Angels and Monkeys

On a recent Friday night, Eleanor and Chauncey took the train from Union Station south to Anaheim Stadium with their friends, Ben and Veronica, to see the Angels play the Yankees. Ben and Veronica had season tickets to the Angel games. Veronica warned that the seats were in the nosebleed section.  Eleanor worried she might have to hang out by the beer station if the seats were slanted at too much of an angle.  She wasn’t always comfortable with heights.

Before leaving the station, the train was searched by a bomb sniffing German Shepard. It was two days before the 10th anniversary of the September 11^th attacks. This delayed the train’s departure so they arrived at the stadium as the players were running onto the field.

Several people stood outside the stadium gates with large cardboard signs announcing Jesus Saves and Jesus Loves You in red lettering. Stadium employees stopped taking tickets while the national anthem was sung by a prepubescent girl in a tank top. Ben reminded us that we were behind the Orange Curtain.

Behind the Orange Curtain.

Settled into their seats, Chauncey and Eleanor ate BBQ pulled pork sandwiches and drank Firestone Double Barreled Ale.  Veronica had a vegetarian hotdog and a pineapple margarita.  Ben stocked up on his protein with pulled pork and sausage. 

Eleanor and Veronica talked about why they had left their jobs as therapists at the same nonprofit mental health agency. They periodically cheered when the Angels got a man on base or sent the Yankees back out onto the field. Veronica said we had come a long way from watching Christians being fed to the lions.

The Rally Monkey worked his magic.

Sometime during the 7^th inning when the score was tied at 1 to 1, a Rally Monkey film was shown on the screen.  The Rally Monkey, a Capuchin monkey, is the Angel’s mascot. As soon as he popped up in the wrestling ring ready to take on Jack Black in Nacho Libre, the crowd went wild. Children in the stands held up their stuffed Rally Monkeys and danced along with the music. Every time the Yankees switched pitchers, another Rally Monkey film was shown to spur the crowd to cheer their team to victory. The Rally Monkey showed up in the trunk in The Hangover and was the villain who terrorized Janet Leigh in Psycho’s famous shower scene.

The Rally Monkey worked his magic. The Angels beat the Yankees 2 to 1 in the bottom of the 9^th inning. Ben couldn’t wait to check his favorite Angel blog at Rev. Halofan. Veronica could return to her painting satisfied with the outcome of the game.