This staff has "priors"

I’m going to ask the big question...  Will the Joe Blanton signing for two years and $15 million be among the worst in Angels Baseball history?  It’s a legitimate question at this point, isn’t it?  Face it – when the one thing people tout about you is that you’re an “innings eater” – there’s probably not a lot of upside to what you can bring to the table.

Meet Joe Blanton – “innings eater” and all around good guy.  This is a guy who gave up 29 homeruns (something else he’s known for) last season in the National League.  Not the best quality in a starting pitcher, wouldn’t you say?  These are the things we all knew going into the season.

As spring rolled around, we also heard a lot about his workout regime.  We even heard he was “in the best shape of his life.”  He lost 30 pounds.  And while that’s all well and good – what about his pitching?  All I can tell you that so far, this season – it’s bad; in fact, it’s monumentally bad and that's a phrase I haven't used since Jeff Mathis departed.

I mean what did we expect from a guy who had a 4.71 ERA last year and a 5.01 ERA the year before that?  For all the good things Jerry Dipoto has done so far – this signing is looking very Tony Reagins-esque.   Blanton has an 8.59 ERA so far… Granted it’s early – but our “innings eater” hasn’t gone beyond 5 innings yet; which is probably a good thing because there is no telling how high his ERA would be if he did.

Blanton has given up six homeruns in 14.2 innings thus far.  He’s on pace to give up about 10,000 homeruns at this point - give or take a hundred.

Meanwhile, the Angels passed on Kyle Lohse; heck, they even passed on Joe Saunders.  Saunders had a rough debut for the Mariners (giving up 4 earned runs in 4 innings), but hasn’t given up any runs in his 13.1 innings since his season debut.  Who else did the Angels pass on?  How about Carlos Villanueva (Cubs – 0.64 ERA thus far), Ryan Dempster (Red Sox – 2.65 ERA thus far), and Jeremy Guthrie (Royals – 3.55 ERA thus far) among others?  We're not talking Zack Greinke here - we're talking about others who are more than serviceable.  

For me - Joe Blanton was a bottom-of-the-barrel guy.  Not a guy you sign in December when so many other better options were available.

And to think they traded away Ervin Santana, who is spotting a nice 2.45 ERA after three starts to go along with 19 K’s in 22 innings.  Now that’s an innings eater.  Granted, Santana made us all crazy with his inconsistency - but at least he was great some of the time.

The pitching has been frustrating to watch so far.  Only Garret Richards has made it into the 7^th inning.  When I think about all those years where good to great Angels pitching was wasted with a mediocre offense, it makes me crazy.  To make matters worse it will be a good 4-6 weeks before Jered Weaver comes back.

It’s hard for an offense to get going when it finds itself down after one inning every game (or what seems like every game).  It’s exceptionally discouraging for fans to watch.   I mean even the Marlins starting rotation has a 3.52 ERA thus far. 

Maybe the staff will find its groove.  Maybe Joe Blanton will be the innings eater he’s been advertised to be.  Maybe… maybe… maybe…   I have a friend name Dan  who loves to use the term “priors” (he's a police detective, of course).  It’s a great way to judge a person based on what they've done in the past and it's a great way to make a point.  Whenever someone tries to get away with something, Dan would say - "You've got priors."

Well… Blanton has priors (for a high ERA and for giving up tons of homeruns); Tommy Hanson has priors for diminished velocity and a high ERA in 2012; Jason Vargas has priors for giving up a whopping 35 homeruns last year; and C.J. Wilson has priors for giving up too many free passes to batters.  It’s hard to feel optimistic about this rotation when all of them have a history for poor performances.

A lot has to change for this rotation to be good.  That makes me nervous.  There’s a lot of “if this – then that” in this group.  The Angels need career bests from some of these guys.  Heck, even something that’s just slightly better than their career averages would help.  I hate that because there’s not a lot of hope in that.

I hope (there's that word again) they prove me wrong.  I hope we get to October and marvel at the job Dipoto did to put this staff together.  I just don’t have much faith in that happening.

In the meantime, I’m going to break one of my rules and actually make a trade suggestion… How about Bud Norris of the Astros?  How about Luis Jimenez  for Norris?  Jimenez has made a very impressive debut at the major league level, but with Kaleb Cowart just a couple years away – Jimenez might be expendable (they both play 3B). 

You see that?  I’ve been reduced to making trade proposals after just 13 games. I'm as bad as those callers who throw out crazy ideas to Terry Smith on the radio after a game.  Good grief.  

Faithful till the end

Last night in the 8th inning when the Rangers expanded their lead to 4-2, Cheryl looked intently at the action on the field and said, “We still have six outs.”

When Erick Aybar singled in the bottom of the 9th, she gripped my hand tightly. She didn’t want the season to end just yet. When Russell Branyan came to bat, the intensity was too much for her. She let go of my hand to cover her eyes and said “I can’t watch.”

It was soon after that moment that the ball went sailing past Rangers’ catcher Yorvit Torrealba and the crowd let out a roar. She looked up, looking for the ball and asked what happened. I told her the ball got past the catcher and Aybar was now on second.

She was excited and nervous at the same time – but she was into it; boy was she into it.

Maicer Izturis flied out.

Then Peter Bourjos singled to drive in Aybar, Cheryl’s adrenaline was pumping big time. She let out a yell, clapped and pumped her fists. Her body language said “We can do this.” She still believed.

I wanted to believe too, but as I sat and watched the game unfold, I was already done. My emotional tank was empty and I was waiting for the inevitable.

As Howie Kendrick struck out to end the game and the Angels play-off hopes, I felt a little sad – not for me, but for my wife who was faithful to her team till the end.

Sure, she had her moments when she was utterly disgusted with the team and may have even verbalized the idea that she too was done at certain times during the season – but her actions said otherwise.

All season long, she didn’t understand how this team could not play better. She knew they were capable and her desire for the team to win never wavered. She saw the flaws in the team as clearly as anyone. She would often say, “We need a big bat! They keep saying they’re going to get one, but here we are again…” Never-the-less, she still believed they could get it done.

She never failed them, but unfortunately, the Angels failed her.

It took 160 games for the Angels to be eliminated, but they broke our hearts all season long. Time after time – they lost games they should have won. The team failed on so many levels; offense, defense, bullpen, front office…. It was hard to watch, but we watched just the same.

A tremendous season for Jered Weaver and really solid seasons by Dan Haren and Ervin Santana were wasted. Pitching this good should be in the post season. It’s a darn shame they’re not going to have that opportunity this year.

Now that the Angels have been eliminated – Cheryl and I will become Diamondback fans for the rest of the year. It is our sincere hope that Joe Saunders gets a ring – a championship ring. Who knows, we may even make a trip out to Arizona to see a game or two. We’ll see.

It’s a long time till spring rolls around. We are exhausted. We started this journey in Kansas City for opening day on March 31. We attended tons of games and even made trips to San Bernardino to see the 66ers and trips to Texas and San Diego as well. I even made a trip to Dodgers Stadium. I should probably count how many games we saw and at some point, I just might. We didn't miss many.

We tried our best to look at this season as a story unfolding before our very eyes and it was just that; only problem was there was no happy ending.

All year long I have written in this blog that the margin for error was ever so small. After 160 games, that really came to be true.

We’ve been season ticket holders for a short time; only since 2004 – but we’ve been spoiled with five post season appearance. Not going to the playoffs for two years in a row hurts like heck and as I said before – I don’t ever want to get used to this feeling.

I’m a lucky man; my wife loves Angels baseball and we get to share this great game together. When all is said and done – baseball has provided us with lots of memories and we have been blessed to be a part of this season and others. It’s all about the journey and we can’t wait till the next one begins.

