Gwen Stefani hailed as LA Angels good-luck charm after win over New York Yankees

18 July 2023 , 14:48

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Gwen Stefani was on-hand as the Los Angeles Angels defeated the New York Yankees. (Image: Bally Sports West)

Gwen Stefani emerged as a Los Angeles Angels super-fan on Monday night after she was on hand to see Shohei Ohtani launch a game-tying home run to lead a comeback win over the New York Yankees.

Stefani, wearing a replica uniform, happened to be recording from her phone during Ohtani's big hit and screamed in approval. The world-famous singer attended the game with husband, Blake Shelton, and was shown on the Bally Sports West broadcast multiple times.

The Angels announcers sounded delighted by her enthusiasm and the singer seemed more locked in than Shelton, who appeared to be on concession duty for the family and not in his seat as the American Idol host waved to TV cameras in the fourth inning.

Unlike some celebrities who leave baseball games early after a brief public appearance, Stefani stayed through the entire contest, posting 12 times to her Instagram page from Angel Stadium of Anaheim. One video showed a fan bringing over a beer he bought for her while she also filmed a live reaction as Ohtani blasted his seventh-inning home run to tie the game before the Angels went on to win 4-3 in extra-innings.

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"This is so so incredible hometown," she wrote following Ohtani's long ball. After being shown on the big screen, she joked, "I'm gonna be a star." Stefani was born in Fullerton, California, a 10-minute drive from Anaheim. Clearly, she's been hooked on the Angels for some time.

The 53-year-old is one of the most well-known musical artists this century, selling more than 60million records throughout her career. The Angels jokingly took her influential presence as a much-needed boost; MLB players are notoriously superstitious and will hang on to any perceived advantage they can get. For example, during their 2022 World Series triumph, Angels fans swung "rally monkeys" to inspire the team.

After the game, Bally Sports tweeted, "That game was bananas, b-a-n-a-n-a-s" — a reference to her hit song "Hollaback Girl." The team's official account went a similar route, writing, "No doubter" following Ohtani's home run (Stefani used to perform with the band No Doubt). They added, "A few times we've been around that track" when Michael Stefanic produced a walk-off single in the 10th inning.

The Angels badly needed Monday's victory, having slumped to a 47-48 losing record. If they can't steady the ship in the next week, they reportedly may consider trading MVP candidate Ohtani so they don't lose him for nothing in free agency. The Japanese two-way player has done all he can to lift his organisation this campaign. He has an MLB-best 35 home runs while posting a 3.50 ERA on the mound.

Dan Bernstein