A Plea to Improve the Stadium Tour
by agent_99 on Dec 3, 2009 10:22 AM PST
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My father, who had followed the Angels since they were a part of the old Pacific Coast League back in the 30s and 40s, had always dreamed of making a visit to every major league stadium in the country. Well, he died a year ago on September 11th, and not long after his death my sister and I decided that we would take on my father's dream. In the year that has passed since my father's death, we have toured such storied venues as Fenway Park and Wrigley Field, as well as much newer ballparks like Progressive Field in Cleveland.
Last week, after attending countless Angels' games, we decided to take a tour of Angels Stadium. Unbelievable. Unbelievably bad, that is. The tour we were given easily ranks as the worst we've been to so far. The only tour worse than the one we got in Anaheim is the one offered by the Oakland As. The As don't offer an actual tour, but you can take a 'virtual tour' on their official website.
For the cost of three dollars (yes, three dollars), you get to see the VIP elevator that no one on the tour is allowed to take pictures of (?), and are informed that the carpet upon which you stand carries a 'baseball motif' because, well, there are baseball designs woven into the fabric. The tour guide (quite possibly one of the Angel Boosters) helps you imagine what the inside of the Angels' Clubhouse looks like if you were able to take a tour of it, which you are not. We got to see the inside of the press room, where the kindly guide tried to remember where we could get the very same wallpaper should we want to decorate a room in our house similarly. Unfortunately, no one seemed to have the keys to the batting cages, but our guide again helped us to imagine what we would see had we been able to actually tour them.
The tour guide was a nice lady, and probably the very best grandmother in the whole world. But information about how new the carpeting is and where wallpaper can be purchased makes for one lousy tour. In contrast, two days later my sister and I toured AT&T Park in San Francisco and what a difference! First of all, the setting can't be beat. From the ballpark you can visually take in the entire San Francisco skyline on one side, and the Golden Gate Bridge on the other. But even better than that was the fact that our tour guide was quite possibly the most baseball knowledgeable guy I'd ever met. Importantly, not only did he give us great information on the history of Giants baseball, but he gave us great info on the history of baseball in the west, including some history of the Angels during their Pacific Coast years. The cost of the tour was twelve dollars and fifty cents, but it was light years better that the one at Angels Stadium.
Arte Moreno and the Angels stake a claim to being "Fan Strong", and they are. But please, Arte, do your fans, and baseball, a favor: hire a real tour guide and take pride in the Angel history that has brought this franchise to its current championship level of play. Please.
This Fan-Post is authored by an independent fan. Tell us what you think and how you feel.
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Did you get to see Lincecum's bong?
Or Shinjo’s bat that he used to strike out against Troy Percival in Game 7?
I’d rather have a crappy tour of the Angels stadium than the world’s best tour of Loserville.
Free Bengie Molina!
2010: The year of Angels World Domination
Really?
Look, I’m an Angel specifically, but a baseball fan generally. Loserville is anything but. However, I am behind you in freeing Bengie Molina-that would make a GREAT bumper-sticker!
This bums me out.
I’ve always wanted to take the tour. Maybe I’ll pass then if it sucks.
I have nothing important to say.
My thoughts too
Semi-threadjack, folks: The new video screen is up on the Big A. Looks like they’re testing it right now. Sorry, no photos.
We are the Los Angeles Angels of the late 2000s
I would heartily suggest he Camden Yards Tour
Great ballpark, good tour and interesting tidbits (where I found out about the Deleware River mud for the baseballs).
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Risking a pattimelt smackdown here, but...
Isn’t this one of the primary charters of a booster club? Volunteer docents to promote the team, the facility, and the history? If the stadium tour sux, we should blame the way the organization is leveraging the booster club.
This is a sad tale.
Had I owned the Pittsburgh Pirates, I could have saved America.
The Boosters
have NOTHING to do with the Stadium Tour. Except that they gave one to us a couple years ago, and we didn’t get to see the clubhouse or the batting cages, either..
Honestly, I don’t see Arte keeping the boosters around much longer. If he could find a way to get rid of them, I think he would..
Therein lies the root of the problem.
It is inefficient to pay for hired staff to conduct tours. Not enough public traffic. The team and the city should get together with the Boosters and set aside a trained docent program and create a viable historical tour, and have the boosters conduct tours during limited windows.
Had I owned the Pittsburgh Pirates, I could have saved America.
I know I'd do it..
Think of all the trivia a booster can come up with.. We LOVE the team, and we devour (at least I do) everything about the Angels we can find—so we could make it interesting. There’s a few places I’d include on a tour besides the usual press box, dugout, dugout suites, etc.. Take guests to the bullpen and let them sit out there, show them where the controls are for the big video board, show them how the A is lit when we win.. cool stuff like that… explain WHO gets to “Light up the Halo”… That’s all stuff I’d like to know and see…
Yep. And it only takes about 4-5 similarly-minded enthusiasts.
