BASEBALL SEASON

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." ~Rogers Hornsby


I caught myself thinking and saying to myself the other night, "I wonder if there is a baseball game on TV that I could watch? Oh wait. Baseball is over." (Here I would insert a :( but you can imagine the immediate frown on my face)  October is the best time to watch baseball.  Nothing like the Fall Classic.  Play-off games almost every night, with the best teams battling to make it to the next round and become World Champs.  It's sad to say that the baseball season is over and we will have to wait till spring for it to start back up again.  I think the World Series was sooooo good that it gave baseball fans such a rush and excitement that it left many wanting for more.  Almost like an addiction.  Can baseball be an addiction? Depends on who you are asking I guess.  The off-season does leave many story lines of new GM's, firing and hiring of managers, blockbuster trades and signing of free agents. There will be much speculation to who signs with what team and which players will be traded.... blah blah blah.  Nothing will compare to the anticipation of opening day next year, and all baseball fans can hear, "Play ball!"

As for my Halos, the 2011 season left much disappointment and room for improvement along with high hopes and expectations for 2012.  The hire of DiPoto as the new GM for the Angles creates excitement and a breath of fresh air.  Changes in the front office will be good for the Angels as they move forward putting last season behind them.  It was a bummer that the Angels did not make the post season and from my point of view unacceptable with the talent on the mound for starting pitchers and the type of players we had defensively.  The main focus this off-season should be the production at the plate giving our outstanding starting pitchers some run support.  They have to start swinging the bat better especially with RISP.  The Angels had a lot of young prospects that filled in and had a really good season. At the top of that list would be Trumbo, the AL ROY.  He will be a player to watch grow and mature and become one of MLB's big bats.  One of the biggest blunders for the Angles last year was Vernon Wells.  The way I look at it is that he can't get much worse than last years production. The only way is up. I  believe he will have a much better season in his second year with the ball club.  There are still many questions about Morales and where he will fall into the line-up if he is healthy. There are also a lot of questions about the veteran players, Hunter, Abreu and their role moving forward.  Another pressing matter is the issue behind the plate.  I don't even wanna get into it about Mathis. I can't stand to watch him in the batters box.

I found myself paying more attention to baseball and the Angels more than ever this last year than in years past.  I think I credit that to the wonderful world of Twitter, being apart of the Angles Family and following a lot of significant people connected to the Angels as well as listening to sports talk radio every time I am in the car.  I am sure my wife Brooke loved it when we would have to get in the car to go somewhere during an Angels game and the first thing I did was change the station to AM830.  If i wasn't listening  or watching the games I would be getting updates on my phone. I would let her know if the Angels won that day or lost. She loves to go to the BIG A sporting her Angels shirt.  She constantly teases me about my signed Tim Salmon baseball I got this year and we get a good laugh about it.  I will have to post pictures about that soon and recap what happened, but it is a very cool story that I will never forget and will tell my whole life.

Anyways... This blog post ended up being much longer than I expected and I added a few subjects that  weren't really on my mind until I started typing.  I am looking forward to next season already with enthusiasm and passion. GO HALOS!