In the meantime, I will still be blogging and Cheryl will still be right here by my side feeding my ideas and keeping tabs on the Hot Stove season.

Thinking out loud

When Cheryl and I left Angels Stadium Sunday we knew we should feel pretty good about taking two out of three from the Yankees; however, we felt a little empty instead. A sweep would have been so much sweeter and remaining a game and a half back of the Rangers was just much more manageable in our minds.

A couple days have passed and the Angels now find themselves three games back after a disappointing loss to the stinkin’ A’s while the Rangers were idle. Listening to AM 830 a bit this morning, I wasn’t surprised to hear Roger Lodge had received an email from an Angel fan in Rancho Cucamonga who was throwing in the towel. There are always a few who look for immediate gratification and get discouraged when things don’t line up just perfectly.

If Cheryl and I had thrown in the towel every time things didn’t go just right for the Angels, we would have cashed out a long time ago. Don’t get me wrong – riding out this rollercoaster is tough at times – but we ride it out in hopes of a huge reward in the end.

We want more than anything for those last three games in Anaheim against Texas to mean something. I really don’t want to have to write another “Dear John” letter this year. Just saying.

The road to the end of the season is going to be difficult. Not just from a baseball schedule perspective, but from a fan’s perspective. Being in a pennant race is fun, but I’d much rather have my team leading as opposed to chasing. There’s definitely an emotional toll in living through this race for the play-offs.

How do we deal with it?

We are doing all kinds of crazy things while following this race. I tune into Ranger games on XM Radio. I’m constantly checking scores on the blackberry. We’ve even go so far as to water a plant in our yard called a “Texas Ranger” in hopes it will bring us luck. Don't laugh, it actually works quite a bit (not that we’re superstitious because we really aren’t).

We even do cheers for the teams that are facing the Rangers. Speaking of which… Let’s go CLEVE-LAND! Beat the RANG-ERS!

What shirt do we wear? Which hat should I put on? If we find a penny or a nickel or any money at all – we think of it as good luck for that day’s game. We even have a strange and funny thing called the Rally Bladder (check the link for details).

Does it really have an impact? Well… there have been some funny and strange coincidences, but no – of course not (at least I don't think so) - it’s all part of being in the race and part of the tradition of being a baseball fan.

We grasp for ways to impact the outcome of games; knowing full well, we can’t possible accomplish such things. It’s just part of the fun and I’m sure you have some traditions/routines of your own.

When all is said and done, it’s really all on the team.

And if I stop to think about the team long enough – I’m actually amazed that they are where they are. They did little to upgrade an offensive from 2010 and their bullpen has been suspect at times. Still, we fans want what we want and nothing short of a division title will suffice. I mean, the team has come this far – why give up now?

I also must admit that having guys like Peter Bourjos, Mark Trumbo, and even Mike Trout and more recently Jerome Williams have added a lot of excitement to this year’s edition of the team. They’re fun to watch and easy to cheer for.

We really don’t want to end this season in September and the thought of such a thing is just downright depressing.

I’ve talked a great deal about the margin of error being slim and sometimes when I stop and think about the times the Angels appeared to have “given away” games, I get a little crazy and a whole lot of cranky.

Losing too many games to Seattle and Oakland is just downright inexcusable. Adding to my anxiety is the return of Jeff Mathis to a starting role in three of the last four games. Every time he shows the smallest glimmer of hope, Mike Scioscia seizes the opportunity to play him more. It really has become almost comical and a huge source of fan angst all season long.

Never-the-less, we press on.

I know the offense has flaws, but this team has such great pitching that it would be a crime to waste it. I want to see Weaver and Haren going back to back in a play-off series against anyone. I’ll take my chances with those two and Ervin Santana anytime and anywhere. It’s just that this team needs to find a way to get there.

I'll be honest, I’m leery of the trip the Angels have to take back east and I’m fearful that it could all go horribly bad in Baltimore and Toronto. I hate feeling this way, but this team has a way of sapping one’s confidence at any given moment.

One can only watch Vernon Wells or Jeff Mathis fail in key hitting situations only so many times. It just takes its toll.

For every Mark Trumbo walk-off homerun, there seems to a few bonehead errors by Erick Aybar or a base running blunder by Torii Hunter or some other miscue that leaves Angels fans pulling their hair out.

Look, I know fans have unrealistic expectations in that we expect our team to execute every play flawlessly. I get that. I know players aren’t perfect and are bound to make mistakes, but when you’re in a pennant race – it doesn’t ease the pain and frustration of watching your team lose winnable games. Do you feel me?

So here we are with sixteen games left in the regular season. I’m nervous and excited at the same time. I’m skeptical and optimistic at the same time. I’m a walking, talking contradiction.

Every now and then I flash forward and think about next season, but I usually dismiss that train of thought because I want this year to count.

I know some baseball fan bases go years and years without any joy (Hello Cub fans). I know that the Angels had an awesome run in the last decade. That being said, I just hate losing and having a baseball team that’s not relevant in October just plain sucks.

Cheryl and I are emotionally invested (as always). We are willing to risk disappointment because we want to experience the joy of 2002 all over again. We’re greedy that way. It was just too much fun and something we want to experience again and again. Anything less will just be a let down.

Sure, life will go regardless, but winter is a lot more tolerable when you can call your team “champions.” 2010 was awful for so many reasons – that go beyond baseball. Let's just say that w could really use a great 2011. I don’t know if we deserve it, but we want it just the same.

I’m not going to make any excuses for what we want and I’m certainly not going to apologize for it either. We want a championship and at the very least, we want to watch our team in October, period.

I don’t know how we’ll get there, but I do believe we can get there. Yes, I really do. How about you?

An old adage gets put to the test

There’s an old adage in baseball that “good pitching beats good hitting.” I’ve heard that expression ever since I can remember and even though it’s not absolutely true, anyone associated with baseball has been spouting that little mantra for years.

Well that claim is going to be tested this weekend at Angels Stadium. It’s the ultimate challenge of good pitching vs. good hitting. The Yankees lead major league baseball in runs scored with 778 (as compared to the Angels who have scored 586). The Angels have the lowest ERA in the American League at 3.58.

The Angels have given up just 118 HR’s all year; second lowest in the American League. The Yankees have hit the most homeruns in MLB with 200. Curtis Grandreson has 38 and Mark Teixeira has 36. Eight Yankees have hit double digit homeruns including Robinson Cano with 25 and Nick Swisher with 22. Think about this – the four I just mentioned have combined for more homeruns(121) than the entire Angels team.

To make things even more interesting, the Angels will be sending their three best starters, who have all been exceptionally tough at home. Jered Weaver has a 1.87 ERA in 13 games at home; Dan Haren – 2.68 in 14 games and Ervin Santana – 2.96 in 16 games. Our top guns are headed to the mound for an epic show down.

Something has to give.

You can crunch numbers all day long… you can look at all kinds of splits and matchups until your calculator explodes. At the end of the day; it’s still all about the Angels pitchers against the Yankee hitters and whether or not that old adage about pitching vs. hitting holds up.

That being said – don’t be surprised if the Angels end up winning games 10-9 or something strange like that; because quite frankly, that’s baseball at its unpredictable self.

This series couldn’t have possibly lined up any better for the Angels rotation. Weaver goes on Friday; Haren on Saturday and Santana on Sunday. The Angels best against the most explosive offensive team in baseball. Baseball fans everywhere will get a chance to see how these two teams stack up in September. It’s a classic matchup in every sense of the word.

