Take a look at the above picture of the 2002 World Series winning Angels. As of yesterday, not a single player from that glorious roster is with the squad. We'll get into that a little later, as we need to start with the business of our 1-6 loss to the Indians at home last night.
Bobby Cassevah was the only September callup to see action in yesterday's 5 run loss to the Indians. Trumbo, Conger, Franny, and Palmer all watched the sadness from the bench. And, why? I don't get not playing them. Trevor Bell had a fairly nice outing, just not long enough. Ding Dong went 5.3 innings of 2 run ball, but walked 3, and was removed after Pronk hit a top of the wall jack that got reviewed...forever. Then, Francisco Rodriguez decided to come in and make me look like an idiot for saying he was our best reliever of the year. He forgot how to find the strike zone, loaded the bases, and promptly gave up a grand slam to some joker named Lou Marson. Marson, the Indians #9 hitter, is hitting just .190 on the season. Pa-freaking-thetic. The only offense the increasingly whimpy Angels bats could muster was Torii Hunter's solo bomb up over the trees and onto the batter's eye. I waited and waited, hoping to get a chance to see Trumbo or Conger step in. What a disappointment.
The minuses:
-Torii tried to steal third AGAIN, in a situation where it wouldn't have helped, and got punked AGAIN. That's 5 out of 8 tries for third base where he's made an out. STOP IT!
-Napoli, Kendrick, Rivera, Aybar, and Callaspo were a combined 0 for 16 with 5 Ks.
-Steals: Zero. Caught stealing: Two.
-Hat-cisco was epically bad. 0.0 IP, 2 hits, 2 BB, 4 ER.
-Shields may be done forever, as he came out with an arm injury, and his contract ends at the end of the month (practically).
The pluses:
+Torii Hunter's homerun was pretty rad.
+Trevor Bell looked pretty good again, despite getting his pitch count up there quick.
+Cassevah, Shields, Kohn, and Thompson shut the Indians out after the grand slam allowed by Francisco. Thompson was especially good with 2 shutout innings (showing off for his brand new baby).
+Reggie Willits went 3 for 3 with a walk at the top of the order, to continue to quietly do very well at the end of the year.
+Matsui won't get any love, but he went 2 for 4 again. He's up and down, but overall I think we've gotten what we paid for.
With 11 losses in our last 15 games, the Halos are now 66-73. We're still 9.5 back of the Rangers (despite their continued attempted collapse) and 2.5 back of Oakland. Tonight, with the series finale against the Indians at home, the Halos will try to avoid being swept in Anaheim by the AL Central club for the first time since 1999. If I had to guess, I'd say we're headed to sweeps-ville. Scott "Pussie" Kazmir (8-13, 6.19) takes the mound for my boys. He's lost his last 7 home games with a 6.81 ERA. In his last three starts against the Indians, he's 0-1 with an 11.20 ERA. And, the guy who is ready to be handed an easy win is...Josh Tomlin (3-3, 4.14). He beat Seattle his last time out with 6 innings of 3 run ball, and the rookie is primed to probably beat us as well. Can we at least see Trumbo and Conger in action tonight? Please?!
We have an update in Torii's Angels Triple Crown Race:
Big Game Hunter: .293 average (1st), 21 jacks (2nd, just 1 back of Naps), and 74 RBI (tied w/ Hideki for first).
Remember, it's kind of a big deal, as Vlad was the last one to do it, kind of way back (I posted it before, but it's either '03 or '04).
After the game, the Angels announced that our good friend Robb "The Extra B is for Bounced" Quinlan has been released from the team after 12 years overall with the organization. That, combined with Scot Shields injuring himself (most likely) for the season in the final year of his contract, means that there are now zero players from the Angels 2002 World Series winning team on this squad. While it was bound to eventually happen, especially 8 years down the road, one has to wonder what this team would be like with Troy Glaus at third and Shawn Wooten at first. Hmmmm.....
Well, if you remember, yesterday we matched our top 9 Angel first basemen of all time with that of Sam Miller of the OC Register. Today, he graced us with his list of second basemen, and I figured, why not? Let's compare notes again.
