More Trade Deadline Dealings

Los Doyers were active again at the trading deadline this year, acquiring Ted Lilly, Ryan Theriot and a grip of cash for Blake DeWitt and two seemingly average minor league pitchers.

While there are plenty of people in the Dodger community that are pleased with this deal, I'm not so sure it's really much of anything.

Lilly has to be considered an improvement over Monasterios, Ely, McDonald or whomever else you were going to throw out there in the 5th slot. But he is not a dealbreaker. And while I'm not sold that Oswalt was even of that calliber either, there's an argument that the Dodgers don't really need a starting pitcher.

Our offense right now is abysmal, everyone knows that. Theriot is hardly a spark, especially considering DeHitt (is this the last time I get to write that?) has been above average at getting on base. And though Theriot is not why this deal was done, it stands as a point of concern.

Theriot is going to be much more expensive that DeWitt going forward and surely he is not locked up until 2014 under team control - in fact, he's only locked up for 2010, with two arbitration years ahead.

With the way Monasterios has been decent and Ely has been at times great, at times serviceable, rarely bad, adding Lilly to supplant them seems like a move only someone believing in grisled, old veterans would make.

If the Dodgers felt they needed a new starting pitcher, I felt like they should have gone after a guy that can at least pitch for you next year, like Paul Maholm (who also has a team option for 2012, though I heard the world is ending then). Lilly is much better than Maholm, but hear me out. As of right now the only Dodger starting pitchers currently in the rotation under team control for next year are Kershaw and Billingsley. That is scary.

Padilla could return on another one year deal and Kuroda could possibly also come back (though some rumors are that he would like to return to Japan), so maybe they'd be fine, but you can't count on that. Now you cannot count on Lilly, either. Though he'd be a type A free agent, he comes with a high price tag if you offer him arbitration, and we all know the Dodgers' feelings about spending money these days.

So this deal is not that exciting and does not address the Dodgers biggest concern area. Oh well, I hope Lilly reverts to being a glimpse of his old self instead of the roller coaster he's been this year or that he can fall in line with the rest of our starting pitching of late, which has been amazing. But I won't hold my breathe.

Who knows, with how many hustling white guys there are on the team (Blake, Carroll, Ethier, Johnson, half of Martin, Podsednik, and now Theriot) maybe they'll all grow beards, talk about Cowboy-ing up and win us a World Series.

Can I get you pumped for Angels v Rangers?

Considering how the Halos have been doing as of late, it seems like Angel fans are more excited by the prospect of unloading dead weight before the trade deadline than the action on the field taking place this weekend. Despite that, I'm going to do my best to get you pumped up for three days that could change the race (for better or for worse).

Why should we care?

We're 52-52, 9 games back of the squad coming in to spend the weekend, and we've played to a run differential of -23 this year. As of late, we're in the middle of a 4 game losing streak, have gone 2-8 over our previous 10, and we simply haven't been able to produce any kind of offense. So, why should we care? Well, for starters, we have 10 games remaining against Texas this year, we have our three best (and three only?) starters slated to lead us in the series, and the Rangers are only 3 games over .500 away from Arlington. Doesn't it seem like we're due? I think so. This three game series will be a huge deciding factor on how fans approach the remaining 55 games after this weekend is all said and done.

Do we actually still have a chance to win the West?

Well, not that I'm saying this is going to be a historical finish or anything, but there are plenty of teams who have come back from worse situations than this: The 1969 Mets trailed by 10 games on August 14 and came back to win, the 1973 Mets trailed by 11.5 on August 5 and came back to take the division, the 1973 Reds trailed by 11 on July 1 and came back to win, the 1978 Yankees trailed by 14 on July 20 and came back, the 1989 Blue Jays went 38-45 before posting an impressive 12 week display of 51-28 to go from 6th in the 7 team East to division champs, the 1993 Braves were down by 10 on July 23 and stormed back to win, and (we don't need to be reminded that) the 1995 Seattle Mariners were 13 back of us on August 3 and came back to take it. There are seven examples, and realitively recent ones at that, of teams making improbable comebacks to win their divsions against all odds. So, I ask, why not us? This team had some really fun to watch streaks of good play earlier on, and it could happen again just like that.

Okay, but what about those trades?

Sure, the bankrupt Rangers continue to work deals for upgrades despite not being able to pay deferred money to former players, but should we be worried? Cliff Lee, Bengie Molina, and Jorge Cantu are all nice pieces to add, but who cares? The Halos have added Dan Haren and Alberto Callaspo (again) and may not be finished. Varying reports have us as buyers and sellers, so we'll have to wait and see. But again, we are a hot streak from Torii, Howie, and Bobby away from righting this ship.

So, who takes the mound?

Tonight it's Ervin Santana (9-7, 3.55) out to end Tommy Hunter's (8-0, 2.31) stellar season. Last time he pitched in Anaheim (last year), Hunter allowed 7 runs in 2.67 innings in an 11-0 Halo win. Meanwhile, El Rosario has a 1.75 ERA in his last three starts, including beating Texas his last time out.

Saturday's game two features newbie Dan Haren (7-9, 4.57) going against Scott "Kazmir" Feldman (5-9, 5.46). Texas fans don't understand why Feldman is still a part of the rotation, and meanwhile the un-injurable Dan Haren looks ready to earn his first win in Angels gear. This has to be the lock of the series for us.

Sunday, we see an August Fool's Day battle between Jered "Big Baby" Weaver (9-7, 3.19) and Cliff Lee (9-4, 2.40). The aces will battle it out in the final game of the series, and no matter what happens in the first two games, a win against Cliff Lee could be enough to turn this team around.

What are the possible outcomes we face on Sunday at 4:00 pm?

We sweep: Back by 6.
Win 2 of 3: Back by 8.
Lose 2 of 3: Back by 10.
They sweep: Sleep in and get ready for football season (aka, 12 GB).

Does anyone on the Angels actually stand a chance of breaking out offensively this weekend?

You know, I don't see how Torii Hunter's post-All Star slump can stay this bad for much longer. Our Pine Bluff, AR native is hitting .208 since the Midsummer Classic with just 1 homerun and 2 RBI. He's only managed to get on base 13 times in 51 PAs (a pathetic .255 OBP). He got rested on Wednesday, and had to watch the Fernando Rodney debacle from the bench. It was billed as a rest day to help him reset before the huge weekend clash. As Torii's bat goes, so goes the Angels, and it's hard for me to believe that he's going to keep up the badness much longer. There isn't a much better time to turn it around than this weekend. 

Well, make some predictions, you wuss!

Alright, alright. The Halos will take 2 out of 3 (with an outside chance to sweep). That's right, I'm still that delusional. I guarantee Haren wins against Feldman on Saturday, and we'll take either game one or game three as well (for Jered Weaver's sanity, I hope it's game 3). That would leave us 8 back with 55 to go (and 7 more with Texas). Look, you can hate on me all you want, I'm just not ready to give up yet.

Is there anything else interesting happening in the LSF baseball world this weekend?

Well, despite being 53-49, Andrew's Blue Jays head into their weekend series with the Indians 12.5 back in the East. I think there is a strong sweep chance for Toronto in this one. Meanwhile, B and J's Doyers are 7 back in the division but just 3.5 back in the Wildcard, and get three with San Francisco this weekend. The rivalry series will be a big one, with both squads fighting to pick up games on the unlikely Friars.

Now, as we often do after an Angels off day, it's time for a quick trip around the minors.

Bees- SLC put a 5 spot on the board last night to beat Portland 5-4. Starter, and former Quake standout, Fernando Rodriguez went 7 innings allowing 3 earned, and punching out 6 in the win. He's now 3-4 with a 5.48 ERA, and was followed by another strong inning (and save) from Matt Palmer (possibly coming back up?). Going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI was SS Luis Figueroa, who is hitting .337 with the Bees this season (20 RBI in 20 games). He was joined by multi-hit games from Mumbo Trumbo, McAnulty, and 2B and former Gamecock Drew "Tow" Mayer.

Travs- Arkansas bounced back with a 4-0 shutout win over Springfield yesterday. Stuttgart, Germany native Mike Anton went 7.3 innings of 2 hit shutout work to really show off some stuff. It was a significantly better effort than his 5-7, 4.06 numbers would lead you to expect. Ismael Carmona (2-2, 2.88) was awesome in relief, going 1.67 IP of 1 hit shutout work. RF and UMass grad Nick Gorneault went 3 for 4 with a run scored to lead the offense, and he's smacking at a .417/3/8 smack in his last 8, since coming down from AAA. Going 2 for 3 with a BB and a RBI was LF Jeremy Moore, who improved to .301/8/42 on the season for the Travs.

Quakes- Rancho completed a sweep of the San Jose Giants last night with a 5-3 win. Orangel Arenas (best name going in the Halo franchise right now?) impressed in his start, going 6 innings of 3 run ball. He's now 5-1 with a 4.96 ERA since coming up from low-A (where he was 4-5 with a 2.01 ERA). SS and Panama City native Kevin Ramos led the offense going 2 for 3 with 2 RBI, despite having a lowly .186 BA across three MiLB levels this season (.251 OBP). Joining him with a solid offensive front was RF Angel Castillo and his 2 for 4 with 2 runs and a RBI game. Castillo is now hiting .256/13/53/ over 92 games with the 909 this year. 

Let's get back in this thing over the weekend, Halos.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

"Weekly" football post #73.

*Welcome to a day of preview posts. We'll start by previewing a big weekend for my favorite footie clubs, and later today (if my light work schedule continues) we'll get as pumped up as we can for the weekend Angels/Rangers series.

Newcastle United- At 1-1 on their preseason tests thus far, the Magpies roll into their only preseason home match this weekend. After our 1-2 loss to Norwich, combined with the fact that we'll be at St. James, you can imagine that the Toon will be shipping out their top flight players, looking to impart a little hope and excitement to the Mag Faithful; not only for the aforementioned reasons, but also because the bad guys, PSV Eindhoven, are a high powered squad. The Peasants are the high flying Dutch squad who have won their league a whopping 20 times, and in the first half of last season under their new coach they didn't lose a single game (league, National Cup, Eurpoa League). Despite a frustrating second half, the Red/White Army managed to hang on for third place in their League Table. We'll have to watch out for Balázs Dzsudzsák and Ola Toivonen who scored 14 and 13 netters respectively last season in league play (good enough for 6th and 9th in the league). So, who will we play to match up with these Dutch punks? Well, Dutchman Tim Krul will most likely see the action between the pipes, with Steve Harper still hurting and needing time to recover before the Premier League starts. Krul knows how these guys think, and he may be the key to stopping the Dutch onslaught! Newbie Sol Campbell may get a short bid on the pitch, but his fitness at this point is being questioned, so he may be held. James Perch should be getting back out there after missing a game, and Jonas Gutierrez may get his first preseason cap. Interestingly enough, Nile Ranger, Vuckic, and Ryan Donaldson are all playing with the Toon reserves tonight, and thus will probably be out tomorrow. We'll need big efforts from Kein Nolan, Shola, Xisco, Carroll, and Enrique to make a difference against PSV this weekend. Ball 'em up lads!

