I thought I should see a game. Here was a chance to see the Cardinals in Southern California, and outside the confines of Dodger Stadium, where they\u2019ll play at the start of September.<\/p>\n
I had three options: Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. The choice was made for me when reader Eric Haynes of Upland, an Angels season ticketholder, emailed to say he would be unable to go to Tuesday\u2019s game and to ask if I\u2019d like tickets plus preferred parking.<\/p>\n
As a matter of fact, I would.<\/p>\n
And so Tuesday found me riding with my friends Madison and Wesley from Riverside to Anaheim. It was time for some Cardinals baseball.<\/p>\n
Or for some Angels baseball, for Wesley, a fan of the team. Or simply for some baseball, for Madison, a Dodgers fan who wore a Red Sox cap.<\/p>\n
This is a whimsical side interest Madison has cultivated in part because the Red Sox are on a winning streak, and in part to prank her father. According to sources embedded within her family, this joke has been a great success.<\/p>\n
My one and only previous Angels game was in, I believe, 2002. This was prior to the advent of Arte Moreno, the team\u2019s beloved owner. Just kidding, everybody hates him.<\/p>\n
Trivia note: The Angels\u2019 interim general manager, John Mozeliak<\/a>, is the retired general manager of the Cardinals. Everything is connected.<\/p>\n I came dressed for success in a Cardinals cap, a Cardinals jersey and a T-shirt from Imo\u2019s Pizza, the St. Louis-centered pizza chain. This signifies my allegiance in a subtle way.<\/p>\n I was barely inside the stadium when a Cards fan saw me and exclaimed, \u201cImo\u2019s!\u201d See, it works.<\/p>\n I also came in thinking my visiting team had a high probability of beating the home team. The Cardinals, who had been expected to tank this season, instead have been one of baseball\u2019s biggest surprises. The Angels, meanwhile, are dependably one of the worst teams in baseball.<\/p>\n In the first inning, however, the Cardinals didn\u2019t get on base and the Angels quickly racked up a 3-0 lead, with only one out. Players and manager headed to the mound to give Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore a pep talk.<\/p>\n A couple of pitches later, he gave up a two-run homer. So much for the pep talk. It was now 5-0 Angels. I turned to Madison and Wesley and said, \u201cWe can go now if you like.\u201d<\/p>\n In the fifth, the Cards finally scored a run, making it 5-1. \u201cIf they can just score one run per inning,\u201d I said to Madison feverishly, \u201cin the ninth they\u2019ll tie it.\u201d<\/p>\n Did you know the Angels have a player named Jose Siri? His teammates must constantly ask him random questions just to get his goat.<\/p>\n \u201cHey Siri, what\u2019s the name of this song? Hey Siri, what is the 27th Amendment? Siri, tell me all the state capitals, arranged by the length of their names, but in reverse alphabetical order.\u201d<\/p>\n Our seats were along the third-base line, at club level. I left to head up to the deck to look for St. Louis fans. I didn\u2019t find any. They were probably hiding somewhere and drinking Budweiser. But on my way back to my seat, a man walking past said to me quietly, \u201cGo, Cardinals.\u201d<\/p>\n St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson is seen here in the first inning Tuesday with the Los Angeles Angels\u2019 Jo Adell, who had just hit a two-run homer. Burleson later hit a foul ball into our columnist\u2019s row. (AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill)\n<\/p>\n St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore gave up five runs in the first inning Tuesday in Anaheim against the Los Angeles Angels. The Cardinals lost 5-1. (AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill)\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 2<\/p>\n St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson is seen here in the first inning Tuesday with the Los Angeles Angels\u2019 Jo Adell, who had just hit a two-run homer. Burleson later hit a foul ball into our columnist\u2019s row. (AP Photo\/Mark J. Terrill)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a><\/p>\n In my section<\/a>, I chatted with two fans in Cardinals gear, here on vacation from St. Louis. \u201cYou know Imo\u2019s!\u201d the wife exclaimed, impressed. They\u2019d arrived the night before and saw glimpses of Monday\u2019s game on the TV at the hotel.<\/p>\n St. Louis had led until the ninth inning, when the Angels tied, then loaded the bases, then scored when the batter was \u2014 d\u2019oh! \u2014 hit by a pitch. Yes, a hit-by-pitch walk-off victory<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was embarrassing,\u201d the husband said disconsolately.<\/p>\n In the bottom of the sixth inning, Angels fans began migrating toward the near-empty last section of the right-field upper deck. From where we sat, they looked like ants making an orderly progression toward a blot of syrup. The section was soon full.<\/p>\n \u201cSell the team! Sell the team!\u201d they chanted, waving their shirts overhead. This has been a regular feature<\/a> of Angels games this season.<\/p>\n The stadium looked about two-thirds empty, a sign of a dispirited fan base. Nevertheless, this team was beating my team.<\/p>\n In the eighth inning, Alec Burleson, the Cardinals\u2019 heavy-hitting first baseman, was at the plate. He hit a towering foul ball in our general direction.<\/p>\n The ball caromed off the overhang above us, then ricocheted into our row to bounce around. Wesley says he touched it. The big guy to my left began to make a move across me toward it.<\/p>\n Madison ended up with the ball, to her elation. With a happy sigh, holding her foul ball, she said of Angel Stadium: \u201cI don\u2019t ever have to come back. I\u2019m done.\u201d<\/p>\n Although Madison was at an Angels game wearing a Red Sox cap, I suggested that Alec Burleson could be her new favorite ballplayer. She agreed to consider it. Obviously she\u2019s open-minded.<\/p>\n Wesley, meanwhile, was eyeing a plastic Angels helmet full of untouched nachos at the feet of fans across the aisle, wondering if it might be left behind. He didn\u2019t want the nachos. He wanted the helmet.<\/p>\n![\"Columnist](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IDB-L-ALLEN-COL-0724-6.jpg\")
Columnist David Allen, who came to Tuesday\u2019s game at Angel Stadium in a Cardinals jersey and cap and a T-shirt from a St. Louis pizza chain, gamely smiles despite suffering through a 5-1 loss. (Photo by Madison Hart, Press-Enterprise\/SCNG)<\/p>\n![\"St.](\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IDB-L-ALLEN-COL-0724-3.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"St.](\"https:\/\/www.dailynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IDB-L-ALLEN-COL-0724-4.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IDB-L-ALLEN-COL-0724-2.jpg\")
A foul ball hit by St. Louis Cardinals slugger Alec Burleson bounced near our columnist and became someone else\u2019s proud possession. (Photo by Madison Hart, Press-Enterprise\/SCNG)<\/p>\n
![\"Fireworks](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IDB-L-ALLEN-COL-0724-5.jpg\")
Fireworks blast and the message \u201cAngels Win!\u201d flashes in lights immediately after Tuesday\u2019s 5-1 victory against (sob!) the St. Louis Cardinals. (Photo by David Allen, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin\/SCNG)<\/p>\n