Notes from a lost weekend

I was at home in L.A. over the weekend for the UCLA v. Notre Dame debacle. I don't really want to say very much about anything, but:

• Karl Dorrell may be the dumbest person on the face of the earth. What kind of idiot takes a freshman, walk-on QB and 1) makes him go with an empty backfield on 4th and 1, and 2) makes him throw for a first down on 3rd and 6 from his own five yard line against a team that is pretty pathetic, and could not move the ball on offense? He should have been fired right after that play.
• People can second guess Mike Scioscia all they want, but the only true mistake was not having Jered Weaver plant one in David Ortiz's ear, followed up by a fastball in Manny Ramirez's ear. They both should have gone down, and gone down hard. Until someone pays a heavy price, expect Vlad to keep getting drilled.
  
• I'm not going to dwell too much on the loss. I think the Red Sox are an excellent team, and probably better than the Angels when the Angels are at full strength. When the Angels are less than full strength, the Red Sox are a lot better, and unfortunately, the Angels were less than full strength. That's not an excuse, but it would have been nice to see both teams with their full line ups intact.
• As they currently line up, with no changes, the Angels are still the best team in the West, and outside of someone making a major splash, they will be the odds on favorite to win the West again next year. It will be interesting to see what they do in the off-season. There will be calls to get a big bat, and those people won't be wrong. Still, if they can get a full season out of Juan Rivera (assuming they bring him back), that will be a major upgrade at DH/OF. I expect progressions from Kendrick and Kotchman, regressions from Figgins and Cabrera, and roughly the same from everyone else.
  
• I won't say he's a key for next year, because I think they'll win the division regardless, but next year is probably a make or break year for Ervin Santana. He's got the ability. The question is whether he can put it together. There's nobody waiting to take his place. He's got no excuses.
  
• Thanks to the Kings for providing a crappy ending to a truly shitty day on Saturday.
  
• At least the Cubs lost. And the Illini won.
  

On the Plus Side, It Didn't Take Long

The Angels picked up where they left off in 2005, unable to mount any offense, but you've got to hand it to Beckett. He was very impressive. They can talk all they want about making him work, but the guy was firing strikes all night, and the only thing you accomplish by taking pitches is getting yourself behind in the count. We've all seen the Angels struggle against mediocre pitching before, but that wasn't the case tonight. Remember, Beckett has a pretty stellar post-season history, so it's not like they got shut down by John Garland.

Still, the offense certainly didn't inspire confidence. They haven't really seen Dice-K yet. Usually you figure that matchup goes to the pitcher, but anything can happen.

With luck, Rivera will be able to play the outfield on Friday, allowing either Willits or Izturis to head to the bench. Either would have been preferable to Aybar in a pinch hitting role tonight.

Other positives: Lackey sharpened up considerably after his rough start, which couldn't have surprised anyone. But it's a reason for optimism if they can get this to a fourth game. Of course, that means Beckett again, but at this point, I'd take it. Santana also looked terrific in his relief role. The off-day tomorrow could be huge in that it will allow him to pitch in game five if a) Escobar's shoulder doesn't hold up, or b) the Sox force him into 100 pitches through five innings, both or which aren't particularly improbable.

And hey, they lost game one every time in 2002. Not over yet.

A Fine Series Preview

Or at least, a fine example of a preview that picks against the Angels, yet is still well thought out and researched, and concludes that, surprise, a team with a better record and a much better run differential is better than their opponent. Contrary to some people who have their heads up their asses, I'm not the Pollyanna you may have thought I was.

Baker's preview is flawed with respect to the rosters he cites. Colon, Matthews, and Bootcheck will not see action for the Angels. But I think he best sums up the problems I have with certain other Angels bloggers is best summed up here:

Focusing on what they don’t do is a mistake that is often made when analyzing the Angels

All anyone asks for is balance. The Angels may not be as good as the Red Sox. They may be just as good. They may be better. But regardless of how they match up with the Sox, they are a very good team. A team that has good pitching, and despite certain individuals' love affair with peripherals, they finished fourth in the AL in runs scored. Not over a week. Not over a month. Over 162 games.

The best news, of course, is that this evening, they'll line up and play the game, and all of the whining can cease until after the series is over, when I'm sure Rob will point out how he was right about everything, win or lose.

Playoff Eve

As long time readers will no doubt already know, I'm nothing if not the most optimistic fan who's ever donned an Angels cap in support of his team. So before this gets started, let me warn you, I don't actually pick the Angels to win every single game. I mean, in most of the early round games they aren't even playing, so I have to choose between the teams that are. And you may want to sit down for this, but I actually think the Angels might lose a game or two. Crazy, I know.

But anyway, here goes:

Division Series

Cubs in four: I honestly couldn't care less about the National League, and despite the fact that I live in Chicago, I know almost nothing about either team. Still, it seems as if the Cubs are hot, and and I just can't buy into a team with a negative run differential on the season going very far.

Phillies in five: This has the potential to an amazing series, and a purists nightmares. hitters parks galore, and two teams who ended the season on fire to charge their way to the playoffs. Again, National League, don't really care. But this one might be fun to watch.

Indians in five: The Yankees offense steps up in games two and three to bring the Yankees to the verge of the ALCS, but the Indians find another gear in the last two games to take the series. Though I'll admit, part of me wants to see the Yankees win, with Alex Rodriguez leading the way. The guy one of the greatest players of this generation, and he's unfairly maligned for his performance in clutch situations. I wouldn't mind seeing him shake that.

Angels in four: They lose game one when Lackey falls victim to the Lackey inning. But Escobar dominates in game two, and Weaver and the pen hold off the Sox in game three, setting up Lackey's revenge. Yankees and Red Sox go home, giving the NHL a minor ratings boost as the country stops caring about baseball, except for the Cubs.

League Championship Series

Cubs in five: A surprisingly easy series as some guys do some good things for the Cubs, and some other guys do some not so good things for the Phillies. Sorry, but I really don't care for the National League.

Angels in seven: I really want to pick the Indians in this series, but I've been told that "Anything that casts doubt on the Angels is enough to get Seitz going." Because it's getting kind of late, I don't want to get myself going, so I should probably pick the Angels in this one. I think Ervin Santana will have to prove his mettle at least twice in this series, once as a starter and once as a reliever. I also have a hunch that Casey Kotchman will put up big power numbers, like three or four homers in one series, including one off a lefty. I have no basis for that, other than a hunch. But the Indians have played the Angels really tough all year, and in the games I've seen, they don't appear to be a team that can be out-smarted.

World Series

Angels in five: I'm kind of torn here, and really in the whole playoffs. Not who I want to win, or think will win. Rather, I'm torn over how I want the Cubs to lose. Would I prefer a four or five game thrashing, dashing the hopes of Cubs fans everywhere almost before the series gets started? Or would I rather the Cubs suffer another Bartmanesque collapse, putting half the city (my half) into a three week state of shock, one night likely to be broken by either the awful Bears or awful Blackhawks? It's a tough call. If you could guarantee me that the Angels would win in seven, my dream would be for the Angels to overcome a ten run deficit in the the night, sending the game to extra innings. In extra innings, the Cubs would take the lead every inning, only for the Angels to come back and tie the game again, until finally, a Reggie Willits grand slam gives the Angels a one run victory in the bottom of the sixteenth. Of course, such a loss would undoubtedly make Cubs fans more insufferable than they already are, and almost as insufferable as they'd be if they one the thing.

But ultimately, if I'm watching this series, I'd rather see a merciless drubbing. Double digit victories every night, except for one bone that we'll throw to the Cubs. Either way, hopefully my Angels hat will be good for free beers on the Southside next year.

So that's your forecast from the most optimistic Angels fan in Angels fan history.

Three Times in Four Years

The Angels won three division titles in the first 30 years of my life. They've now won three in the last four. I know when it comes to blogging the Angels, I've kind of been a bit negligent this season, and I have no real explanation for that, other than apathy. But rest assured, I've followed this team as closely as all the others, and though the clinch was a bit anti-climactic (yet what we'd all hope for - a week without pressure before the playoffs), it feels good to be an Angels fan tonight, much as it has for the last five years.

We're all extraordinarily fortunate to be Angels fans at this point in the team's history. We're witnessing the era of an owner who, if not perfect, is certainly as close as a baseball owner can be to perfect. We have a GM and Manager, both with their flaws, but both incredibly well suited to running this club at this time. I grew up when Tommy Lasorda was managing the Dodgers, and it seemed like he was there forever. Before him, it was Walter Alston. All the while, the Angels were cycling through managers like there was no tomorrow. Gene Autry, God bless him, ran the team like there was no tomorrow as well, constantly mortgaging the future for the present. And while they almost succeeded, the success was always fleeting, ultimately leading to the dark ages between 1987 and 2001.

But fate has finally smiled on us, and today we get to root for an organization not only dedicated to winning today, but tomorrow as well. We have an owner dedicated to providing not only a quality team, but a quality entertainment experience. We have players we don't have to be ashamed of rooting for. At least 15 spots on the post-season roster will go to players who have never worn a different major league uniform. And the best part? No matter what happens over the next month, the team should be just as good next year.

So enjoy this one today. Relax for a week. Maybe pop open a bottle of this stuff like I just did, and gear up for October. Congratulations, Angels.

New Big Thing

This guy is freaking incredible. I am in love with the music of Simple Kid. Vids below. New Song of the Day post over here. Get in on the ground floor.