Celtic FC- The 0-3 loss to Braga in the first leg of the Champs Qualifier earlier this week has tainted all chatter about my SPL club in the "real" media. "Second class," "Lucky to sniff top 5 in the SPL," and "A second rate team from a third rate league," have all be heard around the internet lately. But, rally Celt fans! As I stated in the review of the embarrassing defeat, we seem to be a team that has trouble sniffing any good fortune on Champs away test (maybe because we didn't play Fortune...hm), and although it was disappointing, I'm not sure that says too much about the quality of this team or our league. It wasn't long ago when everyone was talking about the push for Celtic to join the top flight likes of the EPL (although preseason work against Man U may have squashed that hope from ever happening), and now we've all decided that Celtic is a worthless team in a worthless league? Please. Stand up and unite with hope, fellow Bhoys fans! Well, this weekend we have two matches for the Celts to try and turn the tide of public opinion. The first of the two preseason friendlies will be against the French side Lyon. Now, Lyon is a solid team, and should contend for the Ligue 1 title this year. Add to that the fact that Neil Lennon may want to rest some of his big guns in anticipation of the second leg battle with Braga, as he hopes for a crazy home effort, and what you get is a team that may lose big to Lyon. And, what you need to do is not worry about it! With Paddy McCourt sticking around, Samaras, and Fortune up front, and Zaluska manning the pipes, we're still going to be the class of the SPL this year, and this friendly with Lyon is of no matter other than to gauge our fitness. Rangers will not win again once the real matches start, mark my words. Now, the Aiden McGeady situation isn't so nice. McGeady, a long time Celt and LSF fav, is pretty much gone after getting sat against Braga. Lennon is saying it was due to injury, but that's dubious. Moscow has put in a bid, and it's probably only a matter of time. Following Lyon, we battle Arsenal the very next day (they play AC Milan on the day we play Lyon). I know I've been calling these two games friendlies, but they are really the Emirates Cup (not that this tiny four team tournament matters much), and it would be nice to put forth a good showing. Will we field the top gunners for either of the two games (say, against the Gunners, maybe)? Will we just relax prior to our final preseason battle with Braga with Champs League on the line? It'll be interesting to see. Isn't someone we know an Arsenal fan? Feck 'em!

CD Chivas USA- Big time match for my Goats this week. At 1-0-2 over their previous 3 MLS tests, El Rebaño are enjoying their longest unbeaten streak of the campaign. Last week's 1-1 draw with rivals and current champs RSL only further showed how far this team has come since their rough MLS start. While Borns will continue to sit out with his recent knee injury (can you please get fit so we can watch you play before you're off the Mexico?), Ante Jaziç has shown up in his place and done well. Not enough can be said about Dan Kennedy filling in as our keeper, and with ZTB expected to still be down with his ankle problems, my fellow Gaucho will look for an all important clean sheet against the East's top side. Giancarlo Maldonado has finally started to look as if he is connecting with his mates a little more effectively, but he and the middies need to look for the open Braun streaking in on goal. We missed two huge chances for Braun to attack last week, and we can't pass that up again (not only do we miss a chance to score, but he might get pissed and go off to Europe). Being home at the HDC in front of the home fans will be an added bonus for a team clearly moving forward. FS-Prime Ticket will be bringing us the video feed, so we'll see it all from first kick to final whistle, and hopefully we'll see a Chivas team ready to score early and defend well. The last time these two teams met, which was also the last time Bornstein and Kljestan played together if you can believe it, ZTB held strong until Columbus got a 90th minute penalty kick to win the game. You know revenge has to be on the minds of the Red & White after a cheap defeat like that. Predicted starting 11 (4-4-2): Dan Kennedy, Ante Jaziç, Yamith Cuesta, Michael Umaña, Dario Delgado, Rodolfo Espinoza, Blair Gavin, Paulo Nagamura, Jesus Padilla, Justin Braun, Giancarlo Maldonado. ¡Arriba las Chivas!

Enjoy the weekend, soccer fans.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Celtic made to look foolish by Braga.

*For those of you new to the blog, especially those clicking over from Halos Heaven, realize that we blog on all of the favorite teams of the four authors here at LSF. If you're looking for Angels stuff, scroll down to see my post on the recent sweep at the hand of Boston. But enjoy the other stuff too, it's fun.

Wow, that was really, really bad. Neil Lennon's first match that mattered as the skipper at Celtic went off yesterday, a Champions League qualifier first leg battle with Portugal's Braga, and it didn't go well. While I know that Braga is no joke, a 0-3 loss in a Champ's League test is really just unacceptable. Not to mention the turmoil created by Lennon sitting Aiden McGeady out. Four starters made their competitive Celt debut as Korea's Cha Du-Ri, Mexico's Efrain Juarez, newbie Joe Ledley, and Charlie Mulgrew got the call, but they surely didn't make any friends among Bhoy supporters. 

I'll take the time to thank You Tube for extensive highlights of the game.

The goal of the away/first leg game was to at least steal an away goal. That way, even if you allow two in, you're still okay coming back home for the second half. Celtic opened with possession, although were not able to convert their possession to an actual chance on target. Then in the 24th, the tables turned. Chasing an attack, the ball rolled up on Cha Du-Ri and right into his forearm, leading the assistant to raise the flag. The penalty, as Du-Ri was in the box, was easily converted into the upper right corner, and despite Zaluska's protests, gave the home team the lead. I think our goalie was protesting because it looked like Braga had two different players running forward on the set up of the kick. I'm not sure that's legal, and I think our Polish keeper agrees. I know you can on a free kick, but not on a penalty, right? Scott Brown had a chance ring off the post in the 37th, but he was flagged offside, so that wouldn't have mattered. The hot hot Portugese heat slowed the play down in the first 45, and we escaped okay, only 1 back.

Braga, however, opened the second half on point. In the 74th, after Zaluska was forced to clear a ball out, Braga would make good on their corner. The kick missed all heads and came down to the feet of an unmarked Braga player, who easily kicked the ball slowly past our keeper. That was a frustrating goal, because it was ugly. Now down by 2, it was time for my neon yellow and black striped squad to at least get one to tickle the twine. That, though, didn't happen. Not too far off, newcommer Charlie Mulgrew sent a nice ball in from 40 out, but the Braga keeper batted it away from danger. Then, awarded a free kick after a horrible challenge, Braga would complete their coup of my Sligo side. From 35 yards out, Braga's Matheus sent in a stunning free kick that curled just out of Zaluska's diving reach. That was the one that made us look like clowns. Down 0-3 after the first 90 of this 180 minute battle, Lennon's club is in trouble.

So, now we're hearing it from A) all Rangers fans and B) Premmie fans who like to hate on the SPL. It's really just another example of the Hoops inability to perform in Champs League road tests, and it's nothing new for the Glasgow faithful. While it's nothing new, you still had to be hoping for better. Neil is telling us that the battle to get to the group stage still isn't over. I love the guy, but it's tough to take a rose colored comment like that seriously.

Celtic busted out in the 4-5-1, and let's see what went wrong.

G- Zaluska: Really, two of the goals couldn't be stopped (all three, in my honest opinion, but definitely two). He's our man between the pipes, and he's not the reason we fell.

D- Cha, Loovens, Hooiveld, Mulgrew: I think we've all kind of come to terms with Mulgrew not being the amazing pick up we hoped he would be, but the defense was poor in this game. Granted O'Dea was nursing an injury, and that made a difference, but there were unmarked guys getting in like mad. But, take away the Cha handie, and they look a lot better.

M- Maloney, Ki, Juarez, Brown, and Ledley: 5 in the middle, instead of 2 up front was a little odd. Fortune on the bench and Samaras left to create on his own was baffling. I called on Brown, Maloney, Ki, and Ledley as my four (with Aiden McGeady possibly out), and that happened with the addition of Juarez. I think Juarez will be key to this team, be it as a starter or a sub, but he'll certainly have to play better than he did last night.

F- Samaras: Our Gorgeous Greek was left all alone up front, and I'm not sure if that wasn't just a little stupid. Plus, he played the whole game in that crazy heat, instead of subing him out when the game was clearly lost. What gives, Lennon? Still, Samaras is going to be a hero again this year, as we all know. 

The Hoops now have two friendly matches to figure things out before needing a three goal outbursts at home in the second leg with Braga. We'll see Lyon on Saturday before getting into some serious fisticuffs with Arsenal on Sunday (a little split squad weekend, perhaps?). Lennon needs to put together what he wants this team to look like, and he needs to do it quickly. Bhoy fans aren't interested in finishing second to the Protties from Rangers again.

Perhaps the seventh signing of the offseason, 22 year old middie Beram Kayal from Israel will help out? Keep 'em coming. Although, I must admit his photo shoot for the official Celtic website was a little (insert vacuum cleaner sound effect).

Hail! Hail!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Reactions to the Podsednik Trade

So as has been the talk of the town, the Dodgers followed up a very good Angels trade (does Piniero going down make this even better? Well, at least more timely.) for a piece they believe they also needed.

The Dodgers sent Lucas May, a AAA catcher, and Elisaul Pimentel, a 22 year old A ball hurler, to the Royals for Mr Scott Podsednik. And though I applaud them for doing their best to make the Dodgers roster look like that of Tommy and my MLB 2004 Fantasy Draft Brewers (Mike Sweeney absolutely raked for us), reactions around the web are split.

The people who like the trade think that neither of these guys will amount to anything - citing May not having capable defense to catch every day in the bigs and Pimentel being a long way away, if that day is even slated, so it's not really anything to give up. Another very good point is that this theoretically reduces Garrett Anderson at bats, which would be great.

The detractors' best point is probably that we are sacrificing depth at catcher while also giving up an improving pitching prospect - and it's hard to really prognosticate on his future.

Even if neither of these two minor leaguers amount to anything in the bigs, it might not be the smartest trade at this time. I know, our left field spot is barren, so the GA thing is beneficial (plus Xavier Paul has not been good, though much more serviceable than Anderson), but the major worry is catcher.

