Ervin Santana was undefeated in three tries against the Rays at home in his career. His ERA was something like 1.22 over that brief span. Last night, the Rays turned their fortunes against El Rosario, and I'm sure you're not shocked to find out that the bats weren't there to back him up. In the end, the Rays battered the Angels 10-3, sending us to a 62-65 record and a 10 game deficit on the Rangers (1.5 back of Oakland now). It was the same old broken record, as Mike Scioscia has been saying, as the Angels couldn't recover after giving up the big inning.
The pluses:
+Hideki Matsui went 3 for 5 with a RBI on his "double double" (as Jeff Biggs put it) with Hunter. Godzilla's ground rule double was one of the highlights for me.
+Howie Kendrick went yard to tie his career high in HR and RBI. A quiet little okay season for HK-47.
+Kohn Head and Shields combined for 1.67 innings of shutout work in the 'pen.
+Second-time-out reliever Jordan Walden hit 101 MPH on the radar gun to get the fans excited.
The minuses:
-Ervin was dirt bad, going just 5.3 innings of 6 run ball (8 hits and 3 walks).
-Tito Fuentes gave up 3 big runs in the top of the ninth, and even though they were meaningless, they made me slightly happy to see BFF off to the waiver wire.
-The Angels left 12 runners on base, with Speedy Pete's 3 leading the way.
-Despite being way back, the Halos had 'em loaded in the ninth with just one out, and Matsui and Rivera just couldn't come through. Sums up the season, really.
- Abreu went 0 for 3, as his leadoff skills come crashing back down to Earth.
The Angels have never been swept by the Rays at home, and have been underway in their day game for about an hour now (it's 1:30 right now), and lead 4-1 in the third. A four run bottom of the first really helped out Danny Boy Haren (8-12, 4.52), as he looks to get another difficult to find win. Hideki Matsui cleared the bases with a nice double as the highlight of the inning. Is there a chance we might win? We'll see.
Today, I thought I could get everyone involved in the Angels name game. If you read the blog, you know I like to toss out nicknames for everyone. Usually I adopt the Doug "No need for a nickname" Fister format, for example, but there are a number of other ways nicknames surface on the blog. What I'll do today is give my 3 top nicknames for every player on the Halos 25 man roster, and you can vote on your favorite one (or write one in), and I'll use the winners for the rest of the season. I'll try and explain the nicknames as well.
We'll start with pitchers:
-Trevor Bell: 1) Bozo Bell (based on his grandfather being the original "Bozo the Clown"), 2) TB (not only his initials, but also a rough disease), and 3) Trevor Hollyweird (reflecting his North Hollywood roots).
-Brian Fuentes: 1) Tito Fuentes (a nickname made by Torii Hunter to reference Tito Puente), 2) BFF (not only his initials, but also a way of showing he's our best friend forever...don't ever change), and 3) El Mostachio (referencing his ugly nose neighbor).
-Dan Haren: 1) The Chessmaster (his way of pitching as described by Mark Grace), 2) Danny Boy (I just think it's cute), and 3) DH (his initials, and a position he'll never play).
-Kevin Jepsen: 1) Jeps (obvious), 2) Big Country (mostly because he's a big white guy who kind of throws a country fastball...no, it's just because he's a big white guy), and 3) Big Bronzey (a nod to his 2008 Bronze medal in the Olympics).
-Scott Kazmir: 1) The Kazmanian Devil (my original nickname for him with obvious origins), 2) Kaz-berries (a reference to him not having big enough balls to win games, and sometimes a Super Troopers reference, which I hate), and 3) Pussy (I don't know, I used it before his last game against Lackey, and it kind of stuck).
-Michael Kohn: 1) Kohn Head (an obvious SNL reference), 2) The Bullpen Savior (provided by Halos Heaven), and 3) Kohner (not sure, but it rhymes with boner, and even though I'm mature, that makes me laugh).
-Fernando Rodney: 1) Sweat-nando Rodney (based on his sweat problem), 2) F-raud (a reference to "F-Rod," but showing that he sucked when he gave up a grand slam earlier in the year to Boston, which I'll never forget), and 3) Mud Butt (well, I really only use the first one, but he used to be on the Mud Hens in the minors, and I laughed when I said it).
-Francisco Rodriguez: 1) Hat-cisco Rodriguez (he wears his hat really low), 2) Not THAT Francisco Rodriguez (this one doesn't punch his father-in-law), and 3) The 'Cisco Kid (a nickname that never stuck for the old Frankie, so I'll try again).
