That being said, I was genuinely looking forward to seeing the Angels live in their beautiful home in Anaheim.

A day prior to visiting Anaheim, I had been in Los Angeles, and seen the Dodgers play, and win against the St. Louis Cardinals. Going into the 2008 season, and with the way the teams had shaped up on paper, I declared a prediction that the Angels would meet the Tigers in the 2008 ALCS, with the Tigers winning in six games, and go on to win the World Series. Well, the Tigers started the 2008 campaign 0-8, and at the time of my writing this, look to probably miss the playoffs with their inconsistencies, inability to play well, and just their sheer lack of any impactful winning streaks. The Angels, on the other hand, could fulfill my predictions. Either way, when the tickets were purchased for this game, I had high expectations.

Where as Dodger Stadium was a little difficult to get to, being in the middle of Los Angeles, Angel Stadium was the exact opposite. I stepped out of my hotel room in Anaheim, into the parking lot, wondering where I needed to go. Doing just a sweep around the parking lot, I picked out the giant "A" with the halo on it, and the rest was simple - follow the giant A.

Without question, I can say that Angel Stadium has the most welcoming, interesting, and fun looking face out of all the ballparks I've been to. Who knows, maybe it's residual Disney influence, but everything about the face of the park screams "fun," with its gigantic matching Angels caps, which even had the New Era emblem on them, to all the bat columns, as well as the replica of the diamond, complete with pitching mound in the courtyard.

Despite the general age of Angel Stadium, it has a young and modern feel to it, likely due to the renovations done in 2004. The walkways are easy to maneuver, it's easy to get around the place, and there are lots of food choices, and easily accessible restrooms. It's not as old-school feeling as Dodger Stadium was, but for a youngster like myself, I could appreciate the modern touches, and the necessity to not keep things cramped and uncomfortable, and pawn it off as being "genuine and old-timey."

Dodger Stadium felt like a place where seriously dedicated fans came to watch their baseball. Angel Stadium had an air of a more relaxed feel to it, and yeah, that meant that lots of people were clearly of the family-oriented, lackadasical fans, but again, I could appreciate the more relaxed atmosphere of Anaheim in contrast to LA. Perhaps because it's an AL park, that nobody seems to give my Braves hat any attention, as opposed to the few people out in Dodger Stadium to told me that the Braves sucked - no big deal, really, I suppose.

This is something that I saw a lot of during the game. Hell, it's something I saw a lot of in California ballparks in general. However, the difference is that in LA and San Diego, none of them ever made it down to the field like they did in Anaheim. Seven times, the home plate umpire had to call time, so that the ballboy could remove a beachball that landed in the outfield. At first, it was amusing, but after about the third time, it was a little irritating. I had to imagine that either the pitchers or hitters, who totally rely on some sort of rhythm and timing to their actions had to have been distracted by the need to call time for beach balls.

I remember hearing about the Rally Monkey in the 2002 World Series, but my, how it has grown throughout the last six years. Especially under the circumstances at the game I attended, where there was no score, at all, all through regulation; the Rally Monkey vignettes hit the big screens almost non-stop between every inning, every pitching change, and any time there was a break in the action.

As the game went on, and there was never any runs coming in, my mind wandered, wondering who was going to play the role of the hero in the bottom of the 9th. Vlad Guerrero? Torii Hunter? Not quite sure. And then when the 8th inning ended, and the heart of the Angels line up had just been retired, it sunk in that extra innings was going to be a reality. How many extra innings, was yet to be determined, but it was hitting a point where I was just stoked to be seeing yet another extra inning game, and that I wanted to see the game keep going and going.

Noteable performance(s):   Certainly none of the sluggers. Jon Garland and Kenny Rogers matched each other zero-for-zero through seven strong innings, and both teams emptied out their bullpens who began to match each other one by one until the 12th inning.

Game Result:   It took 12 innings, but the Angels prevailed in the bottom of the 12th, winning 1-0. And of all the things in the world, the game ended on a bases-loaded, walk-off walk. Not exactly what I was hoping to see from a team that had as many established sluggers as they both combined to have, but needless to say, it was amusing, and entertaining. After the 9th inning, I didn't want to see the game end, I just wanted to see the string of zeroes continue.

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