Choosing to Believe

I’ve made a decision.  As long as Albert Pujols is able to step on a baseball field, I’m not going to count him out.  I’m just not going to do it.  I don’t care what anyone says or anyone thinks, I will continue to believe that Albert is capable of doing great things.

Everyone knows he had off season foot surgery.  The funny thing (at least to me) about that is that from the moment that was made public; fans, experts, insiders, etc. started to write him off.  They said he wouldn’t be ready for opening day.  They said a lot of things that were made to cast doubt on what kind of season he would have.

Not me.  Never.  No way.

There are some people out there (you know who you are) who will look for any little thing to pile on when it comes to Albert.  These people have an agenda.  I guess they don’t feel like he’s lived up to his expectations and more importantly (for them), his contract.  I get that. 

What I don’t get is the notion that some people think he doesn’t care.  That doesn’t make any sense to me what-so-ever.  There is no way Albert has achieved what he has achieved in his career without caring.  Talent alone doesn’t make you a Hall of Fame candidate.  The great ones are driven.  They play with a chip on their shoulder.  They play with something to prove every time they step on the field.  I believe that.

Albert has said that if he doesn’t feel like he can play at a high enough level, he’ll retire before the end of his contract.  I believe him.  Some of you (again, you know who you are), don’t.  Whatever.

I’m pretty much over the people who have taken it upon themselves to hate on Albert every chance they get.  Hating on certain ball players has become a new favorite pastime for some.  I don’t get that (unless we’re talking A.J. Pierzynski, of course).

I believe Albert always gives his best effort.  I know he hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, but I believe some of those things are about circumstance and certainly not about effort.  When I look at Albert, I see a proud man who takes his job very seriously. 

Obviously, I don’t know him personally – but neither do most if not all of you reading this.  We don’t know what he thinks, what motivates him or what’s going on in his life.  It doesn’t matter.  I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and just believe that he’s doing everything he can to be the best player he can be.

His contract is what it is.  Get over it.

So, as the season inches closer – I am looking forward to seeing what Albert will do.  I’m going to root for him.  I’m going to be optimistic and positive.  I’m going to wear his name on my back to games.  I’m even going to expect greatness; yes, greatness. 

I love come-back stories.  I love it when good people prove doubters wrong.  I admire those who do the unexpected.  I champion those who exceed expectations and defy the odds. 

The story is yet to unfold.  I can’t wait to see what happens.  I know I may be disappointed.  Then again, I might not.  Regardless, I’d rather stay positive and expect greatness than be that guy who’s just negative for the sake of being negative, never happy and always looking for the sky to fall. 

That’s just not me. 

Baseball is supposed to be fun and this is what I choose to do as a fan. 

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.

Running on empty

One day you’re making plans to watch what you hope will be a deep run into the post-season.  The next – you’re sitting in your living room feeling a little numb, trying to put a positive spin on what was a great regular season and a horrific post-season. 

Your eyes glaze over as you watch the opposing team pour champagne over one another.  You try to muster a smile, but it just doesn’t happen.  You want to be happy for a franchise that has had a 29 year drought from the post-season and although you might feel a little smidge of happiness for them – you feel a little sick to your stomach at the same time.

One minute you can’t sleep because you’re excited about the upcoming games and the next – you can’t sleep because you can’t believe it’s over.  You can’t prepare for the moment because you never want to acknowledge the possibility.

Any season that falls short of a World Series Championship is somewhat of a disappointment.  You try to reconcile how hard it is to win it all, but at the end of the day – it’s still a letdown.  You spend so much time, emotion and energy (not to mention money) invested and engaged in a long 162 game season and when it ends, you’re left feeling a little empty.

You start to think about how long the off-season will be and how much time must pass and how many games have to be played before you have a chance to be back in the play-offs again.  That day seems a million miles away and the thought of all the time and energy that will be spent yet again just leaves you cold.

These feelings are not unique to Angel fans by any means, but that doesn’t make it any easier.

