Illustration by Bob AulNever mind last season's World Series conquest—your world champion Anaheim Angels distinguished themselves this year by reverting to the terrible luck longtime baseball watchers expect from the franchise. Freaky season-ending injuries like Gold Glove catcher Benjie Molina's broken wrist (on the last play of a recent game) plagued the team again; late-season drug busts—Rex Hudler, say hello to Tony Phillips!—proved simply embarrassing. And overpriced, over-the-hill veterans cost the club millions and ultimately proved worthless—right, Kevin Appier? As the squad wraps up the disappointing season with a weekend homestand against the equally hapless Texas Rangers, here are some of Edison Field's best bite bets to serve as tasty distractions from the tragicomedy on the diamond.
THE GRANDSTAND, between Sections 316-317.“The Grandstand” is the general name for Edison's strip mall o' snack stands, but the one located on the Club Level is uniquely classy. You'll need to convince an usher to allow you entrance if you don't have an invite to the corporate boxes; if you pass muster, reward the elderly tyrant with the gourmet Grandstand's buttery penne pasta ($7.75). COURTYARD BBQ, near those big ugly Angels helmets.It's really nothing more than an open-air grill, but the Courtyard BBQ cooks the type of chow an ol' faux cowboy like Gene Autry would've appreciated. Nibble on a corn on the cob ($3), which features husk remnants charred onto kernels that'll stick between your teeth until the Angels win another pennant. CHILI PEPPERS, Food Courtyard.Nachos, not Dodger Dogs, are the optimal food for a night of Southern California baseball, and Chili Pepper hawks some of the cheesiest. For $5.75, you'll get a satellite dish-sized tin saucer of scoop-tastic chips and chili beans reeking with onion that recall the lumpy viscosity of Chili Billies. THE ROOKIE TABLE, the Family Section.Two bucks for a peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich seems extravagant. But when that smooth grape jam sticks to the roof of your mouth, Jarrod Washburn's ballooning ERA will suddenly seem less infuriating. DOMINO'S PIZZA, the Family Section.Not for its namesake pizza: you're forking over $2 for the cinnamon buns. Eat a couple, then you'll know why The Orange County Register sports genius Randy Youngman has been growing chubbier with each season.