I’m anticipating a play-off like atmosphere at the stadium. These are crucial games for the Angels who are trying to run down the Texas Rangers who head into the weekend with a 2.5 game lead.

Like the Rangers, the Yankees also boast a 2.5 game lead in their division (over the Red Sox) and although their play-offs hopes are not in doubt – they’re striving to win the division and best record in the American League which would give them home field advantage; something every team covets.

The Yankees rotation will lead off with ex-Angel Bartolo Colon who is having somewhat of a resurgent season. He has a 3.72 ERA, but hasn’t won a game since July 30 and his ERA during that period of time is 5.00. On Saturday C.C. Sabathia will be vying for his 20th win of the season and figures to be the Angels toughest challenge in the three games. Of course, now that I’ve said that – the Angels will probably score 15 runs against him (let’s hope!). On Sunday the Yankees send out another reclamation project in Freddy Garcia who is also enjoying a nice comeback season with a 3.50 ERA.

Here’s the thing… we can look at these matchups all day long, but the bottom line is that these games mean a heck of a lot more to the Angels because of their position in the AL West pennant race. My hope is that Angels Stadium will be rocking with Angels fans; wearing red and being loud. Nothing disgusts me more than seeing our house full of fans from the opposing team.

Angels fans need to come to the stadium fired up and ready to rock and roll. We fans can make a difference and even though we don’t have any control over what happens on the field – we can certainly make the environment one that’s inspiring to our players. The Yankees need to know they’re in our house and Angels fans need to represent.

I’ve been thinking about this all week… Weaver, Haren and Santana. No excuses. These are big games and our best have to step up. If you can’t get excited about this – you might as well call it a day.

Angels vs. Yankees baby! Let’s do this.

Random thoughts from the last four games

Friday:

Why isn’t Mike Trout in the lineup?

I think somebody else is occupying Dan Haren’s body. He’s looking more like Scott Kazmir tonight…

I hate you Gilligan (Erick Aybar). That botched double play cost us four runs.

I really hope this is the start of something good for Vernon Wells.

Why did the Rangers want to trade Michael Young? Seriously...

11-0? Really? Good grief.

I just knew Russell Branyan was going to homer for some reason.

Seven runs are nice, but not so much when the other team scores 11. I hate moral victories.

Why didn’t Mike Trout start this game?

I hate the Rangers.

Saturday:

Come on Ervin.

Trout is starting… I like it.

I guess Bobby Wilson will be catching Ervin Santana for the rest of his life.

The way Vernon is hitting – some people will start saying he’s under paid…. Then again, probably not. I'll take what we can get just the same.

Say... Peter Bourjos shaved his head? Makes me wonder if Torii Hunter followed up on our discussion back in January. Check out the video from that post.

Thank you Mike Napoli. That’s the way I want to remember you (throwing error).

Really? David Murphy? Good grief.

Jordan Walden continues to blow saves and the Angels faithful continue to look the other way. Why?

Thank you Hisanori Takahashi.

Two back!

Sunday:

Really? Jeff Mathis has to catch Jered Weaver EVERY time?

Why isn’t Mike Trout in the lineup?

Thank you Jeff Mathis. Wait, did I just say that?

Howie Kendrick… I see you hitting like an all-star. If only you were this good all the time.

How does a slow guy like Bobby Abreu successfully steal so many bases?

Good grief. I hate it when it all goes so bad, so fast.

I hate the Rangers.

Monday:

Why isn’t Mike Trout in the lineup?

Nice to see you Hank Conger, I almost forgot what you look like.

Peter Bourjos hitting 8th? Really?

I really like the uniforms the Mariners are wearing tonight.

Hey Joel, we’ve seen this before. My wife Cheryl doesn't like you very much.

Thank you Mark Trumbo. If you’re not the Rookie of the Year, something is very, very wrong.

I thought Dustin Ackley was struggling?

So much for the lefty vs. lefty deal… Mike Carp just went deep.

I think we can still win this thing.

Maybe not.

Thank you Mark Trumbo for keeping hope alive.

Vernon Wells can do it.

I guess not.

Side note: Turns out Bourjos' shaved head is explained in this LA times piece.

Greatness doesn't quit

If I let myself go, I could rant from now until the end of the year; pausing just long enough for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I’d probably then start ranting again all the way till spring training when my mind would suddenly go blank and my eyes would get big and I’d start to feel optimistic again.

Tempting as that all might sound, I’m not going to do that. Yeah, I know you’re mad as can be and so is your brother, your sister, your mom, your dad, your cousin and even your dog, cat and goldfish. It’s been an ugly couple of days; real ugly. Maybe you came to this blog today hoping to see a little venom from yours truly.

I see the panic and anger everywhere. I see the frustration and I feel you; I really do. I know the natural reaction to the way the Angels have rolled over of late is to rant, scream and let off a ton of steam.

Sorry to disappoint you. I’m not going to do that. Yes, part of me wants to. I really hate what I’m seeing on the field, but let me point to something Mike Scioscia said following last night’s game.

Scioscia said""A week ago we were looking right up at these guys. We were within striking distance, but we've had a rough six or seven games that carried over from that trip into this series. But it can turn in a heartbeat. And that's what we have to keep our focus on -- how we play the game."

Did you catch that?

“But it can turn in a heartbeat.” That’s the thing. He’s right. You know he’s right. Maybe it doesn’t seem plausible in any way what-so-ever, but it doesn’t change the fact – that it is actually possible.

That’s what I have and that’s what I’m clinging to right now. I’m not the kind of guy who likes to throw in the towel the moment something looks impossible. Yes, I’m frustrated and mad as all get out, but deep down, I want to believe in this team. I want to cling to hope. Sure, I might be disappointed in the end; it’s not like that hasn’t happened before, but I’m not ready to start whining and complaining. That’s no way to spend the final days of summer.

Look, I know things don’t look great right now and every time Jeff Mathis comes to bat I want to scream; however, if the Angels win the next two games and pull back to within four and then gain a little ground over the weekend and early next week against Baltimore and then Chicago – they’ll be right back in this thing. They’ll be facing Texas again the weekend of August 24 and who knows; they just might surprise us.

It’s like I said yesterday – ignore the statistics and just be in the moment. Be an eight year old and just go to the game and be excited that you’re at a game instead of sitting on your couch. Don’t give up just yet; it’s much more fun to realize winning is still possible. The Angels can’t play much worse and something has to give.

We’ve got Ervin Santana tonight and Jered Weaver tomorrow. Both are worth the price of admission to watch and then some. This team still has a chance. Call me a homer, tell me I’m wearing rose colored glasses; its okay, it doesn’t matter.

I’m not ready to give up on a season; there’s absolutely no fun in that what-so-ever. I’m invested. I have tickets. I don’t want to stop watching and I want the games to be meaningful.

I’m nervous. I’m anxious. I’m angry. I have questions about the personnel. I have issues with some of the decisions this organization has made over the past couple seasons, but I’m not giving up. That’s the easy way out.

It can all change in a heartbeat. I know it. You know it. Mike Scioscia knows it. Wait for it. Believe it. Watch it happen. Nothing great happens when people give up. Think about it.

Keeping it real

In an ideal world Jered Weaver and Dan Haren would pitch every night. In an ideal world both of them would at least be scheduled to pitch against Texas. In a really ideal world Jeff Mathis would… well, you know.

Well, the world is anything but ideal and that pitching scenario isn’t going to develop for us this week. Last night Ervin Santana took the mound; tonight it’s Matt Palmer and finally on Wednesday – Weaver will be on the hill. That shouldn’t stop the Angels from taking care of business; although, they failed to do that yesterday.