 As the days pass and the post-season rolls on, you try to watch the games and choose sides.  Picking a team to “root” for doesn’t feel right.  It’s just not the same.  It’s easier to decide which teams you want to fail; i.e. the Dodgers because they’re the Dodgers or the Cardinals because of John “He’s dead to me” Lackey or A.J. Pierzynski because… well, he’s just a jerk.

You watch in disbelieve as Mike Moustakes looks like a Greek Baseball God homering again and again.  You mutter to yourself… “I thought the Royals didn’t hit homeruns…”  You say things like “Eric Hosmer picked a great time to finally live up to his potential” and you just mumble a lot about this, that and some other things. 

So you tune in here and there.  You don’t make a point to schedule your life around the games, but you watch if you’re home and it’s convenient.  

You get to the point where you just want the season to end.  You grow tired of the talking heads on television because you've come to realize that at the end of the day – your guess as to who’s going to win it all is as good as theirs.  Sure, your interest might pique here and there, but deep down – you just want it to be over. 

It’s then and only then that you don’t feel like you’re not being reminded constantly that your team has to wait till next year yet again.

Life goes on.  The days will continue to get shorter and the nights will get longer and soon the 2014 baseball season will be a distant memory. 

Approximately 121 days till Spring Training.  *Gulp*

Yes, it really was that bad

The Angels had an opportunity to bring their fan base a little bit of joy at the end of the season when they headed to Texas for a four game series.  As it turned out – had the Angels won a single game during that road trip they would have been responsible for knocking the Texas Rangers out of the play-off picture all-together.

Wishful thinking.

Not only did the Angels stink up the stadium – they provided their fans with a great deal of frustration, anguish, anger, and outright disgust.  Take the second game of the series as an example. 

In the bottom of the second inning with the score tied and one out, C.J. Wilson gave up a line drive base hit to Elvis Andrus.  With Alex Rios batting – Wilson uncorks a wild pitch that sends Andrus all the way to third base.  Rios then walks.  Wilson then hits the next batter Adrian Beltre to load the bases.  Up steps A.J. Pierzynski, who also gets plunked by Wilson to walk in a run.  Up steps Jeff Baker and Wilson uncorks another wild pitch and Rios scores.

That inning – was all too familiar in a season of pathetic play.  You have to work really hard to have an inning like that and watching it is like suffering a slow, anguishing death (not that I’ve actually experienced such a thing).  It’s enough to send a sane man into a fit of rage (no, I didn’t do that).  After an experience like that – you feel like part of you just died and that your life was shortened considerably because of what you just absorbed with your own eyes.

I imagine that a lot of televisions were turned off at that point or at the very least the channel was changed.  In some cases, I’m guessing an object found the front of the screen at a high rate of speed.

Even though the game wasn’t over and there were two more games on the schedule, I knew then that the Angels would probably be swept and that the Rangers would live past 162 games somehow.   All I wanted was a little bit of joy in having the satisfaction of seeing my team knock the Rangers out of the play-off race; but no, that just wasn’t going to happen.  Of course not.

Obviously, it was too much to ask.  Thankfully, the Rays would take care of the Rangers’ post season dreams instead.

Throughout the season, I wanted this team to respond to adversity with a purpose and silence the critics.  Instead, they rolled over when the going got tough. There were times when they couldn’t get out of their own way and they couldn’t give away runs and opportunities to the other teams they faced fast enough.  It was worse than a bad movie because this was real and it unfolded day after day before our eyes.

To a fan that is emotionally invested in a team – it was one of the most frustrating and agonizing seasons ever. 

There was a time when I wasn’t nearly as emotionally invested in the Angels.  Even though I am a longtime fan, my “fandom” didn’t really escalate until Cheryl and I became season ticket holders.  Sometimes, I long for those days when being fan didn’t necessarily mean that I would live and die each day with the team and my mood wouldn’t be affected by how they played.

Ok, maybe I’m not that bad – but there are days when it all takes its toll.

So the season is over and it’s time to dust ourselves off and get back to waiting for the spring and the optimism that it brings. 

I don’t know how to fix this team.  Sure, I have some ideas – but what does it matter?  As a fan, I have to wait and watch to see what is going to happen.

