Let's Road Trip Twins 2025: Trip #13 - From Royals to Halos

[Steven Trefz]

September begins with a 3,982 mile trip to Anaheim and back. The catch for Twins fans is that a stop in Kansas City’s ballpark starts that journey. What awaits the Twins in their return trip to Kauffman and their only adventure at Disney?

Image courtesy of © Jay Biggerstaff -Imagn Images

Kansas City Royals - September 5-7
Kauffman Stadium - Capacity 37,903
2024 Attendance - 1,658,337 (Averaged 20,473, ranked 12th out of 15 AL parks, 26th overall MLB)

When the Twins travel to Kauffman on Road Trip #2 in early April, they face chilly temperatures and a poised and ready Royals squad. With warmer weather and a season mostly behind them in early September, what kind of reception awaits the Twins? Weekend September games in Kansas City also potentially involve Chiefs games for those football-inclined. But will this series involve a pair of playoff contenders, or two AL Central pretenders? Regardless of what happens agains the Royals, there is a 1,600 miles flight to California (with no off-day in-between) to make.

You can see our full write-up of Kauffman Stadium here.

 

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Los Angeles Angels - September 8-10
Angel Stadium: Capacity 45,517
2024 Attendance - 2,577,597 (Averaged 31,822, sixth in AL, 13th overall)

The Angels had to watch Shohei Ohtani hoist the World Series trophy last season across town, while watching Mike Trout ride out most of the season on the bench with injuries once again. Trout was in the lineup when the Twins came to town in April 2024, but it didn't matter as the Twins swept the Angels convincingly.

Last year's successful trip to Angel Stadium was an outlier for the Twins this decade. Minnesota had lost the previous three series to Ohtani and friends. In fact, since the stadium opened in 1966, the Twins have played 328 road games against the variously named Angels, and have come away with 157 wins compared to 171 losses. It's a long flight, and the Twins have traditionally played jet-lagged in Anaheim.

To say that Angel Stadium exists because Disney exists isn’t an overstatement. The birth of Disneyland in 1955 led to the pursuit of community development in the Anaheim area. In 1966, that pursuit involved building a baseball stadium, then known as Anaheim Stadium. The 1980s brought a change in architecture as the NFL's Rams filled in the outfield seating area to increase capacity. 1998 brought a return to the open-concept outfield, as the Disney corporation placed its imprint upon the setting and installed the “Outfield Extravaganza” rock pile in left-center field.

Trout still hits baseballs there for a living. Attendance remains high in Anaheim despite the loss of Ohtani and the general losing ways of the club. Angel Stadium seats less than Dodger Stadium, but I wonder what might happen if the Angels could get on a roll again.

Beautiful September weather, late summer on the beach, and sun for miles highlight this trip. Having a car is the name of the game when traveling to Angel Stadium. There is a bus option from downtown LA, but that doesn’t scream “relaxing road trip” to me. Also, with Disneyland right around the corner, there is no shortage of affordable hotel options in Anaheim. At only 2.5 miles southeast of Disneyland, a person has to go, right?

From here, the Twins head home for their last homestand of the season, but it's a doozy. Three teams, nine games, 11 days. The Diamondbacks, Yankees and Guardians pose a threat to end the home schedule — will the Twins have enough left in the tank after this road trip to face it?

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