Edison Is Wrong Place to Look for Angel Fans

I had a choice Tuesday night: Either go to an Angel-Red Sox game in Edison Field, or a Spark-Sol contest in Staples Center. For most people that wouldn’t be a very tough decision because no one goes to Angel games.

But I was curious to know why the Angels have remained competitive at this late date, so I passed on the thrills and chills of the WNBA, and unless our e-mail system breaks down, I’ll probably live to regret it.

I was surprised to find people sitting in the ballpark when I arrived. At one point the fans got so loud I had to look up from my plate of chocolate chip cookies to see which Angel had hit a homer, only to catch Boston’s Jason Varitek circling the bases.

I could see Dodger fans getting tired of waiting for one of their guys to hit a homer and start rooting for the other team, but I was under the impression the Angels were doing well. Yet Edison Field sounded more like Fenway Park. I guess that’s why there was a crowd here for the game--the Red Sox were pitching Pedro Martinez.

Take away Red Sox fans, Dodger followers who wanted to dream of superstars lost, and those who came just to see the Rally Monkey, and I really don’t know if there were any Angel fans in attendance.

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I KEPT waiting for a halftime score on the Edison Field scoreboard for the Spark-Sol game, but it never came. It was nerve-racking.

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ON MY last visit to Edison Field, the Dodgers were playing the Angels in front of a bunch of Dodger fans, and before the game Manager Jim Tracy chastised reporters for misjudging his team and not giving him and the front office credit for assembling such a powerhouse. I took that speech to heart, of course, and followed the Blue all the way to San Diego and San Francisco until the choking dogs were put down.

In fact I did some arithmetic, and since Tracy’s “I told you so� rant, the Dodgers have compiled a 9-18 record. I don’t recall anything Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said that day. In fact I’m not sure he has ever said anything memorable.

The Angels, however, are 18-9 since Tracy popped off, and they’re still hanging with the Mariners, proving a manager should probably just shut up.

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I ASKED Tim Mead, the Angels’ PR whiz, and you have to be a whiz to get anyone to pay attention to this team, for a Sparks’ update. The Sol had the lead--I was afraid there might be a Sparks’ letdown if I didn’t show up.

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THE ANGELS were losing, 5-0, in the fifth, just the way I was told the comeback kids like it. Reporters asked Scioscia before the game about the comeback Angels, but I don’t recall a thing he said.

It’s 6-0 now in favor of the Red Sox, and unless that was some woman wearing a fur hat on her head, I swore I saw the Rally Monkey leaving the park before the start of the ninth.

We both probably had the same thing in mind--getting home in time to catch the Sparks’ highlights ... Oh my gosh, the office just called to tell me Lisa Leslie dunked. I sure hope they came back to win.

I missed WNBA history--that will teach me to go to an Angel game.

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THE WAY new Dodger reliever Paul Shuey got hit, it might be time to bring back Terry Mulholland--already 1-0 for Cleveland. The Dodgers needed Eric Gagne to come in with the bases loaded to get the last out, and preserve a 12-4 loss.

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BROADCASTER LARRY King left a message on my answering machine to say I made a mistake in Tuesday’s column, pointing out that if Ryan Leaf had won a $1 trifecta wager at Del Mar for $546.40, he would have been required to sign an IRS statement because it exceeded $300. He said a winner is required to sign if the payoff is 300 times the wager. I had incorrectly reported Leaf would have to sign with a payoff of more than $600, and had referred to him as a big loser.

I would like to thank Larry King for pointing out that I’m the real loser--never winning a $1 bet that required an IRS signature. Larry, how about calling some time with a tip on a winning horse?

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THE TV ratings for the Battle at Bighorn were lower than last year, which makes me believe viewers still thought Annika Sorenstam and Karrie Webb were going to be playing.

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TROY GLAUS was on the bench for Tuesday’s big game.

“He took batting practice and hit with great rhythm for about 25 minutes,� Scioscia said.

If he was hitting with great rhythm, I asked, why not play him? Scioscia said that was a good question, but failed to come up with a good answer, saying he wanted to rest Glaus--presumably from the strain of taking 25 minutes of batting practice.

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TODAY’S LAST word comes in e-mail from Brianne Evans:

“I hope your wife and any female children you have (provided you didn’t kill or abort them after finding out they were female) continue to try and give you some sort of balance in your misogynistic life. Your comments about the Bighorn golf tournament of last year, and the poor play of Sorenstam and Webb failed to mention the equally, if not more horrific play of Tiger Woods and David Duval. Watching Annika shoot a 59 is exciting. Watching Juli Inkster come from two shots behind Annika to win the U.S. Women’s Open is amazing golf. But someone like yourself, a sexist chauvinist pig, could never appreciate that because you just think women should be pregnant and making you a big fat meal in the kitchen.�

I’m more thoughtful than you’d think: I take the wife out to dinner all the time--that way she doesn’t have to wash the dishes.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at [email protected].