More fun with Sitemeter

Someone did a Yahoo search (people still use Yahoo?) for "Seitz" and came to this site via that search. One of the other listings for Seitz was a link to this page, which, in addition to providing the correct pronunciation of my last name, links to the census bureau page which lists Seitz as the 2,837th most popular last name in America. Lookout, Smalley, we got your number!!

Actually, that's not true. I can't think of any Seitzes in my family set to add to that number, now that I think about it.

Angels nothing; Mariners something more than nothing

Anyone who thought the Angels stood a chance after the Mariners took the lead in the fourth was either fooling themselves, or named Matt Welch. Felix Hernandez had his good stuff, and the Angels hitters decided they were going to swing early and often, which helped Felix keep the pitch count down.

With the A's on their way to winning, the Angels continue to dig their hole that much deeper. But perhaps something positive can come from this game. Hopefully John Lackey and Ervin Santana were watching. Hopefully they learned something from watching a kid younger than both of them. Hopefully they've learned that you can get through a game without trying to strike everyone out. Hopefully they've learned that it's not normal to have 110 pitches through five innings. But I doubt it.

Jered Weaver takes the mound against Jarrod Washburn tomorrow. 56 vs. 56. Enjoy it, because the season has essentially been reduced to seeing how well Jered Weaver and Howie Kendrick can finish. The rest of the team can pretty much take the rest of the season off, to the extent they already haven't

Yankees 5; Angels 6

Nice win. Looks like Dino got some religion after last night's game. Anyway, can't really say much more. Missed this one. The Fat Man and I were at the ChiSox-Twins tilt. Always nice to walk out of the Cell with a bunch of upset Sox fans. And boy, can he dish the dirt on Matt Welch?!

Red Sox 2; Angels 1

This team is, for lack of a better word, dumb. Maybe this year, while the pitchers and catchers are going through early spring training, they can send the position players to Baseball 101 classes, because these are the stupidest mothefuckers I've ever seen on a baseball field. Stick Orlando Cabrera in the front of the room, because he needs the most help. He essentially salted the game away for the Red Sox in the top of the 7th when he tried to beat Alex Cora to second base on what should have been an inning ending double play. With the catcher at the plate, a simple flip to Kennedy would have started an easy double play which would have ended the inning and kept the Angels within one run. But Cabrera was beaten to the bag, Cora was called safe, and the Sox doubled their lead.

Of course, it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway, because these guys decided about half way through last night's game that they were no longer going to try to score runs. One good chance came in the bottom of the sixth, with two runners on, one out, and Vlad at the plate. He promptly ended the threat with a 6-4-3 double play. Only slightly less dramatic than Tim Salmon's statue routine with the bases loaded last night.

But the coup de gras of stupidity came in the bottom of the seventh. With runners on second and third and none out, Howie Kendrick laced a single to left. I remind you, there were none out. Anderson scored, and despite the fact that there were none out, Rivera was sent, and was too stupid to understand the situation. He was promptly thrown out. Did I mention that there were no outs? Because it's important to know that there were no outs in order to guage the full moronitude of this play. No more runners would cross the plate, making the shithead play by Cabrera in the top of the sixth that much more painful.

This is without a doubt, the stupidest collection of players in professional baseball. They prove it again and again and again. With average intelligence, they'd be ten games up on the A's right now, but their utter contempt for knowledge, from the amateur psychologist in chief right on down the line, has doomed them to failure this year.

The bottom line is that they simply can't afford to lose close games in which they have opportunities to win. They don't have to cash in every runner, but they need to bring those guys home in the big situations. It's August 25th, and their down by a week. There aren't that many weeks left. Despite numerous opportunities, I haven't bailed on this season since May. I'm doing it now. The Angels are done for 2006. Even assuming they could mount a challenge the rest of the way, they're far to stupid to get over the hump.

Oh well, at least Oakland will choke it away in the first round again.

Ugh. Red Sox 5; Angels 4

11 runners left on base, a hell of a lot of them in scoring position. That's the main story of tonight's game. The secondary story line was Kelvim's inability to get off to a good start, which put the Angels in a hole that they should have been able to dig out from. But time after time after time they let golden opportunities go by the wayside, none worse than in the seventh inning. After loading the bases with one out on a Robb Quinlan single that couldn't get Cabrera home from second, Tim Salmon struck out on four pitches, never bothering to swing at any of them, and Howie Kendrick knocked the first pitch he saw back to the pitcher to end the threat. And that pretty much summed up the evening.

L - O - B

In his defense, Escobar was outstanding from the second third inning on, but damage was already done. Just can't afford to lose games in which they get that many chances to tie it up. I think the monkey's got a virus. Time for a new monkey.

Last night's gain in the standings is gone, and the Angels are back to -5.

Red Sox 3; Angels 4

How does this team win games? Seriously. They basically handed the Red Sox three runs tonight, and almost handed them a fourth in the ninth inning. Figgins misplayed a slightly tougher than routine fly ball into two runs. Garret Anderson misplayed a blooper into another run (only after gross mismangagement by Mike Scioscia), and Maicer Izturis just about blew in the top of the ninth inning. Twice.

But somehow, the Angels scratched out just enough runs to win the game, thanks to another clutch two out RBI single from Garret Anderson, coming on the heels of Orlando Cabrera's GIDP to take the leadoff hitter off the bases. Props to GA and Juan Rivera for their RBIs, and Figgins should be recognized from getting one of the gift runs he handed the Red Sox back, and for the nice catch he made on Manny Ramirez's deep drive to center to lead off the ninth.

But special ire is reserved for Mike Scioscia tonight, who made the inexplicable (I've used that word a lot this year) decision to remove Brendan Donnelly with two outs in the seventh. He had retired all three hitters he faced, and there was no reason to take him out mid-inning. It reeked of amateur psychology on Scioscia's part. The only explanation is that he ran Shields out there to exorcise his Papi demons, which include two homers, one that preceeded a complete collapse last month. There was absolutely no baseball purpose behind that move, and it almost cost them the game. Fortunately GA came through in the clutch, Shields turned it around, the Angels pulled it out.

Another game picked up on Oakland tonght, and the Angels are back within four. That's five straight wins, and they need to keep this pace to hang with the A's who have an easier schedule this week. I don't know how they're doing it, but just imagine if they actually start playing the mistake free baseball that a lot of thought they were capable of playing.

Taking suggestions for a new weekend hobby

As of last Sunday, I quit the game of golf. I started playing golf probably around age 9, going to three par courses with my dad. I played all through high school, earning my varsity letter in my freshman year, which had more to do with living in a primarily blue collar town than being really good, though I wasn't bad.

I played on the club team in college, with little commitment the first three years, mainly because I didn't have a car. I played a lot my senior year, though, and by that time, I was working part time at a golf course in during the summer, winter, and spring vacations, as well as a few weekends a month while I was in school.

After graduation, I worked there for a few more years, and even registered for and took a P.A.T., or playing ability test twice with the intent of becoming a teaching professional. However, in the time between deciding to take the tests and actually taking them, I decided to continue my education in law school, and didn't put forth the effort to practice for either test.

In law school, the combination of being time and cash poor led to limited activity on the golf course, though my last year I played a fair amount, and picked up the game again full steam in 2002 and 2003. In 2004, the combination of work and various other factors kept me off the course more than I would have liked, but last year I finally joined the Chicago District Golf Association, registered for a handicap, and played at least once pretty much every weekend.

This year I went at it full bore. Started hitting the heated driving range when the weather was still cold, and in about mid-April, I basically started playing roughly twice per week, mostly on Saturday and Sunday with the occasional weekday round tossed in. In my first full round of the year, I fired a 74, marred by a double bogey on the last hole. In one three hole stretch, I sandwiched an eagle around two birdies, getting back four strokes to par in three holes. I felt way ahead of scheduled, and thought that this was a year in which I could make some pretty big strides. Later, I qualified to play in the Illinois State Mid-Amateur championship, and registered for two other individual events, and one pairs event (the pairs event and one of the individual events was rained out). I was in a bad stretch for the Mid-Am, and played horribly in the actual event, but got things somewhat back on track, the highlights being a 73 at Arcadia Bluffs up in Michigan, and a 75 (actually below the course rating), including five birdies, at Blackthorn in South Bend.

But ultimately, the season has been pretty awful. I've been wildly inconsistent, unable to put two good rounds together. I've had the shaft in my driver break three times, once through my own idiocy. I've spent God only knows how much on clubs (including a new three wood, hybrid 2-iron, two driver shafts, two new wedges, and a new putter), balls, gloves, and especially green fees.

Last Sunday, I played Pine Meadow, as close to a home course as I have, with a friend and his brother. After a solid start, I proceeded to three putt six greens, and just generally play rotten golf from the third hole on. That followed a round at Cog Hill where, after being even through three holes and in the middle of the fairway on the 4th, I proceeded to play the last 15.5 holes in 17 over par.

