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| Christopher Victorio / OC Weekly |
Major League Baseball's
All-Star Game isn't known for enlisting sluggers with squeaky clean criminal records. Exhibit A:
this mugshot gallery.
And Orange County, where today's All-Star Game will be held, has time and again lured athletes into trouble--legal, medical and moral trouble. With that legacy in mind, here's a rundown of places that players should avoid if they want to stay off of
Deadspin this week.
1. Fritz That's TooThis strip joint is so close to Angel Stadium that it's been known to host actual Angels players winding down between games. That's healthy and good during the regular season, but you can bet that camera phones will be out in full force ahead of tomorrow's high-profile match-up.
Derek Jeter doesn't want to be caught
adding branches to his herpes tree.
2. The Anaheim motel district
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| Flickr user roadsidepictures |
| Don't touch the furniture. |
In 1997, leadoff Angels batter
Tony Phillips was arrested at the Ivanhoe Motel and charged with felony cocaine possession. He was visiting a stripper friend. While Ivanhoe is gone, the area around Katella and Harbor is still home to a cluster of seedy motels filled with as many drug users as the Texas Rangers' clubhouse.
3. Harbor Blvd., between 1st and 5th in Santa Ana
4. Downtown Fullerton
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| Christopher Victorio / OC Weekly |
| The Continental Room: the classiest joint in downtown Fullerton. |
Drunken college girls are plentiful here, which might prove to be an issue for
the likes of Josh Hamilton. Besides, it was only a little more than a year ago that
tragedy befell Angels pitcher
Nick Adenhart while as he was headed to the boozy Fullerton country dance club In Cahoots.
5. Angels Stadium
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| Christopher Victorio / OC Weekly |
| We're not saying this guy will stab you, but we're not saying he won't. |
Yes, the scene of the game might just be the scene of a crime. A man was killed in a fight in the parking lot on
opening day last year, and last June saw an off-duty police officer
shoot two a marine and his brother who allegedly tried to assault the cop. Another fan
was fatally stabbed at a tailgate party after the Angels 2002 World Series win. A recent
fight in the stands went viral. Skinheads are known to roam the parking lot after games to propagandize. Worst of all: 2007 saw the stadium grab
headlines for a rat infestation. It's been since cleaned up, but given everything we've talked about above--and the Angels' famed
curse--participants might want to keep an eye out for bearers of the bubonic plague.