On this baseball season opening day, LA and Anaheim fans have high hopes

It’s opening day for major league baseball, and Dodgers fans are hoping for a repeat of their World Series win. This year, baseball is back to a full 162-game season, and that’s a motivating factor, according to Matt Moreno, managing editor of the website Dodger Blue.

“Last year the team didn’t get to have the parade downtown and all the celebration that comes with winning a title typically, so a lot of them have discussed through spring training that there still is the motivation, on top of wanting to win every year, of wanting to reap all the benefits that come with it.”

But don’t count out the Dodgers’ Orange County rivals, the Anaheim Angels. While the Angels finished a disappointing fourth last season in their division, they still boast three-time American league Most Valuable Player winner Mike Trout, and star pitcher Shohei Ohtani.

Jeff Fletcher, OC Register reporter who covers the Angels, says Ohtani may be the most interesting player in baseball right now.

“He pitches and hits, and he showed signs in spring training that he might finally be able to do both of those things at a high level again, which nobody has done in 100 years.”

With both Los Angeles County and Orange County now in the orange tier of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s reopening plan, teams can sell tickets up to 33% capacity. Both Moreno and Fletcher say fans are itching to get back to their stadiums to see games live.

Moreno says it will be interesting to see how Dodger Stadium will continue to be a mass vaccination site and a place to see baseball if Los Angeles progresses out of the orange tier.

“If the capacity that’s permitted increases, that would become more challenging. But for now, I think they’ll be able to kind of work a juggling act.”