Golf is no longer fun. My handicap currently sits at 3.7, and there are a lot of people who would be thrilled with that. But the fact is that it's almost two strokes higher than it was two months ago, and if I were to continue to play and post my average scores for the rest of the year, my handicap would probaly end somewhere right around 6 or worse. That's not acceptable.

The fact is, at my age, and with the amount of time I've put into the game this year, if I can't consistently shoot in the 77-79 range and better, it's just not worth the time and effort, not to mention the money. Compounding that is the fact that if you're going to put up those numbers, you either need to play a consistently solid round start to finish, or you need to make a lot of birdies. I don't do the latter, and if you aren't going to make a lot of birdies, you can't fall apart early. Invariably after four or five holes, I'm three or four over par, which means I have to be lights out the rest of the way, and if you can't get on track early, it's not going to happen. The result that I spend the last 3 and a half hours miserable, making the experience less enjoyable for myself, and more importantly, my playing partners. It's not fair to them, and it's not worth it for me. I simply refuse to play a game that I am unable to play at the level to which I feel I should be playing.

So after roughly 24 years, my days playing golf are over. There will still be rounds that I'll need to play, either as a work function, or a family function, etc. I'll still play with my dad when I see him, because I'm not sure how much time we may have to do such things. But the weekend trips to the course, the mid-week trips to the driving range, the time spent reading Golfweek, they're all over. The clubs are put away, and pretty much everything that would indicate I play golf (other than my checkbook, I guess) is out of sight.

So while this blog post is essentially meaningless, it's served as an opportunity to put my frustrations into writing. It's been fun, or at least, it's been fun on occasion. Now I need to find something to occupy my weekends in the summer.

If that's how they want to play it...

Next series with the Rangers, first opportunity, DeRosa's got to go down. They've got a lot of prime targets in that lineup, but DeRosa's a cheap-shotting little bitch. We'll see if he has the balls to charge someone who's actually waiting for him instead of going after someone who's already engaged in a fight with another player.

Hats off to Kevin Gregg and Brendan Donnelly. Texas is managed by the whiniest little punk bitch in the league, and the real tragedy tonight was that no one took the liberty to beat the shit out of Showalter when he was on the field.

Special pussy award to Bitch Feldman, who conveniently avoided throwing at the larger Juan Rivera and Howie Kendrick, preferring to throw at the smaller Adam Kennedy. You're a real man, Feldman.

I hope this isn't over. By the next time these two teams meet, the rosters will be expanded, and both team will be out of the race (considering the A's will win all of their remaining games against the pathetic Mariners). Some Rangers need to go down, and they need to go down hard.

And John Lackey, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE get that angry on the mound in your next start. PLEASE get mad and challenge hitters. PLEASE pitch like you're angry. It's when you're at your best.

Dear John,

I am officially done with John Lackey. No killer instinct. No belief in his stuff. No will to win. Once again, he's undone by two strike hits. He gets ahead in the count, and then he's got to nibble, nibble, nibble with his curveball, hoping someone swings at a pitch in the dirt, hoping they don't rip his curveball for a base hit. Well, tonight they ripped it for hits, including the single that put the game winning run on base. He allowed more than two runners per inning tonight, and it wasn't because they were teeing off on him. It's because he refuses to go after hitters. He pitches scared. He's done it his whole career. Worst part is that I think it's rubbing off on Santana.

This team is maddeningly frustrating to watch. They squander their talent trying to be perfect. I simply can't watch a game with confidence that they'll win, mostly because the Angels have no confidence in themselves.

They fought back valiantly from a slow start this season, and they got themselves in position to challenge for the division, based half on their decent play, and half on the poor play of the rest of the division. But they've squandered that opportunity, playing even or worse with dominant teams like Kansas City and Cleveland. They now trail the A's by six games in the loss column, and despite what history tells us, they simply don't have the talent or make-up to gain back that much ground.

Because the mood struck me...

Here's a couple vids from 2003's best album (yeah, that's right, you're choice for best album of 2003 sucks), The Wrens Meadowlands. Enjoy.

Faster Gun


Everyone Chooses Sides

Pitchfork Music Festival - July 29th and 30th - Union Park - Chicago

On July 29th and 30th at Union Park in Chicago, Pitchfork put together what is essentially their second annual music festival (last year it was the Intonation Festival curated by Pitchfork, while this year, there were two separate music festivals, of which Pitchfork had a better lineup), bringing 30 some bands to the Windy, and extremely hot, City. Needless to say, there were a bunch of bands that I didn't see, but pretty much everyone that I wanted to see, I saw.

First up for me was Destroyer, which is essentially Dan Bejar and some other dudes. Bejar, you may recall, is a contributing member of New Pornographers, and Destroyer played with New Pornographers when they hit Chicago about a year ago. It was a solid set, although he didn't play anything from Streethawk: A Seduction, which is my favorite Destroyer album. But this set did help me adjust to the heat. One thing about being in 95 degree heat with 95% humidity, once you're in it for about a half hour, you pretty much get used to it. You're sweaty and grosser, and it ain't getting any better, so you better just learn to live with it. Anyway, here's some Bejar:


Next up was Art Brut, but we didn't really pay much attention to that set. Altough as we were walking over to see Ted Leo, they played Good Weekend, which was actually pretty entertaining. Check it out:


Kind of weird, but despite the similarity, those first two videos were taken from completely different stages. It's actually a really cool set up for an outdoor festival. There are three stages, two main and one side stage which is basically in a tent. The two main stages sit at a right angle, and there are never two bands playing on those stages at the same time. As soon as a set finishes on stage 1, a new set starts on stage 2 within five minutes. There's always someone to listen to, but you never really have to make a decision to miss a band that you want to see in favor of another band you want to see (unless they're on the third stage, which is mostly DJs and local acts).

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists hit the stage next, and they were nothing but a revelation. For some reason I never got around to listening to these guys. Maybe I confused them with Kings of Leon, who I also haven't listened to, but regardless, I've been remiss. They kicked some serious ass, mixing in stuff from their new album "Shake the Sheets" along with stuff from their first album "Hearts of Oak". Hilights included "Where Have All the Rude Boy Gone", "Ballad of the Sin Eaters", "Me and Mia", and "Walking to Do". The coolest part was during the final song when he busted his head open on the microphone. Seriously. If you haven't listened to Ted yet, here's the video for Rude Boys. You'll like it:


After that, we wandered over to catch the Walkmen. I won't bore you with more videos, because I posted some just a few posts ago, and you can scroll down to find them. But they basically played everything I wanted them to play, which included "Wake Up", "We've Been Had", "The Rat", "Little House of Savages", and "Thinking of a Dream I Had".

To close out the night (for me anyway), we switched stages to catch the Futureheads, who were really good, and to whom I need to listen to more often. But geez, gimme time. I'm still finally getting into the Ted Leo stuff.

Day two began long before I arrived, but the acts on the bill that we wanted to catch inlcuded Mission of Burma, Yo La Tengo, and Spoon. Okay, I was the only one who wanted to see Spoon, but I digress. How were they? Mission of Burma was pretty good. Early '80s post punk band that recently reformed, and they mixed in some of the classics with the new stuff. A friend of mine had missed them during their first go round, and was pretty pumped to see them this time. They were good. Check it:


We paid little attention to Devendra Banhart while we waited for Yo La Tengo, who were pretty good, but again, for some reason they're one of those bands who are up my alley that I've never gotten around to listening to. From what I understand, most of the set was stuff from an upcoming album, including one song that lasted about 20 minutes, which was literally half the set.

Spoon closed things out with a set that included two songs with which I was unfamiliar, a bunch of stuff from their new album (Beast and Dragon, Two Sides, Camera, Mathematical Mind, Summon You, Never Got You) and Kill the Moonlight (Paper Tiger, Johnathan Fisk, and a few others not icluding Small Stakes or Way We Get By). Solid set, but I'm at the point where I really want to hear more stuff off of Telephono or Series of Sneaks. Perhaps those ships have sailed.

So anyway, that was Pitchfork. More bands that I wanted to see than last year, but none that I wasnted to see as much as Broken Social Scene, AC Newman, and the Wrens, who were the highlights of last year's show. But all in all, I can't complain.

What goes down...

Just when you think it's safe to start counting the Angels out again, they pound the Texas starters like Irish Car Bombs, then rake "All-Star" Mark Buehrle for six runs and three solo shots, and just like that, the Angels have followed a three game losing streak with a three game winning streak. I hate to sound like someone who roots for misfortune, but the Angels got good news when they learned that Bartolo was done for the year. A healthy Joe Saunders is much better than an injured Bartolo, and quite frankly, right now he's pitching better than a healthy Bartolo. The Angels AAA starters have combined to go 11-0 this season, with only one less than average start factoring in. They've given the team a tremendous lift. Matt Welch made the point the other day, and it bears repeating, that for all of the handwringing over Scioscia's supposed preference for veterans, the Angels have broken in four rookies into starting roles this season between Napoli, Kendrick, Weaver, and Saunders. How many other contending teams do you think have done that?

