American Studies Project

this DUDE about it

Have fun.

I was a Little Leaguer back when the stadium opened, and my father worked for the bank that helped finance construction. I grew up next door in Orange and could see the stadium grow and open from my home, and from local ball fields. I spent a lot of those early years in the first three rows behind the home dugout, courtesy of the bank’s season tickets that nobody wanted.

I was negative 15 years old or so, but I just want to wish you luck!

Ah, a fellow American Studies student, I received my BA in American Studies from CSUF in 1990, I would love to help you out. But alas my memories of that game are filled with frustration. I remember the Angels had fans interested in All Star Game tickets fill out an interest card and with any luck they would select your card and thereby give you the opportunity to purchase tickets. Well I filled out cards for everyone I knew; myself, siblings, girlfriend, parents and grandparents. The problem was I did not advise those other people that I used their name and address. So as game day came I was talking to my father, who was not a sports fan, about my disappointment about not getting selected for the ticket raffle. It was then my dear old dad told me he had received a card from the Angels telling him he was selected to purchase All Star Game tickets, but since he was not a fan and did not remember filling any form out he threw the invitation away.

I forgave my dad since it was my fault for not notifying potential reciepients but to this day it still frustrates me.

P.S. It pains me that a Theo Epstein also had a degree in American Studies.

You should look through this book if you need an introduction to Orange County’s social history during that time period. It focuses on the political culture, but it also describes the kind of people who were moving to the area in the 1960s and the community they built. The author teaches history at Harvard, so it would be perfectly suitable as a secondary source for this kind of assignment.

you kill me, ivy. good luck. :)

That was all way before my time but I know a lot of us would love to read about it, plus a lot of the old folks that check in here from time to time could probably provide you with even more ideas & memories after reading it.

I cannot believe, flawed as it is (no frickin’ index?) that Ross Newhan’s The Anaheim Angels: A Complete History hasn’t been mentioned.

But good luck nonetheless, bud. If it comes up again (somehow) you can always talk about the impact that the 2010 Allstar game will have on Anaheim. Anyways, post your paper on the site. We’d all love to read it.