Actually, it would increase interest in the Booster Club if there was any chance that a member could work his/her way onto the team of docents. And, by definition, the franchise gets a free employee who passionately promotes the team and the experience. All it costs them is a small amount of admin time and some liability insurance. Museums do this EVERYWHERE. The marketing leverage is large, even if the actual customer rate is low.
P.S. – Add a trip into Thunder Mountain. Add the HOF. Let everybody take a turn in the batting cages out behind the pavilion seating to promote family-friendliness, close with the gift shop for sales. Maybe include upper view seats with the tour tickets, along with coupons for dogs/chips/sodas.
Had I owned the Pittsburgh Pirates, I could have saved America.
Deal.
But I gotta warn you now. I am bat-shit crazy.
Had I owned the Pittsburgh Pirates, I could have saved America.
First...
…sorry to hear about the passing of your father. He sounds a lot like my Dad, who died 20 years ago.
Second, my wife and I have been doing the same as you and your sister…touring different ballparks. From your description, it definitely sounds like the tour of Angels Stadium leaves a lot to be desired. We have taken tours of Fenway, Yankee Stadium (the old one), Wrigley, and Miller Park. Each tour has been excellent. The guides have been articulate, informed, appropriately humorous, and engaging.
You seem to have found an area where the Angels organization needs to develop better interaction with the general public. Sorry to hear the tour was so disappointing.
Thanks...
for your sympathy. My dad was a great guy, like your dad I’m sure. Yeah, my original thought was to write a letter to the Angels organization, and I think I still will. By the way, an odd thing about my posting here (I’m a first-timer) is that I actually titled this piece “A Plea to Arte Moreno”, but somebody at Halosheaven changed it. Not sure why, but that’s a little disconcerting.
Titles of Fanposts are expected to convey the full subject of the post therein
The original title didn’t really convey what you were trying to say: A plea for what? For better players? For moving the team? For selling the team? For winning the World Series next year? And so on. I believe this might be in the site regulations, posted further down on the main page.
Rev often changes titles to better reflect what other users can expect to read upon clicking through. Now people know that if they click into your fanpost, they’re going to read about the stadium tour, and won’t expect something else.
RIP Nick Adenhart.
"When the Babe tries to call his shot, I hope Nick puts one in his ear."
--RallyMonkey5
To clarify further
I did not change your title. Rev probably did. I’m just trying to explain why.
RIP Nick Adenhart.
"When the Babe tries to call his shot, I hope Nick puts one in his ear."
--RallyMonkey5
Thanks!
I really appreciate that you guys take the time to respond to what’s written, and care enough to explain.
Nice first post.
Rev’s decent, although he gets pretty tough on idiots. Your post isn’t idiotic in the least, so he was just trying to clarify the purpose of your post (or so it seems to me).
Is your name a reference to “Get Smart”? Cause Agent 99 was a hot spy chick in the original TV series…
Would you believe,
I missed saying the same thing by THAT much?
Angels baseball. We do what we must, because we can -- HaloDutch
Vhere is Starker?!!!
Zis is KAOS! Ve don’t “pbbbbt” here!
Angels baseball. We do what we must, because we can -- HaloDutch
Yeah, good topic all around
I’d thought about taking a stadium tour after I had a good experience at Fenway (shocking), but now not so sure…I’m glad the guide seemed enthusiastic enough and was at least trying, it just sounds like Arte and the management need to allow access to “better” areas, at least during the offseason! I mean hey, at Fenway we didn’t get to go many places either, but at least it seemed you usually get to go on the field and various other areas (we didn’t get to go there on our tour because it was about a week before Opening Day and the field was all torn up).
RIP Nick Adenhart.
"When the Babe tries to call his shot, I hope Nick puts one in his ear."
--RallyMonkey5
Yeah...
I purposely made the title somewhat vague in order to draw the most readers. Sometimes a person thinks a particular subject may not be of interest to them, but if hooked in, discovers they have an opinion about that subject after all. But I understand your reasoning.
Actually if it had been left as is ... I would have skipped thinking it was a John Lackey post
I entered this thread because I’ve never been on the tour and I always wanted to try it. Doesn’t seem worth my time after reading this.
Nice post on a good subject. I hope they can revamp it.
I love this team.
by Downing Rules on Dec 4, 2009 4:37 PM PST up reply actions
I took the tour a few years back and thought it was pretty decent. Getting to sit in the Dugout was the highlight for sure.
Oh man
Hmm maybe I will go, if just for that!
RIP Nick Adenhart.
"When the Babe tries to call his shot, I hope Nick puts one in his ear."