First, here is the OCR's list of greatest second basemen in Halo history:
9. Rex Hudler
8. Sandy Alomar
7. Jerry Remy
6. Randy Velarde
5. Howie Kendrick
4. Maicer Izturis
3. Bobby Knoop
2. Adam Kennedy
1. Bobby Grich
And, Miller's "player most likely to join the list in the future":
Jean Segura
Now, much like his firstbasemen list, a number of things jump out at me before I even look up any stats. Some surprising names are Rex Hudler (that Rex Hudler?), Howie (he's my favorite current Halo, but is he ALREADY the Angels 5th best 2 bagger of all time?), Ma$e (is he even full time enough to be considered on the list, and you have him at 4?), and Adam Kennedy (three home runs in the ALCS makes his shoot up the charts like Spiezio yesterday). Also, as you know, I consider myself a pretty big MiLB guy, and if you read the blog this season, you got constant updates of the up and comers. I can safely say that I've never even heard of Jean Segura. To say that he'll be the starting 2B for the Angels in 2013 is just flat out absurd. First off, Howie will be the starting 2B in 2013. Second off, he has guys like Alexi Amarista, Nate Sutton, and Abel Nieves ahead of him. All of these guys are likely to be up with the club playing second base ahead of Segura. So he hit .313 in low-A Cedar Rapids this year, calm down. Once he starts moving up the ranks and still producing at that level, then we can talk. But if you were just trying to go out on a limb with a MiLB guy, how do you not take Amarista, who everyone seems to love? Again, losing respect for you daily, Miller.
Alright, much like yesterday, I want to get a pool of Angels second baseman to pick from. As with my 1B list, the player should have been a primary player at the position for the majority of at least one year to be considered one of our greatest of all time. Here are some guys we can consider based on number of games started for the Angels at 2B:
Bobby Grich, Adam Kennedy, Bobby Knoop, Sandy Alomar, and Jerry Remy.
Hey! Miller actually got all of the top 5 starters (in terms of games played at 2B) on his list! Much better than yesterday, buddy. Now, we'll increase the pool (as much as I want to) using the primary starters at 2B going back in time:
Howie Kendrick, Adam Kennedy, Randy Velarde, Justin Baughman, Luis Alicea, Damion Easley, Harold Reynolds, Johnny Ray, Mark McLemore, Bobby Grich, Jerry Remy, Sandy Alomar, and Bobby Knoop.
Some items of note would be that Baseball Reference never considers Maicer Izturis or Rex Hudler to be primary 2B for the Angels, and that the Halos have had 19 primarily starting second baseman in their 50 year history, three less than firstbase. Now, much the same as yesterday, we will weigh out the WAR (again, the all encompassing stat du jour) for each of the 12 players in the pool while they were with the Angels (both total and average/season), and mix that with my own subjective feelings to create my top 9.
Kendrick's Total WAR: 8.6
Kendrick's Average WAR: 1.72
Kennedy's Total WAR: 17.9
Kennedy's Average WAR: 2.56
Velarde's Total WAR: 5.2
Velarde's Average WAR: 1.73
Baughman's Total WAR: -0.3
Baughman's Average WAR: -0.15
Alicea's Total WAR: 2.8
Alicea's Average WAR: 2.8
Easley's Total WAR: 0.5
Easley's Average WAR: 0.1
Reynolds' Total WAR: -0.9
Reynolds' Average WAR: -0.9
Ray's Total WAR: 4.3
Ray's Average WAR: 1.08
McLemore's Total WAR: 0.2
McLemore's Average WAR: 0.04
Grich's Total WAR: 35
Grich's Average WAR: 3.5
Remy's Total WAR: 6.6
Remy's Average WAR: 2.2
Alomar's Total WAR: 5.4
Alomar's Average WAR: 0.9
Knoop's Total WAR: 10.4
Knoop's Average WAR: 1.73
Now that the objective data is laid out, I'll mix it with my subjective memories deep in my mind (not bore you with them in type), and bring you the official LSF Top 9 Angel 2B of All Time:
9. Sandy Alomar
8. Johnny Ray
7. Howie Kendrick
6. Randy Velarde
5. Bobby Knoop
4. Jerry Remy
3. Adam Kennedy
2. Luis Alicea
1. Bobby Grich
Once again, I have learned some things about myself while putting the list together (two days in a row!). I had the same 1 and 6 as Miller, but more differences than our 1B list comparison. I'm also surprised with myself that HK-47 made the list so soon in his career, and I'm hoping that his numbers will get him to at least #2 some day. And how about AK #3, eh? And finally, my player most likely to make the list in the future:
Alexi Amarista, as I foreshadowed earlier in the post.
I hope you enjoyed another thrilling post full of lists. Now, let's avoid that sweep, eh Kaz-berries?
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
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