Embarrassing

Karl Dorrell should be fired before the team gets on the plane home. This football program is an embarrassment. I've been easier on him than a lot of people, but this is pretty much the last straw.

If this is the best they can do with 20 returning starters, he has to go. And he should go now.

Coming Attractions

September 17th - BRMC @ the Metro


September 25th - Metric @ the Metro


September 27th - Gruff Rhys @ Schuba's


October 3rd - Earlimart @ Schuba's


More to come. six or seven more in fact.

So....

...Is Stanford that bad or UCLA that good? I'm guessing a little bit of both. The offense looked very good. Indeed, Ben Olson threw for five touchdowns, and if his 289 yards sounds less than impressive, it probably because as a team, the Bruins ran for 338 yards, 195 of which were accumulated by Khalil Bell. They were extremely efficient, averaging about eight yards per play. Olson found nine different receivers, none of whom were Osaar Rashaan.

On the other side of the ball, for the first few drives that I saw, I was left unimpressed. Of course, I happened to miss a good first quarter, and tuned in during the lackluster second quarter - or rather, Comcast pre-empted the beginning of the game to bring us Cubs post-game. The line wasn't getting a ton of pressure, and Trey Brown made some nice break-ups that were borderline interference, which isn't to say he was lucky they weren't called. Rather, the point is that college officials, especially Pac Ten officials, suck, and they'll often call interference on those plays.

But in the second half, the defense really picked up. Stanford never got anything going on the ground, finishing with only 52 yards for the game. T.J. Ostrander had Bruins in his face for much of the game, and his 330 yards passing were more a function of one big play, and a UCLA offense that put enough points on the board to force Stanford into a game of catch-up.

Ultimately, it's an excellent start. It's hard to judge just how good a team is before they play a few games, at which point we can evaluate their opponents as well. And with Michigan's huge blunder, and Notre Dame's embarrassment, the Bruins aren't likely to make a splash in the media. But they'll move up in the polls, and they've done nothing to show that they are somewhere other than where they belong. The defense faces a sterner test next week against BYU at the Rose Bowl.

Petty Theft

The Angels should not have won tonight. They should not have been able to spot Seattle five runs in the first inning and still win going away. But somehow you just had the feeling that if Moseley could come in and get hold Seattle down, they might just get a few runs off of Jeff Weaver. And if they could keep it close in the late innings, well, you never know.

And I don't want this to read like an I told you so. If the Angels had traded for Mark Teixeira, I certainly would have welcomed him with open arms. But when you look at how the Angels won this game, you have to ask yourself if maybe Bill Stoneman knows what he's doing. Over the last few years, the Angels have had a very good farm system, and there have been calls at one point or another to trade any and all of their prospects, some of whom have seen the bloom come off the rose.

Two of the players that whose names have been bandied about are Jeff Mathis and Kendry Morales. Forced into action because of injuries, they combined for five hits, three for extra bases, and four runs tonight. Dustin Mosely, who likely would not have pitched tonight if Joe Saunders had been dealt, threw 5.1 scoreless innings, allowing the Angels to creep back into the game before breaking it open in the 8th. Sometimes, a team goes a whole season without losing a starter *cough*Mariners*cough* and organizational depth is worthless. But that's rare, and the teams that win have guys that can step in and produce when a starter goes down. The Angels would not be where they are right now without the contributions of Willits, Aybar, Morales, Saunders, Moseley, Mathis, and Bootcheck, none of whom were expected to provide much support.

The Angels have now won the two games they needed to win. The Mariners have the pitching matchup in their favor tomorrow, but little Weav may have what it takes to leave Seattle with a sweep.

By the way, the big bat that people wanted so badly? I'm not saying it wouldn't have helped, but let's not forget, the Angels are still fourth in the AL in runs scored. Last time I checked, that's pretty good.

A Response

To this post at Rob's site, which is really kind of pathetic. But since the chances are pretty good that he'll delete the response I left in his comments, so here it is:

Wow, I'm flattered to know I've warranted a special post. I'll break character and actually post this response on my blog, since you'll probably delete it. Not exactly why you can't let what I wrote speak for itself, but so be it.

It's funny that I'm accused of personal attacks when it was you that called me an asshole for simply agreeing with another poster that the constant negativity coming from you was getting tired. And this is coming from someone who has been pretty negative in the past. Just ask Matt. But even I couldn't keep up with you on that front.

And accusing me of reading things into your posts, well, it's pretty pathetic. Sorry, but when you say "I won't say [Weaver] failed to do his job" common sentence construction suggests that the writer is implying that there's a case to be made for exactly that.

I'm not allowed, apparently, to suggest the Angels are anything less than a playoff team.

I'd be careful around matches, because you're likely to set fire to all of these strawmen that you've taken such care in building. Has anyone made such a suggestion? Hell, I'm not sure if the Angels are a playoff team. Hell, I've got tickets for five or six concerts in October, and it would make my life a lot easier if the Angels were left out. But I'm not sure how whining about it and worrying about it post, after post, after post adds anything constructive to the discourse. Most Angels fans can read the standings. Most people on Halos Heaven watch every game, and they can tell when the Angels are playing well and when they aren't. And it's not particularly fun to beaten over the head with posts about their poor performances, let alone be reminded of those poor performances EVER AFTER GOOD PERFORMANCES! Christ, I get the impression that when you buy a bottle of water, you immediately dump most of it out just so you can claim it's half empty.

I don't know what it is about this season, but it's certainly been worse than the last few. It's just been near constant negativity about every aspect of the team, all the way down the minors. And I still like some of the things you do here. Certainly the minor league updates (aside from the commentary) is more informative than BA's prospect report when it comes to Angels prospects. But your unique ability to not only see the negative in virtually everything, but find it inspiring enough to write about is particularly grating. And believe me, I'm not the only one who thinks so.

But it's your site. You can wallow in your own misery to your heart's (dis)content. Lord knows I tried to point out how it was bringing everyone down earlier in the season. When Matt did the same for me, I laughed it off and had fun with it. But you seem get more and more defensive. Just don't let all of that misery eat you up inside, because being right isn't worth being miserable, and being wrong makes winning a lot less fun.

Small Town Gets Media Coverage

According to this AP story, the oil boom in an Eastern Montana town has been such a boon to employment that the owner of a local McDonalds in the 5,000 person town of Sidney, Montana has outsourced the drive through window to a Texas telemarketing firm.

Why do I care? My dad grew up in Sidney. It's about five miles from North Dakota and about ninety miles from Canada. My uncle owned an insurance agency that has since been passed to my aunt and cousins. Prior to that, my grandfather owned a clothing shop in town. My aunt and uncle had five kids, and they've added another seven grandchildren, so the Seitz name is fairly prominent in Sidney. It's kind of cool to see the town in the news. I was just back there last summer.

Angels 1; Jays 4

This, in my opinion, was a game the Angels could afford to lose. They were throwing their #6 starter against a former Cy Young award winner, and one of the five best starters in the AL. Throw in the house of horrors that Skydome has been, and the odds were not in their favor.

Halladay overcame a first inning run to basically dominate the Angels over the final eight innings, throwing an extremely efficient 99 pitches, 71 of which were strikes.

On the other side of the diamond, the Jays picked up four runs of their own in the first, three of which were earned, and only two of which, maybe even only one of which ever should have crossed the plate. While Saunders got knocked around by the first couple of hitters, the defense really did him in. Erick Aybar booted a double play ball which saddled Saunders (who had already given up a run) with a bases loaded - none out situation as opposed to a runner on third with two out. A sac fly made it 2-1 Jays. A double made the score 3-1 and put runners on first and third when Greg Zaun hit a grounder to Figgins. Figgins came home to nail Vernon Wells, but Jeff Mathis dropped the ball, loading the bases once again. After a second sac fly made the score 4-1, Joe Saunders settled in and didn't allow a run over the next six innings.

Saunders gave the Angels exactly what they need out of the fourth spot in the rotation, and tonight the bats and the gloves let him down. Erick Aybar in particular struggled tonight, and I can only assume Scioscia wanted to give Cabrera two consecutive days off to let him recharge going into this stretch of 17 games in 16 days. Plus, he's a switch hitter against a tough right hander. In hindsight, it would have been nice to have OC in there, but I can't fault Scioscia.

So they put this one behind them, and hope to come out and do a little better tomorrow. An Eastern trip at this point of the season has notoriously been a killer for the Angels, but they can regain some momentum with a win tomorrow night

From the Department of Underrated

Sometimes a band's back catalog is so good that the later stuff gets overlooked, especially after their flame has flickered. But this is probably one of the best Mary Chain songs that hardly anyone has ever heard.



Still, I always kind of preferred Jim Reid songs to William Reid songs. To wit:

What the....?

This was not what I expected hear playing on the store P.A. when I walked into Kohl's today to buy some socks:


It's not even from the forthcoming record. It's a from an 11 year old album that about 13 or 14 people in this country have ever heard. Still, it was pretty freaking awesome, and it really put me in the mood to buy socks. Well done, Kohl's.

Is this thing still on?

Motivation is lacking. I can't quite explain why. It's just really, really easy to stop blogging.

Anyway, in the midst of what seemed like a really rough stretch, the Angels have made it to the first week in August with a four game lead, picking up another half game by defeating the vaunted Red Sox, a team whom others expected to sweep the Angels, primarily because the Angels, the fifth best run scoring team in the American League, have no offense.