I've thought all along that this was essentially a rebuilding year for the Angels. They've got some veterans on the downside of their careers, ready to be replaced by kids who appeared to be just short of completely ready. But Juan Rivera, Maicer Izturis, and Robb Quinlan have filled some gaps rather nicely, while the aforementioned rookies have made huge contributions. The Angels are ahead of schedule, and though I don't think they're legit World Series contenders this year, they're poised to dominate the AL West for the rest of the decade.

On to Cleveland, New York and Texas for the next ten games before heading home to face Seattle, Boston and New York. A realistic expectation for this trip is 6-5. 7-4 would be fairly productive, and 8-3 would be tremendous. But with Oakland hitting a soft spot in their schedule, anything worse than 5-6 could really mean disaster.

FYI - I just finished reading Robert Goldman's excellent book Once They Were Angels, and I'll be reviewing a little later this week. Aside from some tiny factual errors which I was only able to pick out due to my freakish memory (trust me, they're incredibly inconsequential), the book was a great read, and I dare any long time fan to read it without tearing up once or twice.

How cool is YouTube?

Man, this is one of the funniest sketches I've ever seen, but Exit 57 is never on TV anymore. Thank God for YouTube.

What goes up.....

The Angels offense returned to earth, then kept going, against the A's the past couple of days, dropping two of three in an important, yet not particularly critical home series. Next up is four straight against the Rangers. This is no time for a letdown, and the Angels probably need to step up and take three out of four in this series, or at least split 2-2. This thing isn't going to be decided until the final two weeks of the season, but it's important that they don't spend a lot of time playing catch-up heading into those final two weeks.

As the Angels offense has morphed from that was good to one that is bad, it's no surprise that the monkey days of old are more or less out the window, which of course puts more pressure on the bullpen. If someone like Shields comes in and can't get the job done, there's really no chance that the offense is going to come through and pick him up. The Angels are now something like 1-44 when trailing after eight innings. I think we need a new monkey.

Finally, I held the belief for a while that all the errors were pretty much just small sample size. I mean, the defense isn't all that different from last year, and any team can go through a tough few months. But the fact of the matter is, they aren't getting better. They continue to make errors, and that extends innings, and that means more pitches, and that means we get to the bullpen quicker. That's not a good thing with a bullpen as shaky as the Angels' bullpen has been. I don't know what the fix is, and I don't know if they can overcome it, but for the most part, the team is roughly in line with what we expected them to do aside from the defensive miscues. And after watching them put the contact play on with the A's infield in, I still maintain that the Angels are the dumbest team in baseball. They may be able to overcome that, but it sure makes the road tougher.

More to come later in the week...

I'll be posting about the A's series, of course, in addition to the Pitchfork Music Festival that I attended last weekend in the sweltering Midwestern heat, and the Grant Lee Phillips shows that I'll be attending tonight and tomorrow night. But until I have a few minutes to get those thoughts down, I'll leave you with a couple of vids from Pitchfork performers The Walkmen, who played a pretty sweet set on Saturday. The second tune, "Little House of Savages", was personally my favorite song of 2004. But first up, to whet your appetite, is "The Rat", their first single off of their 2004 LP "Bows and Arrows". Enjoy.

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.

Howie Kendrick

I mean, GOOD GOD, MAN!! So that dude can hit a little bit from what I hear.

Nice effort all around tonight, except for maybe the bullpen, though it really didn't matter. This is a series that could have easily gone south quick. None of the pitching matchups really favor anyone, and considering the Sox' stronger offense, the Angels were more likely to get swept than the other way around, and they haven't exactly been swinging a weighted bat against KC and Tampa. With that in mind, it was nice to see them go out and grab the first one of this set. It's a little early for the classic late summer East Coast swoon, but the Angels typically don't fare well in that part of the country during this part of the year, so even coming out of Boston with 1 out of 3 would be acceptable. Let's just cross our fingers and hope Kelvim isn't as sore tomorrow as he was after his last start.

Lots or rumors floating around, the latest being that the Angels have offered Ervin and Aybar for Tejada. I don't like it, and I'll like it even less if they sweeten it by exchanging Aybar for Wood or Kendrick, who is already one of the top 3 or 4 hitting second basemen in the majors. Quite frankly, as I've said elsewhere,
All this does is take the Angels from a team that MAY win the West and WON'T win the WS to a team that WILL win the West and WON'T win the WS. Paying the price for a team good enough to win the WS this year will take more than Tejada, and for it will cost the Angels in cheap talent over the next five or six, it isn't worth it.

Carlos Lee comes to the AL West - Who cares?

First reaction? Big deal. He really doesn't make the Rangers much better, if at all, and the negligible difference between Lee and a Mensch/Cordero combination is even lessened by the fact that there's only about 60 games left. The best possible result for the Rangers would be to force the Angels to do something stupid and give up the farm for Soriano/Tejada/etc.

Stand firm, Bill Stoneman. Don't make a trade just to make a trade. Don't deal any of the top prospects for a rental. If you get an offer you simply can't refuse, I'll understand, but in the absence of something overwhelming, I want to see Wood, Kendrick, Weaver, Aybar, and Adenhart at Spring Training next year.

Let's face it, despite this move, and any moves the A's may make, the Angels still may be good enough to win the division, as none of their opponents are very good. And nothing they do is going to make them good enough to win the WS this year, so any big deal is done essentially to win the West and taste post-season defeat again. Don't be fooled, Bill. The future is very bright. Don't dim those lights.

Floyd Landis

Something is not kosher in this whole situation. For those of you who haven't been following it, and are getting you information here, first, what the hell is wrong with you? Seriously. But anyway, Landis was among the top riders in the tour, then in stage 16, he bonked and lost about 8 minutes. In stage 17, in one of the most amazing rides in the history of the Tour, he rode away from the field on the first climb, gained about seven and a half minutes back. He then took the lead for good in the penultimate stage, a time trial. Fast forward to yesterday, when it was anounced that his urine sample tested positive for a higher than acceptable ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. In other words, he failed his drug test, or at least, that's what you'll hear in news reports.

My problem with all of this coverage is that there are still serious questions which no one appears to be asking. They are as follows:

1. Did he fail the ratio test because of high testosterone (T), or low epi-testosterone (epi-T)? According to ESPN's cycling analyst, it's the latter. This creates further questions.
2. If we know that it was lower than normal epi-T that caused the problem, well, is that really a problem? Does having low epi-T aid an athlete's performance? I'm completely talking out of my ass here, but bear with me. The fact that a test exists which can measure T levels, combined with the fact that the test in question is a ratio test leads me to the conclusion that we all have different levels of naturally occuring T, to the extent that we can't just say "Rider X has a T level of Y, and that's higher than acceptable, so he's out." But, the ratio of T to epi-T must be fairly consistent for all us, or else using that particular test would be of no real value. If Rider X's testosterone is naturally high, then the fact that it's higher than some arbitrary level really tells us nothing without a comparison of what is normal for Rider X. So we use the ratio test to see if his level, in comparison to his epi-T level.
3. So now that we know his ratio is out of whack, and we know that it's because the epi-T levels were lower than normal, we need to know a) if that's an advantage, and b) was it a natural or otherwise acceptable occurrence (perhaps owing to his use of cortisone, or his thyroid medication, both allowed by the Tour). If it's not an advantage, and if he T level is normal, and if the drop in his epi-T level is caused by either a natural or otherwise acceptable occurrence, than what's the problem? It sounds like there's no reason to disqualify him if that's the case.
4. According to the LA Times, there is, believe it or not, another test which can tell us if his testosterone was completely produced naturally. My question is, why the hell don't they do that test first?

The B-Sample thing, that's a red herring. It's going to come back with the same result, and they're going to use that result to hang him. But the coverage of this episode has been awful. He hasn't tested positive for a banned substance. He hasn't even tested positive for having to much of a natural substance. He has tested positive for having a ratio of natural substances which are out of whack. That raises suspicion, no doubt, and requires further investigation. But no one seems to want to mention that. I guess we'll wait and see how it all plays out, but when the B-sample result comes back, be ready for the guillotine blades to be sharpened and raise, despite the fact that nothing of substance will have been proved.

First Place

Sure, I'm a little late, and hey, it's only been a week since I've updated this thing, but trust me, I've been busy. Between multiple projects at work that are forcing me to actually do work (the nerve...), and spending pretty much my entire weekend playing golf, I've been tied up. Speaking of golf, I set a personal record on Sunday at Blackthorn in South Bend with five birdies, and those don't include a a 255 yard three wood I hit to about 10 inches to save par on a hole on which I'd hit my drive out of bounds. Finished with a 75. Two double bogeys are tough to overcome, but I'd gotten back to even through 12, and was one over going to 17 before making really bad bogeys on the last two holes. But they were the 35th and 36th holes of the day, so I was starting to wear down a bit.

