Friday, August 3, 2007

Leading the AL West in CPS

After two days at Comic-Con, I went up to Anaheim and saw an Angels game. It was a Sunday night stinker, with the Angels blowing out the Detroit Tigers 13-4. Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman gave up something like 10 earnies in less than 3 innings. The sun was blasting my seat out in right field, so it wasn't until about the 5th inning that the shadows moved in and I was able to pick up the ball.

I thought it was amusing that the Angels retired numbers are displayed on a bathroom wall in the right field concourse. I figured Bobby Grich would've been one of the retirees, but they had Nolan Ryan, Rod Carew, Gene Autry, Jimmie Reese, Jim Fregosi and Jackie Robinson. I like the local "Ring of Fame" or retired numbers, since they usually honor someone who is virtually unknown to visiting fan. I had never heard of Jimmie Reese until Sunday night. The Angels' official website has this to say about Reese:

During his 23 years, he built a reputation for being the most prolific fungo hitter in baseball.

Well there ya' go.

Angel Stadium also leads the league in the all-important CPS category. That's "Cleavage Per Seat". They've passed Oakland A's spring training games for having the hottest female fans per square foot. A little odd, since it was "Kids' Night" and the place was full of hot broads in their 20's, walking around, showing off the goods. Even during a 13-4 laugher, there's still something to see in Angel Stadium.

The Angels have been doing quite well since Mike Scioscia took over in 2001, but if they ever begin to falter and attendance starts to lag, some savvy marketing would save them. All they have to do is make their traditional nickname more prominent: The Halos. They could market themselves as "HALOs: Baseball Evolved".

Another thing I learned at Comic-Con is that video games are extremely popular. I'll bet that "Halo Guy" is probably more well-known and popular among males 16-30 than "Vladimir Guerrero". The Angels would have to modify their uniforms a bit, but it'd be a huge merchandising cash cow for them.

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