Quite honestly, these are good examples of why my motivation to provide what can loosely be described as original content has waned considerably. Long time readers will acknowledge that I can be a tad bit negative when the Angels aren't playing well. But I look like a goddamn Pollyana compared to some of the more popular members of the halosphere, and it's bringing me down.

So while I've still been watching every game, at least when not playing golf, my desire to jot down my thoughts has more or less disappeared for now. Partly because there are other people who have that covered, and I'm not really sure how much more I add to the discussion.

Anyway, if this passess, it will be back to normal around here. For now, blogging will remain intermittent.

Enjoy:




And a little flashback:

Angels Make Big Deadline Deals

The Angels surprised everyone today by trading Gary Matthews Jr., Maicer Izturis, and Orlando Cabrera for guys who can hit home runs. Unfortunately, they didn't have time to get the uniforms stitched, because the new guys were still wearing the old uniforms, but they were clearly different players, as they helped the Angels hit as many homers in this game as they had hit in practically the entire month of July leading up to it.

Man, it's been a while

Big three game sweep over the Tigers this weekend. Tack those onto the win over Oakland last week and the Angels find themselves on a short four game winning streak. It may not be much, but it's the first sign of things turning around that the Angels have had in a while. They even hit two whole home runs in one game the other day!

The bats really came alive, and whether that's more the fault of the Tigers' pitching staff, it really doesn't matter. Sometimes you need some layups to build confidence, and that's what the Angels got over the weekend. Now it's on to Seattle where they can either create some breathing room, or let the Mariners climb right back into the race. It's a cliche, but it's definitely gut check time.

Another one gone

Nothing you can do now but hope they pull out of it. If the Angels fall behind Seattle and end up failing to make the playoffs, they'll have no one but themselves to blame. Dumb baserunning, poor fielding, and a gawd-awful back of the rotation.

They're not out of it, but they certainly aren't playing like they want to finish in first place. They're on the verge of being swept by Tampa Bay, and I'm not gonna look this up, but there can't be many teams who have been swept by both the Royals and Devil Rays. That alone ought to disqualify a team from the playoffs.

Oh well. Rob won't have Santana to kick around anymore.

Decision Time

I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but I think it's time to either move Ervin to the pen, or to send him back to Salt Lake. I think he's still got the stuff, and I think the Angels won't make the playoffs without some contribution from him down the stretch. Whether that means he gets thing worked out and rejoins the rotation for the last five weeks or so, or he pitches out of the pen (though I'm not sure in what role), I'm not sure. But I still think he's somewhat integral to their chances to make the post-season.

He doesn't look hurt. He hasn't lost any velocity. He's simply getting hit, and getting hit very hard. The thing is, he's nowhere near a lost cause. He's like an extra strength version of a young Lackey. He'll throw a couple of solid innings, but then he'll hit some adversity, and fall apart. He's falling victim to Lackey innings on a huge scale. But that also means that there's hope. He just needs to figure out how to avoid the big innings. I just don't think the Angels can afford to let him figure it out in the starting rotation. And unfortunately, there's still an 800 pound Bartolo in the room.

Not that it mattered, but the Angels have turned into a very poor baserunning team recently, and tonight was no different with Jose Molina making the first out of the inning at third base on a failed bid for a triple/three base error after he ripped one to the center field wall that BJ Upton couldn't catch. It was still a game at that point, and it was stupid. It seems to be happening with greater frequency lately.

With each loss, the next game becomes more crucial. We'll see if they bring it tomorrow night.

Catching up

Coming to you tonight from my work laptop on a stolen wireless connection (yay for apartment living) mostly because I'm too lazy to plug my router in. When I got home tonight, my old Gateway desktop, just shy of its sixth birthday, appears to have passed away. It was a fine soldier, surviving one apartment move, and a great deal of neglect where maintenance is concerned. Such is life, I guess.

Anyway, over the last few weeks, the Angels have seen a comfortable 7-8 game lead or so dwindle to three, two in the loss column. Their poor play has coincided with a bit of a hot streak from the Mariners to close the gap. It's also coincided with injuries to Casey Kotchman, Howie Kendrick, and Mike Napoli. It hasn't helped that Chone Figgins and Reggie Willits cooled off at the same time. And while Lackey, Weaver, and Escobar have been as advertised (save for a rough one here or there), Santana and Colon have struggled mightily.

So where's the good news? The Angels are still in first place. Willits and Figgins appear to be rising back to an acceptable level. Also promising has been Garret Anderson, who is hitting 382/417/471 in the month of July, and has gone for two hits in six of his last seven games. Even Kotchman has had hits in four of his last five. Sure, it's only been a hit at a time, but he appears to be emerging from the horrendous slump that followed his concussion. And as a 24 year old, Kotchman is streaky. We've learned that this season. He's had his recent bad streak, and he's due for a hot streak. Couple those with the return of Juan Rivera, hopefully next month, and the return of Justin Speier to the bullpen, and the Angels are primed for a run that takes them into September with a solid lead.

Also key will be late July and August series at Seattle, especially the July series. I can't see a change of more than a game or two in the current standing before then, and if they Angels go in up three and leave up one, it gives Seattle hope, and the Mariners' belief in themselves might be the Angels biggest enemy right now. They have 10 games left with the Mariners, and only four of them are in Anaheim (fortunately all in late September). Those 10 games will decide the division.

So that's where we're at. Napoli and Kendrick will be back soon. Rivera shortly thereafter. They're poised to make a run, and they have a nice mix in their starting lineup of guys who've been there before and guys who should be hungry to get there. Santana and Colon can't possibly be any worse, so that's a plus as well. It's the second half. It's time for scoreboard watching. And it's time for the Angels to get moving.

Flight of the Conchords

Holy Crap. This is by far the funniest show currently on television, at least while the office is on hiatus. Seriously, if you have HBO and you're not watching this show, you are....well...I'm sorry, I can't stand to look at you. You really need to watch this show.

The Perfect Storm

The combination of lots of travel (CA last week, GA today, TX tomorrow), poor play by the Angels (4-8 over their last 12), and a general lack of motivation have combined to turn this place into a ghost town. Sorry about that. Wish I could say it was going to change sometime soon, but that third factor has some powerful inertia.

Remote Blogging

Coming to you from DFW, where my connecting flight was cancelled and I'm waiting on another one.

• Kings sign Stuart, Handzus, Preissing, Calder, and Nagy: Pretty savvy operating by Dean Lombardi in my opinion. Anze Kopitar, Mike Cammalleri, and Jack Johnson are going to be the guys who lead the Kings into the future, and Dean didn't sign interlopers. And on top of that, he left them with terrific cap flexibility going forward so that they can keep those guys. I'm not sold on the need for another goaltender, not because I believe their goaltending is good enough, but because I believe it won't matter next year. And I believe that by the time it does matter, Jonathan Bernier will be ready.
• UCLA gets commitment from Jrue Holliday: Really an amazing pickup, especially considering that Lorenzo Romar can recruit with the best of them, and Holliday's brother is at Washington. But this gives UCLA four players in the top thirty in next year's class, joining Love and Stanback from this year's class. They have the bodies and talent to replace Darren Collison. They are going to be very deep and talented in the backcourt. Look for the 2009 class to feature big men.
• Angels take two of three from Baltimore, but are losing right now: Such is baseball. Ervin was striking guys out like crazy, but get banged up on two homers, and his bullpen and defense blew up in his absences, tossing the Rangers a couple more runs. But it won't matter tonight, because they can't solve Kevin Millwood, a guy with an ERA over 7.00. Carrasco is gone, which is a plus, but Napoli is a victim of Sunday's game ending play at the plate, and hits the 15 day DL. That's gonna hurt. Two of three from Baltimore was a nice pick-me-up, but they'll need to rebound in the last couple of games against Texas. And Brad Wilkerson just hit three homers. I don't think it was Santana so much as just a guy who was on fire.

In an hour, hopefully I'll be on a plane getting some sleep.

Maybe this would be a good time

...to announce that I'm going to San Jose this weekend and therefore probably won't be posting until the fifth or so. Good timing, since I haven't really felt like writing anything lately, which should be obvious from the fact that there aren't any posts for the last few days. The smarter ones of you out there probably already figured it out.

Anyway, Shea's gone, which is good. They got swept by the Royals, which is bad. And that pretty much sums it up for now.

Just a short one tonight

I have to get up early tomorrow.

Do. Not. Count. This. Team. Out. Another terrific comeback victory, and the big thing is, other than the home run the other night, which they didn't really need, they're doing a lot of this without Vlad at his best. he can carry a team for two or three weeks, and he will at some point, but the fact that they're winning without his big contributions is very nice.

Give some props to Joe Saunders, who struggled early, but kept them in the game and got it to the bullpen within striking distance. Similar thanks should go to Chris Bootcheck, who got the job done when called up, as well as Frankie and Shields (but we expect it from them).

The OC was the player of the game with the walkoff double to go along with a homer and an RBI single.

And how about giving some credit to Dino Ebel! Twice he sent guys that should have been out by ten feet, but they must have some sort of scouting report that says run all over the Pirates defense, because he got them two runs that they may not otherwise have scored tonight. And both runners (Napoli and Haynes) looked like they did not expect to be sent. The tying run especially was enormous, because you just can't be sure whether you're going to get another chance.

Nice way to start the series.

