by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

ANAHEIM. Nobody wants to finish in the cellar. The Athletics did just that in 2015, today the Angels and the Athletics seem to be trading last place every other day. None of these teams are going to win the pennant, that is safe to say, but one thing for sure, there is no joy this year here at The Big A (Angel Stadium), all the happiness is just 1.5 miles away on Katella Avenue at Disneyland “The Happiest Place On Earth”. Both of these teams have many injuries, especially to their pitching staff (starters)and some position players also, most notable for the A’s right fielder Josh Reddick.

However, the biggest difference between these two clubs is their payrolls. The Angels are a Rolls Royce and the Athletics a Prius. These are two good cars, no doubt about it, but they are at very different levels of economic status The Los Angeles Angels payroll this 2016 season $159,687,833(No. 6 in baseball)while the Oakland Athletics $77,223,166(No 27)among all 30 teams.

The Angels continue to average around 40,000 per game, in the Los Angeles area, twice the population of the Bay Area, you expect to draw that many and then of course there are promotions here like this Saturday’s” Christmas in June” (six months before Christmas) where the Angels celebrate with Christmas wreathes, Christmas trees all over the park, a visit by Santa, live Reindeer’s, and all that you expect on December 25th, except a present for manager Mile Scioscia (longest tenured manager in MLB 17 season with the ball-club) the Athletics brought  him a sack of coal as the A’s beat the Angels 7 -4 on Saturday. Each Saturday Fireworks are an attraction at Angel Stadium, while next door at Disneyland there are Fireworks each night around 9:30PM.

This four game series went to the Athletics, winning the first three games, then on the last game of the series the Angels won with a walk off sacrifice fly to right field with the bases loaded and one out, from the bat of rookie Jefrey Marte, scoring Mike Trout with the winning run, Angels. The season series is now six wins for the Angels and four wins for the Athletics. They have many battles left since they meet 19 times each year.

The Angels expected to contend this season, while the Athletics did not, but it is very likely one of these two teams will finish last, the A’s do not want that badge of dishonor for the second season in a row, and the Angels definitely not.

It is a good rivalry between Northern and Southern California,a not close to the Giants and Dodgers, but nonetheless a good rivalry for two teams that began play in California in the 1960’s.

A’s in 1968, and the Angels in 1961. There are A’s fans that travel here, but you do not hear the cry of “beat LA…beat LA” like you hear at Giants-Dodger games and who is going to say “beat Anaheim”? it just doesn’t rhyme well…

I always noted that that the “beat LA”shout was mostly when the Dodgers play in San Francisco, when the Giants play at Dodger Stadium, Dodgers fans could care less about the Giants, they are just another team, so as far as the rivalry is concerned (with fans) it is mostly in San Francisco.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the TV Spanish voice for the Angels and the radio Spanish voice for the A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com