirt". "OK", she says as the joke sails right over her head.
To start things off, PA announcer David Courtney, thanks the fans for their tremendous support this season. At this, the entire team lines up in front of the dugout, tips their hats, and throws a ball each has autographed into the stands. A real classy way to show some appreciation to the people who came along for the ride. The fans respond with hearty cheers and a standing ovation.
The Mariners are still nowhere to be seen.
The pregame festivities continue with the ceremonial first pitch. The national anthem is next and while the Angels line the third base path, three Mariners are now lazily hanging on the rail of their dugout. Amazingly, when it's time for them to start, nine guys in Mariners uniforms are found to sit in the dugout. Eventually, the rest of the team and their mercurial manager, Lou Pinella, finally show up.
Apparently, since the Mariners are going on vacation tomorrow, they are in no mood to actually play baseball.
The teams take the field. Each fan in attendance this weekend is given thundersticks. These are two inflatable tubes that make a big noise when banged together. You've probably seen them behind the opposing team's goal in the NBA when the fans try to distract the opposing player that's shooting a free throw. The sea of red comes to life and pound their sticks together producing a mighty roar and give the team another standing O as their team takes their places.
Play ball!
Back in the Diamond Club, the waitress comes by and opens up a tab for us. We order drinks and lunch. My wife has a chicken rice bowl, Tim has a pizza on focacia bread, and I opt for some carne asada tacos. Good food, but the tacos were pretty messy. They also had several sandwiches to choose from, burgers, and - of course - hot dogs. Snacks and desserts were also available including ball park staples such as popcorn, peanuts, and chipwiches.
You can also opt for the sumptuous buffet in the Diamond Club restaurant (and it is very good), for around $25 per person...all you can eat in a very nice setting. We have done this before but today we wanted to be outside with the fans, not watching from behind the windows and on TV monitors.
Tim Looks on as Ichiro Bats
The first Mariner batter is Ichiro Suzuki who promptly puts a ball into right field for a base hit. Man these seats are close...Ichiro can actually hear me if I decide to hurl an insult his way. I don't, but the Angels can definitely feed off of the cheers we're sending to 'em while sitting in the on deck circle.
That's as close as the Mariners will get this inning because the next three batters are retired easily.
After David Eckstein flied out for the first out, the Angels proceeded to score one and load the bases. The hot/cold Troy Glaus came up. He puts one into the edge of the right field seats near center field and after forty years of watching baseball, I've just seen my first grand slam.
Around the third inning, the announcer comes back on to say that this would have been Gene Autry's 95th birthday. The singing cowboy owned the team until his death. Just above our heads in the owner's box, his widow, Jackie Autry, unfurls a poster with his picture on it. Highlights of Autry's life are played on the Jumbotron as Autry's voice comes over the speakers singing "Happy Trails to You". Aww...
The game would continue and Seattle would come within one run in the seventh inning, but Brendan Donnelly...a 31 year old rookie middle reliever...would close the Mariners down in the ninth for his first major league save.
The crowd goes wild, continuing the standing ovation they started at the beginning of the ninth inning. The Angel players filing into the dugout, one by one, tip their hats to the fans.
After the game, a car and a racehorse are given away as the grand prizes for Fan Appreciation day. Someone sitting ten seats away from us wins the racehorse (what's so funny about that...this IS the cowboy's team). The stadium slowly empties out and people are still cheering the 99th win of the season.
Outside, behind home plate, thousands of fans congregate in the broad patio there. Three buses are lined up and to the loud cheers of "Beat the Yankees!", the Angels file out and into the buses where they are taken to Long Beach Airport and head off to do battle in their first playoff appearance in sixteen years.
What a great game and a great season. Can't wait to do it again.
(By the way, if you're reading this before game four of the 2002 American
League Division Series, watch for us. We'll be sitting in the left
field accessible seats directly in front of the Nestle sign.)
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