Astros 4; Angels 8

Congratulations to Terry Evans on his first major league home run in his first major league start. For a guy who was a non-prospect 23 year old in AAA as recently as last year, he's come a long way, and he was the Angels' only offense until a wild seventh inning. He scored twice, drove in two, and the guy who struck out 60 times against 10 walks in Salt Lake this season drew a big walk in the seventh, and didn't strike out once.

They wouldn't have had a chance in that inning if not for what actually wasn't all that bad of a start from Ervin Santana, despite the poor line in the box score. Other than the first inning home run from Hunter Pence, he actually made a lot of good pitches. Give credit to the Astros for putting the bat on the ball and getting some hits when they needed to in the early innings. Santana kept the game from getting away in the fifth, sixth, and part of the seventh, helping to set up the comeback.

And for the second time in three nights, what a comeback. Error, walk, walk, walk......walk, sac fly. Oh, and a three run homer from Vlad. Just like that, a two run deficit became a four run lead. Four of the Angels' five walks came in that stretch. The walks to Napoli and Evans weren't surprising. The walks to Evans and Figgins were. And while Borkowski clearly struggled with his control, the Angels earned those walks, fighting off some pitches, extending at bats, and punching their own tickets to first base. And just as the Angels had taken the lead, Vlad decided to remove any doubt with a bomb to left center.

Another series win. Another game the Angels probably shouldn't have won. But once again, the message to their opponent was "if you come in to Anaheim on a roll, prepare to get rolled while you're in town". They're taking 2 of 3 consistently from good teams, bad teams, teams on a run, etc. Three more on tap versus the Bucs as the season rolls on.

Bartolo Colon

He's not very good.

Across the Pond

I'm pretty sure I own the albums from whence 38 of the following 78 tracks, collected on this box set, are culled. Any guesses which ones?

The Brit Box:

Disc 1:

01 The Smiths - "How Soon Is Now?"
02 Cocteau Twins - "Lorelei"
03 Felt - "Primitive Painters"
04 Shop Assistants - "Somewhere in China"
05 The Mighty Lemon Drops - "My Biggest Thrill"
06 The Cure - "Just Like Heaven"
07 Echo & The Bunnymen - "Lips Like Sugar"
08 The Jesus and Mary Chain - "April Skies"
09 Spacemen 3 - "Walkin' With Jesus (Sound of Confusion)"
10 The Primitives - "Crash"
11 The Wonder Stuff - "Unbearable"
12 The Stone Roses - "She Bangs the Drums"
13 The Charlatans UK - "The Only One I Know"
14 Happy Mondays - "Step On"
15 Primal Scream - "Loaded" [single version]
16 Inspiral Carpets - "This Is How It Feels"
17 The Trash Can Sinatras - "Obscurity Knocks"
18 The La's - "There She Goes"
19 The Sundays - "Here's Where the Story Ends"

Disc 2:

01 Ride - "Vapour Trail"
02 Pale Saints - "Sight of You"
03 My Bloody Valentine - "Only Shallow"
04 Lush - "For Love"
05 The Telescopes - "Flying"
06 Chapterhouse - "Pearl"
07 Catherine Wheel - "I Want To Touch You"
08 Bleach - "Trip & Slide"
09 Curve - "Coast Is Clear"
10 Five Thirty - "You"
11 Moose - "This River Will Never Run Dry"
12 The Family Cat - "(Thought I'd Died) And Gone To Heaven"
13 The Dylans - "(Don't Cut Me Down) Mary Quant in Blue"
14 Thousand Yard Stare - "0-0 A.E.T. (No Score After Extra Time)"
15 Ned's Atomic Dustbin - "Grey Cell Green"
16 Birdland - "Shoot You Down"
17 Manic Street Preachers - "Stay Beautiful"
18 Teenage Fanclub - "Star Sign"

Disc 3:

01 Suede - "Metal Mickey"
02 Swervedriver - "Duel" [radio edit]
03 Eugenius - "Breakfast"
04 Superstar - "Barfly"
05 New Order - "Regret"
06 James - "Laid"
07 Nick Heyward - "Kite"
08 The Boo Radleys - "Lazarus"
09 Saint Etienne - "You're in a Bad Way"
10 Stereolab - "Wow & Flutter"
11 Blur - "Tracy Jacks"
12 Oasis - "Live Forever"
13 Pulp - "Common People"
14 These Animal Men - "Speed King"
15 Mega City Four - "Wallflower"
16 Echobelly - "Insomniac"
17 Gene - "Sleep Well Tonight"
18 Menswe@r - "Sleeping In"
19 Supergrass - "Alright"
20 Cast - "Alright"
21 Elastica - "Stutter"

Disc 4:

01 Dodgy - "In a Room"
02 Ash - "Girl From Mars"
03 Sleeper - "Sale of the Century"
04 Marion - "Sleep"
05 Kula Shaker - "Tattva"
06 Ocean Colour Scene - "The Riverboat Song"
07 Babybird - "You're Gorgeous"
08 The Bluetones - "Slight Return"
09 Super Furry Animals - "Something 4 the Weekend"
10 The Divine Comedy - "Something for the Weekend"
11 Cornershop - "Brimful of Asha"
12 Silver Sun - "Service"
13 Spiritualized - "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space"
14 Mansun - "Wide Open Space"
15 Hurricane #1 - "Step Into My World"
16 The Verve - "Lucky Man"
17 Rialto - "Untouchable"
18 Catatonia - "Mulder and Scully"
19 Placebo - "You Don't Care About Us"
20 Gay Dad - "Oh Jim"

Chone Figgins - Asskicker

It's not very often that you see a guy raise his batting average thirty points in one game in June. But that's what Chone Figgins did tonight, all while pulling John Lackey and Hector Carrasco's asses out of the fire. Both pitchers were awful, but Figgins capped off a six for six night by driving in the tying run on a two out infield single in the 8th inning and a two out game winning double in the bottom of the tenth inning, making a winner out of Frankie Rodriguez.

Lackey was less than good for the second straight start, blowing a 4-1 lead, and exiting the game with two runners on base and trailing 6-4, all five runs coming with two outs. He simply didn't have it from the get go, and while he battled for a few innings, he succumbed in the fifth, walking Carlos Lee to load the bases, and throwing three ball fastball after fastball to Mark Loretta, who finally bounced one over the left-center field wall for a two run ground rule double. But Lackey didn't accept the good break, and promptly delivered a textbook gopher ball to Mark Lamb. A hit batter and some choice words for the umpire is all Lackey could muster before finally getting the hook.

Hector Carrasco got out of the fifth, and delivered a 1-2-3 sixth before falling apart in the seventh, the coup de grace coming on error in a run down that not only allowed the 8th run to score, but allowed the eventual ninth run to reach third, where a sac fly would chase him home.

Then the monkey paid a long overdue visit. Singles from Vlad and HGHMJ, followed by a walk to Kendrick loaded the bases. Hillenbrand, who conveniently waited until the game was tied to deliver his usual suck (in his defense, he had three hits and two RBIs in what was a pretty good game for him) drove in two with a single. Mike Napoli busted down the line to avoid a double play, a huge effort that paid dividends. Erick Aybar knocked one into right to score Kendrick and move Napoli to third, from where he would score on a Reggie Willits sac fly. With Aybar on third, Figgins delivered his fifth hit of the night, a bouncer to first that he legged out for the game tying RBI.

Anxious moments plagued the 8th and 9th innings, but Scot Shields and Frankie Rodriguez made big pitches when they needed to, none more important than Frankie's slider to Craig Biggio that ended the ninth inning, which looked to me like one of the best he's thrown since 2002.

With two outs in the ninth, Reggie Willits became the ninth Angel starter to reach base via a hit, and set the stage for Chone Figgins' heroics. On a 1-1 pitch, with Willits drawing all kinds of attention from Astros reliever Trever Miller, Figgins laced a liner down the right field line, hit almost as hard as two liners that he had caught earlier in the game. It dropped a few feet to the happy side of the foul line, found its way to the corner, and Willits came home with the winning run.

The Angels should not have won this game. They got seven innings of lousy pitching, 4.2 from a guy who may have just cancelled his trip to San Francisco in mid-July. Only three of their 19 hits went for extra bases (Figgins was officially credited with a triple on the last hit), and none left the yard. But they scratched a victory worthy of their magical 2002 season. Championship teams win games during the season that they have no business winning, and this was one of those for the Angels. And almost all of the credit goes to Figgins. Really an amazing game, and an amazing turnaround from a guy that people wanted to run out of town about a month ago.

Less than stellar of late, Bartolo Colon takes the mound tomorrow to take a shot at wrapping up another series win.

Enough about Adam Dunn already

The Angels should make a run at Dunn, or whatever other power bat they can find, then send Hillenbrand packing.

So says Jonah Keri over at ESPN.com. I like Adam Dunn. I had him on my fantasy team a couple years ago and even kept him last year over a bunch of really good guys, including Derek Lee (before all the injuries).

Let's say a guy was about to hit the market who hit 310/362/525 last year in the AL. Let's also say that the price the Angels would have to pay for this guy in terms of players/prospects and additional salary is a big fat nothing. Let's also assume that unlike Adam Dunn, the guy isn't a total butcher in the field, meaning that acquiring him would allow the Angels to DH Vlad more frequently down the stretch, keeping him rested for potential post-season play. I'd imagine that this would be the type of player that writers would say the Angels should go out and get.

