Taylor Moore
Editor-in-Chief
California is home to five major league baseball teams. However, Los Angeles is the only city in the state with two baseball teams, the Dodgers and the Angels.
With two teams for Los Angeles area residents to choose from, the Campus Times did an informal survey among college students from the Southern California region via Instagram to find out which team they liked best.
Respondents were from the University of La Verne, California Baptist University, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Fullerton and Cypress College.
The survey found that 62 out of 83 respondents were loyal to the Dodgers, while the other 21 rooted for the Angels.
Sumi Rudisky, ULV graduate student in leadership and management, said she has been a Dodgers fan her whole life, since she lives 15 minutes away from Dodgers Stadium stadium.
She said she tries to attend at least one game per season.
“My dad made me a fan,” Ruditsky said. “I grew up watching the games with him in our living room.One of my favorite memories is going to a game as a little kid with my parents, eating a Dodger dog, just hanging out and cheering.”
Julia Garcia, ULV senior kinesiology major, is another lifelong fan since she was born into a Dodger-loving family. She credits her love for the Dodgers to her dad.
“He played baseball his entire life and planned to play professionally, but unfortunately tore his rotator cuff in the process,” Garcia said. “He grew up watching pitchers like Fernando Valenzuela, (a retired Dodgers pitcher), and from then on he would explain the different pitching styles (to me).”
Garcia said she tries to go to at least three games a year, but last year she was able to attend eight.
A memory Garcia said she cherishes is going to the third game in the 2018 World Series, where the Dodgers beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2, with her dad. That game was recorded as the longest game in World Series history as it lasted 18 innings.
Hector Lomeli, ULV senior criminology major, said his love for the Dodgers began in his childhood. He said there are pictures of him as a child covered head-to-toe in Dodger blue.
Lomeli and his dad are fellow Valenzuela fans.
“My dad knew (Valenzuela) personally for a bit, he gave us a few signed baseballs,” Lomeli said.
Rachel Rash, CBU graduate student in marketing, has been a lifelong fan of the Angels. Her family are such diehards that they attend at least ten games a season.
“My favorite memory was going on the field for the seventh inning to throw pistachios,” Rash said. “I was 10 years old. Random people got chosen when tickets were scanned, and we were some of them. The Angels girls went on the field with us and we got to throw (the pistachios) into the stands. It stuck with me because the staff was so sweet and going onto the field was so cool.”
Suzanne Bartlett, sophomore liberal arts major at Cypress College, said her family only watches the Angels, never the Dodgers. Baseball is her favorite sport to watch, especially growing up when her dad would frequently take her to games, as they live about ten minutes from the stadium.
“When I was really little, I think maybe my first game, I got one of those stuffed monkeys, the Angels’ mascot, that you can velcro around your neck,” Bartlett said. “I remember walking around the stadium with it (wrapped) around my neck. I always love going to games.”
Sam Melvin, ULV 2023 alumnus, was raised in Angels family, so he said rooting for the Angels is in his blood.
Melvin felt strongly about former Angels pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani signing a contract to play for the Dodgers for the next 10 years.
“Ohtani leaving the Angels is frustrating, but it’s the owners’ fault,” Melvin said. “(It’s) just one of the many reasons they have failed to achieve any real success.”
Kaylie Castro, sophomore child and adolescent major at Cal State Fullerton, said going to Angels games make her feel like she is at home watching with her family.
She said being an Angels fan means being fiercely loyal, since the Angels have gone on a 22-year-long streak without any World Series appearances.
Castro said Angels center fielder Mike Trout is the reason why her love for the Angels is so strong.
“He’s still there, I’m still there,” she said. “I don’t plan on ever liking another team. Even now, when I go to Angel Stadium I feel so comfortable and so at home.”
Castro, her mom and stepdad go one to two times a week during the season.
She said her favorite moment happens during each game, when the Angels stadium plays a slideshow compilation of the Angels’ milestones such as division wins, the 2002 World Series, players’ milestones and more.
“(The slideshow) plays to ‘Calling all Angels’ (by Train), which is like our anthem,” Castro said. “Every single time I watch this slideshow, without fail, every time I cry. I sob because I just get so proud of my team and everything that they have accomplished.”
Regardless of which team students preferred, Dodgers and Angels fans alike displayed a fierce devotion to their team.
Taylor Moore can be reached at taylor.moore@laverne.edu.
Taylor Moore is a senior broadcast journalism major and Campus Times editor-in-chief for Spring 2024. In her sixth semester on Campus Times, she has served as the LV Life editor and social media editor twice, as well as a staff writer. She’s also worked on the University’s television news broadcast Foothill Community News as an anchor and reporter, and was a on-air personality for the University’s radio station 107.9 LeoFM.