I admit, I was pretty darn excited about the game, but by the time I got home to see it, it was out of hand. It happens. Thankfully, they’ll play each other another 18 times over the course of the season.

That’s 18 more opportunities to right a wrong in my book. It just bothers me to see Texas in the position they’re in; a top the division and the favorites to win the west. I’m accustomed to hating the A’s and I’d really rather not have to loath the Rangers as well. I’d much rather see the Angels put the beat down on the team from Arlington and for me to not have to give them a second thought.

Wishful thinking, I guess.

What makes it worse is how some Angel fans are so darn fickle. I mean, judging by the message boards, some blogs and the call-in shows – some Angel fans are ready to jump off the deep end. This should never surprise me and yet it does every now and then. We’re sixteen games into the season folks and the Angels are off to a pretty darn good start; all things considered.

162 games is a lot of games and were bound to have some ups and downs and some highs and lows. Disappointment is going to hit us every now and then and we can only hope that when all is said and done – we’ll still be watching the Angels in October.

Never-the-less, I’d really love it the Angels managed to beat the Rangers in… oh say, the next 18 times they face off. If that’s not doable (or realistic), I’d at least like to see someone put Ian Kinsler on his hind parts with a brush back pitch or a hard slide into second base. Just saying. Oh, and I’ll settle for winning at least 15 of the next 18 against the new division darlings; thank you very much.

While I’m making requests, please don’t make me watch Mike Napoli come to the plate with a chance to do any kind of damage. Trying to follow the action on my blackberry while riding on a train yesterday afternoon was enough to make me lose my mind. Napoli was up with two men on and my blackberry wouldn’t update me. I kept refreshing and seeing the same count and situation for what seemed like an eternity.

When I finally was able to catch up to the action, the Angels were down 3-0. The only good thing about that was finding out that Napoli wasn’t the one doing the damage. Small consolation, but I’ll take that just the same.

Napoli not coming through with runners in scoring position is vintage 2010 stuff, but I’d rather not have to deal with the possibility just in case. So, again – keep the bases empty when Napoli comes to the plate ok?

Onward…

So Matt Palmer takes the mound tonight and I know some of you aren’t expecting much. Well, this is exactly the kind of game that the Angels end up winning. I’m not making any bold predictions, but I do have a good feeling about tonight. So... Go Angels! Let’s do this. Enough said.

The 50 Greatest Angels (21-30)

We are now at the point in the Orange County Register’s (OCR) 50 greatest Angels where there shouldn’t be any real surprises. Then again, when you ask any group of people to come up with a list, there are always bound to be a few.

Today’s list reveals the following: Adam Kennedy (30), David Eckstein (29), Mark Langston (28), Chone Figgins (27), Jim Edmonds (26), Arte Moreno (25), Doug Decinces (24), Reggie Jackson (23), Chili Davis (22), and Dean Chance (21).

How appropriate is it for Kennedy and Eckstein to be next to one another? I mean, they were the 6-4 combo during the Angels greatest season ever and when you think of one, you should think of the other. They ended up higher on the list than I thought, but they’re deserving never-the-less.

Before we talk about the other players on the list, I have to ask – what was the OCR’s Mark Whicker thinking? Six of the ten players on today’s list didn’t make his at all. He did not vote for Chili Davis, Doug Decinces, Arte Moreno (neither did I), Jim Edmonds, Mark Langston, or Adam Kennedy. Other than Moreno – how in the world could he be so wrong? This is the kind of stuff I’d expect from Jeff Miller. Just saying.

So… Arte Moreno sure got a lot of love today. Four panelists had him in their top ten. Wow. Seeing how the rest of the panel thought of him definitely gave me reason to pause and wonder if I should have voted for him. I definitely considered it, but at the end of the day, I chose to only vote for one owner and he has yet to appear on this list.

As I look over the list, I have to say I have one major beef. I can’t believe Chili Davis is ranked this low. I voted for him as the 11th greatest Angel of all time. Davis ranks 6th among all Angels in homeruns (156), 5th in RBI (618), 9th in hits (973), and 8th in total bases (1,620). Quite frankly, Davis was a stud.

Another interesting player to look at on this list is Jim Edmonds. Now, I’ve heard some baseball people make a case that he’s actually a viable Hall of Fame candidate. OCR’s Sam Miller thought enough of him to rank him 12th on his list. He’s right about where I thought he should be at 26 (I had him at 25).

Kudos to Keith Sharon, Chuck Richter (AngelsWin), Mat Gleason (Halos Heaven), and Sam Miller for agreeing with me that Doug Decinces belongs in the top 20. The rest of the panelists should be put on some sort of double secret probation for not agreeing with us.

So far seven of the OCR’s top 50 weren’t on my list at all. I’m feeling pretty good about my top 20. I’ll be surprised if they’re not all on the list (two of them have already made the list – Davis and Decinces).

And… If I’m doing my math correctly, I still have 18 of my top 20 Angels who have yet to make the list and that means there are two more on my list that could make the top 20. I’m guessing one of them will be Frankie (I ranked him 35th) and the other… well; let’s just say that I ranked him “appropriately” at #26.

Two guys in my top 50 who looks like they’ll be left out include Ervin Santana (ranked him 48th) and Devon White (ranked him 43rd).

It doesn't look like Ervin Santana (ranked him 48th) or Devon White (ranked him 43rd) will make the list.

Until tomorrow…

Back to the future and some advice for Giants fans

I am writing to you today from the future.

The Angels have just won their fifth consecutive World Series; Mike Trout was named MVP, Kaleb Cowart and Hank Conger hit three homeruns each (which makes you wonder how Trout won the MVP, right?) and Ervin Santana threw his second post-season no-hitter of his career. Not a bad year, huh?

A man can dream can’t he?

What was your dream back in 2002? As I look back at that time, it never really occurred to me (at least prior to the Angels actually getting to the World Series) that the Angels could and would be World Champions. My confidence grew with every come-from-behind win. And once they won game 6 in come-from-behind fashion, I was as positive as one can be about their chances.

Sure, I always hoped I’d see the day, but I don’t remember a time when I said to myself, this is the year they’re going to do it. When you follow a team not knowing for winning as long as I have, you get used to certain things and your expectations become somewhat tempered. I think most fan bases go through the same thing.

Think about it – who had the Giants and the Rangers in the 2010 World Series prior to the start of the season? I have to wonder how often this happens; where a team or teams no one really thought would win it all actually gets that chance?

Ask a Giants or Rangers fan if they really believed in their heart of hearts that their team would be playing baseball in November (wow, did I say November?)? I doubt you’d find any. Okay, maybe a scant few (who probably say that every year), but seriously… think about it.

How many Angel fans thought their team would win it all in 2002 prior to that season? How about the Red Sox fans in 2004 or the White Sox fans in 2005?

Unless you’re a Yankee fan most fans don’t have those kinds of expectations; at least not year in and year out. Sure sometimes things happen in the off season that might make you believe your team has a shot (take the darlings prior to the 2008 season - Detroit Tigers for instance), but for the most part – unless your team has actually done it, you don’t necessarily expect it. I’m talking deep down inside where it’s really a core thought of your own.

Getting there changes everything and winning it all elevates it to another level.

Most Angel fans expect the Angels to compete for a World Series title every year now. Same goes for Red Sox fans, Phillies fans, etc., but the longer your team goes without returning or ever getting to the biggest stage in baseball, the less you expect that idea to become a reality.

