Remembering Angels opening days

The Angels last won on opening day in 2013, a 3-1 win over the Reds in Cincinnati. The Halos’ six-game opening day losing streak was originally scheduled to have been put to the test Thursday evening in Houston against the Astros, but now is considered TBD.

If and when the 2020 season does get started, the Angels will add one way or another to their 30-29 record on opening days since becoming a franchise in 1961. That includes 18-16 at home (17-15 at Angel Stadium, 1-1 at Dodger Stadium), and 12-13 on the road.

Maria Torres looked back at some memorable Angels opening days for the Los Angeles Times, including some glorious ones, like when Vladimir Guerrero doubled home two runs in a win in his Angels debut; and some not-so-glorious ones, like when Mo Vaughn slipped on the dugout steps and when Adam Riggs wore a jersey that said “ANGEES” on the front.

Links

Former Angels pitcher Dan Haren is selling his collection of bobbleheads, over 300 in all, to raise money for Children’s Action Alliance in Phoenix and the Hollywood Food Coalition in Los Angeles. Molly Knight at The Athletic has his story, plus links to the various eBay auctions. If you can’t see the links in the article, here are links to a Hank Aaron bobblehead and a Zack Greinke one. The eBay seller name is ha615482. An underrated aspect is the notes Haren will include with each bobblehead:

Joe Maddon and quality assurance coach Tim Buss answered some questions on the Angels’ YouTube channel on Wednesday, among them their favorite memory of Tommy La Stella, a current Angel who played for Maddon and Buss with the Cubs. My favorite part is that Buss is referred to not as quality assurance coach, but rather the VP of stuff.

In addition to the Mike Trout 5-hit game from 2018 that is on Thursday’s docket, Fox Sports West will rebroadcast a slew of Angels games from 2019 in the next few weeks.