Do people not realize that Juan Rivera will probably be back in a month or so? And that he'll be free? And that he's been pretty good the last year and a half? And that he can also play at least average defense?

Personally, I'd rather have a month of Hillenbrand, followed by Rivera the rest of the way, and hold on to the starting pitcher, major league infielder, and top prospect that the Reds are asking for over a few months of Adam Dunn, who won't come cheap, and will likely be a free agent at the end of the year if he gets dealt during the season.

On the U.S. Open

First, for the best coverage and commentary, go here. As for me:

• The 280-300 yard par 3 8th hole: Personally, I liked it. I think Phil Mickelson summed it up best when he commented on the "black hole" that exists between about 240 and 310 yards. You never see holes of that length, because it's too long for a par 3 and too short for a par 4. But (and this is a theme I'll be returning to), par is just a number. The idea is to get the ball in the hole in as few shots as possible. If you think you can get there and too putt for a three, have at it. You want to lay it up short and try to get up and down, be my guest. Golf isn't paint by numbers. There are lots of ways to skin this cat, and the best tournaments should feature the best players being creative.
• The Rough and the Fairways: The conventional wisdom is that the straight hitters have an advantage in the open because the fairways are so tight and the rough is so penal, that you have to keep in the fairway to score. Wrong for a couple reasons. First, as Geoff Ogilvie mentioned, the fairways are so tight and firm in the typical Open that you can hit very good drives and still miss the fairway. So the advantage that straight hitters have is negated because they're chopping it out of the rough all day too. Guys that normally hit 10-12 fairways are hitting 6-7, just like the long hitters. As Ogilvie said:

  I mean, I'm quite happy hitting seven shots out of the rough. I do that every day. They don't.

  If you're going to miss the fairway, you may as well bomb it out there. On top of that, the long hitters are hitting two-iron to where the straight hitters hit 3-wood. That's a big advantage for the long hitters. And not surprising, Angel Cabrera is a bomber. So it Tiger. So is Bubba Watson.
  
• The Setup in General: This is the time of year where we hear a lot of "it's great to see those guys hack around like I do on a typical Saturday." I think that's stupid. No one says "it's great to see guys strike out like I would in a major league game", or "it's great to see guys with three inch verticals and no inside or outside game miss all kinds of jumpers", or "it's great to see guys roll gutter ball after gutter ball once in a while". OK, scratch the last one since no one watches bowling. But anyway, these are the best players in the world. I want to see them play like the best players in the world. I don't want to see shots that land on the left side of the fairway roll into the rough on the right side of the fairway. That doesn't mean the winning score should be 20 under, but par is a standard, and the best players in the world should be able to do better than par. That brings me to....
• Par: Like I said, it's just a number, but to the USGA it's like the virginity of a bible thumper's daughter, to be protected at any cost. That's why courses that routinely play as par 72s for the members play as par 70s in the open. They take two 520 yard par fives and turn them into 500 yard par fours. That's probably a two or three shot swing every day for four days. But here's the thing: Who cares? Other than the USGA, I mean. Tournament golf is a very simple concept. A bunch of players play the same course over four days, and the guy finishes in the lowest number of strokes win. Par is simply a concept that allows us to keep track of who's in the lead when players are on different parts of the course, and it makes following the leader board a heck of a lot easier. But you could get the same result by just making EVERY hole a par 4, or 5, or 10, or 20. It simply doesn't matter. It may matter to you and me when we try to compare how we did at one golf course versus another, but in the context of tournament golf, par is meaningless. They aren't competing against the course, or against their round at the local muni last Saturday. They're competing against each other. So when the USGA says they aren't fixated on par, they're full of shit.
  
• Furyk: I can only assume that Jim Furyk was pretty confident that he could at the very least put the ball in a position to make birdie on 17, and no worse than par, even if he hit driver. Sometimes you pull a club that's easier to hit and you don't do any better than you would have with driver, with the added problem of being 20 yards further back. And let's not forget that he was tied at the time. He's trying to make birdie and win it outright. This isn't Jean Van de Velde making mistake after mistake on the 18th at Carnoustie.
  
• Tiger: What's strange is that if Tiger is leading after three rounds, the tournament is over. If he isn't leading after three rounds, the tournament is over for him, even if he takes a lead, however briefly, during the final round. For the second straight major, he led in the final round, only to eventually finish as the runner-up. He simply couldn't make a putt when he needed to, and apparently got a bad break out of the bunker on 17, to the extent that's possible. I mean, bunkers are supposed to be hazards, so one should question whether you can really get a "bad break" in a bunker. But the bottom line is that if Tiger is in your rear view mirror on Sunday in a major, ignore him and worry about the other names you see, because he's not the one that's going to get you. One last thing about Tiger, though. If that becomes the conventional wisdom, and I believe it will, then no one is going to work harder to change it than Tiger.
• Angel: This guy won the U.S. Open. He didn't inherit it. He wasn't the last man standing as everyone else fell apart. He won it by busting par on Sunday. He got up and down from tee box 300 yards away on number 8. And while he nearly gave it back on 16 and 17, he earned the title earlier in the round, especially with an incredible approach on 15. He hit the ball beautifully for most of the round, and when he came to the tournament's toughest hole, with a one shot lead, he hit a perfect drive and made a routine two putt par to maintain the margin of victory. He earned it.

As for me, I choked. I was four over through 14 holes at Dubs on Saturday after hitting a 198 yard five iron to about four feet on the 14th and making the putt for birdie. I played the last four holes in 5 over, including going four over on the last three holes despite hitting the fairway on all three. I was not happy.

Big Weekend for the Angels

On the diamond, the Angels continued their recent dominance over the Dodgers, taking two of three, and they really should have taken all three.

On Friday, Ervin Santana strung together his second consecutive solid road start, and his fourth consecutive solid start overall. That's four straight quality starts, and while his ERA is still around 5.00, it's come down about a run over those starts. He's thrown 27 innings and given up 9 earned runs over that span. Those are solid third starter numbers. Unfortunately, the bats didn't pick him up, and he dropped a 2-1 decision to Derek Lowe.

On Saturday, in a game that I couldn't watch (thanks, Fox!), the Angels got five and a third scoreless from Jered Weaver, who didn't sound as sharp as his numbers indicate, and a two run single from Reggie Willits in a three run fifth. The bullpen completed the shutout for the 3-0 victory, but the game was costly, as Garret Anderson returned to the DL, and Casey Kotchman was hit in the head with a ball thrown so hard that he needed stitches....UNDER HIS HELMET! Apparently Russel Martin has a cannon.

And finally, yesterday the Angels got yet another excellent start from Kelvim Escobar, who held things down until the Angels had broken the game open in the seventh. He left having thrown seven innings and allowing three runs while striking out eight. 110 pitches are a few more than I'd like to see, but it was yet another game in which the offense provided some run support, a rarity in Escobar's first few seasons in Anaheim. He picked up his 8th win, and he's a deserving all-star candidate, though he'll likely get screwed because the Angels always get screwed on all-star selections. Speaking of guys who will screwed out of all-star spots, raise your hand if you thought Orlando Cabrera would be hitting over .340 right now? The guy has been on fire for about a month now. He'll end around .310 or so is my guess, but the Angels are making hay right now, and he's a major reason.

Coupled with both the Mariners return to earth against Chicago and Houston, and the A's come from ahead loss yesterday, the Angels have now five games ahead of both teams in the loss column. On the docket are nine at home against the Astros (30-39), Pittsburgh (30-39), and the Royals (28-42). 6-3 would be a mild disappointment. This is the stretch where the Angels should really open up some serious ground on their pursuers.

As for the Dodgers? Well, L.A. will always be a Dodger town, but the Angels have clearly established themselves as the team of choice for a large portion of the Southern California market. Job well done, Arte.

Are there two Adam Dunns?

I only ask because apparently Cincinnati is thinking about trading one of them, but it can't be the guy that played left field in the recently completed series, because they're asking, well, a bit too much for that one.

The Angels had preliminary discussions with Cincinnati about acquiring Dunn, according to a baseball source, but those talks quickly ended when the Reds requested a proven major league starting pitcher, a major league infielder — preferably a second baseman — and a top prospect.

Those demands were considered too hefty for a player whose $13-million option for 2008 would be voided if he's traded, meaning he could become a free agent after this season.

Umm, Okay, Cincinnati. So they're looking for Ervin Santana, Erick Aybar, and one of Conger, Adenhart, or Wood. Wow.

Apparently they're a little stung from that awful Austin Kearns deal (that would be the one that landed them Gary Majewski, who you could argue is already pitching for the Angels).

The Angels probably wouldn't even trade second baseman Howie Kendrick for Dunn straight up, according to the source.

Probably? Probably wouldn't? I sure as hell hope they wouldn't!

Angels 6; Reds 3

There were rumblings yesterday about Vlad slumping, and failing to come through in the clutch as of late (apparently eight or nine days ago against Baltimore does not count as "of late"). Vlad gave notice that he's alive and well, driving in four runs on three hits, two of which went for extra bases, and he was the difference in the Angels bleed staunching victory over the Reds yesterday.

You hate to call any game in mid-June a "must win", but the fact is that at this point of the season, Lackey and Escobar have been the Angels best and most consistent pitchers. If they had lost last night, they were staring down the barrel of a sweep against a really crappy team, so yesterday's game had a little extra importance. Lackey delivered, going six innings and allowing three runs, only one earned, to pick up his 10th win on the season.