Fact is it’s really hard to get to a World Series. There are so many variables that it’s really a testament to any team that gets that far. Some believe the play-offs are a “crap shoot” and some think it’s their team’s “divine right.” Whatever you believe, the fact remains that getting there is never something any team can take for granted.

It’s one of the beautiful things about baseball.

I love it when teams like Tampa Bay in 2008 or the Rockies in 2007 find their way to the World Series when no one really saw it coming. Regardless of the whether they win it all or not, it’s the idea that none of the so-called experts saw it coming.

And why do we call them experts when they fail so often? I guess it's really not important and the bigger question is why do we get bent out of shape when the experts don’t pick us? We should be celebrating when we get ignored or passed over, shouldn’t we?

Even when the two teams were finalized for this 2010 World Series, most “experts” picked the Rangers. They’re not looking so smart right now. Then again, this shouldn’t come as a surprise. It's just the way things go.

We love to predict things even though baseball and life in general is so unpredictable. It doesn’t even matter that we are wrong most of the time; we march on.

The other side of all this is how expectations will change. Once you win or even when your team gets close to winning, you start to think about the future and how many more times your team might win it all.

Watch.

Some Giants’ fans are already talking about a dynasty. Why? Because they have such great young pitching. All of a sudden, the mind set changes. Prior to this season most Giants fans hoped they would see a championship in their life time; now, many of them are starting to think about this becoming an annual event.

Caution: Things change when you have something to defend instead of something to prove. When you have something to prove, you don’t necessarily have a target on your back when you have something to defend, you most certainly do.

It's like this... Yankee fans are expecting pay back next year. Red Sox fans believe they will return and their failure to make the play-offs is only dependent on their team being healthy again. Angel fans believe the Rangers 15 minutes of fame (okay, it’s been longer than that) is about to expire. Dodger fans are… well, let’s let sleeping dogs lay.

My advice to Giants fans is to soak it all in. You might not get back here again. Don’t start thinking about next year and just focus on the moment. It will be here and gone before you know it. The past eight years since 2002 seem much longer than all those previous years of hoping and waiting combined. Seriously; embrace the moment.

DISCLAIMER: I realize that I’m writing off the Texas Rangers. I also realize that baseball can humble a team, a player or an entire fan base any day of the week. If the Rangers come back and win this World Series, I’ll have some crow to eat. So be it. I just want to make sure I make the point about how fleeting the moment of watching your team win it all can be and I can’t do that when the series is over.

And just so we're clear... If by chance it gets to the point where the Rangers might win this thing, I'd give them the same advice.

The view from down low

Last night was indicative of the Angels’ season. It’s not just that they lost, it’s about how they lost. They lost because their defense failed to execute and the result of that poor effort was two unearned runs and 2-1 Rangers victory.

The last two nights Cheryl and I decided to get some tickets down on the field level and we sat 20 rows behind the Angels dugout on Tuesday and 12 rows behind it on Wednesday.

What did we see?

Let’s start with Tuesday night. Ervin Santana was magnificent. He held the Rangers in check all night long on his way to a complete game shut out. I don’t know about you, but anytime the Angels shut out the Rangers, it makes me smile and Santana’s win was reminiscent of his division clinching performance last year against this same team.

Thank you Ervin and congratulations on your career high 17th win. You guaranteed us not having to see the Rangers eliminate the Angels from the pennant race on our home field. I know it’s a small victory, but I’ll take it. I would not have been able to stomach Ian Kinsler popping champagne in our house.

As great as Ervin was, the highlight of the evening was watching Hank Conger. I can’t wait for the day when he’s the every day catcher and Jeff Mathis is a distant memory. Granted, I’ll probably have nightmares about Mathis for the rest of my life, but as long as I’m able to wake up in a world where Conger is the catcher, I’ll deal with it.

Watching Conger motor around the bases on his triple was just fun to watch. The kid is a beast and I mean that in the best way. He’s going to hit a ton once he gets comfortable and he gives all Angel fans something to look forward to.

I have to tell you it’s still strange seeing Vladimir Guerrero, Darren Oliver and Bengie Molina in opposing team colors. Of the three, I miss Molina the most. He’s easily one of my all-time favorites. When he was an Angel I had tremendous confidence in him every time he came to bat in key situations. He was the anti-Mathis in that he was extremely clutch.

In any case, it was a quick night. The game only lasted two hours and twelve minutes. Wouldn’t you know it, given our great seats. Oh well, we were grateful never-the-less given our late night adventure in Rancho Cucamonga the night before.

Wednesday night was down right frustrating. Cheryl and I got a bird’s eye view of Frandsen’s throw that went sailing into right field. It wasn’t even close. Let’s just be clear about Frandsen. He is not now; not has he ever been; nor will he ever be a quality third baseman. Let’s stop trying to make him into something he doesn’t have the capacity to accomplish.

In his brief stint at the major league level this year, I’m sure he has cost the Angels 3 or 4 games with his poor defense.

And then there’s Jeff Mathis. Maybe I should stop here before I say something I may regret. Nah, that wouldn’t be my style. I guess I'll try to temper my thoughts as much as possible.

The passed ball that cost the Angels the win was his sixth of the year. Now, you might think six passed balls is a lot, but think about this; there are 18 catchers with at least six passed balls. Of that group only four have caught fewer innings than he has, but none of them are being touted by their manager as being some sort of defensive genius.

His fielding percentage of .985 ranks as the 98th worst in major league baseball among all catchers. His seven errors ranks as 8th most even though he’s caught 100 less innings than the closest player above him with more errors. Imagine what kind of stats he’d have if he actually played more.

I’m as done with Jeff Mathis as anyone can possibly be. He has caused me more angst than Steve Finley, Shea Hillenbrand and Jeff Weaver combined and that’s saying something.

Speaking of angst, watching Juan Rivera up close the way we did made me appreciate how truly slow he really is. Watching him mosey in from right field after every inning was almost comical. I’m positive Bengie Molina could dust him in a foot race.

I will say this about good ol’ Tub of Goo though – he did get on base four times. He had two singles and two walks. The funny thing about the eight hits the Angels did get last night is that they all came at the hands of just four players, each of whom had two hits (Mike Napoli, Howie Kendrick, Rivera and Reggie Willits).

Did I mention Mathis was 0-4? Did I mention that he’s now hitting .189? Yes, I know Brandon Wood is just as bad this year, if not worse, but Mathis is in his sixth season. But, I digress…

Dan Haren Struggled. He threw 114 pitches over seven innings, but to his credit he battled and gave his team a chance to win.

Torii Hunter looks worn out. He left three men on base and even hit into an inning ending double play just when it looked like the Angels might make a game of it.

Jordan Walden hit 100 mph last night in route to a 1-2-3 8th and the rest of the bull pen did a fine job with the possible exception of Matt Palmer who took the loss with help from Mathis.

Before I stop writing about Jeff Mathis, I have to tell you that I had a revelation today. I think I might have figured out why Scioscia continues to play him despite all the evidence against that idea.

Scioscia is the pitch man for Howard’s Appliances. Howard’s sells TV’s. When people watch Jeff Mathis on television, they’re apt to get so disgusted that they’ll throw things at their sets. Think about it. They break their TV’s and have to replace them. Where do they go? They go to Howard’s. It’s a brilliant idea, don’t you think? That has to be the explanation.

Speaking of things I’m trying to figure out…

Kevin Jepsen(much to my surprise) looked good last night (1 inning, no hits, 2 K’s). That being said, I’m not sure how he was anointed as the set up man. He scares the crap out of me. I’m so used to him putting two or thee men on base every time he comes into the game that when he doesn’t I’m stunned. Scioscia’s loyalty towards him is almost Mathis-esque. That 1.43 WHIIP is alarming His walk rate per nine innings is up from 3.13 in 2009 to 4.70 in 2010. On the positive side, he is striking more people out, but the big concern is his control.

