Angels outslug their own stupidity

Trust me, I know it's out of character for me, but I really believe this team can win the AL West. I even think they can do it without making a deal at the deadline. But they simply cannot win the West if they continue to be the stupidest team in baseball. How stupid are they? Let me count the ways:

1. Howie Kendrick throws a ball into left field trying to turn a double play they had little chance of turning, putting runners on first and second with none out in the first (I'm willing to let this one slide based on Kendrick's limited experience at first base).
2. John Lackey, after getting drilled on the thigh by Manny Ramirez, inexplicably tries to throw the runner out at the plate, a play which he had no chance of making, instead of taking the sure out at first.
3. Chone Figgins tries to turn a double into a triple, then tries to turn it back into a double, which he was successful doing, because you still get credit for double when you reach second base safely before idiotically overrunning it and getting thrown out on your way back.
4. The top of the sixth inning. Like, the whole thing, even though they scored four times, no thanks to smart baseball. First, Jamie Van Buren walks Mike Napoli on four pitches to load the bases. Got that? Four pitches! So what does Kennedy do? Goes after the first pitch, a 58 footer. He wasn't close. Then after taking three ball, he fouls off ball five, then lines out to center on ball six. Nice at bat, AK. But that wasn't as bad as....
5. Juan Rivera, who inexplicably (I hate to use that word twice, but there was a lot of inexplicability out there tonight) remained on third base after Coco Crisp made a diving catch of Kennedy's line drive. How galactically stupid was this? First, Crisp has about as strong an arm as my dead grandmother. Second, he was lying on his stomach after making the catch. He would have had to get up and thrown to a cutoff man (since he probably couldn't have gotten it all the way to the plate) to get Rivera had he tagged. But to make it even worse, Crisp got up and fired to first in an attempt to throw out Napoli who has broken for second. Rivera was STILL AT THIRD!!! What the hell was he waiting for?
   

Now, the Angels got clutch hits out of Figgins and Izturis, and a sac fly out of Cabrera, and finished their half of the sixth with a six run lead. But they nearly blew a chance at a big inning, and almost left without scoring a run at all.

This is a stupid baseball team, folks. They've shown it all season in the field and on the basepaths. I actually think they have the talent and ability to reach the post-season. But I'm not convinced they have the brains to do so.