But enough about me. The resurgent Angels have worked their way back into a tie at the top of the AL West, tied with Oakland, 1.5 games clear of Texas and three up on Seattle. Quite frankly, I never would have believed it possible after the first three months of the season, and I'm still not quite sure how they're doing it. They still aren't playing good defense, their pitching has still been hot and cold, the front end of the bullpen has been atrocious, and their offense has been spotty. But Juan Rivera has been a freaking stud. Orlando Cabrera is still turning in a solid offensive performance, and management has finally seen fit to put Howie Kendrick in the lineup. All he's done since is hit .458 with five doubles and a homer. Robb Quinlan and Maicer Izturis are providing consistent production at the corners, which have covered for Mike Napoli's predicatble but not discouraging regression. Vlad isn't exactly displaying his raw power, but he's hitting .400 in July, and driving in runs.

The question, of course is whether they can keep it up. Quinlan, Izturis, and Kendrick can't be expected to maintain their level of production, and Rivera is bound to cool off. On the mound, they can expect better performances than what they've received from Ervin Santana lately (who really was pretty unlucky on Tuesday aside from the Wigginton home run). Lackey will be Lackey, but Jered Weaver has got to cool off at some point. Kelvim is sore after every start, and an injury to Bart could be a blessing in disguise if it brings Joe Saunders back to the rotation. Remember, he won't be replacing Bart of 2005, he'll be replacing the shell that has worn Bart's XXXXL jersey in 2006, so that's an upgrade, most likely.

When you look at it, there's not a lot to be excited about. But darn it if I don't feel pretty positive about the Angels right now. They're fun to watch again. They're back in the race, and they've got fresh faces in the lineup that make them an interesting three hours of entertainment. Four if Colon, Escobar, or Santana are pitching. The biggest thing they've got going in their favor is that the rest of the division sucks as well. I've said it before, but the reason I can see the Angels winning the West this year isn't because I think they're good, but rather, I don't think any of the other teams are deserving. In the last two years, the A's really scared me. This year, they don't. Same goes for the Rangers and Mariners (of course, those teams are all saying the same things about the Angels, but...).

Regardless, the team is fun to watch again, though maddeningly frustrating when they play like they did on Tuesday, but hey, that's baseball.

Checking in....

Geez, it's been a while. Anyway, here's the story. 73 at Arcadia Bluffs. 85 in the State Am qualifier on Monday, so I picked the wrong day to play well. Also, in the qualifier, it was about a million degrees outside, and round about the 13th hole, I'm pretty sure I started hallucinating.

Anway, Nice post AS-break start for the Angels, sweeping Tampa, then taking two from Cleveland before dropping their last two. They're only a half game out, but the last two games have not been pretty, featuring lots of walks and errors. The schedule gets real tough, real quick, so they really need to make some hay over their next six games (3 in KC and 3 in Tampa) before heading to Boston. The two more crucial sets against Oakland and Texas.

The offense has looiked fairly shap lately, and Howie Kendrick is building a fan base. Vlad is swinging the bat pretty well, with the average up to about .320, but he's still not providing the power that a lot of us expected. And just when you though it was safe to watch them play defense, they look like Little Leaguers in Kansas City.

Honestly, I have no idea what the last two and a half months are going to bring. I can't discern any noticeable trend. They played terrific for a few weeks, then looked pathetic in their last two. Right now I'm just happy that I still care about the season at this point.

Anyway, Dubs tomorrow, followed by 36 in South Bend on Sunday, so it's another busy weekend.

Struck me funny

I'm not a reporter, and I'm sure this is something they do on all similar blurbs, but this quote from today's Times made me laugh:

Bane flew to South Korea to join Jung and his family at a news conference, which he said attracted 150 media members, including 15 photographers.

"They just snapped away as if it was Halle Berry or something," Bane said. "I don't think we had that big a press conference when we signed Vlad," referring to All-Star Vladimir Guerrero.

Oh, that Vlad. Thanks for clearing that up.

The Second Half

Wow, get a front page link from the Rev and everyone stops by. Anyway, with the second half getting underway tonight, I figured I'd reprint an email that I sent to Keith Law (formerly of Prospectus and the Blue Jays, currently of ESPN), with whom I've had an informal correspondence over the years (long story), in response to the excepts I read from his ESPN write up on the Angels the other day. It's behind the wall, and I'm cheap, so I haven't read the whole thing. It should still serve as a quick assessment of how I see the Angels doing in the second half.

• The Angels rotation will be better in the second half simply because of the return of Colon, and the absence of Jeff Weaver in favor Jered. Obviously, that's health permitting, but even if Colon goes back to the DL, they'll be better off with Saunders getting those starts than they would be with either Jeff Weaver or Carrasco/Gregg. If they lose Lackey or Santana to injury, though, they're in trouble. But geez, Kelvim Escobar is their fifth starter!
  
• I really don't think their defense can be any worse than it was in the first half. And it wasn't simply a case of making a lot of errors. They were very unlucky, too (this is eyewitness testimony as opposed to statistical analysis). They gave up more than their fair share of unearned runs, mostly because it seemed like just about every single guy who reached base on an error ended up scoring. I checked about 60 games into the season, and they were so far out in front on unearned runs that it was ridiculous. Their DER is still pretty decent, and I really don't expect them to keep making the errors that they've made to this point. I would expect their overall run prevention to get better.
  
• I can't see the offense really being any better or worse. It's tough to tell, though, because if Anderson gets hurt, the offense will probably improve. And if they can deal Kennedy and get Kendrick in there everyday, it should be better. Conversely, if they insist on playing Erstad if/when he returns, it will be worse. And I really have no idea if they're going to deal for a bat (I sort of hope they don't). I don't necessarily buy the argument that says Vlad is in a slump, and he'll be better in the second half. My gut tells me he's just having a bad year or he's hiding an injury, but either way, I suspect that what we've seen is what we're going to get.
  
• I can't see the offense really being any better or worse. It's tough to tell, though, because if Anderson gets hurt, the offense will probably improve. And if they can deal Kennedy and get Kendrick in there everyday, it should be better. Conversely, if they insist on playing Erstad if/when he returns, it will be worse. And I really have no idea if they're going to deal for a bat (I sort of hope they don't). I don't necessarily buy the argument that says Vlad is in a slump, and he'll be better in the second half. My gut tells me he's just having a bad year or he's hiding an injury, but either way, I suspect that what we've seen is what we're going to get.

Ultimately, I don't think any of the AL West teams are all that good. They've all got good elements, but none are really good teams, which is why I think the Angels have just as good a chance at winning the division than any of them. In the past when I've picked against the Angels, it's because I thought the other teams were too good for the Angels to beat out (and I was wrong, of course). This year, I just don't think any of them are very good. And I don't really buy the injury excuses for Oakland. It's not like we're talking about injuries to Lou Gherig and Cal Ripken. Usually I'm enough of a pessimist that no matter how weak the Angels opponents are, they still scare me. This year, none of them scare me.

As the second half begins, I'll actually be heading out of town for the weekend, so I won't be seeing any of this weekend's series. I'll be leaving tonight to head up to Michigan to play the 10th best public course in the country (per Golf Digest), Arcadia Bluffs. Seriously, click the link. This place is freaking amazing. Coming back on Sunday, so I may see some of that game, but I'll also be heading out the driving range one last time to prepare for Monday's qualifier for the Illinois State Amateur championship. I haven't really played very well since I qualified for the Mid-Am (then played just awful in the actual event itself), but I've been encouraged by my work on the range this week, so we'll see.


And for the hell of it, here's an old Catherine Wheel video:

Quite A Week

The only thing standing between the Angels and a perfect week was a sac fly by Juan Rivera or Mike Napoli, and/or a scoreless ninth inning by Scot Shields on Thursday night. But the Angels were not disheartened by Big Hurt's walk off in the first game of this series. They shook it off and won the next three behind a brilliant performance by John Lackey, backed up by excellent starts by Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana. As a result, the Angels find themselves just two games out of first (and two games under .500).

While the offense has been picking it up a bit, evidence by the slugging in the A's series, the pitching has been dominant. The last turn through the rotation before the All-Star break, the starters went 38 innings and allowed 4 earned runs for an ERA under 1.00. That's awesome. They'll be in the thick of this race from here on out if they can do two things: 1) Continue to get excellent performances from the starters, and 2) play the type of defense that they're capable of. I should mention, they allowed three unearned runs over those 38 innings, and unearned runs have been the difference between being two game out and two games up to this point. The defense has to improve, or they'll continue to let opportunities slip away.

The AL West is set up for a tremendously exciting second half. Four teams are separated by 2.5 games, and thanks to Ozzie Guillen's myopia, only a handful of AL Westians will be worn out by the All-Star game.