Russell Martin was injured at the end of spring training and some believe that he's never fully recovered. Don't look to his numbers for any proof opposite, he's been bad. Maybe not catcher bad, but production (especially considering his price tag) and for his career bad. Plus, I'm just never confident when he is batting.

Should he get injured, or it comes out he's been injured for a while, we're back to the A. J. Ellis experiment (there's no way they start Ausmus every day, right?) with no backup. Maybe it's a small point to pick, but it could get even scarier behind the plate.

Nevertheless, Podsednik came cheap (both what they gave up and how much he costs) and is not a bad piece off the bench (though he will likely start a bunch with Manny still down). Though I did like the title on Truebluela's initial trade piece, he has to be at least a little better than JP, right?

Playing the blame game: Fernando Rodney.

Wow. What the heck is going on? Yesterday may have finally been proof that God has turned his back on the Angels. La Piñata appeared to be our big hope to avoid this sweep, and he goes down for the season with an oblique injury in the pregame. Scot Shields gets the emergency start, and Halo fans dream of him making a return to being the Rubber Arm of old, and he gets lifted in the second after two jacks and loading the bases. Then, somehow, the bullpen holds it together and we seem like we're in it, and 2011 closer Fernando Rodney basically says, "Wait, we're supposed to lose," and hands the game to Boston. It's just another Halo defeat, 3-7 at the hands of the Beantown Bastards (who love cargo pants, I am led to believe) and it's just another reason 909'ers everywhere are jumping in their jacked up trucks with Fox Racing stickers on the back, and driving off the bandwagon.

I think if we weren't so bad lately, this would be an easy loss to shrug off because how could we stand a chance with our bullpen pitching the entire game? But, since we're all in a bad mood, we are kind of like, "How could the Angels not win this?" But seriously, come on! Losing Joel Piñero couldn't have come at a worse time. We're planning on rolling with the 4 man rotation as a way of getting a fire lit under this team, and bam! Are we going to roll 3 now, or is it "enter: Matt Palmer" time again? I'll be honest, I was day dreaming that Shields would go like 6 innings of 2 run ball, and kind of find himself with this emergency start. Well, I got the 2 runs right (thanks mostly to Hat-Cisco Rodriguez), but my IP were a bit off. Gas Can made it just 1.67 innings before getting lifted thanks to second inning ding a lings to Beltre and Hall and then loading the bases. Luckily for Shieds and his already obese ERA, Francisco Rodriguez came in and did the only hope inspiring thing of the game. Not only did he get us out of the jam he came into the game with, but he hurled 2.3 innings of 3 hit shutout ball. He was followed up by Rich "Put Another Shrimp on the Barbie" Thompson giving us an underrated 3 innings of 1 run stuff. At this point, we were all thinking, oh man, we still have a chance. Then, Mr. Sweaty himself, Fernando "Like My Change?" Rodney comes in against the bottom of the lineup and all hell breaks loose. He walks Hermida. He walks Hall. He sees an infield single at Callaspo pulled off by Pattetson. With former Chokeland A Marco Scutaro (do we like "scoot-a-row" or "scoo-tar-o?"), I'm still pulling for a double play, or at least a hard throwing punch out. Instead, Scoots sees a straight change, and blasts the eventual game winner into the seats. After the game on Angel Talk, you even had LSF fav Jeff Biggs calling out Rodney for the pathetic mound work. Then Biggs gave us all a chill up our spine when he said Fernando is our most likely closer for next year. I'd rather bring Percy out of retirement (ah, the memories). In all seriousness, if you read the blog, you know I've tried to point out Rodney's good performances that seem to go unnoticed, and in the grand scheme of things blowing this inning isn't that big of a deal. But it wasn't just that he blew it, it was how he blew it, and I think that's what Biggsie was saying. You just don't walk the bottom of the lineup. Throw some strikes, and let Hermida beat you far and square.

P.S. Kohn giving Ortiz his 4th K of the game was fun. Maybe he can sign up for closer if Tito leaves?

Of course, the offense still wasn't anything to write home about (or, to write on a blog about, for that matter). Did anyone elese feel like we were a boxer past our prime? Punchout after punchout (2 points for cross sports reference!). 9 Ks in all, Ma$e, Napolini, and Wilson getting 2 a piece. It was tough to watch. But really, when you have Aybar, Maicer, Abreu, and Matusi all go 0'fer in a game against the Red Sox, and Hunter gets a day off to rest before the Rangers series (even though he may have gone 0'fer too, the way he's been going lately), you just aren't going to win. The Reggie Willits and Bobby Wilsons of the world aren't going to lead this team back to the division lead. Sadly, it doesn't seem like the Hunters, Howies, or Abreus will either. Even though it didn't really matter, former fan favorite Reggie Willits did have a fantastic offensive day and deserves to be noticed, going 2 for 3 with a RBI and a run scored. Will the crowd be chanting his name once again? 

Hm. Maybe another closed door meeting would help, eh, Scioscia?

One positive we can take from yesterday was the Oakland 3-1 win over Texas. So, since I didn't think we were out of it in my last post, I still don't think we're out of it today! Do I? At 52-52, we are a .500 team once again with 58 games to go (110-52?). 8.5 back from Texas, we stand alone in third place, smelling the fumes of an Oakland team walking slightly ahead of us. Good news is that we could be just an even 8 back around 8:15 tonight, if Vin Mazzaro (the name of Doogie Howser's Italian buddy?) can keep up the good work against CJ Wilson (actually Doog's bud was Vinnie Delpino, but I was close). Then, all bets are off for the weekend series between the Red Hats and Tejas. I usually try to make bold predictions, but I'll pass this time. We have Ervin, Haren, and Weaver as our pitching probables (unless we suffer another injury akin to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant's softball team), and I'd say that gives us a great chance...to lose 3 games 0-1. Just kidding, Halo fans. Hold you head up this weekend. Let's get us some.

Before I sign off, I just want to address one other thing I heard on Angels Talk (often a great way to gain insight into the "average" Angel fan's thoughts). In between calls suggesting a Prince Fielder for Brandon Wood and Scott Kazmir swap (okay, even I'd pull the trigger on that one) and a lady calling to simply say "I still support this team no matter what" (no one cares, Lynn on the 91 East), we had a caller suggest that our outfield is too old, and there isn't anyone in the minor league system who could come up and make a difference in that spot. If you read this blog (I say that a lot, don't I?) you know that I'm a huge fan boy of the minor leagues (I'm the guy who thought we'd win the World Series when Kotch, Mathis, and McPherson were all finally starting, and actually forced my wife to choose a D-Mac t-shirt jersey when she went to buy an Adam Kennedy), and I think I've pointed out plenty of options in our MiLB outfielder pool that could make this team both younger and possibly better. So, Bill in San Clemente (I made that up), this is for you:

+Peter Bourjos: I'll go with the easiest pick first. Gorgeous Bourjos is our star 23 year old OF, hitting .313/.365/.485 with 11 HR, 47 RBI, 12 3B, and 27 SB in 31 attempts. He will definitely be up eventually. 

+Terry Evans: Part of one of my favorite Halo trades in history (straight up for Jeff Weaver!), the 28 year old OF is a straight up slugger. Hitting .258/12/40, he's #3 on the Bees in total bases this year.

+Mark Trumbo: I know it's not his natural spot, but the Halos have been playing Mumbo Trumbo in Right Field to help him avoid the Kendry log jam at first base. The 24 year old may be our most exciting offensive prospect (hold your, "what about Mike Trout" comments. He's good, but really early on, and you just like him because you can call him King Fish, Jr.), and is ripping AAA at a .290/23/83 clip, and is so very legit. 

I think I'll leave it at three to wet your whistle, but you could also call up fan favorite Robb "The Extra B Is For Bees" Quinlan, and we could see him continue to celebrate walk offs on the far outter regions of the dog pile. My wife and I always get a kick out of that. I guess I'd just like to implore Jeff Biggs to bring our MiLB talent up when callers suggest none exists. The kind of fans who call into Angels Talk after the game to complain that Reagins is holding us back by not trading Juan Rivera for Albert Pujols could use all the help you can give them.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Rams' Training Camp Eve.

As, quite possibly, the last Rams fan standing, it's hard to get pumped up for the upcoming season. However, I must! Especially the way the Angels have been playing, us old school Anaheim sports fans have to look somewhere for joy. Of course, looking to the Rams probably isn't the answer, but with training camp opening tomorrow for the STL let's be hopeful! You know we have to at least do better than last year. And, by the way, there is more Rams news than the impending Bradford mega-deal...I think.

The team with a mighty history since 1936, including 3 league championships (2 before the Super Bowl was created), 6 conference championships, and 15 division titles, hasn't been "the greatest show on turf" for some time. Last year we went an almost impossible 1-15, beating only the Detroit Lions. All that after a 3-1 preseason! In fact, we have just 6 wins over the last 3 years. Talk about a team that has managed to shake off all the bandwagoners. We got shutout twice in '09 and low lighted with a memorable 6-42 loss to Indy in late October. With QB Keith Null being the most exciting thing we had going for us, we were hurting. 

But now, it's the dawn of a new day. Training camp opens tomorrow, and despite being worried about the impact of the heat, I'm all smiles and high hopes about climbing out of the NFC West cellar this year. What's that about the heat? Oh yeah, the Weather Channel has rated the Rams' training camp as the 6th hottest in the NFL. Brutal guys. Move back to OC, and things'll be much better.

The key departure for the Ramies this offseason was clearly Mr. Fantasy, Marc "I was raised Catholic" Bulger. Look, if you read this blog, you know I've kind of always been on Bulger's case. I always considered him "good," but knew that he wasn't the kind of QB to lead a team through a deep playoff run. I think that was always clear. Now he's off to Baltimore to a) make more money than their starter and b) make Andrew's life miserable instead of mine. Other notable departures are OT Alex Baron, DT Adam Carriker, and DE Leonard Little. 

