ANAHEIM-- Yes, it's a little sample size, one early-season crowd out of a possible 81. The sense I got from the 44,534 at Angel Stadium Saturday night is that these are fans who are desperate to scream with joy.

It's a fan base that has actually withstood. It's withstood the indignity of having two of the world's finest players on a team that not just can't get to the playoffs but hasn't gotten to.500 in seven seasons. And it has sustained an owner that, rather honestly, has actually become practically universally unpopular. Angel fans were ready to celebrate when Arte Moreno revealed he was offering last summertime, and transitioned to a cumulative nasty mood when he announced in January that he 'd altered his mind.

The arena is functional but aging. (It's still far much easier to get out of than Dodger Stadium, so count your true blessings, Angel fans.) The plan to develop the surrounding home and pay for severe renovation is in limbo following the corruption accusations that led to Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu's resignation, but there is optimism that brand-new mayor Ashleigh Aitken-- a fan and season ticket holder-- can assist revive the project after the city council scuttled it in 2015 in the middle of the political firestorm.

Truly, can anyone question the loyalty of the Angel faithful? All that they've endured, and they're still here.

And they were in full voice Saturday evening, when their team identified Toronto a 4-0 lead and rallied. When Mike Trout sent out a 3-1 pitch in the general direction of the rocks in left-center, for a three-run homer and a 7-4 lead in the 5th, the location was rocking. When Hunter Renfroe added a two-run homer for insurance coverage in the 8th inning of an eventual 9-4 success over heaven Jays, it may have been even louder.

( Incidentally, Angel fans are fortunate in this sense. They can and do shout "M-V-P" for both Trout and Shohei Ohtani-- and I'm guessing some of the same folks shout for both-- with the understanding that either is possible and both merit.).

It's way too early to project. Do the fans feel like it could? It sure appears that method.

" I think whenever you have a (playoff) drought, and you have such an excellent group on paper," that fan stress and anxiety can install, newbie Renfroe stated. "Obviously the seasons have not been going as well as they thought (they) would in the past, and clearly we have a lot of skill this year and we wish to go as far as we perhaps can.".

For point of view, Renfroe was in San Diego as part of the Padres' four-year reconstruct-- I'm guessing the fans down there still remember the night at Petco Park in 2016 that he struck a home run off the Dodgers' José de León that arrived at the roofing system of the Western Metal Supply building in left field-- and he was traded to Tampa Bay at the winter season conferences in 2019, right before the Padres' procedure began to bear fruit and just in time for the Rays to reach the World Series.

" I was … … on a great deal of the losing ends in San Diego, and to see how their program has actually adjusted and how the fans reacted to them winning, it's quite unique to see," he stated. "So I intend to bring it here. The fans were amazing tonight.".
Renfroe did his part Saturday night, providing insurance coverage with a two-run, 413-foot shot to left field in the 8th inning to make it 9-5. This was a couple of innings after another of the Angels' newcomers, Gio Urshela, turned what most likely should have been an infield hit into 3 bases with his legs, a play originally scored a triple but later altered to an infield hit and mistake on Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette.

And no, supervisor Phil Nevin stated, he 'd never seen an infield triple previously.

" When Gio was showing up (in the eighth) I said, ‘‘ You've had a nice night, an infield triple and an infield single,'" Nevin said, before being notified that the main scoring had actually been changed. "I mean, I believe it's either a mistake or it's a triple.

" Either method. I think it's a tough play. It hit off his foot on a bad hop and goes out into right-center, and (left fielder George) Springer's doing what he's supposed to do, he's backing up 3rd. And after that the center fielder (Daulton Varsho) is probably running over to get the ball in case it gets by Bo. You simply had an open field out there.".

Trust us, it will be on highlight shows and in clips on social media for a couple of days. ( And as those who saw in genuine time or watched the replay will confirm, that grounder not just befuddled Bichette but it tricked the director of the telecast.).

This Gio Urshela grounder up the middle developed into a triple pic.twitter.com/E0N79Tnz2S.

—-- Brent Maguire (@bmags94) April 9, 2023.

Saturday night's home runs drew the biggest reaction, as you 'd expect. Far this season under the new guidelines, we've seen more action on the basepaths-- consisting of one successful take (by Luis Rengifo) and one gamer thrown out stealing (Bichette, by Angels catcher Matt Thaiss), and far less wasted time.

There is, undoubtedly, lots of hope in lots of locations as the recalibrated video game gets its season going. In Orange County in specific, where the 2002 World Series championship and playoff looks in 2004, '05, '07, '08 and '09 helped strengthen a fan base that exceeded 3 million in home attendance 17 straight times from 2003 through 2019, there's a feeling that all of that hope used up over all of those years requires to finally be rewarded.

Can you blame Angel fans for feeling that way?