Hey 19

Mike Trout made his first start for the Angels this past weekend at the age of 19. It got me thinking back to when I was his age...


Afternoon Angel OCRegister.com

My Quest for A Promotional Primate

Have you ever used your child to get a freebie?   Guilty as charged.


Click on Afternoon Angel to read my latest post on the OCRegister.com Angels Page.

Ode to A Bobblehead

For the Love of Dan Haren....

The stadium was rockin’

Every seat was filled

Did they come to the park to see the Nationals get killed?

"Oh no," say the throngs on fans dressed in red

“We all came to get Dan Haren’s Bobblehead.”

For the first few innings it was anyone’s game

As both teams traded errors and the fielding was lame.

Pineiro made us nervous and the guy behind me said,

“I think we’d better send in the Bobblehead.”

Then the Halos’ bats finally turned up the heat

And a committee of pitchers sent the Nats to defeat.

Was it the Monkey who rallied or the Presidents who ran?

No, say the Angels, It was just “Little Dan.”

Afternoon Angels Take the "A Train"

The Afternoon Angels took the Angels Express to the game this week. It's a great way to beat the traffic and, with the high price of gas and parking, it's a bargain.

Check out my post at OCRegister.com. http://www.ocregister.com/sports/-301940--.html

Up on The Roof

It's never too early to start planning your summer baseball trips. For those of you heading to the Windy City, you might want to try out this unique perspective of Wrigley Field.http://www.ocregister.com/articles/rooftop-254021-wrigley-field.html?pic=10

Oh Say Can You Sing? : The First Time I Sang the National Anthem

It was my New Year’s resolution. A dare, if you will.

Over the years I had listened to many National Anthem singers at the ballpark. One day, I said to myself,

“I can do that.”

I’m not really sure what drove me to call the Angels Front Office to inquire about an audition in January of 1998. But for whatever the reason, I made the call, recorded a short cassette tape, and mailed it in. I told myself that the dare was complete. I had made the effort and followed through. Mission accomplished.

Then I got the call.

I came home to find a message from the Angels on my answering machine, wondering if I’d like to sing the National Anthem in April. My kids, who were only 6 and 3 at the time, wanted to know why my face looked funny. 

“Mommy’s gonna sing at the Angels game,” I answered weakly.

“Will you be on that giant TV screen in the field?” Tyler asked.

I had to sit down.

When the big day arrived and I drove to the stadium filled with a mixture of excitement and dread. I was thrilled for the opportunity but my anticipation was laced with panic. What if I messed up? What if I sang off key and embarrassed all of the neighbors and friends who had bought tickets to come and support me? 

But what of it all went well and I had the time of my life?

I hung on to that thought as I met the Andre, the Angels Stage Manager at the time, who walked through the tunnels and then up the elevator to the press level. There I met Peggy Duquesnel, the wonderfully talented musician who used to play live organ music during every home game. Peggy made me feel right at home as we ran through the anthem and practiced “Take Me Out to The Ballgame.” She was a stickler for the lyrics, and insisted that every soloist sang…”I don’t care if I never get back.”  Even now, I still listen to the singers to see if they get it right.

After rehearsal, we took the elevator down to the dugout suites level.  Andre showed me to the dressing room that was so close to the field I could hear the crack of the bats as the players took practice swings only a few feet away.  Minutes later, I stepped up onto the field behind home plate and took a look around.

It was a beautiful, warm spring evening and the stadium was slowly filling with fans. Peggy’s music was floating over the field and I scanned the stadium around me, trying to memorize everything.  David Courtney announced the lineup of the visiting team and then “Spirit in the Sky” began to play over the loud speaker. This was my signal to step up and take my position at the microphone. To this day, no matter where I am when I hear that song, my stomach fills with butterflies.

Then David Courtney said, “Now would you please rise and kindly remover your hats and join Ms Ellen Bell in the singing of our National Anthem.”

I glanced up at the giant image of myself on the jumbotron and quickly looked away. I decided to smile and focus on the flag in the outfield instead.

“Oh say can you see…”

A funny thing happens when you’re singing the National Anthem in front of thousands of people. Your mind begins to play tricks on you. Sure, you try to stay focused on the task at hand, but a little voice in your head tries to mess you up. This is why I will always have empathy for Christina Aguilera. Suddenly, in the middle of the song, I was absolutely convinced that I had sung the wrong words. I looked at the cameraman to see if he was confused by my jumbled lyrics, but his expression told me nothing.  I continued on, singing through to the money note at the end, still believing that I had screwed the whole thing up.

“….O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

The cheers went up and I felt as if Mo Vaughn had been lifted off my shoulders. I walked off the field and whispered to my husband,

“Did I get the words right?”

“You were perfect,” he said just as the umpires took the field.

After that first night, I went on to sing the National Anthem more than 50 times at southern California sporting events. I had the honor of singing at Dodgers Stadium, Staples Center and on the ice for the Ducks when they still played at “The Pond.” But more than 30 of those games were for the Anaheim Angels, who always treated me and my family as if we were part of theirs.  I have many wonderful memories from singing at Angels Stadium, but I have to say that the best are from that very first night,

when I dared myself to step up to the plate.

Knots of Love Christine Shively is Still an All-Star

In 2009, Major League Baseball called her an All-Star. Two years later, she’s still batting a thousand.

This past weekend, Christine Shively and her Knots of Love volunteers set up shop under the big hats and collected homemade hats from fans on their way into the game. Shively collects these soft, knit caps from volunteers and then donates them to cancer centers across the country. The caps provide comfort to patients who are undergoing chemotherapy treatment.

“The treatment rooms can be so cold and many of the patients have lost their hair,” Christine explains. “These caps can really make a difference for people who have lost so much.”

I first met Christine a couple of seasons ago when she tried to teach me and the other Afternoon Angels how to knit a cap during a game. Let’s just say I gained a new appreciation for the wonderful volunteers who effortlessly whip out these caps, many while watching the Angels play.

On Saturday, some of those fan volunteers donated over 200 homemade caps and received free tickets from the Angels organization. Those who couldn’t knit donated a few dollars for the cause. Others promised to make caps in the future. All of this interest encouraged Christine, who is now donating cancer caps to Veterans Hospitals as well. This summer, she’d like to collect 5,000 caps by Veterans Day, (11-11-11).

“The Angels have been great to us,” Christine told me. “They really are a great organization and I’m so proud to be part of their team.”

Spoken like a true All-Star.

If you’d like to donate to Knots of Love, check out their website at www.knotsoflove.org