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Angels celebrate Christmas in June ... with real reindeers & all
Santa stood behind the batting cage Friday watching the Angels take batting practice.
That was really Angels chairman Dennis Kuhl, all dressed up with a baseball game to attend, suit and all in the middle of June.
There were reindeer out front, chomping on reindeer food - and no, it wasn't milk and cookies or carrots - and handlers telling fans not to touch the antlers. They were available for selfies, however.
Christmas music - like "Santa Baby" and "Last Christmas" was blaring at the stadium. Tiny fake snow flakes were swirling around the entrance, where stadium employees handed out Christmas ornaments at the front gate.
This was a game against the Seattle Mariners, otherwise known as "Christmas in June."
Santa even delivered right off the bat, as Mike Trout homered in the first inning. That was an early Christmas gift.
"I don't think I'm ever going to miss out on a chance to celebrate Christmas twice a year," Scioscia said. "That's nice."
Scioscia's wife, Anne, loves holidays, but she wasn't at Friday's game. She had elf duties.
"She's trimming the tree back home right now," Scioscia joked.
The Angels have found that celebrating the holiday in the middle of summer with big wreaths out front and snowmen in the rocks out in center field makes fans happy. Jered Weaver thought those snowmen were "pretty cool."
So the Angels fixed up the stadium with all the trimmings.
One employee had a perfectly legitimate question as the Angels were celebrating Christmas.
"Do we get Christmas bonuses?" he asked another employee.
One Santa fan sure got a bonus. He had white hair and a white beard - and a Snoopy Christmas shirt and shorts to complete the look - so he automatically had the credentials to do about whatever he wanted.
Kids and adults stopped by for photo opportunities, and he happily obliged. He got himself into the reindeer fenced off area as well and hand-fed the reindeers.
When players came up to bat, they showed their likeness on the big screens with elf and Santa hats. Some wore the look better than others.
Angels players tried their luck at name that tune, and many stumbled on "Wonderful Christmastime." Christmas songs can be annoying this early in the year, but this was funny.
There were prizes and fun and jolly good cheer.
About the only thing that didn't work well were the itty bitty flakes that the snow machines generated, but it was an 80-something degree day.
Christmas in June worked its magic at Angels. Just hope you can get those Christmas tunes out of your head by the All-Star break.
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