Scot Shields has been very sharp lately after a very shaky start to the season, and last night may have been one of his best outings yet. Called on to deliver two innings, Shields responded by retiring the side in order in the seventh before striking out the side (with one hit sandwiched in between) in the eighth. He inherited a one run lead and delivered a three run lead to Frankie, who did his part by retiring the side in order in the ninth, picking up two strikeouts of his own.

Coupled with the Mariners loss, the Angels were able to catch their breath a little bit, and they have a two game lead over the Mariners in the loss column, while the A's sit four games back in the loss column.

Two more hits for Garret Anderson, including an RBI single in the eighth. Orlando Cabrera continues to sizzle, picking up three base hits, and upping his average to .339.

In other news, someone somewhere must have linked to Troy Percival's Baseball-Reference page, because I've already had about five hits from there this morning.

Angels 3; Reds 5 - and other notes

I'm with the Rev on this one. I can't think of one particular player, or even two, on whom this loss can be pinned. Escobar only lasted six, and gave up three runs, but he also struck out 14, so it's tough to blame him. Of course, he occasionally had trouble getting the strikeouts he really needed, but that's simply analysis in hindsight.

Figgins blew a simple tag that cost the Angels a big run. Heads up play by Josh Hamilton on that slide, but as I told my dad after that play, if I'm the Angels, I make sure every tag comes down hard. No retaliation, but send the message that if they're going to make tricky slides, they're going to pay for the privilege. And while a review of the scoreboard says Erick Aybar's error didn't matter much, it more or less put the final nail in the coffin. It's a lot easier to get one run than two in an inning featuring the Angels' three best "sluggers".

Mike Napoli and Orlando Cabrera had less than stellar nights at the plate. They were a combined 1-9, with five runners left on base, three in scoring position.

But ultimately, they just played against a team who played better than them, at least for one night, and sometimes that happens. They aren't going to win every game. But losing the first game of the set puts extra importance on the last two. It doesn't help matters that the Mariners simply won't lose. They've won five in a row and nine of their last ten, and they now sit only a game back in the loss column. I still don't think the Mariners are *that* good, but what I think doesn't matter. All that matters is what they think, and if they think they're that good, they're going to be very tough beat this season.

In other news, the Times is reporting that Dallas McPherson has been cleared to run on a treadmill, and Juan Rivera will be taking batting practice as soon as next week. In addition, Maicer Izturis is almost done with his rehab assignment. Sooner or later, someone needs to figure out where all of these guys are going to go. There are four guys on the DL who could return by mid to late July, and three of those should be back much sooner. So where do they go?

Nathan Haynes will go down, obviously, so that covers Rivera. If you bring back Ztu and McPherson, Aybar will have to go, but who else? Another outfielder? Hillenbrand? As much as many of us might like it to be Hillenbrand, I'm not sure I could see the Angels brass making that move.

Who goes out for Speier? Oliver? Carrasco? Bootcheck and Moseley have outpitched both of them, but will the Angels cut those ties? There are some tough decisions coming up, assuming other injuries don't come into play to "help" the Angels make those roster decisions.

And finally, I haven't seen this noted anywhere else, but Casey Kotchman now has eight homers, and is on pace for 21. I think most people have considered Kotchman to be a 20-25 homer guy (per season) for his career, which is good, but not great power. But I'll tell you what. For a guy who isn't supposed to have great power, he has hit the shit out of the balls that have left the yard for his last three or four homers. These haven't been of the Garret Anderson in the 2003 home run derby variety*. They've been getting five to ten rows deep into the right field bleachers in Anaheim, which isn't easy to do for a left hander, and the one he hit yesterday was an absolute bomb. The kid is only 24. Don't be surprised if in three years or so, he's hitting somewhere between 30-40 per season.

*GA won the 2003 home run derby, and I swear that he didn't one homer more than about 3 rows deep at the Cell. It was like he was hitting wedges and dropping them right on the pin. It was more a display of conservation of energy than pure power. But it was impressive.

Two of three

Not a bad start to the road trip, although today's game left a bit to be desired. We seem to be getting into the nagging injury phase to the season, and that could play a significant role on this trip, as Kotchman, Anderson, and Weaver all seem to be ailing somewhat. It comes at a particularly bad time for the two former, as they were both either hot, or starting to heat up.

Fortunately, their absence may be somewhat tempered by the fact that both Chone Figgins and Howie Kendrick seem to have found their swings. On to Cincinnati where Escobar, Lackey, and possibly Colon will try to take care of the Reds.

Speaking of the pitchers, perhaps the best new of the weekend came in last night's game, where Ervin Santana went six innings, giving up three runs, while driving in two of his own. It was by far his best start of the season on the road, and the 2 run double was icing on the cake. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that with two straight starts at home, perhaps that was a chance for Santana to build some momentum going into last night's game. Maybe I was right. Coming off three straight solid starts, he'll have another chance to prove himself on the road later in the week.

Personally, I missed today's game, and only caught last night's game on my DVR. The wife of a friend and former co-worker of mine plays on the Duramed Futures Tour, which is like the minor league version of the LPGA Tour. They were about a half hour away in Hammond this weekend, so I went down to watch the final two rounds. Fortunately the atmosphere is pretty laid back. There are no ropes, not really any security, and you can pretty much walk wherever you want within reason. I say fortunately, because this gives me a chance to talk to my friend, which allows me to catch up, and more importantly, establishes that I'm there to see friends, as opposed to being the creepy guy who goes by himself to watch "minor league" women's golf.

As for Courtney, she finished two over, in a tie for third place, which is by far her best finish in a year and a half on tour. She made more than twice as much money today as she did all of last season, and she's already made as many cuts this year as she did all of last year. One of her playing partners in today's round, Allison Fouch, fired a six under 66, and won by three shots, so it was a good group to follow.

Probably time much better spent than watching the Angels today.

Rough day

To start with, I played like crap in the CDGA Amateur qualifying. It's got me contemplating taking an indefinite hiatus from competitive golf. Fortunately, I'll be heading down to the Futures Tour event in Hammond this weekend to watch a friend play, so that will keep me occupied while I take a couple of weeks off from playing golf at all, which should allow my wrist some time to heal.

On top of that, the Angels played less than stellar baseball, and John Lackey blew a four run lead as the Angels lost their first game in the last six. They've now won four straight series, and nine of the last ten.

Lackey was sharp through three innings, but started to elevate the ball a bit, and if you do that during a day game in June, you're going to give up some home runs in that stadium. The Twins took advantage.

Then something happened in hockey, but I had already fallen asleep on the couch.

Twins 3; Angels 16

For the first few innings, this looked like your typical Angels-Twins tilt. Low scoring, good pitching, great defense, questionable baserunning, exciting plays on the bases and at the plate...

The Angels had extended a little bit in the fifth, putting together a two out rally, Orlando Cabrera's single bookended by doubles from Reggie Willits and Vlad Guerrero. After a Gary Matthews fly out, things had settled down.

Then, with one out in the sixth, Boof Bonser, who had been a strike throwing machine, threw three consecutive balls to Casey Kotchman. The fourth pitch was a strike, and it ended up about 8-10 rows deep in the right field seats. It was such a nice swing, I had to re-watch it a couple of times just to hear the crack of the bat. Then the floodgates opened. After a Howie Kendrick single, Mike Napoli knocked one into the second bullpen, and a two run lead was suddenly a five run lead. As if to rub it in, the Angels added two more runs with two out, Cabrera singling home Figgins (who should have been out stealing second), and a Matthews single following a Guerrero IBB for an 8-1 lead.

But this time eight wasn't enough. Willits, Cabrera, and Vlad reached again (a second straight IBB to Vlad), and Gary Matthews made them pay again, this time with a grand slam. And the hits just kept coming. Garret Anderson followed with a homer of his own. As much I love watching Vladdy hit it deep, there's just something about the swing that GA takes on home run balls that is really beautiful to watch. They weren't finished until they had doubled up that 8 runs for a total of 16 on 23 hits.

Almost lost in the shuffle was an excellent performance from Jered Weaver, who allowed six baserunners, one homer, and struck out four over seven innings. He's now 5-3 with a 3.88 ERA. I think that will come down a notch or so, and he'll finish the season closer to 3.50. I'd take that in a heartbeat. That would be a quality major league season.

After going 8-2 in their last ten, the Angels now sit 15 games over .500, trailing only the Red Sox and Mets in the race for baseball's best record. This has been a pretty nice 59 games, and a fantastic last 26, in which they've gone 20-6. They've been fun to watch.

Now let's hope they didn't use all their runs last night. And if they did, well, Kelvim is used to getting little help.

Orioles 3; Angels 4

Apparently the key is to lose the first game of the series. For the second straight series, the Angels lost game one, and rolled the rest of the way. Kind of reminds me of a certain post-season in recent memory.

After a close victory Friday and a comfortable win last night, no doubt made better by the bitchslapping that the Senators gave the Ducks, the Angels needed some Vladimir Guerrero heroics, a two run homer in the ninth, to pull out today's victory. I missed Friday night's game because I was drinking with some friends, and I really just didn't feel like writing about last night's game.

58 games into the season, the Angels have baseball's third best record. They have some separation between themselves and the M's and A's, and Texas is completely out of the picture already. Apparently it's their best record ever after 58 games. Next up are the Twins, who've been hanging around .500, and are a solid 7-3 in their last ten games. Something about the Twins. The Angels always seem to play playoff style close games against the Twins.

