By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
I’m still in shock. I know it’s true, but I still don’t believe. Not only is C.J. Wilson is an Angel, giving the team the best rotation in the American League, Albert Pujols, the greatest position player in this generation (and one of the greatest hitters ever), is an Angel.
I still can’t believe I’m typing that.
Wednesday night, I had a tough time falling asleep. The thought of hearing David Courtney say “Now batting for the Angels, Albert Pujols” gave me chills. I dreamt about sick lineups and monster homeruns. I tossed and turned as I waited for more information. I was mad at my new phone for not giving me updates fast enough, and couldn’t pull myself away from the computer keyboard.
Around midnight, my phone chirped away with this little tidbit from Bob Nightengale “BNightengale: The #Angels say that they can afford to sign both Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson, shelling out in excess of $300 milliion. [via Twitter]” While I didn’t want to get my hopes up too much, that didn’t help me inability to fall asleep.
So, on less than 4 hours of total sleep, I awoke to THE NEWS: the Angels had signed Albert Pujols. Shortly thereafter, I got MORE NEWS: the Angels had signed C.J. Wilson.
I nearly exploded with joy.
Like many Angels fans, I wore an Angels jersey to work today. Throughout the day, people who hadn’t yet heard the news stopped to ask me why I was wearing an Angels jersey in the winter. When I told them THE NEWS, they too were in shock. They too were in awe. They gave me high-fives and we talked baseball in December. We felt like kids.
People who knew THE NEWS pointed and waived. They gave thumbs up and high-fives as they saw my jersey. They stopped to talk baseball. They too felt like kids.
My friends and family from all over the country called and texted. Whether they were Angels fans or not did not matter. They just wanted to talk about THE NEWS and bask in the joy.
Years from now, I know that I will have a conversation with my sons about the greatest days that I have experienced as an Angels fan. While nothing will ever top Game 7, December 8, 2011 will be a close second. That’s because December 8th will forever be the day the Angels took a monumental leap forward as a franchise and set themselves up for the next decade.
On behalf of Angels fans everywhere, thank you Mr. Moreno.
P.S. Albert, thank you for signing with the Angels. I really didn’t want to hate my new smart phone, and since it delivered THE NEWS to me, I’m back to loving it.