The Los Angeles Angels announced on Friday that Angel Stadium will open up to full capacity beginning June 17. They also announced that tickets for the remainder of the season will go on sale to the general public on May 28 at 9 a.m. PT. Registered users at Angels.com will have access the day before, on the 27th at 9 a.m. PT.
This will be a major shift from the current protocols, which only allows for 25% capacity with a certain distance between seating pods. The Angels will stick to those protocols until June 17, playing 11 more games in that span. Tickets for those games against the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Kansas City Royals are already on sale.
The Angels are not the only team making this transition. All California MLB teams — L.A. Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, and San Diego Padres — have announced plans to return to full capacity sometime after June 15, when the state of California is removing all COVID guidelines.
As for mask mandates, the Angels will continue to require masks unless a patron shows proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test. However, masks are not required when eating or drinking, which is consistent with the current rules as well.
Joe Maddon was particularly excited for the announcement, according to Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“I think it’s awesome and great for everybody,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “We need to get back to our more normal patterns. We’ll never really understand the social component of all this, too, and how important it is to all of our growth. So I’m really happy to hear that. I think it’s great.”
June 17 is the beginning of a six-game home stand, with four games against the Detroit Tigers and two against the Giants. They will also play home series against the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox before the All-Star Break, at which point Angels star Mike Trout could be making his return to the lineup.
Having a full house at Angel Stadium not only signals a return to normalcy, but a chance for the Angels to garner some momentum as they try to make up ground in the American League West standings.
Chris Rodriguez nearing return
In addition to getting fans back, the Angels are also close to getting reliever Chris Rodriguez back in the bullpen. He’s been out for nearly three weeks with shoulder inflammation, and the team’s relief crew has struggled mightily in that time.