Here’s what I do know.  The Angels need more players like Kole Calhoun.  There’s something about a guy who actually looks like he loves playing the game and can actually play it pretty well that’s compelling.  His kind of enthusiasm has to be contagious in the club house.  He’s already become one of Cheryl’s favorites and who can blame her?

This guy plays hard – smiles a lot and shows no fear.  I haven’t noticed any deer-in-the-headlights moments from him unlike oh… I don’t’ know… perhaps, Howie Kendrick for example. 

I know a lot of baseball people and even fans will say that chemistry and all the intangibles aren’t real – but I don’t buy it.  I love players who have a chip on their shoulder and bring a certain intensity to the game.  I don’t think you can have a whole team of individuals like this – but having some who can have an impact in the clubhouse has to help.

Look at what happened in Boston.  That organization set out to change the culture in the clubhouse and it worked.  They brought in high character guys like Jonny Gomes and Shane Victorino who helped change the mindset on that team.  In the process they traded away guys who look great on paper  - but not so good on the field.  Seemingly overnight, the Red Sox were transformed into a team that  brought a bull-dog-like mentality into every game. 

This make over extended to their pitching as well.  You know, there’s a fine line between being intense and being a jerk and they got rid of the jerk in Josh Beckett and in the process they freed up John Lackey to be the John Lackey.  I have my issues with the things Lackey said about the Angels fan base on his way out of town, but I have to say, part of me misses the guy who loves to compete and it’s clear to me that guy is back.

I don’t like the Red Sox, but I certainly respect what they did in the last year to bring that franchise back to relevance.

When I look at the Angels – I see a team without a soul and with no identity.  That all died the day they let Torii Hunter go to Detroit.  When you think of the Angels now – you think of the stoic Mike Scioscia, the angry Arte Moreno and two highly paid and underachieving players in Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton.  You almost forget that this is a team that has Mike Trout who is arguably the best player in the game.

Fans are so focused on the bad stuff that some of them miss the opportunity to enjoy Trout on a regular basis.  I’m not kidding.  There is so much that is wrong and frustrating about the team – that not even Mike Trout is enough to draw them in.

That’s sad.  We’re talking about a once-in-a –generation type of player who is playing historic baseball.  He’s doing things that have never been done and he’s doing it as player who just turned 22 in August.  Some are so disgusted with the team that they spend more time speculating that Trout will leave when he becomes a free agent rather than enjoying him in the here and now.

What does that tell you?

This off season is one of the most important in the history of the Angels franchise.  Whatever gains they made during the years following the 2002 World Series is dissipating.  A great many season ticket holders aren’t going to renew.  They’re fed up.  They’re moving on.  I imagine that if and when the team gets back to being relevant, they’ll be back – but they’re done for now.

The team needs a make-over – not necessarily a total redesign, but a make-over.  They need Arte Moreno to step up and publicly hold himself accountable.  He needs to face the music – and by that I mean the local media.  He needs to take the shots and he needs to respond by showing true leadership.  Sports fans love fearlessness in their athletes and the same trait should be demonstrated in the front office and most certainly in the ownership.

We don’t want to see an owner who takes punitive action by moving the media down in the right field corner – we want an owner who’s not afraid to stand toe to toe and fight for his team. 

I’m encouraged by the recent news of a united front between Mike Scioscia and Jerry Dipoto.  I believe the news that they’re now working together as a team to fix it all.  This had to happen and I’m hopeful in the outcome.

Sports is supposed to be fun and baseball is supposed to be America’s pastime.  It’s time to put the fun back in being an Angels fan and ownership needs to take the responsibility of making that happen.  The last thing anyone wants is for their favorite baseball team to be a source of angst when it should be a source of joy.

Right now – there is very little; if any actual joy.  This can change.  It’s going to take hard work and patience from the fan base, but it’s possible.  After all, its baseball and we know anything is possible in baseball.

I know this post is overdue.  My apologies.  I won't make any promises about what is to come - but there will definitely be more to come.  Thanks for reading.