Andersen, Maroon take BP at Angel Stadium as Ducks' offseason gets underway

By foxsports
Published

They were out of their elements but made the most of the opportunity. The Angels had a couple of special visitors on Wednesday. 

Ducks left winger Patrick Maroon and goaltender Frederik Andersen came across the street from the Honda Center to hang out and take batting practice inside Angel Stadium. 

Donned in red Angels gear, each stepped into the cage and took a few hacks prior to the Angels' series finale with the Rays.

It wasn't the first time Andersen swung a bat, but the act is still fairly new for the Denmark native. Even so, he was able to get good wood on the ball. 

"I made pretty good contact with a few," he said. "I (hit) a couple pretty far out but not over the wall, though. I was close but not there, yet." 

Angels centerfielder Mike Trout came out of the Angels clubhouse early to watch the two Ducks take batting practice. He came away impressed -- not necessarily by the Ducks but women's national team hockey member Hilary Knight, who was also on hand and spraying the ball to all fields. 

"The girls are swinging better than the guys right now," Trout said. "It's all fun."  

Maroon was especially grateful for the opportunity to hang around the Angels. The St. Louis native grew up a big fan of the Cardinals and was thrilled about the opportunity to meet Albert Pujols and David Freese. 

"I didn't get the chance to meet them when I was in St. Louis but it's cool to meet these guys now," Maroon said. "Hopefully we can get more of this and hopefully they can come over and skate with us." 

Ultimately, everyone came away with a greater respect for the other is able to do in their respective sports. 

"(The battting practice pitcher) was throwing maybe 60 (miles per hour) or 70 or something," Andersen said. "I know they throw up to 100 and put curves on it and everything.

"Just the reaction to decide to hit or not is amazing and blows my mind." 

Asked if he thought he could score a goal with Andersen in net, Trout responded "No way. He's nasty. Pretty fun to watch in goal. "