By John Weyler
Orange County Metro

The situation was desperate.

Would the beautiful noise be replaced by the sound of silence? Would the din in Edison International Field be reduced to a whisper?

The Angels had just vanquished the vaunted New York Yankees in the opening round of the playoffs and their fans had rung in two home victories with a pandemonium created by whacking inflated plastic tubes - which first appeared 10 years ago in South Korea and made their U.S. debut during the NBA playoffs in 1998 - together in unison.

Preparations were underway for the American League Championship Series against Minnesota, but Angel executives had just gotten a call from Chicago-based Vonco, makers of the two-foot long red balloons called Thunder Stix, and it was bad news: They could only pump out enough product for one game on such short notice. And the Angels hoped to be hosting three games against the Twins.

Not to worry. A savvy business move was in the offing. Halfway around the world, Jim Lundberg was about to crank up his factory near China's Great Wall, where he manufactures just one thing: CheerStix, another brand of inflatable noisemakers. Lundberg's father, who had been watching the playoffs, suggested his son phone the Angels to try and drum up some business. It was a most welcome call.

A few days later, Lundberg became a most welcome presence.

Flying across the Pacific with his CheerStix packed in 110 boxes on board as extra baggage, he arrived at LAX at 10 a.m., just seven hours before the Angels hosted the Twins.

The rest is history. The music did not die. OCM