John Lackey. Stud.

Slow talkin', slow windin', hard throwin' stud.

Three and a half years ago, he started the final march to the promised land, and for the next two years, we wondering what happened to that promise. Last year, he broke out, and this year, he's turning into the force that many of us believed he could be. Tonight was the second finest evening of his career. A virtuoso performance that few Angels hurlers have provided in the history of this franchise. Nolan had his no-nos. I'm sure some other dudes had some great perfomances before my time. Mike Witt had his Eric Miltonesque perfecto on the last day of the season. But this performance is the finest single game I've witnessed on television, even better than a few others that I've seen in person. Here's my list of the top four pitching perfomances that I can remember after about six beers in a couple hours (note, I'm not adjusting for game context, so Washburn's excellent effort in game 3 against the Twins in 2002 isn't on the list, for example):

• John Lackey retires 27 straight A's after allowing a leadoff hit - July 7, 2006. Tonight's game was a tremendous performance. The Angels really needed a win to remain the race, and on the night that "all-star" Mark Beuhrle looked like crap against the Red Sox (I know, I was there), John Lackey showed Ozzie Guillen who really should have been on the team. In fact, it's making me want to get an all-star warm up jersey with Lackey's name and number just for the hell of it. He walked no one, he went to only two three ball counts all night long. He challenged hitters, and he flat out dominated. Absolutely brilliant.
• Jason Dickson five hits the Boston Red Sox - April 3, 1997. I was at this game, seated three rows behind home plate in seats provided to us by a guy from Adhor Farms that did business with my dad. Dickson was awesome. He allowed no one past second base. He was a prospect at the time, and he wowed the home crowd in this one. No doubt I remember this because I was there, but every time a young Angel pitcher dominates with a shutout, I remember this game.
• Ramon Ortiz outduels Pedro Martinez and wins 2-1 - August 8, 2000. I went to this game a night or two before leaving SoCal to head back to Champaign to begin my third year of law school. I remember the plethora of Red Sox fans in attendance. Think about it, if you're a Sox fan, and can only make it to one game, this was the game to go to. Pedro was on the mound. There was no way they could lose. But Tim Salmon drilled a solo shot over the left center field wall to lead off the second, and Garret Anderson provided a two out RBI single in the fourth, giving the Angels a 2-0 lead. Troy O'Leary was thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double in the fifth, but a blind umpire called him safe, and he later scored on two straight ground outs. It was one of only two hits he'd allow. I have a distinct memory of Carl Everett stepping to the plate before making the final out, grooming the dirt, stepping in, stepping out, taking his sweet time in an obvious attempt to ice the rookie. I remember thinking that if I were Ortiz, I would have drilled Everett in the back with my first pitch. But Ortiz settled for inducing the final out with a foul pop up. And thousands of pissed off Red Sox fans left the building.
• Ervin Santana shuts out the White Sox in his second major league start - May 23, 2005. Only a kid with Ervin's poise could give up the cycle to the first four batter he faced in his major league career, then come back and flat out dominate the eventual world champs in his next start. He limited the Sox to five hits, only one for extra bases, and erased two of those hits on subsequent double plays. He seemed to always make the right pitch at the right time, and flashed the brilliance that we still see on occasion, and look forward to seeing in the future.

Tonight, John Lackey fulfilled the promise he showed in 2002. He followed a hugely disappointing loss with an incredibly important win. He showed that he's an ace.

Walks and homers

The Angels give up too many. Scot Shields is no longer elite.

Juan Rivera is not clutch.

Big Series, Bright Lights, Cool, Cool People

Turning the tables on Seattle's massacre in Anaheim last month, the Angels went up to the Pacific Northwest and took three straight from a team surprisingly ahead of them in the standings, and as such they find themselves only four games out of first as they head into a four game set with first place Oakland. Split and they're still four out. Take three and they're two out. A sweep, and they're tied. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. No one is going to win this division with fewer than 81 wins, so before getting caught up in how far out the Angels sit, their focus should be on getting to .500 for the first time in a long time.

On the bright side, the rotation is finally poised to become the force it was expected to be entering the season. Escobar, Colon, and Lackey each went deep into their most recent starts without allowing a run. Santana survived eight innings of a day game on the road to garner the win despite allowing six runs. And Jered Weaver picked up right where he left off, holding Seattle to one run over seven innings in his last start. Orlando Cabrera continues to ignite the offense, and Kendry Morales may be getting through his adjustment phase at the major league level. He's been on fire lately, nicely masking the mini-slump by Mike Napoli.

But danger lurks. These are scary times for Angels fans with an affinity for the farm system. The closer the Angels get, and the longer they hang around, the more likely they are to do something stupid, like trading Santana and/or top prospects for a rental like Carlos Lee, or a mental case like Alfonso Soriano. I'll lay it down right now. My untouchables for those two, or anyone resembling them include: Lackey, Santana, Weaver, Wood, and Kendrick. There are others I don't want to see moved, but I could live with a trade of Shield, Aybar, Saunders, Arredondo, or even Adenhart if it brought back a big bat in return. I'm leery of the names being tossed around, though. I've always liked Carlos Lee, but his breakout occured as he went to a hitters park. Soriano can hit, and I don't care so much about his strikeouts, but he's just never seemed like a really reliable producer to me.

Anyway, the temptation is going to be to rip out the youth to go for it now, which I think is extremely short sighted. Let's see how they do with this rotation for a few weeks. They may not need to make a deadline deal that forces them to give up the youngsters. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Hooray for third party videos!

This video was made by a fellow Angels fan (the Goat, apparently), and recently posted to Youtube. Read more about the deal in this thread at the Rev's site. It's for "OX4", which is probably the best song on Ride's 'Going Blank Again' album, although it's unquestionable overshadowed by the opening track "Leave Them All Behind", which is the second video down. Enjoy. And I'll just note, one the crappy things about videos and songs on the radio is the good stuff they cut out to package it into a few minutes. One of the best parts of LTAB is the two minute introduction, which is entirely cut out for the video.

Angels blow it again

Walks, defensive mistakes, untimely pitching, the same old story for the Angels, as they build on an unexpected come from behind thriller on Monday by dropping the next two games in less than dramatic fashion. The bright spots were once again Orlando Cabrera, who reached base three times, and Mike Napoli, who ripped an RBI double in the seventh to tie the score and give Angels fans hope for a half inning until Scot Shields threw up all over himself.

Ervin Santana suffered through one bad inning, and a couple where he made a lot of pitches, which meant he only last through seven, and even that was on more than expected. He settled down and breezed through his last few innings, but a multitude of walks, including one that drove in the Rockies first run, pushed up his pitch count.

I'm not sure how much longer they can go on like this. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it's time to start playing the guys who will part of the next good Angels team. I'll settle for Kendrick and Jered Weaver right now. And I really think they need to test the market for Cabrera. Someone needs a short stop, and he'll never have the value he has right now.

Three with the Dodgers, who had it handed to them by the Twins. We'll see if the Angels can salvage some pride after the drubbing they took earlier this season.

Farmar Stays Home

Not exactly the way we were hoping he would, but Jordan Farmar was selected by the Lakers with the 26th pick in the draft. Of course, I watch the NBA about as frequently as I update this blog, so while I root for the Lakers, my interest in professional basketball is virtually nil. However, it's nice to see Jordan selected in the first round, and it's good to know that he'll be staying in LA. As someone mentioned over at Bruins Nation, I'm not sure he's the perfect fit for that system. The trianle offense doesn't really require a true point guard, and you'd usually prefer someone at that position with a little more size. But that assumes that the Lakers will be playing for Phil Jackson or a protege for much of Jordan's career, which they probably won't. I can't imagine much will be expected of him next year, but you never really know how a guy is going to adjust.

Ryan Hollins was also selected, going with the 50th pick to the Charlotte Bobcats. Just goes to show you how different the pro game is from the college game. Hollins went one pick after Leon Powe, who has ten times the skill of Ryan Hollins. But Hollins is tall, and can leap out of the building.

The Illini made a little noise as well. James Augustine went to Orlando with the 41st pick, and in effort to increase the sale of their merchandise in Central Illinois, the Utah Jazz selected Dee Brown with the 46th pick, reuniting him with former backcourt mate Deron Williams. The Jazz instantly became the second favorite team for a lot of Bulls fans, if not outright favorite. As much as I despised the Jazz in the Malone and Stockton days, I admit I'll be rooting for them now.

Angels getting killed

About that corner....they're still turning it. Might be a while.

Rockies 4; Angels 5

This was kind of a fun game to watch. Turn it on, get discouraged, do other stuff around the apartment while the game plays in the background, give up hope, then watch the Angels put up a five spot in the 8th to win the game. And just in case you got a little too happy, Frankie made matters a little more interesting by giving up a two out shot in the ninth, suddenly making a two out RBI single by Juan Rivera all that much more important. Frankie then gave up a 390 foot shot in to JD Closser that fell just short of the wall and into Chone Figgins' glove.