One last thing, we noticed that Scot Shields wasn’t in the bull pen at all during the game and he was hanging out in the dugout instead. Is he done? I mean, many of us have assumed that’s he’s done “stuff” wise, but is he physically done? In some ways this is kind of sad, if true because he’s the last remaining player linked to the 2002 World Series team.

And on that note, I’ll just say that all in all it was an enjoyable two nights down on the field level. This weekend we’ll be back in our regular seats.

Below are a few more photos from the game on Tuesday; including Mike Napoli going yard, Bobby Abreu having some fun, Jordan Walden throwing some heat and Hank Conger warming up.

A Bourjos night of baseball

Let be known that I traveled 979 miles (distance from Anaheim to Seattle) to see the Angels finally score some runs. It could have been a historic night for all the wrong reasons; but alas, it was not.

The Angels went 31 scoreless innings until Peter Bourjos went to work and hit a line homerun to center field to give the Angels a 1-0 lead in Seattle. The Angels record for futility is 33 innings, but thankfully it still stands.

Bourjos was a one man show; he was hit by a pitch, stole a base, threw a runner out at third for an assist, hit the homerun and later added a single. This night was his night; although, he did have one get past him (it was a tough play) that led to a Mariner run in the bottom of the 9th.

In the end the Angels finally won a game (it seems like it’s been forever) and beat the hapless Mariners 5-3.

The night was not without its keystone cop like moments (hello Erick Aybar), but all in all a good effort.

Leading that effort along with Bourjos was Ervin Santana who threw 7 2/3 innings, scattering eight hits, without giving up any walks and striking out four. Fernando Rodney got his first save since assuming the closer role for the departed Brian Fuentes.

The low points (I hate to go there) were led by Jeff Mathis, who went 0 for 4 while striking out once. Mathis also failed to throw Ichiro Suzuki out on two steal attempts. I know, I know he’s a defensive genius, right Mike Scioscia? Truth is, I doubt Mathis could throw out a beached whale before volunteers rolled it back into the sea.

Enough ranting for tonight.

It was a nice night for baseball at Safeco Field with a game time temperature of 65 degrees and 20,545 in attendance. In fact it was a Bourjos night. My chili dog was good and more importantly the Angels came out on top. Can’t ask for more than that.

I will try to post some photos from this game later on. The photos of Bourjos in this post are from Sunday’s game in Anaheim.

Worst team in baseball?

The Angels just might be the worst team in baseball. Oh sure, there are teams that have lost more games, but I think it would be hard to find another team playing as poorly as the Angels are right now.

It’s not just that the Angels are losing, but it’s the manner in which they’ve gone about losing games. They appear unfocused and uninspired. This is a team that falls behind early and stays behind. It’s as if someone ripped the heart out of the team and no one cares enough to get it back. In a word, this team has been gutless.

Am I venting again? You bet. Look, a lot of fans are in the venting mode right now and that’s a good thing. It beats the heck out of apathy and nothing is worse than an apathetic fan base. Those are the kinds of fans who stop caring and stop watching altogether.

Now if you want to vent there’s plenty of opportunity for that on the internet. Places like AngelsWin and Halos Heaven have message boards where fans can sound off, interact and discuss the Angels all they want. If you’re looking to voice your opinion on the sports talk circuit, my advice would be to avoid Angels talk with Jeff Biggs on AM 830.

Biggsy spends so much time trying to convince his audience that he’s not a “house man” and that he’s not “drinking the Koo-aid,” that he actually becomes the whole focus of his shows. Someone needs to tell Biggsy that it’s not about him.

Listening to Biggsy will just leave you even more frustrated than you already are because he’s going to give you Criticism Light – which isn’t very filling and certainly not satisfying either. His partner, Jason Brennan has been waiting and waiting for the Angels to go on a miraculous 15-4 run; and keeps pointing to this time period being the soft spot in the Angels schedule that could allow the Angels to go on a run.

I’ve got news for Brennan – the Angels are the soft spot in the schedule; not the other way around.

Enough about Biggs and Brennan.

As frustrated as I am about the Angels, I have to tell you that I’m writing this blog entry while on a plane to Seattle. Yes, watching the Angels get swept by the Orioles wasn’t enough punishment for me. I’ll be at the Angels/Mariners game tonight. As luck would have it; my work will put me in Seattle long enough for me to catch tonight’s game.

I don’t know what to expect. Ervin Santana is pitching and he hasn’t been the most consistent guy on the mound.

That guy has been very consistent; Jered Weaver, could be having one of the best seasons ever by an Angels starting pitcher if only his offense would show up.

More later… In the mean time, I'll be cheering for the Angels tonight at Safeco Field. It will be strange not having Cheryl with me. Oh and if the Angels lose again, you can blame me. The only game they won last week was the day game I couldn't go to. Go figure.

A loss is a loss, but I'm not at a loss for words

The folks that were so sure the Angels would overtake Texas are kind of speechless these days. They kind of mumble to themselves and say things like “there’s not much you can say about that” when referring to the latest Angels loss.

Me on the other hand, I’m really not at a loss for words.

Last night was a typical Angel game for 2010. Fall behind early and never recover. Sure go and mount a little rally, but come up short in the end. I heard something to the effect that the Angels are around 1-54 when trailing after eight innings. I don’t know how anyone expected them to come from behind to win the west when they can’t even come from behind in a game.

It’s not like they didn’t have their chances. Torii Hunter came up three times with runners in scoring position and came up empty every time. I wonder if he’ll have a closed door meeting with himself today.

Speaking of which, do those things really work? I mean you might see an immediate impact for a game or two, but the residual effect seems to be minimal to me. I mean if you’re having a lot of these things there are bigger issues involved aren’t there?

You know times are tough when I start taking shots at Hunter. Hunter is my favorite player, but even he’s not immune to a little criticism now and then.

So… I’d really like to know what Scott Kazmir’s problem is. Is it mental, mechanical, physical or spiritual? Is it all of the above? Or is it something completely different? RaysIndex makes some bold claims about why the Rays traded Kazmir to the Angels.

Pitching is such a mystery and the Angels pitching has been a huge puzzle all season long. Seems like some of these guys; like say Ervin Santana have been taking us on roller coaster rides for years. One day he’s awesome. The next he’s mediocre, then comes the horrible outing, followed by the game when he has dominating stuff. Trying graphing his ERA for the past six years; it looks like a mountain range.

This is a team that came close to going to the World Series last year and this year they’re about as far away from being that team as Jeff Mathis is to hitting even .250. Why does Mathis still have a job? I’m never going to understand the “man crush” Mike Scioscia has on him. After six seasons Jeff Mathis has a career .200 average. I suppose we should be happy that he’s at least hitting his weight. Hmm. I wonder what would happen if he gained 50 pounds?

Look, I know that Mike Napoli isn’t going to win any gold gloves behind the plate, but playing Mathis over him is ludicrous.

Really want to know something crazy? In 2008 Mathis hit .194 and he followed that up in 2009 by hitting .211. That translated into him being able to more than double his salary through arbitration from $450,000 to $1.3 million. I’m telling you, you can’t make this stuff up.

So last night Mike Sciosica decided to put Juan Rivera at first base. Yes, Tub of Goo himself was making his first ever start as a first baseman. When you think about it, if he has to be on the field that might be the best place for him. I mean first base probably requires the least amount of athleticism. Of course, I’d rather he not be on the field at all, but I’m just crazy that way.

