Angels Fans Get Taste of Ecstasy, Then Agony

‘Well, at least it saved the grass.’

--Betty Showalter

Hundreds of jubilant Angels fans surged down to the front rows at the top of the ninth inning, ready to storm the infield and cheer the victory Sunday afternoon.

But by the bottom of the 11th, the Angels’ partisans retreated, and filed almost mournfully out of Anaheim Stadium. No one climbed the rails, and no one tried to get on the field.

“Well, at least it saved the grass,” said a solemn-looking Betty Showalter of El Monte as she climbed the stairs to leave.

Only an hour earlier, Showalter and her sister-in-law, Sharon Burrows, also of El Monte, had jumped up and down in their front-row seats, anticipating the Angels’ victory that was almost certain as their team widened the lead over the Boston Red Sox at the bottom of the eighth inning.

But like thousands of others in the packed stadium, their euphoria faded to stunned silence after a dream-dashing 11th. The scoreboard showed the final score: California Angels 6, Boston 7. So close, yet so far after two overtime innings that capped three days of suspense-filled baseball.

Only a cluster of Boston Red Sox fans remained in the stadium to gloat over the fallen Angels. One was Jane Hewitt, who happily held aloft a bright red Boston T-shirt. She waved it like a victory flag to Red Sox players in the dugout a few feet away from her.

A Bit of Hyperbole

“Out of 64,000 people here today, I want you to know that I’m the only happy person,” said Hewitt, 43, of Canoga Park. She spoke with a bit of hyperbole and a bit of her native Boston brogue. She exulted in both.

“This is the happiest day since I got married 17 years ago,” said Hewitt, still waving the Boston shirt. “I came to California 12 years ago, but I’ve never stopped cheering for the Red Sox.”

A few other Boston fans standing near her gently reminded Hewitt that she wasn’t the only one thrilled by the Red Sox’s victory.

But Hewitt and friends were a distinct minority in the packed stadium, filled to capacity with cheering Angels fans, who clearly were convinced that the California team would sweep to its fourth, and pennant-winning, victory in the American League playoffs.

With a 5-2 lead at the top of the ninth, the Angels were just an inning away from a pennant, said Debbie Hunter, 31, of Anaheim, who sat with her 13-year-old son, Jason.

“The Angels are going to take it today!” she predicted exuberantly. “I almost had to sell my soul to get these tickets, but it was worth it.”

Nearby, Rod Farley, 40, of La Habra Heights held aloft a big sign that read: “Amazing Angels.” “The amazing Angels of 1986,” he said. “This is their year. And you know what? Angel fans used to come to the games late and leave early. Now they’re coming early and leaving late.”

A few feet back, another fan held a sign that proclaimed: “Angel Fans Never Leave Early.”

Dozens Left Early

Yet so certain of victory were some of the fans that dozens poured out of the stadium at the end of the eighth inning, apparently hoping to avoid the monumental traffic jams and long waits that have characterized leaving the Big A parking lot over the course of the three days of playoff games.

“We know the Angels have won it,” said Elaine Ahl, as she left the stadium with her husband Jim, 45. “We have our souvenirs, so we can go now.”

The Ahls of Laguna Hills said it had been a thrilling game; the Angels had come from behind in the sixth inning to ice the victory, and so they were leaving ahead of the crowd. “Traffic,” explained Jim Ahl, motioning to the packed stadium parking lot.

About the same time, thousands of other Angels fans inside the stadium began standing up, the better to cheer the anticipated California win in the ninth inning.

Climactic Game

Ralph Keem and his wife, Louise, who now live on San Juan Island in Washington’s Puget Sound, said they had flown down for the climactic game. “We lived in Tustin until we moved last month, but we’ll always be Angel fans,” Ralph Keem said.

“It’s over today, and we’re going all the way, all the way,” chanted Mark Komadina, 29, of Lakewood. He held a sign that predicted the Sunday night happiness of Angels owner Gene Autry. The sign read: “The Cowboy Will Be Singing Tonight.”

“We’re going all the way, and going to win the World Series,” said Wendell Yates, 64, of Garden Grove, who sat next to Komadina.

Within minutes, however, the home crowd’s smiles turned into expressions of disbelief and concern. The Red Sox’ Don Baylor hit a two-run homer: Angels 5, Boston 4. A loud, spontaneous “UH-OH” sounded among fans poised in the front rows for their anticipated victory run onto the field.

Then, with two outs and two strikes on him, Boston center fielder Dave Henderson hit a homer, tallying two more runs. Boston led 6 to 5.

‘I’m Going to Throw Up’

“I think I’m sick, and I’m going to throw up,” said Suzy Miller of El Toro. “I don’t know if my heart can take much more.” Husband Buddy, 41, tensely added, “It’s been an exciting ballgame, but I thought we had it won.”

Down in the front row, Sharon Burrows pantomimed prayers to heaven as the final innings unfolded. The Angels came back to tie the score in the bottom of the ninth, but when it was all over, they had lost and she rose to leave. Burrows made it clear, however, that she and the other Angels fans devoutly believe that Sunday’s game was just a pause and not a halt on the road to pennant victory.

A determined smile on her face, Burrows said, “We say, ‘Now to Boston, and take one game.’ ”