The key addition for St. Louis is obviously Sam Bradford. Without ever taking a NFL snap, Bradford has become the annointed savior of this whole franchise. Of course, having some players to catch the ball might help. The steal of the draft, in my opinion, may have come in the fourth round with the overall 99th pick. We snagged Cincy WR Mardy Gilyard. The Florida native was an All American in 2008 and 2009, finished last year with 1,191 yards receiving and 11 TDs, and was the offensive player of the game at the 2010 Senior Bowl. Guess what? He'll be starting! He couldn't have asked for a better situation. Will he be Sam Brad's arme de choix? Other notable additions include LB Na'il Diggs and OL Hank Fraley. Of course, the biggest and best addition to the Rams for the 2010 year has to be new mascott Rampage. I think he's the first openly gay NFL mascott, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Looking at the rest of the roster, there are some interesting and hope inspiring characters I'll point out. AJ Feeley is probably feeling good about being the backup to Bradford, and may even seen some significant time as the signal caller this year. Steven Jackson will obviously electrify the fan base again, but backup Chris Ogbonnaya should be a difference maker as well. The UT grad should see solid time this year. ESPN doesn't agree, but what do they know? They seem to think Ken Darby will errupt as the full time #2, which would also be cool, but we'll see. The big name receivers, if you can call them that, outside of newbie Gilyard are (of course) Donnie Avery, Laurent Robinson, and Brandon Gibson. Not really the Holt/Bruce/Proehl days of old, but we'll take it. Avery was the Rams rookie of the year in 2008 and the Houston Homeboy caught 5 TDs on 589 yards his sophomore campaign (47 catches). Robinson came from the Falcons and quickly became one of "the" guys last year. Word out is that he may be the #1 guy over Avery once we get into camp this year. Last season L-Rob Hubbard caught 13 balls for 167 and 1 TD. Numbers are low for Laurent thanks to his fractured fibula after week 3, but he was leading the team when we lost him for the year. He's back this time around, baby! Finally, Gibson came over last year in a trade with the Eagles, and caught 7 balls for 93 yards in his first game with STL. Those were both Ram records for a rookie playing in his first game. He's hoping to continue to explode on the scene this season. 

Given that ESPN ranks the Rams projected defense as #32 out of the 32 NFL teams, the aforementioned offense sure is going to have to be spectacular! 

So, now to what we all want to know. How are the Rams going to do this year? And simply saying "bad" doesn't qualify for an intelligent prediction. Let's start by taking a look around the "real" media to get a feel for where we're headed in 2010 per their prognostications.

+Fox Sports ranks the Rams 32/32, saying, "The Rams are far from contending any time soon."

+Rams Gab (my favorite Rammie blog) held a poll to see what fans think about our chances. The Rams winning 4-6 games in 2010 won the poll with 57% of the vote (one of those 62 votes was mine!)

+SB Nation's Turf Show Times has come out predicting 6 wins, despite saying that's pretty optimistic.

+CBS Sports not only points out that the Rams have zero nationally televised games on the schedule this year (thank you, Fox), but also boldly predict that they should go 4-4 in the second half of the season. Um, what about the first 8 games? Are we looking at a 12-4 finish? Wow!

+Yahoo! Sports and ESPN have provided some previews, but have yet to throw their predicting hats into the ring. Weak.

Now, let's take an honest look at what we can expect in 2010:

-I don't really want to go into detail about the preseason, so we'll say we go 2-2 over our four games.

-We play everyone in the division twice, and I always expect to win one game against each team as a rule, so that puts the Rams at 3-3 as we go into the ten non-division games.

-Oakland week two may be a huge chance to get on the board. Win.

-Before McNabb, I would have said we'd beat Washington in week 3, now I'm saying no dice. 

-Why not say we can beat the Detroit Lions again?

-Now to be ultra-realistic, I'll say we lose 3 straight to San Diego, Tampa Bay, and Carolina. I think you'd all agree with me on that one.

-I think I can safely say we'll lose the next three non-divison games as well, dropping tests to Atlanta, Denver, and the Saints. Again, these are pretty easy losses to call.

-The third to last game of the year is the final non-divison battle, against Kansas City. It's a big game out there locally, and I think we can take it.

So, where does that leave us? It looks like the LSF is giving the Rams a predicted 2010 record of 6-10. I think after winning 6 games over the last 3 seasons combined, a 6 win season would be a welcomed sight for STL fans. 

Good luck this season, Rampage.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

I'm growing increasingly diappointed with the Halos.

Please don't think I'm ready to hand over the AL West title just yet, but I sure am ready to express some disappointment in my Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim after last night's 2-4 loss to John Lackey and the Red Sox.

First off, tons of love to Angel fans for excessively booing John Lackey throughout the game. While the "real" media and players alike were baffled by the fans' actions, I think it's more than fair to give hell to the guy who fained loyalty only to go to the East Coast for a couple of extra bucks. Lackey was shocked but still found time to talk a little shite, "Nobody wants to get booed like that. The scoreboard talks the loudest...That won't be forgotten, for sure." Yeah, point at the scoreboard. Why don't you just acknowledge that you understand Angel fans are mad because you called us a passionless fan base after you fled to Mass with your money hungry trophy wife? You're a knob end, Lack. You turned on us, and we will forever be turned on you. 

That being said, the battle of the two big shot pitchers (actually, Lackey isn't much of a big shot in the Boston rotation) lived up to the hype created on this very blog. Dream Weaver went a strong 7 innings of 2 run ball in the loss, racking up 8 Ks in the process. His rival on this occasion, Tiny John went 7.2 innings of 2 run ball with 4 Ks. Despite one getting the win, it's tough to say who really had the better night. You'd have to believe that if Juan Rivera put a little more effort into a fly ball just over his head, we'd be talking about an 8 inning shutout effort for Weaver, with Fuentes in for the save in a narrow 1-0 win (more on that later). The bullpens couldn't really compare, with Bard and Papelbon no hitting the Halos for the final 1.67, while Jepsen and Fuentes allowed the Sox to get 2 more as Tito was especially awful out there (1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K). Even my wife said, "Now they have the bases loaded? Geez!" Despite our shady bullpen, pitching, as you know, is far from our biggest problem (trading 6 pitchers in the last week, though, may make it our biggest problem come 2012ish).

Before we get to the offense, however, just a couple of quick things about the three hurlers we ushered out there tonight. First, the way this team is playing (and I've said this on the blog before), I don't see any way Weaver will come back after his 1 year contract expires come October. No way. Jepsen (despite the fact that I like the guy), as I've stated before is seriously overrated by Halo fans. We're talking about a career 8-7, 4.73 reliever with a 1.455 WHIP, 8.3 H/9, and a lowly 2.48 K/BB . His career WAR is 0.1, so the fact that we treat Jeps as anything other than a AAA level MLB replacement reliever is an overstatement. I guess me nicknaming him "Big Country" doesn't help. I mean, he can be solid in spurts, but overall he's just not that special. Finally, if you read the blog, you know how much I try and support Brian "BFF" Fuentes. Last night was a non-save situation, and really a meaningless 9th, because we weren't going to come back on Pap (save your, "but we did it in the playoffs" garbage, please). Keep in mind that Fuentes has still managed 18 saves on this team during this season, and in comparison Frankie Rodriguez is just +3. Maybe that doesn't make you feel better about Tito's performance, but it helps me put it in perspective. Would Frankie be doing any better on this team? I don't really have any reason to think so. I do still miss him, though, in all honesty. 

Okay, at the end of my last post, I implored the offense to show up and help Weaver out. Did they? No. Bobby Abreu hit a RBI double in the third when the Halos finally strung 3 hits together, and Abreu came through again in the 8th with a solo job that pulled us within one at the time. So it was a good night for El Comedulce (2 for 4 with 2 RBI), but that's about it. Izturis, Hunter, Matsui, and Napoli all went doughnut. Even when we caught breaks, we couldn't pull through. Hideki got to second base on a pop up that was completely blown by a sliding Hermida in left (I would have given Godzilla the hit, but I'm not a scoring expert). Even Victor and Goobie said, "This is the kind of thing that can ignite a struggling offense." Even John Lackey did his usual "God D-mnit" scream in anger at his fielder's mistake. And yet, we came away with nothing. Even after getting the first run in the third, and Jered Weaver coming out the next inning and striking out the side to quickly hand it back to the offense, nothing came. Where is the fire? Where is the passion? Where is the desire to win? 7 left on base, including 4 with runners in scoring position with 2 outs (Torii being the biggest offender) doesn't show me the passion or desire. Torii Hunter holding up on a stupid check swing and then arguing balls and strikes doesn't show me the passion or desire. Jeff Mathis getting his only hit in a meaningless spot like a sub-par JD Drew doesn't show me the passion or desire.

The event last night that seemed to reek of not efforting the most was the two run double by Lowry off of Weaver. That would be the only two runs allowed by our ace, and at least on TV it seemed like the ball could have been caught. First off, Juan Rivera was playing way too far in, which is a coaching problem. But second, he seemed like he had a beat on the ball, and that with a tad more effort it could have been caught rather easily. Ah, what could have been. Weaver looked crushed on the mound when JR missed that ball, and that was the turning point for the Sox. At least Torii Hunter was still slamming himself against the outfield wall to make an amazing catch despite his overall bad play last night. Come on Juan! I hope you get the pine today.

So much for Scioscia's closed door team meeting prior to the game. You know, we came into this 12 game stretch (3 against NY, 4 against TX, 3 against BOS, and 3 more against TX) knowing that it would make or break our season. Thus far, we've played at a 2-6 level with 4 remaining. If we get out at 6-6, I guess that would show we did what we could against the best, but that's not looking very likely at this point. If we did, and Oakland can beat Texas today and tomorrow, we'd escape with only a 4.5 game deficit. I can dream, right?

Despite all of the negativity, I'm still feeling like we're in this (if you can believe it after reading the post). The Halos are 52-51 (yeah, in danger of sliding back to .500 and below) and are tied with the A's at 8.5 back of the Rangers (no help from Oakland last night). Now we're left to hope that the novelty of a day game can snap us out of this funk before we get swept by the third best team in the AL East. We may have a chance. J-Balls Piñata (10-7, 4.18) looks to continue his dubious success as being the winningest Halo pitcher this year, and he'll be balling against Josh Beckett (1-1, Satan's ERA). Recently off a long DL stint, Beckett allowed just one run over 5.67 against Seattle in his last outing. Boston fan was pumped, but it was Seattle. I love how blowing everything out of proportion equals "a fan base with passion." Luckily for us, Yo-El is 7-2 at home this season with a 2.37 ERA in 11 tests, including going 6-0 with a 1.75 ERA over the last 8. He's nails at the stadium, and he'll need to be to help us avoid the sweep. 

Let me just say this to Angel fans desperate for some hope. After this NY/TX/BOS/TX 12 game period ends, we get Baltimore, Detroit, Kansas City, and Toronto over the next 12. Meanwhile, the Rangers will face Seattle and Oakland for 3 each before spending their next 8 going head to head with New York, Boston, and Tampa Bay. Our best chance to gain may still be coming up. Of couse, we still need to win.