Even the most pessimistic among us keep hope alive after just about every win, and wins like this go double for that. When the team comes back and wins a game that they really shouldn't, you always think it's the one that helps them turn the corner, that leads to a long winning streak. Well, we'll find out this week if that's the case.

But while the team has teeter-tottered between being in the race and out of the race, three players have made the season worth watching. One is plying his trade in triple A due to an inexplicable brain cramp that seems to have afflicted all of the team's upper management. Meanwhile, we've been treated to fantastic first halves from Orlando Cabrera, who has now reached base safely in 54 or 55 straight games, and Michael Napoli, who has added an ability to hit for average to the plate discipline and power he showed in his minor league career, a career that he doesn't figure to continue. Both played major roles in tonight's victory, with the OC extending his streak with an RBI single in the ninth, and Napoli ripping an opposite field double that drove home the tying and and go ahead runs. No matter what happens this season, they've provided a heck of a lot of entertainment.

And they all provided a nice present for John Lackey, who pitched well enough to win, and actually did win for once. He had to be patient, but he got a double play line drive to escape a bases loaded, one out jam in the second inning that could have essentially iced the game for the Rockies if it had been a few feet up, left, or right. But such is baseball. And if the Angels do use this game to spur them to bigger and better and things, they can look back at that lucky line drive as a turning point.

Haven't posted much

A short vacation and a mediocre team to follow will do that to a guy. The Angels continue to muddle along at a pace that will seem them reach .500 sometime around never, and with the A's making their patented mid-season surge, the whole "we're still within striking distance" thing will no doubt be over soon. Meanwhile, Jered Weaver's alleged mental issues with being demoted appear to be far fetched, as he absolutely dominated in his second AAA start since inexplicably being demoted over a week ago. He struck out 14 and gave up two hits in a complete game shutout. Well done, braintrust.

Across the globe, the U.S. got dicked in both games against Italy and Ghana, and predictably limped home after failing to make it out of group play. The English have yet to play an inspired match, but they also have yet to lose. Only they and the Germans remain among teams I'm fond of now that the Dutch have bowed out in one of the most poorly officiated games of the tournament. Someone explain to me how it's not a penalty when you kick a guy in the chest in the 18 yard box.

The NHL entry draft was yesterday, and well, I didn't even know about it. Anyway, Pavol Demitra is gone, making my decision to get my most recently purchased jersey customized with Lubomir Visnovsky all that much more prescient. In return, they get a top prospect Patrick O'Sullivan, who's American, and with the pick they received in the deal, drafted Trevor Lewis, who also appears to be American. So thumbs up as far as I'm concerned.

Anyway, I was kind of writing just to write today, so that's what you get.

Front office to fan base: You can all go home now

Tonight, June 16th (PDT), the Angels front office officially gave up on the 2006 season. They've made the decision to send Jered Weaver back to AAA. Apparently the solution to the defensive woes that in practice have cost the Angels at least seven or eight games this year is to send down the one person that has been their best player over the last three weeks.

Bill Stoneman = Charlatan. And not in the good "Tim Burgess" way.

What kind of person looks at this team, a team that scores roughly 3 runs per game against the Royals and Padres, a team that gives their opponents 10 innings every night, a team who's offense has a history of making luggage like Mark Redman look like Cy Young, and decides the best way to compete is to send down their best pitcher? Quite frankly, it's madness.

Publicly, I gave up on this season a long time ago, but personally, I watch almost every game, I take every game seriously, and I realize they really aren't that far out of first place. But the facts are these:

• On the field, they look like they don't care about winning;
• To the extent that they do care, they apparently aren't willing to work on the things they need to work on in order to tighten up their play;
• The front office is more concerned with saving face and not upsetting veterans than they are with winning games.

So to recap, players may or may not care, whatever. Management has other priorities. Fans, hey , we're supposed to care no matter what.

Look, if they don't care about winning, let's go the whole nine. Deal Kennedy. Deal Cabrera (seriously, he'll NEVER have the value he has right now). Deal them for prospects in the low minors (like local boy Ryan Tucker). Deal a pitcher or two, like Colon. Call up Saunders and see if he can stick at this level. I'd love the rotation next year to be Santana, Jered, Saunders, Lackey, and Escobar.

Right now, there isn't one level near the top of the organization that cares about winning. But the fact is, ten years ago, we'd have killed to be in this position. Oh well, the shit we're taking this season is going to make the next few feel a lot better.

Good luck music

I'm posting this in hopes it brings the Angels luck. Also, it's stuff you all should listen to. I'm currently reading this book about these guys, and so far it's pretty good.

Acceptable

The Angels opened the week by taking three of four from arguably the worst team that MLB has seen in the last forty years. Of course, that's one fewer loss than the Royals handed the A's, but I digress.

On the positive side, the pitching was fairly solid, although it's tough to judge just how good they were considering it was the Royals offense that they were facing. Then again, considering the defense they had behind them, the fact that they only allowed 10 runs in four games is downright amazing, but I'll get to that. Both Mike Napoli and Dallas McPherson are showing a nice approach at the plate, actually willing to take a walk. Napoli's 10th inning walk last night spurred the Angels on to their third victory in the series. Orlando Cabrera has absolutely been on fire, reaching base in something like 46 games straight. He was 7/16 in the series, extending the streak last night with a single in what should have been his last at bat, then piling on with the game winning hit in the bottom of the 10th.

On the negative side, Vlad (4/16) and GA (2/15) are slumping, though in Vlad's defense (when you read that, try not to actually think about Vlad's defense), he did hit a homer last night that looked to be the difference until....what else? Crappy defense was their undoing on Wednesday, and it almost did them in last night as well. Ya know, it's one thing to be a poor team defensively. Some guys just aren't skilled with the glove, and no matter how much they practice, they just don't get much better. It's another thing to be stupid and lazy, and too many of the errors lately have been of the stupid and lazy variety. Between Vlad's dropped pop-ups (lazy), Figgins' chucks into right field (stupid) and Jose Molina's ill-advised and unneccesary fling into center field last night (galactically stupid), they're playing like a bunch of little leaguers in teh field. They've already allowed more unearned runs this season than they allowed all of last season. A month into the season, it was a sample size thing. We weren't all that concerned because any team can have a bad month, and if you pull a random month out of any season, even the best defensive teams probably would look less than adequate at some point. But it's mid-June, and the mistakes almost seem to be increasing.

Credit Frankie Rodriguez for getting the job done last night in the 8th inning (and ninth, FWIW). But Jose Molina really needs a brain transplant. His idiotic throw into center field cost the Angels the lead, and very nearly the game. I was pretty sure that Matt Stairs was going to come through for the Royals again, just as he had twice earlier in the previous 10 innings.

So the Angels sit five games behind the first place and surging A's. Interleague starts up again tonight with a three game set against the Padres. Two of three would be nice, but at some point, this team needs to put a streak together. As we saw last weekend, those houses of cards are easily knocked down by a quick Marine breeze.

33

That's it. 33.

9 days gone in 3

In one brief weekend, the Angels erased all of the good work they'd done over the last week and half, dropping the three games to .500 that it had taken them nine games to earn. Even worse, really, since the sweeep came against a division rival, all while the Rangers and especially the A's were making time against actual good teams. So really, two weeks of work were undone in less than 48 hours.

There's something that this team just doesn't have. They score a ton of runs when the pitching is good. They can't win close games. They have a bad habit of letting the first few innings of a game dictate the outcome. They either score early and quit, or they give up runs early and quit. They refuse to play anything resembling a major league caliber defense. Their pitchers refuse to throw strikes when they get ahead in counts. They're simply not very good. As enjoyable as they've been to watch over the previous 15 games, their series wins were hollow. You don't get back into a race by winning two of three over an extended period, precisely because one bad stretch wipes out weeks worth of effort, as they've just shown.

Tonight they start a four game stretch again quite possibly the worst team in forty years. If they split this series, it will be one of the most embarrassing moments of the last six or seven years. And while some of us have been convinced for a while that the Angels are done, almost anything short of a sweep will probably convince others as well.

It's gonna be a long, boring summer from here on out folks.

Slacking again

There's really no excuse for my lack of writing in the last week, other than your basic "I just haven't felt like it". But the Angels completed their fifth consecutive series win, all 2-1, making them 10-5 in their last ten game. it's been a mix of good play combined with mediocre opponents, but five over .500 is five over .500, so I'm not complaining. They continue to be erratic on defense. Their loss in the first game to the D-Rays was a classic combination of poor defense and a failure to take advantage of opportunities on offense, as they weren't able to push a run across despite putting a ton of runners on base.

