The Halo Is Charged, Will It Finally Shine?

Post date: Jan 16, 2020 12:01:36 AM

As an Orange County native, I am privileged to have a baseball team to call my own, when I was a child I remember passing by Angel Stadium and being absolutely awestruck at the engineering marvel that it was, and still is. As a child, one doesn't see the stadium as an adult. All one sees as a child is a big building where baseball players play baseball. A child doesn't really understand the connections a team may have to its community, city, or fan base; they don't really understand the identity that a city may have with a certain team and how that team represents that particular city to the rest of the world.

That's what Angel Stadium is for Orange County, a world representative of Orange County's identity, culture, and location. Orange County is not Los Angeles and it is not San Diego, we stand on our own. This is why it was important to Angels' fans like me that the Angels stay in Anaheim and not move to Los Angeles or Long Beach. Angel Stadium is the heartbeat of the Orange County baseball fan, simply because we are not Los Angeles, and moving the Angels to Los Angeles would have meant living in the Dodgers shadow from that point on.

The Angels agreed to stay in Anaheim through the 2050 season. As part of the agreement, the Angels will buy Angel Stadium for 325,000,000 dollars. It was quite a Christmas gift for Angels' fans like me. I'm glad they are staying, however I am concerned. Angel Stadium will no longer be city the property, which means that Stadium security will no longer be the responsibility of the Anaheim Police Department and it will be more than likely the responsibility of a private security firm. How is that going to change the fan experience for Angels' fans and visitors? This will inevitably delay the response of police officers during an emergency since they will no longer be on site as part of stadium security.

These particular questions don't take away from the excitement that I feel knowing that I will be a senior citizen before the Angels talk about moving again, it is a great feeling to know that my team is staying home; right where it is, and right where it should be.

The Angels have also been very active this off-season, signing third baseman, Anthony Rendon to a seven-year contract, clearly the Angels want to add power to the offensive lineup, I just hope it's not the cost of pitching which they unequivocally need.

I am ecstatic that the Angels are staying home where they belong, I look forward to becoming an old man and taking my grandchildren, maybe even my great-grandchildren to a ballgame at the same site where that awestruck child filled with wonder looked at the big building where his favorite baseball players played. The Halo is charged, now, it's time for it to shine.

-ICE