Please Bring Back the Swagger

As I anticipate the start of the 2016 baseball season, one thought prevails above all others.  It rises above the overall success of the team even though it is directly tied to the team doing well.  It’s an emotional thought and one that comes from the very core of my Angels fandom.

I want to see Jered Weaver return to being Jered Weaver. 

Maybe it’s a pipe dream.  Maybe I’m opening myself up for disappointment.  Perhaps I’m fooling myself into believing this is even possible.  Yet, I hope.  Isn’t that what spring is all about; hope?

I admire Jered as much as it is possible for any fan to admire someone they do not know, but has watched for years.  I have lived and died watching Jered do his thing over the years.  I have celebrated every fist pumping end to a climactic inning that he’s been involved in.  I have winced with agony when well intended pitches have left the ball park faster than Jered can throw them.

Jered Weaver has been everything I could hope for in a baseball player.  He’s far and away my favorite pitcher of all time.  No question and without a doubt.

From the moment Jered Weaver stepped on the mound for the Angels, I have been engaged and committed to watching him pitch.  Perhaps it’s because; like me, he went to Long Beach State.  He's a Dirtbag. He’s a throwback.  He’s old school. 

There is a fire in him.  The kind of fire we all want to find within ourselves when the going gets tough or the task seem bigger than ourselves.   He’s the taller, thinner version of every underdog you've ever cheered for; be it,  Rocky, Rudy or whoever.

He’s a lot of things, but he’s also uniquely just Jered.  There isn’t any flash to his game, just swagger.  Oh the swagger.  You have to love the swagger.  He reminds me of the gunslingers you see in the movies.  There’s a little bit of Clint Eastwood in him.  No nonsense.  No messing around. But plenty of attitude of the don’t-mess-with-me kind.  

Jered is what happens when intensity meets coolness and the two join forces.  That’s Jered.  That’s so Jered.

I always felt like everything was going to be okay when Jered took the mound.  I know I wasn’t going to get cheated as a fan because Jered was going to give everything he had to the effort.  No moment was too big.  His confidence inspired me to believe.

And I still believe. 

I’m not writing this as a eulogy.  I’m writing this because I want Jered to be successful as much as any fan can want anything.  I want to see that sneer again.  I want him to walk off the mound pumping his fist and screaming at himself.  I want to yell… “That’s what I’m talking about” again.

I’m not ready to say good-bye.  I’m ready to say hello again and "Hell, yeah - that’s the dude I know! That’s Jered Weaver and he just shut your team down."  I want him to remove all doubt and shoot that look (you know the one) at all the naysayers. 

Make no mistake about it, I want the Angels to win.  I just happen to believe winning will be all the sweeter with Jered being Jered.

If the Angels are lucky enough and good enough to win it all and they happen to do it without Jered, I’ll feel a bit empty.  It’s like any big moment – you want to share it with the people you love.  It would be like the Angels winning in 2002 without Tim Salmon.  Can you imagine?  Of course not.

So, as I prepare for the season that is fast approaching, I keep hoping.  I keep praying.  I keep watching.  Even more than all of that, I have raised my expectations; knowing full well what comes with that.

Let’s do this.

Ten things

Call them goals.  Call them things I’d like to do or see.  In any case – they’re just ten things I’m looking forward to or hoping to see in 2015.

1. I’d like to see a Nationals game and get my first in-person look at Bryce Harper.  I know he’s somewhat polarizing, but I think he’s a heck of a talent and I enjoy the way he plays the game.

2.       See more red at the stadium when the Dodgers come to town.  Last year was one of the worst and I hated every moment of the beat down the Dodgers put on the Angels.  This “goal” is out of my control, but I can certainly encourage my fellow Angel brother and sisters to get their red on. 

3.       Never miss a Jered Weaver home start.  I just love watching him pitch and I know he’s not going to be around forever – so, I need to see as much of “Weave” as possible.  I usually don’t miss his starts as a rule and I want to continue the tradition.

4.       Get to a few Padres games.  I like the buzz the team created with all the additions they made and I’m in… I’d like to see some of their games. Their stadium is one of Cheryl and my favorites anyway.  Good chance I’ll combine this one with the Bryce Harper goal.

5.       Hope that by the time the Rockies get to Anaheim (May 12 & 13) that Troy Tulowitzki is healthy.  I have an affinity for Dirtbags and I don’t know how many more times I’ll get to see this fellow Long Beach State alum.  A bonus would be to get his autograph…

6.       I have to wonder if this will be Torii Hunter’s last season; therefore, I will try not to miss any of the Twins games when they head into town on July 21, 22 & 23.  It will be appropriate to see him in a Twins uniform once again.  I have the utmost admiration for Mr. Hunter.

7.       Joe Saunders signed a minor league deal with the Mariners.  My hope (and I’m sure Cheryl’s hope too) is that he makes the roster and we get to see him down in Anaheim.  We’ll have to make it a point to get down to the bullpen (he’s trying to make the team as a reliever) to say hello.  His career is winding down and he’s given us a lot of great memories. 

8.       Boo A.J. Pierzynski early and often. Oh wait, he’s now with the Atlanta Braves.  Is this guy ever going to retire? I hope he stays in the NL all season long or just gets released.  A guy can hope, right?