You see Juan Rivera can’t be any good. Why? He doesn’t play “D” and if you take the “D” out of good, you’re left with goo. Thus the nickname “Tub of Goo.” I should have thought of this earlier. Doh!

I told you I wasn’t at a loss for words. This team has given me a lot of material to work with this year.

On the bright side; and yes, there’s always a bright side. I love watching Peter Bourjos run down fly balls. It has already gotten to the point where I expect him to catch everything and I mean everything. When a foul ball is hit into the upper deck, I check the nearest tunnel to make sure Bourjos isn’t about to run out and make the catch.

Terry Smith (Angel radio play by play announcer) was commenting last night that he’d like to see a foot race between Bourjos and Carl Crawford. Poor Terry doesn’t get it. Bourjos is so fast, a better race would be between him and Top Fuel Funny Car. After all; Bourjos doesn’t have feet, he has wheels.

Speaking of wheels… wheels roll and last night the Angels rolled over big time. Catch the 9th inning? The Rays closer, Rafael Soriano only needed nine pitches to close out the game. He threw nine strikes and struck out the side. That’s about as perfect as you can get. By the way, Soriano will be a free agent at the end of the season. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

In closing, I'd like to wish Tim Salmon a happy 42nd birthday today. We miss you Timmy!

I'd also like to remember Nick Adenhart, who shares Salmon's birthday. Nick would have been 24 years old today. He too is missed dearly for entirely different reasons. Let's never forget.

Happy days are here again (The week in review May 10-17)

Happy days are here again
The A’s were swept, the Angels win
So let's sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again

Now that’s what I’m talking about. The Angels played three outstanding games over the weekend - putting a nice beat down on the Oakland A’s.

It all started with an “atta boy” performance from Joe Saunders, who threw a complete game four hit, shut out. This is the Joe Saunders we’ve been waiting for. This is the Saundo we expected to see all season long. How big was this peformance? Saunders lowered his ERA from 6.19 to 4.96.

Saunders effort was special. He was facing Dallas Braden who was coming off a perfect game. It was reminiscent of last year’s complete game shut out against Cy Young award winner - Zach Greinke and the Kansas City Royals. Like last season, Saunders stepped up to out shine an opposing pitcher who was getting a great deal of publicity coming into the game.

Cheryl and I usually wear our Saunders shirts when he pitches, but we didn’t Friday night. It was our own little version of showing a little “tough love” to our favorite pitcher (not that he would know or care). In our minds, he hadn’t deserved that kind of support. Call it silly, call it whatever you want, but it was own our mild form of protest.

Those t-shirts are a big deal to us. In 2008 Saunders didn’t have his own shirt yet in the Angels Team Store. Even after making the all-star team the store didn’t carry one. Cheryl and I took our complaints to anyone who would listen and it wasn’t long after, that shirts with his name on the back started appearing. The fact that it had come to us not wearing those shirts meant something.

Maybe in some strange way it worked to make him pitch better (again, I know this is a reach). Maybe it was the group of kids Saunders had brought to the game; a group called Team Saundo. Whatever it was – it helped restore our faith in his abilities.

Happy days are here again
When Saunders throws the Angels win
So let’s wear our Saundo shirts again
Happy days are here again

Saturday night saw the Angel bats come alive in a 12-3 victory over the A’s. I have to tell you, seeing the Angels pound the A’s never gets old. It doesn’t necessarily happen often (the two teams are notorious for close ball games), but when it does – it’s a beautiful thing.

Ervin Santana pitched a strong six innings, giving up three runs (2 earned) while striking out six; however, the big star of the night was Kendry Morales and his two homeruns and five RBI. Even Brandon Wood got into the act with a hit and two RBI.

Funniest moment of the night came in the 7th inning. Jack Cust watched a catchable ball hit by Hideki Matsui sail over his head for a double; at which point I commented out loud that Cust might be the worst left fielder in baseball. Those words proved to prophetic as he three batters later he would watch a fly ball from Brandon Wood skip off his glove to score a run.

Cust looked at his glove in bewilderment. It’s always funny when players do that. Needless to say the fans let him have it pretty good and when he caught a routine fly ball hit by Michael Ryan the next inning, they were on him again. Cust was a good sport about it as he gave the fans a thumbs up and a tip of the cap.

Did I mention that the Angels won 12-3? I just loved the sound of that; 12-3 over the hated A’s.

Happy days are here again
Jack Cust cant’ field the Angels win
So razz the guy over and over again
Happy Days are here again

The third game of the series was a thing of beauty as Joel Pineiro looked magnificent in his complete game, 4-0 win. Pineiro only needed 98 pitches in the victory as he struck out five and only walked one batter.

Bobby Abreu went yard and the Angels had their sweep.

Don’t you love the sound of that? The Angles sweep. Even better, they swept the A’s. To top off a perfect weekend, John Lackey and the Red Sox lost. How perfect was that?

Happy days are here again
John Lackey lost, the Angels win
I’m so happy; I don’t know where to begin
Happy days are here again

Yes, I hate the A’s and sweeping them has been the biggest bright spot of the season to date. I could get used to this.

Mean while, this week’s True Grich award goes to Joel Pineiro who did not give up any earned runs over 15 1/3 innings in two games. I like this signing a lot.

In other news...

Between the games Cheryl and I managed to attend Tim Salmon's book signing at the Borders in Brea. Salmon's book is appropriately titled "Always an Angel" and we are looking forward to reading it.

There was a nice turn out to see "Mr. Angel."

When we finally made our way through the line to Tim - he looked up and saw my "Salmon Nation" shirt and said, "I've seen that shirt before." I reminded him that we sent him one; to which he said, "you're those people?" with a smile. He then told us that he as chest at home where he stores some special keepsakes and the Salmon Nation shirt is folded and put away there. Very cool.

Today's word of the day is "embarrassing"

Yesterday’s game against the Red Sox inspired me to come up with a few more words to describe the Angels’ play of late. “Embarrassing” tops the list, followed by “frustrating.” We’re talking the kind of frustration that leads to one putting their foot through the television (not that I’d actually go that far, mind you).

It was just bad.

Now I believe that at the end of the season; when the Angels have completed 162 games they will be on top in the AL West. Never-the-less, that doesn’t make watching them struggle the way they have of late any easier. Losing to the Red Sox is always awful; getting blown out by the Sox is down right demoralizing.

It’s especially demoralizing when you realize the Red Sox are trotting out guys named Darnell McDonald a career minor leaguer who’s 31 years of age. And who’s that in left field? Why it’s Bill Hall, who hit .201 last year and .225 the year before that.

Oh wait, it gets better. Hall and Adrian Beltre hadn’t homered this entire season; that is until yesterday when both went yard. The Hall homerun was especially disturbing. Mark Gubicza pointed out on the FSW broadcast that Hall was late on every pitch (fouling several off). So what does Saunders and Mike Napoli do? They throw him a change up. Yeah, that’s right – let’s throw Hall a pitch he can catch up to; after being late on the hard stuff.

Every Sox starter had at least one hit and all but Victor Martinez and Marco Scutaro had at least one RBI. Every player scored at least one run – including Jonathan Van Every who came into to pinch run. I know, Van who?

When the game was finally over, we found Joe Saunders sporting a 7.04 ERA, Matt Palmer with a 6.75 ERA, Brian Stokes with a 5.93 and Jason Bulger who actually lowered his ERA to 6.30.

How bad was Joe Saunders? Rumor has it that the Sox bat boy asked to get in the game as a pinch hitter. I'm just saying.