Mariners 6; Angels 8; Cubs Slaughtered

I missed the first five innings or so of last night's game due to a friend of mine coming up with free Cubs tickets. I hate the Cubs, and I couldn't really care less about the Marlins, but the tickets were pretty good (first row of the upper deck, about even with the bullpen), and it was a nice night. First game I've been to at Wrigley this year, which is fun to go to, but doesn't really hold the allure for me that it does for most people. It was neat the first couple of times, but it kind of feels like a glorified high school stadium to me. For me, major league parks are giant monoliths surrounded by parking lots. At least the Cubs didn't disappoint, getting hammered more than most of the people in the stands for once.

I was in a cab on the way home when Vlad hit the three run homer off of King Felix to put the Angels in front for good. Weaver was already gone by the time I got home, but it sounds like he really struggled with his command. While I don't want to see him struggle, games like last night's don't bother me. First, they still won. Second, it wasn't an issue of him getting so much as he just had a hard time finding the strike zone. Only two of the nine hits he allowed went for extra bases, and none of them left the yard. Sometimes guys just don't have it.

Just ask King Felix, who got drilled for seven runs on nine hits, including three homers and a double. It was the second time the Angels got to him this season, and he could still be struggling coming back from his injury. His big mistake came against Vlad in the fifth, when his high fast ball got crushed over the right center field wall for the Angels third homer of the night.

Reggie Willits was on base three times again, while Cabrera continued his scorching pace with three more hits. While Napoli has cooled a little, Casey Kotchman stayed hot, hitting his fifth home run, and pushing his average comfortably back up over .300 to .309. Meanwhile, Howie Kendrick has yet to find a consistent stroke since returning to the lineup. He was 0-4, dropping his average to .256. He's now 0 for his last nine, and has just four hits in 25 at bats since his return.

Scot Shields has quietly gone from the unreliable Scot Shields to the once again dominant Scot Shields. He pitched a perfect eighth, striking out two, and his ERA is down to 2.83. Frankie was a little shaky in the ninth, starting it off with a walk before striking out the side. His slider must have been really breaking hard, because it appeared that he couldn't control it, and they were taking some pretty awful swings at it. But hey, sometimes that's to a pitcher's advantage. I mean, if he doesn't know where it's going, chances are the hitter doesn't either.

The Mariners were a hot team entering Anaheim before the Angels cooled them off. Now Baltimore comes in having won five straight, moving all the way up to second place, still 10.5 games behind the Red Sox. Escobar, Lackey, Saunders, and Santana will work the series for the Angels.

Mariners 1; Angels 4

No shame in thinking this one was trouble about two batters into the first inning. Ervin Santana allowed the first two runners to reach, and only retired Guillen on a shot to third that Quinlan was able to stab. He became Ervin the Usual against Ibanez, turning an 0-2 count into a walk before completing his streak of eight straight balls against Richie Sexon. For a team that doesn't walk, the Mariners' first five batters were very patient, laying off some very close pitches. Then Kenji Johjima stepped up, grounded into a double play, and Santana had escaped with minimal damage. To top it off, the Angels got a run back in the first to tie it up.

With his new lease on life, Santana exploded. He went six more innings allowing only two hits and no walks, completing seven innings having allowed only one run, and needing fewer than 100 pitches to do it. So a reprieve for now. He'll remain in the rotation, and his next start is at home. Maybe two straight home starts, if he can get it done again, will boost his confidence for that next road game. Maybe that double play was a turning point. We can only hope.

On the offensive side of the ball, Reggie Willits showed that last night wasn't just a bump in his slump, as he produced his second two hit game in a row. Behind him, Orlando Cabrera added three hits of his own, pushing his average to .314. Kind of a strange game offensively. The top three hitters reached base a total of 8 times, yet they still needed an unlikely two run homer from Shea Hillenbrand to provide the winning runs (with insurance added later). Mike Napoli's hitting streak ended on a rocket to third that Adrian Beltre had to grab simply to save his own life.

Speaking of Cabrera and Napoli, if you're wondering about the Angels recent success, you need look no further than those two players and Casey Kotchman. Not that they've been alone, but on May 8th, the Angels lost to the Indians and dropped to 17-16. Following that game, those three stood as follows:

• Kotchman - 232/304/384
• Cabrera - 266/338/379
• Napoli - 194/296/339

Where are they now? (average through tonight's game - OBP and SLG through last night, to be updated tomorrow, because I'm lazy):

• Kotchman - 302/381/487 - 6th in AL OPS among every day first basemen
  
• Cabrera - 314/359/425 - 5th in AL OPS among every day short stops
  
• Napoli - 259/339/491 - 6th in AL OPS among every day catchers

Certainly those rankings aren't monumental, but the turnarounds are, and they're a big reason the Angels have won 15 of their last 20. The Angels now sport five starters hitting over .290. The offense isn't outstanding, but it doesn't have to be. If they can simply be average, middle of the road (they're currently 6th in the AL in runs scored), that will be plenty to win the AL West.

Jered on the mound tomorrow night to hopefully take the series. He hasn't been great of late, but he's been good enough.

Long Weekend

Lots to cover, so I'll just give it all the short shrift in which I specialize.

The Angels finally reached .500 on the road, recovering from a couple of awful games in Detroit to take three from the Yankees. Kendrick's back, and Kotchman and Napoli are currently raking. Figgins looks pretty much lost on both sides of the ball, alternative good plays with spotty plays at third base, and generally alternating bad at bats with crappy at bats. Hillenbrand is still a total waste of a roster spot.

They came home and harnessed that momentum into a total implosion against the Mariners last night. Poor pitching, poor fielding, and mediocre hitting against a team that has now won four straight and sits only 3.5 games behind the Angels in second place. Santana and Weaver close out the set against the M's, then it's Baltimore for four and the Twins for three. It's a 10 game homestand in which the Angels should really go 7-3, but last night wasn't exactly a confidence builder.

In the college ranks, UC Riverside won it's first ever Big West championship, and will be making it's second appearance in the field of 64. Unfortunately they were screwed by the selection committee and have to travel to Tempe for the regional. Traditionally, the Big West champ hosts a regional. This year, the committee decided to reward second place Long Beach State. That would be the same Long Beach State that UCR bitchslapped three straight times a couple weeks ago. Sort of reminds me of that year in the mid '90s when UCR was the top team in the regional (D2) and was forced to head up north because the NCAA didn't want to make Sac State and Chico State travel south.

As for me, I spent the weekend running around, playing golf, and boozing with friends for the most part. Finally took the new irons (it's a mixed set) out on the course and struck the ball pretty well. CDGA Amateur qualifying is next week.

Two straight

No one could have reasonably expected Santana to win today the way he's been going. As I've said before (and it's no great analysis), Santana during the day on the road is a recipe for disaster.

If they had taken some momentum into today's game, it may have been a different story, but Mike Scioscia, whom I can only assume was a little upset with Mike Napoli and his three run homer yesterday, inexplicably turned the ball over to arguably the AL's worst reliever this season. Predictably, he allowed the Tigers to double their lead, and predictably, the Angels almost came back, only to lose by one. And while the souls over at Halos Heaven may not like it, Vlad was almost as at fault as Bart and Scioscia, grounding into a double play with the tying run on first.

So what had the makings of nice trip has turned into a precarious journey, which now requires the Angels to take 2 of three against the suddenly not so terrible Yankees to salvage a .500 trip. And while they've had great success over the Yankees in the last 10 years, that has to end some time.

As for me, I missed today's game, partly because of work, and partly by design, as I had no desire to see Santana get drilled. And last night's game ended just in time for me to head over to Schuba's to catch the Broken West, this time headlining (they supported the Walkmen earlier). While the mix was a little too heavy on the guitar and to light on the vocals, the show was otherwise excellent. Not to sound like a music snob, but shows with less than 100 people are kind of cool to see when you really like the band, and they really are excellent.

Angels 6; Tigers 3

Last year the Angels gave up 80 unearned runs. Only the Cleveland Indians allowed more. And despite the offensive woes, I've maintained that it was the main reason that the Angels failed to win the AL West. Part of that was also a function of some bad luck. It seemed every time they made a mistake, they paid for it.

This year, their team ERA is the best in the AL. In addition they've cut their unearned run percentage by over 30% (from .49 to .33), which is a sign that a) their defense has played better, and b) mistakes haven't translated into a lot of runs. And at no time have they played better defense than they did last night.

HGHMJ made two terrific catches in center field, one which save at least two runs early in the game. In addition, Chone Figgins and Robb Quinlan each saved extra bases, and Orlando Cabrera ended the night with his spear of a Carlos Guillen liner that would have put the tying run in scoring position, and the winning run on base.

For Figgins, Cabrera, and Quinlan, it wasn't all defense. Figgins went 2-4 and scored both times he reached base, Quinlan took Mike Maroth deep in the sixth inning to provide the Angels final run of the game, and Cabrera added a two run shot of his own. Mike Napoli has pushed his average all the way up over the .250 mark, collecting two hits last night, including a fourth inning homer.

The only struggles came from John Lackey, who had trouble finding the strike zone until he really needed to, walking four against only three strike outs. But he held the Tigers to one run through five innings, and turned the ball over to Dustin Moseley, who continued to impress with two scoreless innings. Even Darren Oliver looked sharp until the ninth inning, at which point he remembered he was Darren Oliver and loaded the bases with nobody out, at which point the Angels required the services of Frankie Rodriguez.