Maybe a trip to our recently semi-depleted minor league system will cheer me up!

Bees- SLC came away with a 5-4 win over Portland last night, with a nifty game winning run in the 8th. Bobby Moosebach got the win despite 2 innings of 2 run ball in relief, and Matt Palmer got the save with a perfect ninth (1 K). DH Paul McAnulty led the way with 2 RBI, but it was really UCSB graduate 3B Nate Sutton that was on fire with the bat. Sutton went 3 for 3 with a run scored to improve to .291/.377/.415 over his 80 games with the Bees this year.

Travs- Arkansas got blanked 0-4 despite a solid effort by starter Trevor Reckling. The Reck went 6 innings of 1 run ball, and is now 1-2 despite a 2.91 ERA in AA. 31 Ks in 34 IP is pretty nifty. 2B Alexi Amarista had the best game offensively, going 2 for 3 with a walk, and is now hitting .312/4/52 over A, AA, and AAA this season (97 games). He's hitting .326 since settling in with the Travs.

Quakes- Finally, it was RC topping the San Jose Giants last night 4-3 thanks to 2 runs for the 909'ers in the 8th. Starter Manaurys Correa went 6 innings of 2 run ball, and punched out 4, but the hurling hero (and winning pitcher) was reliever and Tacoma native Chris Scholl. Scholl went 2 no hit innings with 5 big Ks and has a 3.47 ERA in relief so far with 48 Ks in 46.67 IP. As far as the bats, it was a 2 for 3/2 RBI game for DH Dillon Baird that got Quake fans excited. Baird is now hitting .283/.346/.533 since getting called up from rookie ball 48 games ago. A 3 for 3/1 RBI night from 3B Luis Jimenez should be highlighted as well. LJ is now hitting .280/8/59 over low-A and high-A this season (91 games).

Ah, touring the minors always makes me feel better. Now, let's beat those Sox! T-minues 1 hour to first pitch.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Toon Army upended by Norwich.

Is it because it was just a friendly that fans of the Toon aren't more up in arms about the disallowed goal by Nile Ranger in the 40th? I was pretty miffed watching the highlights via Sky Sports, as it looked like he clearly had yellow jersey between he and the goal upon Vuckic's pass. Norwich didn't even seem to be appealing for the flag to go up, but there it was. In the end, it would prove costly, as Newcastle dropped their second preseason EPL warmup 1-2.

Tim Krul started between the pipes for the Magpies, giving Steve Harper some much needed rest. He was the backstop of the 4-4-2 (that kind of could have been more of a 4-3-3) that featured the likes of Jose Enrique and Fabricio Coloccini at the back, Barton-Nolan (the captain)-and Vuckic in the middie, and Best and Carroll striking. Not the complete starting eleven for the Man United opener, but plenty of the starters ou there. It was the first time Newcastle donned the all blue uniforms, and despite looking like Chelsea or Everton, I liked them.

Norwich, after winning League One last year, came out storming. In the 13th minute, Krul had to be on top of his game after a nice chip pass allowed the Canaries (no joke) to get a squared up shot on goal. In the 38th minute, though, Norwich would make some noise. Defender Ryan Taylor sent a lackluster pass back to the defense that was stolen, and the quick rush was on. Hoolahan of Norwich challenges both Coloccini and Newcastle's Tavernier, and gets around them in the box enough to send a nice pass to a wide open Chris Martin who stands (offside?) six yards in front of the goal, and easily sends the ball into the net. Krul had no chance, and in reality it was the defensive lapse costing us, but Krul clearly thought Martin was offside, which he appeared to be. It was no matter, though, and the Yellow were up 1-nil. 2 minutes later, I would be fuming. Vuckic sends a perfect pass to the feet of Nile Ranger. Ranger is outside of the final defender, but by no means ahead of him. He sends in a brilliant shot that blows past the Norwich keeper, and the ref's assistant puts up his flag. The replays clearly show that he is on, but such is soccer officiating. We head off down a goal after 45. By the way, I found it classic that Sky Sports called Ranger Shola Ameobi. Whoops...not all black footballers look alike guys.

As with most preseason friendly tests, Newcastle subbed out the world at the start of the second half. Out were Ryan Taylor, Ranger, Kevin Nolan, Coloccini, Best, Barton, and Andy Carroll. On were Peter Løvenkrands (a last season hero), Shola Ameobi (my personal Toon fav), Xisco, Guthie, and a couple of others. The change paid off.

Just one minute in, Newcastle would go five hole for the equalizer (cross sports reference!). Xisco dribbles the ball to the top of the box and sends a quick pass to Shola Ameobi, who has his back to the goal. Quickly, The Amoeba spun around and sent a nice slow roller through the legs of the Norwich keeper. The mostly Newcastle supporting crowd erupted, making all of the Toon Army itch with excitement for the upcoming EPL season. 4 minutes later, fresh off the loan to Spain Xisco had another chance for an assist, but his pass intended for a streaking Løvenkrands was picked off at the last moment. In the 64th, Tim Krul showed why he's a sought after keeper, and may be held back by being #2 here at 'Castle. Two impressive stops kept the Mags square, but the Norwich pressure gave you that weird feeling in the pit of your Black & White stomach. In the 74th minute, potential goal scoring turned to kinetic for the bad guys (physics reference!). A long (and backwards facing) cross from Anthony McNamee comes right to the head of Chris Martin, and the ball slides into the net just past the outstretched fingers of Krul. Martin's double sucks, and we were left down 1-2 on a goal that should have been called offside and a goal that probably could have been stopped given what Krul showed us earlier on. A fake double for Martin, if you will. Will you? In the 85th, a low class Norwich fan stormed onto the field, stopping play (called a "pitch invader" in England), and outside of a 89th minute Løvenkrands header banging off the cross bar, that would be the most action packed moment of the final 15. Newcastle felt the sting of defeat for the first time this summer.

Now 1-1-0 on their preseason warm ups, I think it's fairly clear that Chris Hughton and company and trying to find their groove prior to the 8/16 Monday night opener against Andrew's Red Devils. With the rest of the preaeason, July 31 will see a test at home against PSV Eindhoven before an 8/3 match with Deportivo and an explosive preseason finale (for me, as a Celtic fan as well) against Rangers away on 8/7. 

There is still a great deal of movement rumored to be had around Newcastle, and before we make our updated starting eleven predictions, let's explore what's going on.

The latest is that Sol Campbell is expected to come aboard with the Mags any day now. Interestingly enough, Newcastle have stolen Sol from Celtic, who were after the 35 year old Arsenal defender as well. He had a camio in "Snatch," so I'm in with him. Sol Cerveza as a nickname?

Frenchie midfielder Ben Arfa is another name floating around that 'Castle are looking for a loan deal with. While being called "the best talent in all of France," it is said he also lack's discipline (reminding me of a very funny Kindergarten Cop line).

The most exciting rumor currently floating around sees Raúl Gonzalez from Real Madrid fame possibly coming to the Toon. This would be unbelievable, despite leaving out some already established fan favorites. Raúl scored 228 goals in 550 games with Real, and is the leading all time scorer for Real and for the Spanish National Team. He may be 33, but he still looks like he has a lot in the tank, and he kisses his wedding ring to celebrate goals. How can you not like that?

Rumors aside, let's look at the possible starting side for 'Castle come the opener against Manchester.

G- Steven Harper: That would leave Krul as the able bodied backup, and Harper was so solid last year, I'm excited about his EPL campaign. 

D- Sol Campbell (since it seems like a done deal), Jose Enrique, Fabricio Coloccini, and Jame Perch: This is kind of the wildcard pick section. Steven Taylor is out for six weeks, so he won't make the list, Campbell isn't on the squad yet, but he's having a physical in Newcastle today, so I'm sure he's in the fold. Enrique and Coloccini seem like locks, leaving the fourth starting slot up for grabs. Ryan Taylor, Ben Tozer, and Tavernier all seem like they could likely get it, but I'm a fan of James Perch getting the cap. 

M- Haris Vuckic, Kevin Nolan, Dan Gosling, Joey Barton: Nolan and Gosling are locks, and I see manager Chris Hughton's support of Vuckic meaning he'll see the start, but Joey Barton is my wild card. In actuality, I can see multiple players who are actually strikers getting the nod. We are a striker heavy team, especially if Raúl comes on, and it could easily happen that Xisco, Løvenkrands, Shola, or Best gets the nod.

F- Andy Carroll and Leon Best: A ton of players to pick from here at the up top position, but Carroll and Best have earned it, with Nolan attacking up from the midfield. This would leave us with a grip of options for subs up front, in what could be a surprise Magpie run for those not in the Newcastle know.

As I leave you now, I'll sign off with a song much loved and often sung by the Toon Army:

"The famous Man United went to Rome to see the Pope.

And this is what he said, "Feck off! Who the feck are Man United?"

As the Mags go marching on!"

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Haren does his Mo Vaughn impression.

Back in 1999, I feel like we all remember, Mo Vaughn came into the season as a highly touted Halo acquistion. On opening day, his first game as an Angel, he fell into the dugout going for a foul ball (hence the dugouts got those guard rails) and was injured with a sprained ankle. Sure he would eventually contribute to the team, but he would be most remembered for that fall in game 1 of his Angel career. Last night, new Halo Dan Haren tried to pull off his best tribute to Vaughn, getting injured in his first game as an Angels, a game that finished 3-6 in favor of the bad guys.

Before getting to the injury and my pathetic rant about how we traded four pitchers, including Joe Saunders, for an forearm contusion (kidding), let's talk about how rad Dan Haren was last night. Wow. I was impressed. I started thinking about how cool it would be if he threw a no no in his first game, although hopes were dashed early on, and then came to realize he would have pretty much needed to throw a no no to be able to get the win with our offense backing him up. Haren had some good heat, some solid split action, and despite the injury finished with a very good line. 4.67 innings of 2 run ball with a big 8/0 K/BB ratio (we like that). He allowed 7 hits in the game, and has allowed 6+ hits in 20 of 22 starts this year (or something like that), but as long as he gets out of jams, we won't worry about that (I hate pitch count anyway). 8 Ks and 0 walks was the key in Haren's homecoming, and he left the game down 1-2 after going 4.67 innings of pretty good ball. A Martinez RBI single and the first David Ortiz HR of the game was all that Haren allowed.