9.     I’d really like an Evan Longoria autograph.  If I could just get one from him and Tulo this year, I’d be pretty stoked.  I know some people think it’s silly – but it’s all about having that moment with a player and creating a memory.  A photo with both of them would be even better.

10.   More Mike Trout.  I don’t want to take it for granted that we get to watch the best player in baseball day in and day out.  I love his humbleness, his hustle and the way he has fun playing this great game. 

So, there you have it.  Nothing crazy like attending all 81 home games or eating 81 hot dogs.  Of course, I hope the Angels win the west and go all the way – but that goes without saying.

Is it Friday yet?

When the news first came out that Jered Weaver wasn’t selected for the All-Star game I was pretty annoyed. I usually don’t get too worked up over the selections because I've come to accept that the way players are picked is flawed in many ways.

That doesn’t mean I want to change anything, mind you; I just recognize the All-Star voting for what it is; an imperfect process.

The way I see it – no matter whose doing the voting, good players are going to be left off the team. Some say we should leave it to the managers – but then you have morons like Joe Girardi picking his own players. How about the writers you say? Well, they can’t even get the Hall of Fame voting right as far as I’m concerned. Everybody has a bias or an agenda of some sort – so I just accept the All-Star game as it is. If the fans mess it up, so be it.

That being said, it doesn’t stop me from being somewhat upset when someone like Weaver is snubbed. Now, I wasn’t annoyed to the point of losing any sleep over Weaver’s slight and although I thought about blogging about it, I didn’t. As things turned out, my procrastination paid off because the great writer - Joe Posnanski summed things up perfectly in his own blog. Trying to top what he had to say would be pointless.

Posnanski wrote this about Weaver, “I just don’t get why people don’t know more about him and appreciate his talents. A good argument could be made that Jered Weaver should be STARTING this All-Star Game in front of the home fans. Instead he’s not even on the team at the moment. That’s just lunacy.”

Now, I’ve been saying for quite some time that I could see Weaver starting the mid-summer classic so I really enjoyed Posnanski’s piece. I invite you to read his whole piece about Weaver because he really sums things up pretty well. I probably would have done a lot more ranting. And he's right - more people should know about Jered. They can start by reading this blog more often. Just saying...

Basically, Posnanski freed me up from having to rant yet again. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy ranting as much as the next guy, but this time my work was done for me. Thanks Joe!

One last thing about the All-Star voting. I can't believe a franchise that draws more than 3 million fans each year can't mobilize themselves some how to vote more Angels into the game. I just don't get it.

Which brings me to an issue that's even bigger than Weaver’s snub and that's the Angels lack of offense and generally horrible play (Besides word is Weaver might still be added to the team).

The Angels have now lost four of their last five games. That’s just not getting it done. They’re limping towards the All-Star break and trail the Texas Rangers by 4.5 games as of this morning (and trail by six games in the loss column which is not good).

I mean look at the 25 man roster and you’ll see names like Paul McAnulty, Cory Aldridge and the like. Now, I happen to appreciate a guy like McAnulty because he’s a Dirtbag; but a roster that boasts power bats like Reggie Willits, Kevin Frandsen and others is not going to generate enough offense to over take Texas.

Add in a bullpen that’s capable of blowing up on any given night and you have a recipe for disaster. I hope Tony Reagins has something up his sleeve. Even though Mike Scioscia is a miracle worker, he needs some help moving forward.

And what’s with Scott Kazmir? My wife Cheryl is not a fan. She regrets the fact that she actually owns a Kazmir T-shirt and any time she hears his name she has a few choice words to say about him (nothing profane mind you). Now, I know a player is pretty awful when it comes to that. Cheryl would never actually boo Kazmir, but she’s not going to be baking him any cookies in the near future either.

I really bought into the whole off season training thing that was reported about in the spring and believed he would get his “swagger back.” Boy was I wrong (not the first time).

I am beginning to think about two words for Kazmir and those words are “head case.” I don’t understand how a guy who’s been in the majors as long as he has, thinks he can get by on two pitches? As Scioscia said in a July 1 piece in the LA Times, “Some of the issues that have plagued Scott," Scioscia said, "have been a little redundant."

Ya think?

While I’m rambling on here – did anyone notice that Rich Thompson got called up? Anyone notice that this happened shortly after I blogged about the need to add him to the 25 man roster? Probably not…

Of course, I probably shouldn’t even mention it myself since his one outing so far wasn’t the best. Oh well… It was basically in mop duty. Who wants to pitch in those situations?

Two more games in Chicago and then on to the hated A’s. Meanwhile the Rangers face off against the two worst teams in the AL – Cleveland and Baltimore. Oh joy…

Speaking of joy – the All-Star weekend is upon us! Finally! Cheryl and I will be up to our eye balls in all things All-Star related. And yes, I’ll be blogging about the whole experience. It all starts Friday with FanFest.

We had an amazing time in 2008 when the All-Star game was at old Yankee Stadium and I’m kind of thinking this can’t possibly live up to that event. Never-the-less, it’s duty that we welcome with open arms and it should be great fun.

Man, I love baseball.