--RallyMonkey5
They never allow you in the Angels clubhouse. We didn’t get to see the Visitor’s Clubhouse on my tour though because the Rolling Stones trashed it.
Incontinence can be a persistent issue with gentlemen of such advanced years...
…probably took them a week to mop it out.
You were fortunate.
I see red people
I'm surprised the A's tour wasn't better
To your left, you’ll see a crime scene from a stabbing after the Raiders game last night. It looks like someone was stupid enough to wear a Chargers jersey to the stadium. Silly San Diegans!
Oh, how lucky are we? To your right, there is Al Davis famous track suit being taken for cleaning…no wait, that is Al Davis.
Coming up on your left is a memorial to sabermetrics and a hallway leading to Billy Beane’s crushed hopes and dreams.
1 line siggy line because I was asked nicely. Go Angels! helpfindscottajob@gmail.com
Surprised you had such a lousy time
I’ve taken the tour a couple times, once with a very knowledgeable guide who knew the first chorus to ‘take me out to the ball game,’ and once with a less-knowledgeable guide. On both instances I got to visit the home dugout and the visitor’s locker room.
The tour at Safeco Field was pretty sweet, in comparison. Only other tour I’ve taken. We spent some time in the President’s Suite, the Diamond Club (which makes the Big A’s resemble a cafeteria in comparison), both dugouts and the warnind track.
"Death to the opposition!" - Commander Worf, First Baseman: The Niners
Touring all the ballparks
Hey — I was just on the site looking to contact the Rev when I saw the subject line here. I’m very, very sorry for your loss. I thought you might find this of interest:
Award-winning independent baseball documentary released
Greetings,
My dad (who has Parkinson’s Disease) and I went on a 20,000 mile road trip to all 30 MLB parks over two months in the summer of ’04. The journey the ensuing award-winning documentary, “Boys of Summer”, has been on has felt much longer. However, it is finally getting a limited release.
100% of the proceeds from this sale of the film are going to the Michael J Fox Foundation. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the film, please take a look at the site: http://www.bosmovie.com. You’ll find all the info, letters of recommendation, news articles a trailer and how to order it there.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.
My best to you,
Robert Cochrane (a.k.a. princemilo)
Director, Writer, Producer “Boys of Summer”
bromack@mac.com
An Oakland A's fan, immortalized wearing Red Sox gear.
Life must be conflicted.
I look forward to viewing the documentary!! This is something I think about doing in my retirement years. I am sure that I am not alone in wondering what it would be like.
Had I owned the Pittsburgh Pirates, I could have saved America.
Funny you should say that...
I wore my A’s lid throughout (especially on the road between games), but it became clear pretty quickly that this trip was about a lot more than the A’s (both my dad’s and my team as that’s he raised me in the east Bay — ironically, we saw them only once — in Oakland — and they got stomped by the Tigers. On the flip side, we saw the Devil Rays six times…scheduling the trip was one of the more difficult elements).
Add to that when we got the kind of love and support from teams (inviting us in for behind-the-scenes tours, free tickets, the ability to go on the field/in the dugout before the game. etc.), I felt fairly compelled to wear the free team hats/shirts they handed us.
But the biggest payoff was seeing my dad smiling like a little kid and recognize a dream he started for us in the early 90’s…well, thankfully that’s all over the film and is worth more than any team allegiance. I look forward to sharing it with you — thanks very much for your interest.
Good catch...
Must mean the Bay Bridge, or else they’ve figured out a way to see through hills.
1 line siggy line because I was asked nicely. Go Angels! helpfindscottajob@gmail.com
Disingenuous from the Angels site:
(See the wording – IMO, they clearly imply you will get to ENTER the clubhouse)
Stadium Tours:
The “behind-the-scenes” tour is both an enjoyable and educational experience. You will be invited to view areas that are normally restricted to the public. The complete tour includes a visit to the following areas: Press Box, Press Conference Room, Clubhouse, and Dugout.
Tours will take about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Angel Stadium is wheelchair accessible if there is a need. Tour routes may change without notice depending on availability of areas in the stadium. The maximum number for tours is 40 people. We ask that you have 1 chaperone for every 10 kids in the tour group.
by SocalAngelFaninOC on Dec 6, 2009 9:55 AM PST reply actions
Petco Park
Since my tour of both Angels Stadium and AT&T Park, I have since toured Petco Park. This is another great tour! Strolling past us during the tour was Tony Gwynn, Jr.- a really nice guy. It was very memorable, to say the least! The thing that seems to make the difference is how knowledgeable and passionate the guide is for that city’s team, and for baseball in general. Although I boo loud and long whenever the Red Sox or Yankees come to town, I respect and admire the history those two teams represent, and I appreciate others who acknowledge the ‘greats’ who played long before our current generation, regardless of the uniform they may have worn.
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