Of course, you've all seen it by now, Dan took a hard line drive from "Bald Beard" Youkilis in the fifth, and was removed from the game. Reports were conflicting post game, with Haren saying he'd be fine in time to go against Texas and Scioscia hinting that these injuries can take a while to heal. In all comes down to his exam later this morning, when we really find out what the prognosis will be (keep one eye on the LSF Tweets to see the news...LSF Tweets needs to be renamed something cooler, by the way. Any ideas?). Keep your fingers crossed that it's no big deal.

Now, the "real" media, and even my favorite Angels blog ("Halo Heaven") are banging on the bullpen for their lack of door shutting after Haren went out. Really? After the Ortiz homer in the third, the Sox were shutout until the 8th, when Ortiz homered again. What the hell are you expecting? If we would have cashed in on our numerous opporunities (bases loaded with no outs and you get nothing?) offensively, you wouldn't even have noticed the bullpen missteps. Hat-cisco Rodriguez and Kevin Jespen go 2.3 innings of perfect ball. Can we get behind that a little? Fernando Rodney was looking good until that Ortiz at bat. Rodney was sweating like a dog, Ortiz was fouling off pitches like a champ, and you just kind of knew it was coming. After that, you kind of felt that the Halos had no hope of coming back. AAA standout (and often nicknamed "The Bullpen Savior") Mike Kohn got a chance, and despite humping up his fastie, he allowed a meaningless two run double to JD Drew (which is what he does, right?), leaving Aussie Rich Thompson to finish it off. Again, if the offense would have come through, the two run bomb to Ortiz in the 8th wouldn't have mattered. Our bullpen just isn't as bad as you think.

Our offense, on the other hand, you are ompletely right about. 7 runners left on base, including the aforementioned bases loaded with no outs followed by three straight pop outs (two to the infield), with Erick Aybar stranding 4 runners in scoring position with 2 outs. EA Sports finished 0 for 5 in the game. He was joined by Hunter and Mathis in the 0'fer club (again, guys?), which cancelled out any goodness brought on by their teammates. Did anyone notice how we seemed to be just waiting for the long ball to carry us home? Abreu and Matsui hitting jacks was all the offense we had. What about a 3 run double with the bases loaded and no outs? How about stringing some hits together? Why are we sitting around waiting for bombs? I guess you can tell I'm not a fan of that style of play. I don't want to sound like "typical Angels fan," but I really enjoy watching the cluster hitting, first to third, stealing bases, double power kind of baseball. I think we have the ability to go back to that style of play in this organization, but it would take a shift away from certain players, and I doubt it'll happen. We just seem destined to play a style that isn't going to cut it, until we're on the golf course in early October wondering what happened. 

What happened is that we are now tied for second place in the AL West with the soon-to-be San Jose A's at 7.5 games back of Texas (who I recently heard referred to as the "Cocaine Cowboys," which I loved). At 52-50, I think we are technically better than the A's (50-48), but it's just a technicality. The Rangers and A's start their three game series tonight, and Angel fans can only hope that it's the start of a 6 game Rangers losing streak. Imagine! We could walk off the field on Sunday afternoon with a deficit of just 2 games! See? There are reasons to be an optimist after all.

I can't really remember the last Angels/Red Sox regular season game that I was as pumped up for as I am for tonight's test. It can all be summed up in 5 words (4 proper nouns and 1 adverb, for those keeping score at home): Jered Weaver versus John Lackey. Is there any scenario that could get the Halo fan base more fired up. It's the return of Gigantic John (known around these parts as Benadict Lackey) to The Stadium. His first match with his former sqad; the squad he turned his back on for a couple of extra bills to go to one of our most hated rivals (playoff rivals, that is). I know, I know, Scioscia pulled him in a crucial spot in last season's playoffs, but come on John! We thought you were a gamer. A true member of the Angels. We never thought you would have done this. But, we have moved on (I didn't say moved on well, just that we've moved on), and we're ready to show you. Jered Weaver is a solid #1, and he has been well before this season (that's right, you weren't the ace last year). I forget, were you an All Star this year, Lack? Oh well, maybe next time. Okay (Uncle Buck reference!). 

Wow, I really got lost in my little rant there. So, John "L'il Juan" Lackey (9-5, 4.36) returns to take on Jered "So Easy A Caveman Can Do It" Weaver (9-6, 3.22) in a battle to see who can win ten games first. Mr. 5 year/$82.5 isn't sure how he'll be treated tonight, "I'm not sure what's going to happen. We'll find out." ESPN is reporting that he isn't anticipating boos. Big mistake. I'll be booing from my living room, and I hope you can hear me. An even bigger story may be that John is implicating himself in a gambling situation, "It's going to be fun going up against (Weaver). We'll probably have something on it, for sure." Okay, Pete Rose. Weaver doesn't roll that way. It's posted in every MLB clubhouse. I wish there was no DH so we could bean this guy. 

Can the offense please show up tonight? We must beat Lackey!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Chivas plays RSL to a 1-1 draw.

Welcome to the 30th post of the month, tying this month with February 2008 as the most posted month in LSF history!

Much love to Fox Sports Prime Ticket for bringing the battle of Chivas USA and the reigning MLS Champions into my home on Saturday night. It was an exciting match which showed why Brandon should be proud that Dan Kennedy is his favorite Goat, not to mention showing the same thing for Karen and Jesus Padilla. DK the GK stood tall, making 7 saves in the match, and El Gringo subbed in and scored the game tying goal one minute later, in Chivas USA's big 1-1 draw with rivals Real Salt Lake. Doing it on the road, in the home of HBO's Big Love (Sandy, UT), made in that much better.

The first half of this game kind of reminded everyone that these teams don't like each other. Back from family leave, Paulo Nagamura was a force to be reckoned with. Pushing and shoving, hard challenges, and eventually coming to blows with RSL Supreme Prick Kyle Beckerman (or, Peckerman, as I was calling the dirty dreadlock douche). Despite that, it was Rodolfo Espinoza getting the yellow in the 28th as it was an all around chippy match (Beckerman would get shown the card in the 51st). It was a sluggish first half, filled with poor passing and little opportunity for either side to score. First half fun facts: Rio Tinto Stadium, home of RSL, is 4,707 feet above sea level, and has only seen their beloved Mormons lose twice in it's last 75 MLS matches (with just 12 draws). That's an 81% win percentage at home for Las Monarcas, and tied nillers after 45 made me nervous. 

In the 66th, it would get worse. After a Mariano Trujillo yellow, which makes him a bench player for our next MLS match, RSL's Beckerman got subbed out for Ned Grabavoy. After a new goal in the 65th, only stopped by an amazing Kennedy save, RSL got a corner that would work out. The set piece play kind of failed, but the ball came out to Grabavoy, just outside the box, and he sent a long line drive right into the back of the net. With DK set up to defend the corner, it all happened to fast for him to really pull anything off, and RSL was up 1-0. What was with the punching his own arm celebration? I didn't get that. Three minutes later, Jesus Padilla would come in for Nagamura after a hard fought return for Naga, and it wouldn't take long for El Gringo to make his presence known. Giancarlo dropped a header to Padilla's feet way out, but Padilla had plenty of room. He wound up and sent the long ball in, right into the fists of the RSL keeper Nick Rimando. The spin on the ball, however, led to the ball bouncing off Rimando's fists and then back behind him into the net for the goal. Why not, right? The Chivas road crowd went nuts, and we were tied. In the 82nd, Chivas subbed in defender Carlos Borja for Maldo-gol, showing the were interested in going for the draw, and they got it, a 1-1 final after 90+. 

Let's take a look at the lineup, what worked, and what didn't:

G- Hard to imagine Zach Thorton being hurried back from injury the way Kennedy has been playing. The changing of the guard continues.

D- Trujillo, Umaña, Delgado, and Jaziç: I've gained some new respect for Dario Delgado, as he impressed the heck out of me in the game. Tough to have The Trujth out due to yellows for next week, and even tougher to see Bornstein's last Chivas season hampered by injury. My pre-game picks were Trujillo, Umaña, Jaziç, and Borns, but I Chivas was holding back the extent of his injury. Big ups for Delgado.

M- Lahoud, Nagamura, Gavin, and Espinoza: Again, Paulo was a great unknown, being that he was away with family for the previous games, and I had slated Lahoud, Gavin, Zemanski, and Espinoza to start. Zemanski eventually got out there for Lahoud in the 46th to reunite the Zip Twins, and I think leaving Padilla as a sub seems to have worked out fairly well.

F- Braun and Maldonado: Just as I called it, Braun and Maldo-gol worked some pressure up front. I think it's pretty clear that Giancarlo still needs to work some kinks out, as Braun seemed open with a path to the net more than once without getting that pass, but I think they'll get there.

Chivas are now 4-9-3 (15 points), still last in the West. However, we have really been turning things around, and are making this season a lot more worth watching as of late. After a much appreciated week off, El Rebaño will return to the HDC on Saturday to go toe to toe with Columbus. Fox Sports Prime Ticket will again be the hero on the TV side, as Chivas goes up against the top team from the East. At 10-3-4 (34 points) and with a +12 goal differential, The Massive (real Columbus nickname, along with "The Fighting Canaries" and "America's Hardest Working Team") are on point this season. El Rebaño will have to come out with their top flight players, not allow anything early on, and grind out another tough MLS test.

Now that you're all dying to read the LSF predicted lineup every pre-game, I'll bless you with it without further delay.

G- Dan "Gauchohollic" Kennedy. I think it's time for the Fullerton native's first MLS clean sheet of the year. El Do pride?

D- Jaziç, Cuesta, Umaña, and Delgado: With Born Identity most likely still out to injury, and The Trujth out with too many yellows, the opportunity for Yamith Cuesta to get going again is there. The 21 year old Columbian has shown his stuff, and hopefully he can hang with the Beast from the East. Let's be real: no Borns and no Trujth will be tough.

M- Espinoza, Gavin, Nagamura, and Padilla: Big guns! This is the first time I think I haven't called for the Zip Twins to start together, but having these four on the middie would be exciting, and we need exciting for a test with the Massive. Having Naga and Gringo out together would be clutch, and we all know Espinoza has the corner kick magic.

F- Braun and Maldonado: This is a must score game for one of these guys. It's time to figure it out and make some magic happen.

Subs- Lahoud, Zemanski, Borja, Chijindu, Flores, Galindo, Gerson Mayen, Romero, Saragosa, Zamora, and Zotinca: My three most likely o be used are Lahoud, Zemanski, and Osael Romero (who has kind of felt the squeeze since tallying his first Chivas goal some time ago).

