The image of a singer at a baseball game belting out the final note to ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ as a squadron of military aircraft should have made for a compelling and patriotic image.
But we’re talking about the Los Angeles Angels, a team so snakebitten that even off-field theatrics can’t seem to go right.
The Halos were set to host their own Opening Day and first home game of the season on Friday night when they took on the Seattle Mariners.
A giant flag was unfurled in the background and the singer for that evening’s national anthem began with the familiar music.
She must have known that there was a flyover coming, considering she slowed down in an attempt to try and time the final note perfectly with the passing airplanes.
But the flyover simply never showed up. It led to an awkward scene of the singer dragging out the song and holding for a final lengthy note as she hoped that the aircraft would shoot by. Instead, nothing happened.
A flyover at the Angels’ home opener was mis-timed and led to an awkward scene of the singer for ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ slowly singing for a moment that never happened
On top of it all, the hapless Angels lost their home opener to the Seattle Mariners
‘For the second consecutive year, the timing of the flyover is completely botched,’ wrote baseball writer Sam Blum of The Athletic, who posted the video. ‘The anthem singer paused multiple times to try and align the song with the flyover.’
Fans were up in arms over the ruined moment, with many pointing the finger back at owner Arte Moreno and the Angels organization.
‘Rather than have the singer sing slower, I’d recommend having the planes fly faster next year,’ one user posted to X.
Another said, ‘Lol youre the @Angels, at this point, we shouldnt be surprised. Remember, your owner doesnt even think fans put winning in the top 5 of their priorities as a fan.’
‘This is so f****n embarrassing. Cancel the season!’ read one post.
A Dodgers fan posted, ‘lol the singer handled this so well.’
A different response read, ‘Another wasted $100k tax payer money.’
If there was any further insult that could be added to the injury, the Angels then lost 3-1 to the M’s to drop to 3-5 on the season.
