east vs. west: a tale of two baseball games

I recently had the opportunity to attend two baseball games on opposite coasts within two days of each other. I'm a huge baseball fan so this really shouldn't surprise anyone. The first game I attended was on the 3rd at Angel Stadium, the first Angel game following the tragic death of pitcher Nick Adenhart. It was the first game of their series with the Red Sox, a rematch of last year's AL Championship.

The game was awesome but incredibly sad. Before the game, I visited the Adenhart memorial set up by fans right outside the main entrance. There were multiple Adenhart tributes before, during, and after the game. His image and number had been put up on the outfield wall and, on their way out to the field, players touched the image on the wall.

 

  

 

 Needless to say, the Angels played some inspired ball. It was a great game, offensively and defensively. The Angels won and eventually took the series that weekend, 2-1.

I flew the red eye to DC Sunday night and got in Monday morning (the 6th). After a quick nap, Jesse and I headed to Nationals Stadium for the Nats home opener. The Phillies were in town and there were tons of Phillies fans there.  

I like the Nats and want them to succeed but I will always be an Angels fan first.  The Nats can be a very eye-roll-inducing team.  There was a lot of offense in the game, but there were a couple of Nats errors that were a bit frustrating to watch.  After a string of frustration, Jesse and I took a tour of the stadium to see what was new this year.

Besides the fun presidential bobbleheads and the addition of another Ben's Chili Bowl concession stand, there were these incredibly creepy looking statues. I think they were supposed to be old Senators players in motion. Well, it's really hard to recreate motion in a statue, but someone thought this would be a good idea. Maybe in theory. But in practice, we've got these monstrosities greeting you upon entering the main entrance:

 

  

  

 

Thankfully, I saw the presidential bobbleheads soon after that nightmarish sight.

The Nats eventually lost the game after a late rally fell short. I have a feeling it's going to be very long season for the Nats.

Maybe not for the Angels though...

A as in Awesome!

There's a blog meme going around...

If you want to participate, leave a comment on this post and I will assign you a letter. You then write about 10 things you love that begin with your assigned letter and post them on your blog. When people comment on your posted list, you give them a letter and the chain continues on and on.

I love me some memes so I answered Zipcode's challenge and she assigned me the letter A.

image borrowed from memorymakersmagazine.com

What do I love that starts with the letter A?

Angels--Not the heavenly kind but the baseball kind.

image borrowed from eteemz.com

Animals, obviously, with my favorite animals being my lovely kitties, Dominick and Gracie


Arlington, VA--my home, which I'm trying to love, I swear!

America--I heart America Ferrara! She's one of my favorite actresses, she's an excellent role model for young Latinas AND she's a Trojan. That's a triple threat right there!

image borrowed from aol.com


Also, Team America, which was a hilarious movie, especially for giving us this little gem of a song

image borrowed from amazon.com

¡Ask a Mexican! which is my favorite weekly column, written by my favorite weekly columnist Gustavo Arellano

Avalon, which is one of two cities on Catalina Island, a small island off the coast of California. I've had lots of fun there.



Allen, Lily, who is one of my favorite singers and I'm anxiously awaiting for her new album to drop in a couple of weeks.

image from http://www.lilyallenmusic.com/

Alligator Bites...yummy! Who knew gator could taste so good?

image borrowed from ourtown50.com

Adorable...and when I think of 'adorable', the first thing to pop in my head is my niece Serena


Autumn, which quickly became one of my favorite seasons once I started to experience seasons on a regular basis. But no matter what coast I'm on, autumn usually means one thing to me--COLLEGE FOOTBALL!



BONUS
Ass, as in my ass, which I fell on multiple times today while trying to walk on icy roads and sidewalks.


If you wanna play, let me know in the comments and I'll assign you a letter.

stuff on my cat: OC girl edition

My kitties are trying to tell you something.





Gracie and Nicky's mommy will be at the Angels/Nats game tonight and tomorrow. Naturally, I will be cheering on my beloved Angels, just as I did last night from the comfort of my own home (Angels came from behind to win, 3-2).

I'll return to the blog on Thursday.

Until then, here is a gratuitous kitteh photo to hold you over:

I caught my babies cuddling. Awww...

angels take flight

Woot, Woot! My Angels have finally won the AL West.

Up next: PLAYOFFS! Destination: World Series!

image courtesy of the L.A. Times

P.S. My college football update is coming up!