Just to keep you posted on the numbers, Chivas' leaders look like this:

Goals-
Braun with 6
Padilla with 4
Gavin with 2
5 players w/ 1 (12 is league lead)

Assists-
Braun and Trujillo with 3 each
Lahoud with 2
3 players w/ 1

Yellows-
Trujillo with 5
Osael Romero with 3
Delgado/Padilla/Umaña/Zemanski with 2 each

Minutes-
Braun, Delgao, Umaña, Trujillo, and Gavin are the 5 players with 1,000+ on the minute counter.

¡Arriba Las Chivas!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

A busy weekend in Halo Land.

Wow. The last four days around Angels Nation have been 'hella' busy. Between two big (?) trades and four games against the division leaders, we had our fill of the Angels since Thursday night. What has it left us? Well, now we're 7 games back with 61 games to go, we lost one of our favorite staters (and gained a new one?), and we're left wondering if we're still in it. As we drift through all the muck that's fit to rake from the weekend that was, we'll look first at the action on the field, then we'll explore the trades and what they mean, and we'll finish up with a tour of the minor leagues. Hang on to your hats.

I predicted, boldly, that the Angels would take three this weekend and pull within three games of Nolan Ryan's club. In reality, the Rangers took three in a terribly low scoring series, and we're seven off the lead (with the A's spitting on our necks at 7.5). Let's examine what went wrong, and what should have gone right.

Thursday- This was the premier pitching duel. Our #1 against their new #1. How bad did we all want Weaver to outpitch Lee? I guess we should have been focused more on hoping our offense could have shown up. Jered Weaver pitching 6 innings of 3 run ball, but admittedly didn't have his best stuff (just 5 Ks and 2 BBs). But, he pitched well enough to win...if that other guy wasn't on the mound. Former Indian/Philly/Mariner Cliff Lee went 8.3 innings of 2 run ball, walking none, and getting 4 on the ol' K. His manager was booed for taking him out in the 9th after 9 pitches, but it worked out for them. Francisco Rodriguez (whose t-shirt jersey I wore on Friday; actually it was the old Frankie Rodriguez, in all honesty) kept the Halos in the game with 2 shutout innings, but the offense couldn't get that extra run. We only left 3 on base, Napoli was the only multi-hit Halo (2 for 4), and Kendrick/Abreu/Hunter went a noticeable 0'fer. 2-3. Brutal.

Friday- If you think losing 2-3 was tough, how about 0-1? That's right. Our soon to depart Va Tech alumni gave up a solo bomb to former Gaucho Michael Young, and that was enough to win for Texas. Saundo said after the game, "I made on mistake in the first inning...I didn't realize it would cost us the whole game." No joke. At least Joey wasn't crying...yet (stay tuned). Saunders went 7 innings of 1 run ball with 6 Ks, despite allowing 6 hits. Talk about pitching well enough to win. Sadly, CJ Wilson pitched better, getting 8 shutout innings. Vlad was a noticeable 0'fer, which is great, but so was Kendrick, Abreu, Hunter, and Napoli. No Halo had more than one hit, and newbie (and former oldie) Alberto Callaspo was the highlight of the game, going 1 for 3 with some fancy glove work. We left 3 on base, and we were hurting pretty bad.

Saturday- Praying for a split, we got the Rangers worst pitcher for game three, and it showed. As I predicted, the Angels got to Feldman, and won the game 6-2 on Saturday night. Ervin pitched well enough to win, getting himself an impressive 8 innings of 2 run ball with an even more impressive 8 punchouts. He was on fire in the game, turning away Texas like it was his job. His Hooters wife is proud. The Halos put this win together despite leaving 10 stranded on the bases, getting a huge 3 for 4 night from Aybar to lead off (with a walk). Jeff Mathis thrilled with a sweet homerun off the top of the wall, and was joined by Hunter (finally) and Willits on the multi-hit list. Callaspo got himself another hit and chipped in 2 RBI to slowly convince Angel fans he's worth it (I knew that when he was in our MiLB system). The win gave us hope, and we headed into Sunday's game seeking the split to stay even.

Sunday- I said in my predictions that Sean O'Sullivan against Tommy Hunter was an underrated pitching matchup. Well, with Sully off to the Royals, we never got to find out (SOS got beat by the Yanks yesterday, but still kept Rodriguez away from #600). Bozo Bell filled in, and it didn't go well. 3.3 innings of 4 run ball isn't going to help out very much, but it was a good thing the bullpen was rested. Texas' Tommy Hunter did what he does, going 6.3 innings of 3 run ball, leading the Rangers to the 6-4 win, making himself 8-0. Francisco Rodrgiuez and Scot Shields each got tagged for a run in relief, and despite surging back, the Halos just couldn't do it. Torii's second inning jack was all we had until Matsui stepped up, down 1-6. He launched a two run jack that gave us some hope, but the Angels could only muster a ninth inning Callaspo fielder's choice to score Torii, and we were sent off down 4-6. Aybar, Izzy, and Abreu were the 1-2-3 hitters, and combined for a 0 for 10 evening, cancelling out the 2 hit efforts of Big Game and Godzilla. Just four days after my last post, we're 7 off the lead. By the way, despite what the "real" media is saying, the "beat LA" chants weren't that impressive.

So, with 61 games to go, we're 52-49, trailing the Texas Rangers (58-41) by a hefty 7 games. Oakland is now just 0.5 back of us, and the 2009 & 2010 ESPN AL West Champion Seattle Mariners are 19 back and I guess dealing with a Figgins/Wakamatsu fist fight. Let me be clear: I do not think this is over. We have a three game series at home against Texas this weekend, and a solid series against them combined with a good three against Boston starting tonight will have us right back in the mix. Stick with me here, Angel fans. Tonight we have to make some noise against Boston. We get Clay Buchholz (10-5, 2.81) against Dan Haren (7-8, 4.60). I know we haven't covered it yet, but we'll get there. Buchholz lost to the A's in his last outing, which was his first back from injury, and hopefully the bad times will continue. Meanwhile, new Angel Dan Haren went 6 innings of 3 run ball in his last outing against the Mets. He's punched out 8 in his last two outings, and hopes to make an immediate impact on his first day with the team, unlike when Cliff Lee started right after being traded to Texas. The highlight of the series, if the pitching probables hold up, is clearly Tueday night's battle between John Lackey and Jered Weaver. I can't think of a better person to be on the mound for Lackey's return to Anaheim. I simply can't wait for this battle of 9 game winners. But, for now we'll focus on Haren's first start with the team.

Alright, let's give the people what they want: Roster movement!

Thursday- This was a little bit of a shocker, but I was still proud LSF made mention of the move before ESPN.com! I knew the Angels were interested in bringing Callaspo back, but who knew it would happen. So, was it worth it? We picked up Callaspo (.275/8/43 before the trade) for LSF favorite Sean "Silky" O'Sullivan (1-0, 2.08) and recent LSF MiLB mention Will "Fresh Prince" Smith (5-8, 5.53 at all levels this year). There are a couple of things about this trade. 1. I kind of liked Will Smith, especially after he got bounced back to AA. 2. I really liked Sean O'Sullivan and think he has the makeup to be a solid #3 guy on most rotations in baseball. 3. We already had Callaspo! He was developing nicely in our minor league system until we traded him to Arizona for Jason Bulger back in 2006. With the rise of Bulger, prior to his injury, it was a good move, but now losing two pitchers to bring him back feels kind of funny. I guess, I think this: We really don't know what Sean O'Sullivan or Will Smith are going to be like come 3 years from now, and we know Callaspo is at least a second Erick Aybar on the left side of the infield. Of course, this spells the end for Brandon Wood, and perhaps the Halos may have one more trick up their sleves wit Woody now sitting 4th on the 3B depth chart, behing Callaspo-Franden-Izzy. Man, we have a crowded infield. Welcome back, Alberto, despite losing SOS, I'm okay with this one.

Sunday- The second move of the trade season seemed to catch everyone by surprise, including Joe Saunders. The Angels sent Joe Saunders (6-10, 4.62), reliever Raffy Rodriguez (5-3, 3.04 in AAA), Pat Corbin (8-0, 3.86 in low-A), and a player to be named later (Tyler Skaggs- 8-4, 3.61 in low-A) to the Diamondback for starter and former Oakland A Dan Haren (7-8, 4.60). Man, I've been thinking a lot about this one. First off, Joe Saunders was crying when he was interviewed about the trade. When he got called in to Scioscia's office, he thought they'd ask him to pitch on three days rest, and BAM! Saunders lives in Arizona, though, so hopefully that'll work out. Most Angel fans are always down on Raffy, who only pitched once this year, but I think he has tons of potential as a middle reliever. As for Corbin and Skaggs, if they do end up being good, we'll forget we ever had them by that time, and it'll be okay. Even I don't worry when kids still not to Rancho get dealt. Losing Joey was tough, though. I've always loved the guy, and I used to hate Dan Haren for like 3 years when he played for Oakland. Let's look at the numbers for Joe and Haren over the last five years to put it in perspective, as neither of their 2010 numbers tell the whole story.

Saunders:
6-10, 4.62
16-7, 4.60
17-7, 3.41
8-5, 4.44
7-3, 4.71
5 year total: 54-32, 4.36 (5.34 K/9)

Haren: 
7-8, 4.60
14-10, 3.14
16-8, 3.33
15-9, 3.07
14-13, 4.12
5 year total: 66-48, 3.65 (8.26 K/9)

So, I mean, numers are open to interpretation obviously. Haren's win percentage was .579 over the last 5 seasons, while the Colonel was at .628. This is what I'll say. Lately, Haren and Saunders have ben similar pitchers, however, Haren has been able to show double digit winning 4 of the last 5 years, and will hopefully make it 5 for 5 over the next couple of months, while Joey is still kind of not sure what kind of pitcher he is going to be. He had two really great seasons, but this year has been so up and down. I think it remains to be seen who gets the better end of this one, but it seems like both teams will end up being happy. 

Let's just quickly get to know our latest additions to the team. Dan Haren was born in Monterey Park here in So Cal, is half Irish and half Mexican (corned beef tacos?), attended Bishop Amat High and Pepperdine for college. His pitching style is referred to as a "chess match" by D-Backs announcers, and it's worked for 3 All Star nods. So, his three nickname choices are 1) The Chess Master, 2) CBT (Corned Beef Tacos), and 3) DH. Meanwhile, Callaspo's Wikipedia page highlights that he was arrested for domestic violence in 2007, but he and his wife are still together after the charges were dropped. So, his three nickname choices are 1) Aybar Jr., 2) DV (Domestic Violence), and 3) AC/DC (Alberto Callaspo/Doesn't Choke). Vote in the comments. 