This game also happened to be the ESPN Monday Night game. So not only did the Angels stink – they got to stink in front of a national audience.

I kept going back and forth between the ESPN broadcast and the one on FSW. ESPN’s was actually in real time, while FSW’s had a seven second delay. So, I got to experience the nightmare twice on just about every at-bat.

In comparing the two broadcasts, I will say that ESPN puts a lot more production into their broadcasts and the picture seemed crisper to me. FSW had the better camera angle, being directly behind the pitcher, where ESPN was off the right shoulder of the pitchers.

It’s also clear that ESPN loves the Red Sox. They inserted interviews with John Lackey on at least two occasions and none that I can recall with the Angels. They also showed a clip of Clay Buchholz’s no-hitter in 2007. You also have to love (not really) the way they always show Theo Epstein in one of the luxury boxes. ESPN was really dolling out the Red Sox love yesterday.

At least I didn’t see Ben Affleck or Stephen King for a change.

This team is hard to watch right now. Hopefully, they’ll turn it around this evening when Ervin Santana takes the mound and for goodness sake, please beat the snot out of John Lackey on Wednesday before I lose my mind.

Seeing is believing

I said this yesterday and I’ll say it again; whenever, you come to spring training you just never know what you’re going to see. All you can count on is that it’s going to be memorable. Such was the case for Cheryl and me again today.

You know the saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Well, in the case of the photos below, words can not possibly describe what you’re about to see. “Funny” doesn’t begin to describe the site of Mike Scioscia running the bases during some drills today at Tempe.






Now, I thought of all kinds of captions for the photos of Scioscia including, “Angels add some speed to the team” or “Eat your heart out Bengie Molina.” I bet I could come up with these all night long and I’m sure you could too. Feel free to post them in the comments.

The photo in the bottom left hand corner is of Joe Saunders giving Scioscia a cup of Gatorade. Looking on (from left to right) is Brian Stokes, Ervin Santana, and Jason Bugler.

The photo on the bottom right hand corner is none other than Jered Weaver who looks like he’s about to bust a gut.

This is spring training and these are good times.

One of the reasons these are such great times is because of the people who work at Temp Diablo Stadium. They’re some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

One such person is Bob Emerson, who has a cool business card that reads “Retired” - “If I get the urge to work, I lie down under a tree until the urge passes.” Bob calls himself a “sun bird.” He lives in Arizona all year long (unlike the snowbirds that migrate to Arizona in the winter).

If you make your way out to the Cactus League games at Tempe this spring, you’ll notice the Angels have a brand new scoreboard. What you might not know is that our friend Bob will be operating that scoreboard. He’s pretty excited about the new board and the cool graphics it will show during the games.



Cheryl and I also ran into a dad and his son, who we had actually met yesterday. Frank and his son Giovanni were back for a second day of fun. Frank is the first person I’ve met (that I didn’t know previously) that has read this blog. That was kind of cool and surprising at the same time.

Frank told us he was a regular on the Halos Heaven web site. He hails from Irvine and got the bug to come to spring training a couple years back when another Angel fan posted pictures on the web from Tempe. He’s hooked now.

We also had the pleasure of meeting another young family from Costa Mesa. Blake, his wife Bernie and their two sons Landon and Roman were making their first trip to Tempe. The back of Landon’s Angels jacket was covered with autographs from Angels.

Funny story – Landon (who is 4 years old) plays T-ball and when he found out he had to wear a Dodger uniform this season; he told his mom and dad, “I’ve been traded!” He wasn’t too happy about the idea of not wearing Angel red. Sounds like a die-hard fan to me.

The family is pictured with Robb Quinlan. Not pictured is 5 month old Roman who is hiding somewhere behind the group.


Again, these are fun times – but they don’t just happen before your eyes all the time. You really need to put in the time and effort to get the most out of the spring training experience.

I’ll post some videos from today later tonight. Right now Cheryl and I are off to one of our favorite restaurants – Don & Charlie’s – which is a restaurant I mentioned in my previous post – A fan’s guide to spring training.

In a word (or two)

The Angels are going to win the west. I said it because I believe it. Now, I could give you a long list of reasons as to why that’s the case, but I don’t really need all that many words to make my case.

I have one word for you and that’s pitching. Think about this; in 2009 the Angels sent 14 different pitchers to the mound to start a game. What would happen if your team had to use 14 different starters in a given season? How does the word “chaos” sound to you? Better yet, how about “panic?”

Think about this; last season, three Angel pitchers made their major league debuts in Sean O’Sullivan, Anthony Ortega and Trevor Bell. The Angels started someone other than their projected rotation of John Lackey, Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver and or Kelvim Escobar/Scott Kazmir 41 times. That’s 41 starts from players they didn’t expect to contribute in 2009. How did they do that? I have another word for you… “Depth.”

One of those 14 guys was Matt Palmer who had a solid 3.93 ERA; who despite winning eleven games and putting up that nice ERA may very well start the 2010 season in the minors or be added to the bull pen. That’s called depth. They have it and chances are; your team (especially in the AL West) doesn’t.

The Angels overcame injuries to Kelvim Escobar, Ervin Santana, Joe Saunders and John Lackey, who all spent time on the DL. And let’s not forget the tragic death of Nick Adenhart. How does a team do that? Depth, baby; depth. It’s all about having arms in your system. Face it; your team wants this kind of depth. Your team would give anything for this kind of depth.

Despite having a pitching staff that faced one adversity after another, the Angels won 97 games. Don’t dismiss that number. Think about it. Think about what the Angels had to overcome and then focus on that number again.

Yeah, that’s right; you’re starting to see what I’m talking about, aren’t you?

That’s not just depth; that’s crazy good depth. Most teams are struggling to find five starters that won’t embarrass them and give them a chance at winning (Dodgers anyone?). Most teams can’t survive an injury to one or two pitchers, let alone a ton of them and stay competitive. Most teams aren’t the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

A lot of talk has been made about the pitchers in the AL West. But not enough of that talk has been about the Angels in my opinion. Folks have taken them for granted. They keep talking about the loss of John Lackey. They’ve forgotten about those 41 starts and everything the team overcame in 2009.

Let’s do this already. Let’s get to the 2010 season. I’m bored with this talk about how Seattle is going to take over the west. I’m not amused by the projections for a Rangers pennant.

I say bring it. Come on Seattle, Texas and even you Oakland. Show us what you got. Because the bad news for you is that the Angels staff will be better than last year’s group. Five solid guys and organizational depth means the AL West pennant still goes through Anaheim and if your team wants it, they’re going to have to come and get it.

If you’re not fired up about the Angels pitching staff, check your pulse. Better yet – look in the mirror and make sure you’re not wearing an A’s cap.

I know some of you are going to rattle off names like Cliff Lee and Felix Hernandez and then you’ll start to mumble. All I ask is that you do the math. Five solid starters beat two great ones. I know the baseball experts are trying to ignore that equation, but they’re just whistling in the dark. You can’t possibly believe your team has the pitching to beat the Angels, right?

I know right now you might not see it now. After all, it’s spring time. The birds are chirping, the air is cool and crisp and everything seems quiet and peaceful. Well, that’s just the calm before the storm and that storm is definitely coming.

And don’t even get me started on why having Mike Scioscia puts the Angels head and shoulders above everyone else in the west. Don’t make me do some more math and talk about the 900 wins over ten seasons as the manager, which comes to 90 wins a year.

Let’s do this. Let’s get the 2010 season started. I’m ready for that new “Tradition” slogan the Angels are using for this year. I’m thinking the tradition is winning the west, outperforming the projections and proving the experts wrong – again.

Word.