If you’ve been watching the Angels’ broadcast or have a keen eye from the stadium seats, you might notice the newest addition to the Halos.
He looms on the dugout wall, monitoring each play, sometimes hiding under a blanket or turned away. He’s faithful and quiet, never drawing the ire of umpires.
The Pikachu — in all his tiny, yellow, bulbous glory — sitting next to the cameras is part of the reason the Angels have won some games lately. At least that’s what shortstop Zach Neto attributes it to.
“I could just go out there with a free mind and not have to think about too much, and just kind of play my game and have fun, and I think that’s what it’s all about,” Neto said. “And the Pikachu brings a little distraction, but it brings a little fun out of me.”
Some of the other Angels have adopted Pikachu as an unofficial team mascot and last week during the Angels’ series against the Mariners in Seattle, the team visited Pokémon’s North American headquarters.
The Angels’ lucky Pikachu might not be a trade target going into the deadline. Though maybe he should be. Ever since Pikachu appeared on the corner of the dugout wall next to the camera well last month, the Angels have pieced together some big moments.
Neto hit a game-winning home run against the Athletics on June 21. Starter Ryan Johnson, who finished with a 14.40 earned run average in May, flirted with a no-hitter through through six innings on June 23 against the Baltimore Orioles. And, catcher Logan O’Hoppe walked off the series finale against the Orioles with a slow-rolling infield single in extra innings the next day. The Angels won four straight home series in June.
When Johnson talked to the media after his dominant start (eight strikeouts, one hit and a walk), he shrugged.
“It’s lucky, I can’t deny it,” he said.
Just a coincidental blip in the middle of a long season? Perhaps, but Pikachu is more than just a good-luck charm. The tiny figurine is a reminder for Neto: you don’t have to be perfect at the plate.
Think of it this way, Neto said. Each time you open a pack of Pokémon cards, you don’t know what you’re going to get, maybe a low-rated Wishiwashi or a highly desired Charizard. If you don’t get the card you want, you start again with a new pack tomorrow.
In other words, Pokémon is an exercise in delayed gratification and acceptance. Though mostly, it’s just fun.
“It’s a huge relief for me, especially in the sense if I have a bad game, good game, it helps me, not even think about what just happened, or what’s about to happen,” Neto said. “Just focus on what’s the task at hand, and I try to have a lot of fun out there.”
Neto wasn’t always this much of a nerd, in his own words. No surprise, the 25-year-old talks Miami Hurricanes football and radiates a 305-swagger that would make the Cuban-American club-classic rapper Pitbull proud. Rather, his older brother, Andrew, liked Pokémon cards. He would get angry with Neto when he brought them to school and creased the corners.
Then, Neto hit a slump the first week of May this season. Mike Trout, whom Neto predominantly hangs out with on the road, texted him before the May 5 Chicago White Sox game at Angel Stadium: come to the field early. Then Trout set the stakes. If one of them pulled a Charizard, they’d get a guaranteed homer that game.
Not one to turn down a potential sign of good luck, Neto started pulling cards. On the fourth or fifth pack — Neto couldn’t remember exactly — he opened the packaging and bingo. A Charizard. Trout pulled another not long after. So, when both Trout and Neto hit home runs in the Angels’ 4-3 win over Chicago, it seemed like fate.
“Now we’re addicted to it,” Neto said. “I got him off of sports cards a little bit, and now we’re just all in on Pokémon.”
While the Pokémon obsession has taken over Neto’s Netflix account and his Nintendo Switch, lucky Pikachu came about two weeks after that. Pokémon cards are normally sold in two forms: a card pack and a box of 36 packs. In Sacramento, Trout and Neto were opening a box. A little Pikachu sat in the packaging.
Originally, it had a little halo, but it broke. Instead of DFA-ing the figurine or placing it on the injured list, Neto accepted the Pikachu for all its flaws.
“Pikachu had been through a lot,” Neto said. “It’s just a little joke that we’re doing here. But it’s so much fun.”
Manager Kurt Suzuki is naturally superstitious, and the Pikachu didn’t faze him much. If it helps Neto, it can stay.
“Superstition is superstition,” he said. “So, hey, whatever works, man.”
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