-Ervin Santana: 1) El Rosario (a reference to his arm tattoo), 2) Black Magic ( a reference to having a name similar to Magic Johnson), and 3) Hooter Hubbie (he married a Hooters waitress after splitting with Ilenia).
-Scot Shields: 1) Gas Can (a reference to his awful pitching), 2) Bob Shields (his real first name is Bob), and 3) Ol' Rubber Arm (remember those days?).
-Jordan Walden: 1) J-Wal (obvious, and dumb), 2) Highway 101 (he clocked in at 101 MPH last night), and 3) Walrus (for me, it just kind of works).
-Jered Weaver: 1) Big Baby (came about after his "every fucking time" comment on the mound a couple of years ago), 2) The Caveman (he just looks like a caveman), and 3) Jered "So Easy A Caveman Can Do It" Weaver (see #2).
Now to the position players:
-Jeff Mathis: 1) Mathis-matician (I really always liked this one), 2) Jefe (a reference to his first name), and 3) 0'fer (it hurts because it's true).
-Mike Napoli: 1) Mike Crapoli (only to be used when he sucks it up), 2) Napolini (a reference to his guido heritage), and 3) MANny (Mike Anthony Napoli).
-Bobby Wilson: 1) "Booby" Wilson (he's a big dude, and it makes me giggle because his boobies do jiggle), 2) Bobby "The Pitchers Have A Low-ERA When He Catches" Wilson (an argument you here from Halo fans all the time), and 3) Just Another Floridian Catcher (a reference to him being the third catcher from Florida on our team).
-Erick Aybar: 1) EA Sports (initials reference), 2) The World's Worst Leadoff Hitter (and he seemed to be, for a while), and 3) The Bunt Heard Round the World (remember when he blew that squeeze against the Sox in the playoffs?).
-Alberto Callaspo: 1) AC/DV (not only a reference to a band and his initials, but also a reference to his domestic violence case from 2007), 2) Alberto Collapse-o (only to be used if he sucks), and 3) The Venezuelan Monarch (a reference to his native land and previous team).
-Howie Kendrick: 1) HK-47 (his initials and number, and a nod to Andrei Kirilenko), 2) Howard's Kendrick (he does a lot of Howard's commercials), and 3) The Third (like me, Howie is a III).
-Brandon Wood: 1) Woody (obvious), 2) Bee4Life (a reference to him being a career minor leaguer at best), and 3) Brandon "I lost my job to Alberto Fucking Callaspo" Wood (a reference to just how bad he sucks).
-Bobby Abreu: 1) El Comedulce (I don't know where I saw this, but I like it; it means "the sweet eats"), 2) La Luche (off of his Wikipedia page, which has a sweet picture of him, and means "the fight"), and 3) BoBBy Abreu (a reference to his love of walks).
-Peter Bourjos: 1) Speedy Pete (he's a fast dude), 2) El Burro (only because before I heard his name, I thought it was pronounced "Boor-hose"; that's the downside of following the minors via the internet box scores only), and 3) PB&J (kind of an initials reference, and a damn solid lunch for so many years).
-Torii Hunter: 1) Big Game (because I loved "Big Game Hunter" on PS2), 2) Spiderman (the "regular" nickname that I'm not a huge fan of), and 3) T-Hunt (a name reference that also almost sounds like a dirty word).
-Juan Rivera: 1) Good ol' JR (a WWF reference), 2) Magic Juan'd (coined by none other than Rex Hudler), and 3) Rocky Mountain Man (a reference to the Spanish explorer by the same name who discovered those very mountains).
-Reggie Willits: 1) Lil' Willy (he's a small dude, and probably wears a small shoe, if you know what I mean), 2) Reggie Joyner (a small reference to how the crowds chanted his name for one season back in the day, similarly to my boy Wally Joyner), and 3) Eckstein in the OF (again, he's small).
-Hideki Matsui: 1) Godzilla (his "regular" nickname; also see Godzirra for the Asian pronunciation), 2) H-Dek (a mish mash of his first name), and 3) Spoony (a reference to his Japanese heritage and that hilarious attempt at a Snoopy bag).
So, I hope you enjoyed that. If you read the blog, you've probably seen most of those, but now it's your turn. You can post a comment to vote on which nicknames I should use for the remainder of the year. And, even better, give me a post filled with nicknames from your favorite teams.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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