Good start to the trip. Win one more in Detroit, and they can head to New York with their eyes on another solid road trip. As an added bonus, Homerin' Howie Kendrick rejoins the lineup tonight to take over for a slumping Erick Aybar.

So, the Sweep

That really was a great sweep, wasn't it? Two fairly equally matched teams, one just kicking ass on the other all weekend. Of course, I'm referring to UC Riverside's sweep of Long Beach State, vaulting the Highlanders into first place in the Big West, and probably locking up no worse than a spot in the field of 64 for the second time in school history. They can clinch a share of the conference title with a win against UCI this weekend. If they win one, and LBSU loses at least one in their season finale against Cal State Fullerton, the Highlanders take the title outright.

Oh, you thought I was talking about the Angels. Alright, so I missed Saturday's game. It happens. I was unavoidably detained, drinking heavily with friends, including one who writes a national baseball column, so at least baseball was on the conversation menu. And Sunday was more or less spent recovering from Saturday's activities.

As has been the case recently, the pitching dominated yet again, and early offense set the tone, with the Angels getting first inning runs in every game. Ervin Santana continued his home goodness allowing one run over six innings to win the opener. Jered Weaver got himself back to .500 with another quality start, pushing his ERA down to 3.46 for the season. And on Sunday, Kelvim rebounded from a rough start to shut out the Dodgers over eight innings on Sunday.

It's been pointed out that Reggie Willits has a knack for getting on base. But one of his most useful tools is his ability to see a lot of pitches in every plate appearance. As mentioned in the Times article, this helps the Angels get to their opponents bullpen earlier. But what's occasionally overlooked is what this does for Orlando Cabrera, and nowhere was this benefit more evident than in game one. Willits drew a walk in a long at bat, seeing (IIRC) about seven pitches before getting the free pass. Not only did Cabrera get a chance to see much of Brad Penny's arsenal from the on-deck circle, but Penny had extra incentive to start the at bat off with a strike to avoid another long at bat. The result was a fastball that Cabrera hammered to left center field for an RBI double, and just like that, the Angels led 1-0. It's another example of Willits' value to the Angels, and it's why Mike Scioscia is going to have a hard time getting him out of the line up when Garret Anderson returns.

So the lead is up to 4.5 games as the Angels hit the road to face the Tigers and Yankees. The good news is that Ervin will start only one game on the trip, and it's in a pitchers' park. They've now won 8 of 10, and we're reaching the point of the season where champions open up ground on their pursuers. A 3-3 trip would be acceptable. A 4-2 trip would be great. Anything else is gravy.

I swear I'll post something soon

Busy weekend, busy week.

Two out of Three

Solid series in Seattle, after coming off a solid series in Texas. The Angels are now 10-12 on the road, which is pretty good following their 1-7 start. The most satisfying moments from this series? Jose Guillen striking out with the bases load and two out in a 2-0 game in game 2, and watching the ball go right between his legs on a base hit to right field last night. That was pretty sweet.

The Revs got a post up over at the mother ship about what's been good and bad so far. I'll say that I've been wrong on Matthews to this point, though I still think five years is way too long of a deal. However, I have been right about Willits. I maintained that Willits would outproduce Matthews this season, based partly on high expectations I had for Willits, and low expectations for Matthews. Reggie hasn't disappointed.

So after a quarter of the season, the hold a three game lead over the Mariners and A's. They've had Garret Anderson miss a ton of time (no big loss), and they've have Howie Kendrick miss a ton of time (big loss). In addition, Colon appears to be back and healthy, and Weaver has been solid, save for one unfortunate outing. The looming issues right now are Scot Shields, who has been good, but unreliable, and Justin Speier, who seems to have disappeared for some reason. And then there's Sheam Hillenbrand, who has been awful. He's either going to head back towards the mean and be decent the rest of the way, or he's history once Garret Anderson comes back. I'm guessing the latter.

I'm not particularly concerned about Kotchman or Napoli. Napoli has showed signs of breaking out of his slump a little bit. Kotchman is going to be up and down all season. He's a streaky hitter at this point, and a lot of that is probably due to his youth. I think he'll find that consistency as his career moves on.

So I could be happier right now, but all in all, things look pretty good. They've got room to improve, and they'll need to play better if they hope to win the division, but there's not a whole lot to complain about right now.

Get used to this

Maybe not the final. Maybe not the horrendous defense. Maybe not the bad outing.

But get used to the Angels losing every game started by Felix Hernandez for probably the next 15 years or so.

Say what you will about Escobar, but if Figgins isn't a moron, he goes into the third tied, and if not for Ztu, it's a tie game with one out in the third. Kelvim didn't have his good stuff, but his defense killed him.

Just archiving, don't mind me

Suburban Lawns

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Angels 7; Rangers 2

This being a day game, I had to sort of watch while "working". Missed Kotch's grand slam, and since most of the fireworks came in that at bat (shout out to Napoli's double as well, and the two run single from Murphy), there wasn't a whole lot left to see on the offensive end.

That's seven safe trips to first base for Kotchman in the last two games. He's establishing himself as a somewhat streaky hitter, which isn't all that surprising for a guy who's only 24. Consistency should come with more experience and at bats.

Little Weav was strong again, pitching through a rain delay, and going seven innings with only 87 pitches, striking out five while allowing eight to reach safely. This was Weaver's 25th start, and maybe that's a good time to make a comparison to his brother. There's another guy out there who likes this comparison a lot, so let's see where we're at.

Jeff: 25 starts, 8-10, 5.23 ERA, 144.2 IP, 101 K, 1.304 WHIP, 22 Homers
Jered: 25 starts, 13-5, 2.79 ERA, 155.1 IP, 135 K, 1.127 WHIP, 18 Homers

If you follow those links, click on the red numbers on the right to get cumulative career stats through that particular game. Granted, the Tigers sucked when Jeff played for them, so pay as little attention to that record as you'd like. And in the interest of full disclosure, Jeff was a year younger (so you could make the case that Jered is MUCH better at this age than his brother), and those starts came over the course of one season, as opposed to two. But the rest of the numbers speak for themselves. Granted, Jeff had great numbers through 14 starts. We're now 11 starts past that, and Jered is still kicking ass, and if you take away his one awful start this year (a true anomaly through his first 25), his numbers get even more impressive.

Additionally, if we dig a little deeper, we find that Jeff was 6-3 with a 2.93 ERA after 14 starts. Jered was 9-2 with a 2.33 ERA. Both look pretty damn good. But one of the main cries of the skeptics has been "wait 'til the league sees Jered twice". Assuming that MLB teams actually have an advanced scouting budget, I'm guessing that most teams are prepared for Jered at this point. So let's see how each fared over his next 11 starts.

Jered: 66.1 IP, 3.26 ERA, 9 HR, 61 K
Jeff: 58.2 IP, 8.59 ERA, 16 HR, 40 K

So at what point do we stop making the "Jeff had a great start, too" argument? 30 starts? 50 starts? I'm serious, I wanna know.

Anyway, the Angels are now 8-11 on the road, which isn't that great, but consider they're 7-4 since that awful start, and they seem to have righted the ship somewhat. Aside from Santana's road woes (nice perspective given by the Chronicler over here), the starters have been fantastic. The bullpen has been spotty, or rather, most of the bullpen has been great, Darren Oliver sucks, and Scot Shields has not been reliable. The offense should get a jolt when Howie Kendrick returns, but all we can do is hope that it's not negated by Garret Anderson's return, which may very well lead to less time for Reggie Willits. Hopefully that's a net positive. And pending the eventual DFA of Shea Hillenbrand, the offense may improve from "terrible" to simply "not very good". With their pitching, that might be enough.

On to Seattle to hopefully open some ground on the M's. The good news? Santana's misses the series and his next start is on friendly ground.

Sheamful

If the Angels lose a game, chances are it has Hillenbrand's fingerprints all over it. Today, he may have homered, but he also left five guys on base, three in scoring position, in his last two at bats.

The guy sucks. Everyone knew he sucked before the Angels signed him, except possibly Bill Stoneman.

His failure to drive in a run in either at bat meant that Scot Shields was pitching the ninth, instead of Frankie, and Shields has more or less been about as reliable as a Trabant this season, and once again, he didn't even give his fielders a chance, serving up a game ending gopher ball to Nelson Cruz. Erick Aybar wasn't any better, going 0-5 and leaving six men on base. The difference, however, between Aybar and Hillenbrand is that Aybar can contribute defensively, and has played to a level that has warranted more playing time. Shea hasn't.

Santana was not good, but he kept his team in the game, though he continuously blew leads. Then again, if you expected Santana, against the Rangers offense, on the road, during the day, to even come close to pitching a good game, you're a moron.

On the plus side, Kotchman and HGHMJ each had three hits, and Napoli is up over .200. And I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Alfonso Maquez is a fucking idiot, not only screwing up a tag up play (in the Angels' favor), but also booting Carrasco for "throwing at" Ian Kinsler....in a tie game....with no one out....in the seventh inning....with a curve ball. Kinsler, of course, did nothing to move out of the way of the pitch, but that no longer matters to major league umps. Scioscia, for his part, got tossed while telling Marquez he's a fucking idiot.

It's looking like the Royals series. Weaver goes tomorrow, and don't be surprised if the Angels turn a good opportunity into a pile of crap yet again.