It’s Not LUCHA LIBRE- its the LA Angels

At the start of the fifth inning on Tuesday night, the vast majority of fans in Angel Stadium donned the red wrestling masks they’d been handed coming through the turnstiles, setting in process a Guinness World Record.

An official was on hand to certify the achievement after it reached the 10-minute mark, which was the original idea of Angels marketing associate John Rozak.

It shattered the existing mark of 250 people wearing costume masks at the same gathering.

There was a countdown in the crowd as the 10-minute barrier passed and masks came off thousands of heads. It occurred as Howard Kendrick was smacking his second double of the night, giving the Angels a 6-1 lead over the White Sox.

It became official at the end of the inning. Angels fans had, indeed, set the record.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim set a Guinness World Record when the team hosted the Chicago White Sox . The team set the world record for the largest gathering of people wearing masks.

The masks will be inspired by WWE superstar Rey Mysterio. Every fan in attendance was given a mask when they entered the ballpark tonight. It’s believed that around 40,000 fans are going to be there to take part in this event.

Here’s a portion of the official press release (via PWTorch.com):

“During the game, an anticipated sellout crowd of over 40,000 will be prompted to wear their red Angels wrestling masks for ten consecutive minutes.

“After completion of the ten minutes, a Guinness World Records Adjudicator will officially certify the new record. Later in the game, Guinness World Records will hold a short ceremony to recognize the record breaking attempt.”

The masks were Angels colors, which are red and white. It’s an interesting promotional tactic, and one that will no doubt attract a lot of young children to the ballpark who want to get a free Mysterio mask.
According to MLB.com, this is the second time the Angels have tried to set a world record. They tried to set a record last year for largest gathering of people wrapped in blankets.
The current record for people wearing masks in one place is 250. The Angels breezed by that figure tonight.