How Angels, Train bonded over an unlikely team anthem: ‘It’s pretty emotional for me’
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Sam Blum
Apr 6, 2023
Every time the band Train performs in Southern California, lead singer and songwriter Pat Monahan can spot a specific group of people in the crowd. The bright red Angels jerseys in a sea of rock fans. They’re always there.
Train is iconic. The musicians have sold more than 10 million albums and 30 million tracks. They have three Grammy Awards and two Billboard Music Awards. Hit single after hit single.
But there’s one song, “Calling All Angels,” that’s connected this world-famous band to a less-than-perfect baseball team. It’s the unofficial anthem for the Angels. And it has intrinsically linked the band and a fan base in a way that’s grown, evolved and become more special as the years pass.
So it’s not rare for Monahan to have Angels fans approach him. Monahan knows he’s popular with Angels fans because they’re always telling him.
“It’s pretty emotional for me,” Monahan told The Athletic. “Having written those words, and singing that song. To be a part of that ballclub, it’s pretty cool for all of us.”
It has now been 20 years since “Calling All Angels” was released in April 2003 — just months after Monahan’s favorite team, the Giants, were bested by the Angels in the 2002 World Series.
The song from the Bay Area-based band was adopted several years later by the Angels, with the idea coming from the team’s upper management. The plan was to overlay a montage of the franchise’s history with the song playing in the background. It’s now a daily ritual at every home game. And the images are updated every year. It will play for the first time this season on Friday for the Angels’ home opener.
The practice is somewhat polarizing among fans and even players. Some don’t like the song. Others hear it too much. But for most fans, the song elicits memories and connects generations. It is entrenched with their favorite team and the ballpark experience because of its consistency and meaning. For many, going to the game wouldn’t be the same without hearing it before the first pitch.
“We started playing it 20 years ago. Every day. Every night,” Angels team owner Arte Moreno said. “I felt when I came in, especially the younger fans didn’t know the history of the Angels. How Gene Autry did it. Some of the players, some of the Angels Hall of Fame players. So I just felt like we should highlight some of the (history).”
For Train, the genesis of the song came from a therapy session. Monahan’s doctor told him that each person has two sides to them. There is the side with angels and the side with traitors. And, Monahan was told, you need to call those angels.
“And I was like, ‘Consider it stolen,’” Monahan said lightheartedly.
That’s why for Monahan the song is about calling on your better self. About dealing with personal struggles by finding yourself internally. The song isn’t religious, he said. But in so many ways, it is cathartic.
And some fans feel the same way.
“I make it a mission to get to my seat in time to see it,” said Angels fan David Penner. “It’s the greatest pregame tradition in all of sports, and our anthem.”
For many, the song took on a special meaning in 2009 when Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart died in a car crash hours after making his first start of the season.
For others, hearing Rory Markas’ call of Darin Erstad’s World Series-winning catch while the music plays stands out the most.
“When we’re watching it at the game, my family always asks me if I’m teary-eyed during the portion where (they say) ‘Erstad says he’s got it, Erstad makes the catch, the Anaheim Angels are the champions of baseball,’” Angels fan Rob Rohm said. “And many times I am.”
This song has brought families together. It has also helped preserve the memory of family members. Angels fan Steven Tedesco said he grew up very poor. But his father was gifted tickets to eight-to-10 Angels games per year before he died in an accident in 1998, when Tedesco was 10 years old.
Tedesco said he didn’t start going back to Angels games for years because it was too painful. When he finally did, the song played. The lyrics and the history gave him a sharp emotional reaction.
“As I was sitting watching the video, I listened to the words. (The) lyrics made me think of my dad. The song makes me remember the times he would randomly drop by my school unannounced, pick me up early and we’d catch a day game at the Big A,” he said. “I remembered the times we shared celebrating a win with a high-five that would hurt my hand. I remembered the tears of defeat and him squeezing my shoulders. I started crying the first time I heard the song in the stadium.”
Another fan, Aliza Zuniga, said the first time she heard the song she thought it was cheesy. Then her Angels fandom started to grow and, with it, her appreciation of the song’s meaning. She said it’s less about the song itself and more about what the team represents in her life. It’s now on her Spotify playlist called “Perfect songs for perfect moments.”
“When I first got into the Angels I was going through a lot with my mental and physical health,” Zuniga said. “The team was a way of an escape for me. Now they are like a second home and I’ve made a great group of friends through them.
“So when I’m at the stadium or the song comes up on my playlist I just get so happy. It’s one of those songs that no matter how I’m feeling or what I’m doing … it makes me feel so wonderful.”
Not every person loves the song. Some fans said they feel its repeated use over many years is in line with the Angels generally declining to modernize the ballpark and fan experience.
“‘Calling all Angels’ was great for a season or two, but it is a great example of Arte Moreno’s commitment to mediocrity,” said Angels fan Joe Ryan. “The fan experience hasn’t changed for years.”
Another fan pointed out that while the montage and song honor the Angels’ history, the current ownership group’s actions have, at times, ostracized key Angels alumni. And no Angels player has had his number retired by the team during Moreno’s tenure.
“There’s a great idea behind ‘Calling All Angels’ but increasingly, it’s felt counter to what actually is happening with the team,” said Angels fan Vincent Nguyen.
And there are some who maybe have just heard it far too much.
“Oh man, is this a trick question right here,” said a chuckling Mike Trout when asked for his opinion of the song. “I mean, I think it’s, I don’t know. I hear it a lot, though. I hear it a lot. No comment on it.”
Trout said it all with a smile on his face. He might have ended it with a “no comment” but his comment didn’t exactly hide much. No one on the current roster has heard that song more than Trout, who made his Angels debut in 2011.
He’s heard it just about 1,000 times. So you can forgive him for maybe not wanting to hear it again.
st and only time Train performed live at Angel Stadium came before Trout’s debut. They sang it before the 2010 MLB Home Run Derby as part of All-Star Game festivities. And Monahan said he’s separately attended an Angels game as a fan once. Baseball has always been his favorite sport, and he grew up playing the game.
Even if his allegiances lie with another team, the Angels are a part of him. And visa versa.
“I think they do a beautiful job with it,” Monahan said. “Because, you know, it is an emotional song. It’s supposed to be about something bigger than just what we are. And I think they do a beautiful job with that.”
“I do root for (the Angels) because of that. … And I’ll always root for the Angels because of my association with them now.”
There’s already more than enough incentive for the Angels to make the World Series this year. It would give Trout a chance to get the postseason experience he deserves. It would help the Angels’ chances of retaining Shohei Ohtani. It would validate the vision that GM Perry Minasian, manager Phil Nevin and the whole organization have expressed all year.
But there’s one more reason. Less important, yes. But no less exciting. As the interview with Monahan wound down, he was asked if there was anything else he wanted to add.
He noted that an Angels World Series appearance is due. After all, his song has never been played for a World Series game. It didn’t exist the last time the Angels were in the Fall Classic.
If and when this team ever gets back to that moment, Monahan made a point of saying he and his band will want to be a part of it. And give back to the Angels fans who have forever established a powerful connection between the team and its song.
“What I would love is if these guys go to the World Series,” Monahan offered, “I’d love to sing it before each game that they play at home live.
“That would be really fun.”
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