The key has been the offensive resurgence. Over the last seven days (not including today's game), they're getting on base at a .369 clip, while slugging .462 for an OPS of .832. They've done this as their pitching staff has held their opponents to .315./.391. Vlad continues to do what Vlad does, but over that stretch McPherson has been productive, and Cabrera has been on fire (he's now reached base in 38 straight games). Perhaps most surprising, Michael Napoli has kept up his production, hitting .300 over the last week, with his second homer of that stretch, a three run shot, coming in today's victory in Tampa.

On the other side, the pitching has really been picking up. Santana turned in fantastic performance last night. Jeff Weaver has been downright mediocre (which is an improvement), and John Lackey turned in a terrific effort on national television Sunday night. But the big news so far has been the emergence of Jered Weaver. Phenomenal in his debut, he's since turned in two more excellent performances, and has started his career 3-0. He's got a tremendous amount of raw talent, and as he hones those skills and adds another pitch or so (a two seamer with a little more movement, sayeth the Chronicler), he could develop into an ace.

If that all weren't enough, Joe Saunders has decided he's just not going to give up any more runs in the minors; Howie Kendrick apparently learned something about hitting he didn't already know while he was in the majors and has used it to hitter about .400 since his return to AAA; and Brandon Wood has figured something out which has allowed him to club long ball after long ball while pushing his average back up toward .300. If Eddie Bane really has the touch, we can expect great things from Hank Conger.

Truth be told, I still think the playoffs are a longshot. The offense can't keep up this level of production for long, and the pitching will even out. But the good news is that slight regressions in both, with some improved ham 'n egging, and this team could put together an extended run of success that takes them toward the top of the division. There's definitely a lot of hope.

Angels 10: Indians 3

So it looks like this Weaver kid might be kind of good. Of course, he's benefitted from a ton of run support, which is irrelevant when evaluating his performance. What's not irrelevant is the tremendous oufield defense he's received, crucial for a fly ball pitcher. In his debut, it was a bullet from Vlad to cut a runner off at the plate for a double play. Tonight it was a fantastic catch by Chone Figgins off of Casey Blake, which led to a double play as Travis Hafner was nowhere near first base. But eight strike outs against four hits and two walks is nothing to sneeze at. He was mixing his pitches well, hitting his spots, and staying ahead of the hitters for the most part. And let's be honest, this wasn't the Royals. This is the second most prolific offense in the majors. It stands in stark contrast to the last road debut by an Angels pitcher, also in Cleveland. In that game last year, Ervin Santana gave up the cycle to the first four batters he faced.

On the other side, for the second straight Jered Weaver start, the Angels clubbed three home runs, taking a 2-0 lead on Vlad's shot in the first, and adding insurance on a two run blast by D-Mac and a three jun jack from GA. Those were three of the ten hits pounded out by the Angels, nicely complementing their six (six!!) walks, including two each from Napoli and the OC. Someone in Cleveland has either refused to teach pitchers how to hold runners, or Tim Laker has a weaker arm than my six year old niece, because the Angels managed to steal six bases in this game, three by Figgins.

That makes seven wins in their last nine, and they're creeping closer to .500. I'm with my brother on this one. They're not going to win the division with fewer than 81 wins, so discussing where they are in the division race is kind of pointless. Get back to .500, then let's take stock of the situation.

Happy and secure Kelvim takes the pill tomorrow night. A win would provide the Angels with their fourth straight series win and another chance at their first sweep of the season.

Off Day, so here's some music

I went over to Reckless Records yesterday because I had to kill some time while getting my glasses fixed, and spennt my time going through their used CDs. It's something I used to do all the time when I was back in LA and there were some good used record stores around. Then in Champaign, we had Record Swap, which, other than maybe Amoeba and Lou's, is probably the best used record store I've ever been to. Haven't really done it as much in Chicago though. Strangely there don't appear to be as many good stores in my area outside of Reckless, and honestly, this was the first time I'd gone there.

Found a bunch of good stuff, although I was looking for the La's CD, which they didn't have. It was stolen along with my car a few years ago, and though the car was found, I never got the CD back. But aside from that, I was able to pick up:

1. The The - Mind Bomb
2. Apples in Stereo - Tone Soul Evolution
3. Spacemen 3 - Recurring
4. Beta Band - Hot Shots II (already had it burned, but I decided to pick up the original
5. Guided By Voices - Alien Lanes
6. Broadcast - The Noise Made By People

The last one is a CD I've been seeking for a couple of years now with no luck. Never in stock at the Virgin Megastore. I was able to pick up Work and Non-Work, but apparently this one is out of print, and Reckless priced it as such (about $23). Broadcast is kind of a loungy pop act in the mold of Stereolab, but not as expiremental, and not as French. I first heard them on an personal internet radio thingy that probably played them because they sound a little like the Lab. The song that kept coming up was Papercuts, and lo and behold, the video is available on YouTube. So in all it's glory, here it is. Enjoy Trish Keenan's voice.

UPDATE - Youtube removed the first Broadcast video I posted, so here's a replica, and another tune.

Twins 7; Angels 1

Well, make that six out of eight. On the bright side, there weren't any wasted efforts tonight. Not one player in an Angels uniform deserved to win this game except for maybe Jose Molina, and almost all of them deserved to lose it. Ervin Santana, who pitches great in night games at home, apparently took the mound while the sun was shining a little too brightly, because he got roughed up for three runs in the first, and that was all the Twins and Francisco Liriano needed. Santana recovered and pitched seven strong innings giving up only the three earned runs with another unearned run added in. JC Romero followed with a perfect eighth, but Hector Carrasco was absolutely putrid in the ninth giving up three runs on five hits to the first five batters he faced, and that was pretty much all she wrote.

Liriano was terrific for the Twins. His 90mph slider and solid change kept the Halo hitters off base all night. They didn't get a hit until the sixth inning, and even that required a bad call from first base umpire Ed Hickox. They actually got a little threat going in that inning, putting runners at second and third with only one out. Then Garret Anderson and Vlad Guerrero suddenly caught a case of Junior Felix disease, which caused them to swing at a combined five consecutive pitches out of the strike zone, promptly ending the threat, and really any hope that the Angels had to come back.

As if the contrast in pitching performances wasn't enough, Juan Rivera had enough action in center to show why he really shouldn't be playing center unless he's hitting. Figgins was part of two double plays, but unfortunately both were on the offensive end, the second coming when he broke from first on a rip by Garret which was caught nicely by Lew Ford in right field to end the eighth. He also botched a play at second that Kennedy clearly would have made. Molina was the lone bright spot, reaching base twice via the base on balls. He also made a fantastic play to pick Jason Kubel off third base to end the sixth inning. Everyone else sucked, though.

In other news, the Angels inked Kelvim Escobar to three more years, with terms undisclosed. Assuming the money is reasonable, I like the move. Escobar has been solid when healthy, and he's young enough that the Angels have now locked up four spots in their rotation for the next few years, and they have all five spots already booked for next year. That should allow someone like Saunders to work out of the pen next year before possibly moving into the rotation in 2008, and by the time Escobar's deal is up, Nick Adenhart and Jose Arredondo are just about ready.

Off day tomorrow, then on to underachieving Cleveland, who could break out, or hopefully continue to underachieve. Should be good pitching matchups throughout.

Twins 3; Angels 6

And with that, the Angels have won three consecutive series. They'll likely remain one game back of the Oakland A's They're now tied with the Oakland A's, and five games back of the Texas Rangers, and they're actually over .500 in their last ten, having won six of their last seven.

I missed a fair amount of this one thanks to Extra Innings showing this game on the same channel on which they carried the Tigers loss to the Yankees, which went into extra innings. That combined with an unscheduled nap on the couch, and well, it was 6-3 when I came to. It was actually a nice surprise considering when I first looked at the screen, I thought it said 3-0.

Second consecutive quality start for Weaver the Elder, some nice work by Donnelly in the 8th (thanks to a weird strikeout), and more Frankie dominance in the ninth (funny how those injury rumors have died down). For the second straight game, the guys at the top of the lineup got the job done. Figgins scored after a pair of leadoff walks, while the OC went 2-4 with a double and an RBI, making this the 31st consecutive game in which he has reached base. Aside from his awful start in the field, he's really putting together a solid season. Even Juan Rivera chipped in with a home run to add some insurance. On the downside, a second straight ofer from Kendry has finally dropped his average below .300, but he continues to play solid defense.

Tomorrow night the Angels face one of the top pitching prospects in the game. So far all he's done is go 3-0 with a 2.51 ERA this season, and he's allowed all of one run in his two starts. The Angels counter with their own future star in Ervin Santana, who is a completely different pitcher during night games at home. Throw in a struggling Twins offense, and this should be another close low scoring affair with the Twins, as if the Angels play any other type of game against the Twins.

This is starting to get fun again.

Twins 3; Angels 4

Looks like a picked a good day to start getting back into this. This is the type of victory the Angels have been able to put together over the last couple of years. A good outing by the starter, the offense scraps for some runs, they turn it over to the bullpen who shuts the opponent down, and the offense finds a way to pull out the victory.

