Heavenly haunts in the Southland

In October, the rest of the sports world got introduced to the lesser-known of our two Los Angeles-area baseball teams, the now World Series champion Anaheim Angels. Scott Spiezio, the Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, is one of those players with the “team” mentality that got them the championship. Although he doesn’t get many days off during the regular season, he reflected on what he likes to do in the Southland on the All-Star break.

Splish-splash

I have two boys, one is almost 3, the other is 5 months, so when I hire a baby-sitter for an evening, I like to take my wife to Splashes restaurant at the Surf & Sand Resort in Laguna Beach. Because it sits right on the beach, it’s like you’re on top of the waves. Dress is casual, but you have to make reservations. My wife likes the seafood there.

We are also fond of P.F. Chang’s in Newport Beach. They have killer Mongolian beef. I usually get a few orders of it for myself. I also like the BBQ-pork sandwiches and the heavy caffeine drinks they serve in awesome jars at Lucille’s Barbecue [in Brea]. If we couldn’t get a baby-sitter, then we might take our boys to Chuck E. Cheese for some pizza and video games. My 3-year old likes the motorcycle and car racing games best, but I prefer games like skee-ball.

Love that Yoda

I don’t get to go to movies often, but when I do, I usually end up at the multiplex theaters at Tustin Ranch. One of my favorite films is “The Matrix.” I can’t wait to see the two sequels for it. I also had to go see the new “Star Wars” prequels because I remember watching the first “Star Wars” series when I was a kid. I didn’t’ t like the new movies as much as the older ones, but I did like “Attack of the Clones” better than “The Phantom Menace.” It was great to finally see Yoda kick some butt.

Frogger

Because I am such a music enthusiast, the concert I like attending most is Ozz-fest. But I have my own heavy rock band called Sandfrog. I write the songs, sing and play guitar for the band. The rest of the band lives in Illinois, so it would be fun to fly them out to do a show at the House of Blues Anaheim. I really like that venue because it has a great atmosphere, a good sound system and it holds enough people to have a good-size audience without feeling like you’re in a big arena.

Of course I would have to have my large stash of guitars with me. I have a couple of Fenders, a Les Paul and two Paul Reed Smith guitars, one of which is custom-ordered with a tiger maple top and has tadpole and Sandfrog skeletons inlaid on the fretboard.

Bowl me over

I used to play all sorts of sports for fun, but now because of my contract with the Angels, I can’t really do that anymore.

I loved playing basketball, football, golf and especially hockey, but nowadays I can’t do much more than go bowling, ‘cause if I got injured, I would be in trouble.

I have a relative who is a professional bowler so he gives me tips on bowling.

Home field advantage

One of the perks of the Angels being owned by Disney is free admission into Disneyland. My eldest son likes to ride on the teacups as long as I promise not to spin him too hard. We also stop at the Pirates of the Caribbean, It’s a Small World, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Snow White and Peter Pan. I’d say his most favorite attraction is seeing the wild animals on the Jungle Cruise, but I also took him on Thunder Mountain and he didn’t even get scared. On the day of our victory parade, Disney opened up Toon Town for us, but my kid was too focused on chasing around the cartoon characters to ride on anything. As for those good-tasting, bad-for-you food items, being the daddy means buying popcorn, corn dogs and those massive rainbow lollipops from Main Street.

-- Karla S. Blume