Events: Orange County Edition

If you’re a baseball fan living in Orange County, you may sport Dodger blue or the red-and-white of the Los Angeles Angels. Though the team’s base is Anaheim, forty-five minutes from L.A., you’ll see plenty of Angel fans around Chavez Ravine, where the Dodgers play, and Dodger fans in the vicinity of Angel Stadium as well. This part of southern California may be divided in its loyalties, but there’s reasons for both teams to be enthusiastic about the upcoming season. Let’s talk about what has Angel fans buzzing.

If you live and die with the Angels, you’ve probably been excited about just one thing this offseason: the acquisition of highly-touted prospect Shohei Ohtani. This guy can do it all, seemingly: he can hit for power, he can pitch, and his baseball acumen seems remarkably high for a guy who has never played a single inning in MLB. With expectations through the roof, time will tell whether he’ll be worth the millions that owner Arte Moreno shelled out to bring him to sunny California. But that’s part of the fun, isn’t it? Perhaps he’ll be the answer to all the prayers of the average Angel fan, and maybe he won’t, but putting him in a lineup alongside perineal MVP candidate Mike Trout and future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols should be something to see.

The fact is, if you’re living in Orange County these days and you’re even the most casual of baseball fans, now is probably the time to get on the Angel bandwagon. If you’ve never been to a big league game, there isn’t a better place to do it. The East Coast will start out the season the last week of March, when snowstorms are still a real possibility in places like Boston or New York. But opening night at Angel Stadium, Monday, April 2nd against the powerhouse Cleveland Indians, is almost guaranteed to be perfect weather to watch a ballgame. Come for the atmosphere, as the Haloes try to grab an early lead in the American League West. Come to get a glimpse of the new phenom, Ohtani. Buy me some peanuts and crackerjack, Anaheim fans. A new baseball season is just around the corner.