ANGELS BASEBALL

This is exactly how I felt after watching the Angels loose a few nights ago to the Rangers. Up by a run going into the bottom of the ninth and Frieri gave up two solo home runs to lose the game. Not only did it happen once in the series but three games in a row the Rangers won it on a walk-off home run. Unbelievable. For me, as well as many other Angels fans, the season has been a huge disappointment. Another year of high expectations with an unbelievable line-up and they are still playing below .500 baseball. Injuries have been a problem all year. Pujols was never at 100% and now on the DL. Weaver was down for a significant time with a fracture in his left arm. Our starting pitching has been okay at times but struggled going deep into games putting a lot of pressure on the bullpen. The bullpen has failed miserably. The offense and defensive side of the ball is no where close to being consistent. I believe the Angels are at the bottom of the league in defensive stats, which in the past, defense has been solid, minimizing errors. Sitting near the bottom of the American League West, 14 games back and 10 games below .500 with 56 games left, I don't see any hope for the Angels to make the playoffs at this point.  Most people believe 91 wins is the special number to win the division. The Angels would have to go 43-13 to hit 91 wins. Not going to happen. Even though they are pretty much out of it, I will still watch and cheer on my Halos, but already looking forward to next year. There needs to be a lot of changes going into next year but that conversation can wait awhile. 

HOME RUN DERBY 2013

  

Yoenis Cespedes of the Oakland A's dominated the Home Run Derby in New York last night by hitting a total of 32 home runs. The guy was an absolute beast. He hit 17 alone in the first round, when no one else put up 10 or more. He didn't even need to hit in the second round to get into the final round. There was no one talking about him before the derby or picking him to win it. Most of the analysts on ESPN were picking Prince Fielder or Chris Davis to win. Cespedes faced the young phenom, Bryce Harper in the final round. I think a lot of people were surprised at Harper's performance. It is always a special thing to see when the player's father is out there pitching.  Even though Cespedes plays for the A's in the AL West, battling for an eventual playoff spot against my Angels, it was a lot of fun watching him blast baseballs into the upper deck last night. Congrats.

 

BASEBALL SEASON

It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was listening to Game 6 of the World Series online and experiencing one of baseball's greatest games ever played by the Cardinals, but it does seem like this off season has been dragging on forever. Since the Angels acquired Pujols, the anticipation for the Angel's season to get started has increased even more than normal. Only a few more days till Opening Day 2012 and I am so stoked. There is a huge expectation for the Angel's this season based on their potential line up and starting pitching. I would not want to be an opposing pitcher going up against the Halo's. Top to bottom they are very dangerous, with speed and power. They will be able to hit the deep ball, driving in runs and increasing run support for starting pitching which is huge because that is what they struggled with last season. Every thing about the Angels and their potential for this season gets me excited. As long as the bullpen can do their job and close out games, the Angels are the favorite in the West.

Not sure if I will make it out the Big A this Friday, but you know I will be watching the game some where.

Go HALOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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!

BEST GAME EVERRRRRRR!!!!

Game 6 of the World Series in 2011 could and most likely be argued as one of the greatest games played in MLB history.  Amazing, unbelievable, incredible are only a few words to describe the unforgettable victory by the St. Louis Cardinals.  If you weren't glued to the television somewhere, listening intently  to the radio like I was last night, I am sure you have heard about the what happened.  Cardinals were down by 3 at one point in the game and came back to tie, then were down by 2, two different times with the Rangers one strike away from being the World Series Champs and the Cards were able to score, making the game even. I n the top of 11th inning St. Louis was able to hold Texas, not allowing a run and taking advantage in the bottom of the 11th with a walk-off home run.  Game 6 wasn't pretty defensively for either team, but the game was sure exciting with costly errors, wacky managerial moves, clutch base hits and crushing home runs.  The Rangers thought they had put the game away twice and the Cardinals refused to lose and give up.  This game will forever be remember by all baseball fans, being talked about as one of the greatest baseball games ever.