I wrote earlier today about Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, the original home of the California Angels. I’ve been reading more about Wrigley LA today and I found some interesting information about its use as a football stadium. The field’s strange dimensions made it hard to fit a full football field, so they just squeezed it in the best they could and cut out a small piece of the back of each end zone. I’m not sure if any other football fields were like this in the country, although I know most football teams pre-1970 did play in stadiums designed for baseball, including such famous cathedrals as Fenway Park, Yankee Stadium, and even Wrigley Field in Chicago. Here’s an overhead view of the football field lines drawn on Wrigley Field Los Angeles in 1948:

Tags: angels, california angels, football, los angeles, wrigley field

I came across this wonderful article in the LA Times about the original home of the Angels: Wrigley Field. No, not that Wrigley Field. There was also a Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, and it stood for over 40 years. For one season the stadium was home to the major league Angels, and before that it hosted the minor league LA Angels and also the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League. It was abandoned in the mid-60’s and finally demolished in 1969.

Tags: history, los angeles, los angeles angels, stadium, wrigley field

The Red Sox beat the Angels last night with a game-winning hit in the bottom of the 9th a batter after the Angels had appeared to strike out Nick Green twice on consecutive pitches for what would have been the final out of the game. The first pitch was out of the strike zone but Green tried to check his swing. He failed, but the 1st base umpire failed to notice that minor detail. Mike Scioscia gave ‘em hell, and then was outraged a pitch later when Green looked at a pitch split the plate about 2 inches above the knees. The home plate umpire seemed to think it was low, because he called it a ball, even though ESPN’s K-Zone showed it wasn’t even close. That pitch wasn’t even on the border of the strike zone, it was completely within the box with a clear gap between the ball and the border. You don’t see a call that can end the game go as wrong as that one did. Congrats to the Red Sox on the win, we’ll see you later tonight and again in early October. Karma is a bitch.

Tags: anaheim, angels, bad call, boston red sox, los angeles angels, nick green, umpire