Aside from the six combined hits by the top two hitters, there were some things in this game that I really liked to see. The Angels have gotten very few bad calls in their favor this season. It seems they've all gone against them, and tonight was no differen as Marvin Hudson took away a double and an RBI on a rip by Garret Anderson down the first base line. Replays appeared to show the ball was fair, but Hudson ruled it foul, and Anderson and Scioscia let him know how wrong he was. No bother. GA knocked the next pitch into center for an RBI single. So while they didn't get the call, they didn't let it bother them and got the run anyway.

The Angels defense has been one of their bugaboos all season. They rank near the bottom if the NBA in fielding percentage. But they made up for a big error in the tenth inning. After Orlando Cabrera made a two out error on an ill-advised throw to first base (Rondell White had it beat anyway), Frankie and Adam Kennedy combined to pick White off on a beautifully executed pickoff play at second. And not only did the Angels make up for their defensive miscue, they actually took advantage of their opponents'. They score the tying run on two plays that were inexplicably ruled hits in the eighth inning (apparently official scorekeepers don't expect much out of major leaguers defensively), and they scored the winning run after Figgins went from first to third on a botched pickoff throw to first from Jesse Crain to Justin Morneau.

Just another tight game with the Twins, who always seem to be within a run or two of the Angels, but lately often seem to be on the losing end. Rough nights for the kids save for Mike Napoli's single in his only at bat. This was a game the Angels would have lost pretty much all season up until about the last two weeks. They appear to be turning things around, and they're starting to get some breaks. Let's hope it snowballs. They could just rip through the soft spot of their schedule.

Slowly Coming Out Of It

The Angels have now won two consecutive series, and they really should have completed the sweep yesterday. They're coming into a stretch of games against very beatable teams, and if they can find a way to heat up, and if the rest of the division stays dormant, they very well could find themselves within a game or two on either side of first place in three weeks. Honestly, I had no idea they'd be in this position a few weeks ago, but the combination of unispired play compared against even more unispired play from the rest of the division has them within a handful of games of the top.

There are certainly reasons for optimism, moreso than there were three weeks ago. Specifically, the optimism is being provided by Michael Napoli, Kendry Morales, Dallas McPherson, and Jered Weaver. Napoli has been solid behind the plate, solid with a bat, and incredibly, he'll actually take a walk. McPherson still swings big and misses a lot, but he's hit a couple of big homers, and you can't argue that he isn't fun to watch at the plate. Morales has been a revelation. A slow started at almost every level, he's already hit two homers and has nine hits in his first five games. Despite his reputation as a butcher with the glove, he's made some sparkling plays in the field. I still have high hopes for Kotchman, but he has to be a little concerned at this point. And at a time where the starting staff needed a boost, all Jered Weaver did was throw seven shutout innings while striking out five and allowing only three hits. In the meantime, Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick have gotten their cups of coffee, and they'll be better prepared to deal with the big leagues when they're actually expected to produce.

If the team isn't going to win, all I ask is that they be interesting to watch. With the future of the team in the lineup today, they're an interesting ballclub for Angels fans to watch, and the injection of youth into the lineup has put them back on the winning track for the time being, and the schedule in the near future gives me a glimmer of hope. I'm going to start easing my way back into this. Of course, if they stop winning, then I'm clearly a jinx and will need to stop again. Let's hope they get it started tonight.

Three Weeks

On May 2, three weeks ago today, I gave up on this team. I received a fair amount of criticism, and normally I wouldn't have given up on a team that was only a few games out, but based on what I had seen on the field, the team showed no fire, no ability to scrape out wins, and no chance to contend for the division. I was hoping that I would be writing a different post today. I don't like being right about this kind of stuff. But the last three weeks haven't done anything to remotely indicate that my eyes had been deceiving me over the first month of the season.

The Angels are 5-13 since that day, and have fallen six and a half games back of first place Texas. I'd imagine that they'll finish this series in that position, or be 8.5 games back. I can't see them winning both of the next two games. They've lost six games in a row. They were absolutely embarrassed by the Dodgers over the weekend. They're three games behind the Mariners in dead last in the AL West.

The problem with this team is that they aren't even that interesting to watch. It's just a bunch of old guys losing. If they'd make the decision to play the kids, they'd at least be interesting. We all knew that this was going to be a transition year, and we all hoped that they had enough to stick around and make the season interesting. But a lot of folks are now throwing blame around, to Scioscia, to Stoneman, to the players, hell one idiot was even criticising Moreno for not spending enough on payroll. The thing is, Stoneman was in a very difficult position this off-season. When you have as much talent as the Angels have coming up, you don't want to block it. The problem is that all of that talent was 1.5-2 years away. It would be nice to fill holes while that talent develops. But you can't do that via the free agent market. Anybody worth signing is getting 3, 4, 5 year deals. They aren't signing for a year or two. So you're forced to sign a guy long term with the idea that you're either going to have to move him in a few years, or you're going to have to deal prospects. The result is that three years later, you're back to square one. I'll note here that this was the reason that I think it was indefensible to refuse arbitration to Bengie. Worst case scenario, he would have been back for one year, which was exactly what they needed him for.

There's absolutely no reason to blame anyone in particular for this season. I'm not the type of person that wants to see the Angels become the Yankees of the West. I'd love to have their success, but for me, part of what made 2002 so great was that almost everyone on that team got their star in Angels uniforms. They were fun to root for because they were our guys. That doesn't mean I like Vlad or Bartolo any less, but I'd like to see the Angels succeed with guys that they develop, filling holes with free agent talent when necessary. It's no secret why Tim Salmon is the most popular player on the current club. This isn't to say that there isn't going to be goats in individual games. But going in, there was a high probability of volatility this season. This was team that could be great, or could be awful. Unfortunately, they're awful. And though I've thrown in the towel on the season, I'm still an Angels die hard.

So the key word is patience. When you look back over the first 40 years of the franchise, we've been incredibly blessed as fans for the past five years. I think we can survive a year of lumps. The future is still very bright.

Quick clarification

A few people have mentioned that Adam Kennedy is one of the few guys they wouldn't trade, at least not yet. Keep in mind that when I suggest dealing Kennedy, it's purely for contract reasons. His deal is up after this year, and I don't believe he'll be brought back, and I think he has some (not much, but some) value on the trade market. I like Kennedy, and I love his defense, but I don't think he'll be on the next good Angels team. I say deal him while we can get something for him.

Any more true believers out there?

Some of us, like me for instance, could see this trainwreck coming a mile away. Fold up the tents, folks. Time to DFA Alfonzo, trade Kennedy, call up Jered Weaver, and let the kids take us the rest of the way. Let's start getting ready for 2007.

Dear Angels:

More like that, please.

Sincerely,
Me

P.S. - Just don't hit and injure guys on my fantasy team.

And for no apparent reason, here's a High Dials video. Not my favorite High Dials song, but the only one for which I could find a video.

Two weeks later

Well, it was two weeks ago tomorrow that I essentially gave up on the season, and in the interim, the Angels have done absolutely nothing to make me believe that my decision was hasty. They still can't score runs, with the notable exceptions of two consecutive 12 run games. In eleven games since that day, they've gone 4-7, which is actually a game or two better than I would have suspected. They sit at 16-22, kept in the race only by the complete mediocrity of the rest of the teams in their division. However, the fact that they're four games out is small consolation for being in last place. Yes, that means they're behind the Mariners. This is a bad team, and anyone expecting them to suddenly become not so bad, well, thanks for keeping the faith.

Of course, I'm not so sure how fair it is to complain, or at least to blame the powers that be. For the most part, they've done exactly what I wanted them to do in the off-season. Sure, there are a few differences, but they're mostly cosmetic. I wanted them to re-sign Byrd before he got too expensive, and I was completely on board with the Weaver deal to replace him. No complaints about the pen, although I wouldn't have spent the money on Pipo. Basically every position is being manned by the guys I wanted in there. Where this isn't the case, mostly first base and catcher, it's because the guys I wanted in there haven't produced. Granted, I was very vocal about offering arbitration to Bengie, and I was very disappointed when they didn't, but Bengie's not the difference between what we've got and what we expected to have.

For the Angels to be successful this year, a lot of things had to go right, and right now, almost everything is going wrong. The bullpen is still strong, but when you don't hand over many leads, there's not much they can do. The starters have been erratic at best, although Escobar has been as advertised. I can't imagine the mental strain those guys are under. They have to take the mound knowing that if they aren't perfect, they're probably not going to win. Kelvim went through that in 2004, so he's probably used to it, but it's taking a toll on the rest of them. Bart should be back soon, but I don't think that's the cure for what ails this team. They need to start hitting. But dealing for a bat is the wrong way to go, in my opinion. This season is going where it's going. Let's ride it out, hope for some progress, and see what happens.

In the meantime, my fantasy team is currently 33-3, so things ain't all bad.