Classic Angels Game on YouTube

June 1, 2012; Anaheim, CA, USA; Former California Angels pitcher and Texas Rangers president Nolan Ryan is presented before throwing the honorary first pitch at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

I do a lot of stumbling and bumbling around the internet. It’s how I found out that Alternative Press was streaming the new Less Than Jake album. It’s how I found Holiday Insights. I peruse. I’m a total peruser. It’s what I do. While perusing yesterday, I stumbled across an Angels game that was televised on ABC in 1979. So of course, I watched it. Here’s the video so you can watch it.

A few notes from the game:

– How anyone ever sat through a Luis Tiant-started game, and still had a working television is beyond me. They call Jon Garland and Rafael Betancourt “Human Rain Delays.” Tiant has them both beat.

– Brian Downing! Also, Brian Downing in dad glasses.

– “Disco” Dan Ford‘s batting stance is ridiculous. So is Downing’s, but I have seen wide open batting stances before. Never have I seen someone with as closed a stance as Ford had.

– Reggie Jackson vs. Nolan Ryan.

– Speaking of Ryan; he started this game on three-days rest. In the start prior to this one, he threw 140 pitches. Could you imagine the uproar if that happened today? Ryan is also visibly uncomfortable throughout the start, constantly stretching so that he can get loose.

The video is not the best quality, but Howard Cosell’s, Keith Jackson’s and Bob Uecker‘s voices are unmistakable. I’m also a total sucker for nostalgia. If you have a little less than three hours to kill today, you’re welcome. If you don’t have three hours to kill, find three hours to kill.