Now, let's finish off with an update from the minors:

Bees- Hank Conger is off to the DL, which certainly isn't great news. Yesterday, a 15-7 win over Colorado Springs sure was nice. SLC had a nine run third inning, making Halo fans hope for a callup to infuse that offense into our lineup up here. LF Peter Bourjos continued to make himself known, going 4 for 5 with 4 RBI, including 2 homeruns and 11 total bases. The Burro is now hitting .316/11/47 and has 27 steals. Matsui/Abreu who? Paul McAnulty also chipped in with 3 hits and 2 RBI, and CF Terry Evans had 3 RBI and his 11th jack of the year. Let's call some fools up! The Bees also got 2 innings of shutout work from Matt Palmer, and an inning clean from Mike Kohn (5-4, 2.15, 11 saves in relief). 

Travs- Arkansas squeaked out a 7-6 11 inning win yesterday, and a former AAA star made some noise. LF Nick Gorneault went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI, including the game winning 11th inning jack. I'm not sure what happened to the UMass alumn, but he got sent to AA after hitting .186 over 60 games with the Bees, and now he's smashing at a .450 level at AA. Hopefully he can rise back up. The Travs got a nice 7 innings of 3 run ball with 6 Ks from starter Ryan Brasier (5-8, 5.74).

Quakes- RC lost 4-7 yesterday to the Inland Empire. Mike Trout got punched out 4 times, a rare bad game for him. A 2 run bomb from LF Clay Fuller highlighted the game for the Quakes. Fuller, demoted from AA, is hitting .340/4/19 over 29 games in the 909. Kyle Hurst provided 2.67 shutout innings in relief and is 5-3 with a 5.71 ERA across low and high A this year.

Best of luck to Dan Haren tonight. And thanks for getting through this long non-proofread post.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

A semi-important series for the Angels.

The title, of course, is a joke. While the four game series that starts today is by no means "the season," it is a wildy huge four game set. By Sunday we could be anywhere from 1 game back of Texas, with giddy excitement boiling over, to 9 games back, with hope fading fast for most casual fans. I think building this series up is definitely worth a post.

Before I get into building it up, though, it's time for a glimpse inside the numbers here at LSF:

Total posts: 725.
Total LSF Tweets: 845.
Days since A/B/J post: 17.
Posts this month: 28.
Record for posts in a month: 30 (February 2008).

On this date (or close to this date) in LSF history...

July 21, 2009: "Royals as advertised, Angels win two."- The Halos won both games of a double header against KC after being rained out the night before. Ervin outpitched Fat Sidney in game 1, as Kendry Morales increased his hitting streak to 19 games. In game 2, Sean O'Sullivan pitched well in the starting role, and Erick Aybar led the 10 run Angel offense with a 4 for 5 game, getting a bases loaded triple as a part of a 7 run 7th inning.

July 22, 2008: "PFB, a new second place, and a double Chivas elimination."- The Halos left 9 runners on base in a game against Paul Byrd and the Indians, and dropped the test 2-5. Also, Chivas de Guadalajara and Chivas USA were eliminated from 2008 Super Liga play in the group stage (sound familiar?).

I hope you enjoyed that little backstage pass to see what we've been up to over here; now back to building up this upcoming series.

Texas Rangers: 55-40 (.579), 0 GB, 5-5 in last ten, 1 game losing streak, 31-19 at home.

Los Angeles Angels: 51-46 (.526), 5 GB, 5-5 in last ten, 1 game losing streak, 24-25 on the road.

Pitching Matchups:
+Today- Weaver (9-5, 3.16) v Lee (8-4, 2.59)
+Friday- Saunders (6-9, 4.83) v Wilson (8-5, 3.23)
+Saturday- Santana (8-7, 3.63) v Feldman (5-8, 5.48)
+Sunday- O'Sullivan (1-0, 2.08) v Hunter (7-0, 2.09)

5 Rangers we should be scared of:
1. Hamilton (3.6 WAR, .353/23/70)
2. Cruz (2.3 WAR, .320/12/52)
3. Kinsler (2.2 WAR, .305/6/38)
4. Young (2.2 WAR, .299/12/15)
5. All former Angels (Bengie, Vlad, Oliver, and O'Day)

5 Halos they should be scared of:
1. Hunter (2.2 WAR, .293/15/63)
2. Napoli (1.4 WAR, .257/17/43)
3. Aybar (1.3 WAR, .285/3/19)
4. Kendrick (1.0 WAR, .277/7/53)
5. Izturis (0.9 WAR, .250/3/18)

3 Things Ranger Fan Doesn't Know:

1. Hideki Matsui is heating up again- The larger Ranger blogs are trashing Godzilla, pointing out that he has a lower WAR than fourth string catcher Ryan Budde. Haha. Let's all have a nice chuckle, and then realize that #55 hit .318/3/19 in June, and crushed Yankees pitching over the last series. He has a .343 OBP with RISP, and that goes up to .353 with RISP and 2 outs. I know, I know. In all honesty, he's not having a good year. But, I'm just saying that an opposition fan can look quickly at numbers and decide that he sucks, even though he's been somewhat decent lately. 

2. Maicer Izturis coming off the DL was a shot in the arm for us- We finally have our 3B back. Since coming back from injury, Izzy is hitting .600 with 3 RBI in 2 games against the MLB's best. He's hitting .323 with RISP this year and .636 with RISP and two outs. He's even hitting an impressive .296 when behind in the count and an even more impressive .300 on the road. Ma$e will become a household name around Texas by Sunday.

3. The offense is humming lately, and our Hollywood native may be the reason- Hollywood, FL, that is. Mike Napoli (aka, Napolini, Mr. Lasagna, Rotini, Linguini, etc) is hitting .400 over the last 7 days for the Halos, chipping in 3 jacks and 6 RBI over those 6 games. That has certainly helped the Angels attain their .329 average with nearly 6 runs per game since the All Star break. He's also hit .313 against Texas here in 2010, getting himself 4 RBI in 16 PAs. Talk about the big bat we've been looking for with Kendry on the DL.

The "Pasta-bilities" (another Napster reference):

+Split- Angels remain 5 back
+Angels take 3- We're 3 back
+Rangers take 3- We're 7 back
+Halo sweep- Just 1 back
+Texas sweep- A huge 9 back

LSF Keys to the Series:

+Neutralize Vlad and Hamilton: Our former RF killed us for 10 RBI last time around, and we just can't let that happen.
+Give Weaver and Santana some GD run support: I'm tired of seeing Big Baby lose games where he pitched his brains out, and same goes for El Rosario.
+Play as if the season depended on it: Look, I'm not willing to be that guy who says this July series is make or break, because it's not. But, it's as close as it gets. The Angels players need to step it up, and the Angels coaches need to call this game as if it was the playoffs.

Tonight's Betting Odds:

+Nobody can pick 'em like Vegas, and the Angels are -130 with the Rangers at +110 meaning Vegas is making us the favorite against Cliff Lee. If you bet $130 on us, and we won, you'd win $230 (your bet+$100). If you bet $100 on Texas, and they won, you'd win $220 (your bet+$110). Also, the over/under is 8 on this game. Can I go on record as saying the under is a lock to make some cash?

Bold Predictions:

Since I mostly blog at work, this is probably going to be the last post before Monday's recap of the whole 4 game series (but, follow the LSF Twitter Feed for weekend updates). So, it's time to make some bold predictions about this series that you can all hold me accountable to come Monday morning.

A sweep seems very unlikely for either team, but winning 3 out of 4 seems like a strong possibility.

Tonight: Weaver outpitches Lee, and the Angels win by 2 or less.

Friday: Saunders gets banged up and Wilson does well, as the Rangers win by 3+.

Saturday: The Halos crush Feldman, sending him to the brink of AAA relegation, and Erv does well enough, as the Angels win by at least 5.

Sunday: O'Sullivan and Hunter make Sunday the most exciting game of the series, and the Angels hand Hunter his first loss of the year in a 1 run squeaker. 

There you have it. We'll be just 3 games back by the time my next post drops, and I'll be pretty darn happy with that.

Let's go Halos.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Chivas beat Pachuca, ousted from Super Liga.

With Houston stunning Pubela in the first Group A match of the day, Chivas USA was eliminated no matter what result they managed to pull off against Pachuca last night. Despite that, the Goats were a cohesive flock on a mission, and managed to pull off a thrilling 1-0 win over Los Tuzos in their Super Liga finale. Giancarlo Maldonado answered the pressure I put on him in my last post by scoring the golden goal, Dan Kennedy earned the clean sheet per Brandon's lofty expectations, and Chivas triumphed to finish the group round 1-1-1, two points shy of what they needed to advance. Group A sees Houston (7 points) and Puebla (6 points) rolling on to the semifinals, while seeing Chivas (4 points) and Pachuca (0 points) fall out.

It surely didn't take long for Chivas to send the HDC home crowd (almost 15,000 strong) into a frenzy. Veteran defender Ante Jaziç collected a ball and sent a thrilling long pass right to the foot of a streaking Maldo-gol. He was ahead of the defenders, thanks to his break neck speed after the kick, and was able to go in on goal and bury the game's only netter just 7+ minutes in. The first career goal with the Red & White for the 28 year old all time leading scorer from Venezuela was a darned exciting one, and it's nice to see our new striker starting to gel with his teammates. Just 8 minutes later, Chivas got lucky to keep the score where it was. A Pachuca attacker got past the defense, danced around Dan Kennedy, and then slipped to the ground before he could put the ball in the net. Phew! Maldo had another sweet chance to create something in the 21st, but a hopeful pass to Jesus "El Gringo" Padilla would end up as a shot saved by the Mexican side's keeper. After 45, Giancarlo's goal would stand up.

It would stand up after 90 as well, as the only real Pachuca chance ended in a ball sliding just outside the far post while Kennedy diving to try and make the save. The defense was tested for the Goats, but luckily nothing for Pachuca would grace the score sheet. As time came to a close, striking sub Chukwudi "Chuk Wagon" Chijindu would show a flash of why he's Andrew's favorite Chiva Fighting (appointed by me, of course), as he blew past two defenders before ringing his shot off the cross bar. It would have been sweet for Chuk, but it's a game of inches (or is that baseball...or hockey...or American football?), and he was denied. In the end, though, Chivas would be the team celebrating, despite not advancing beyond the groups, as this game continues to show the development of this club as we continue to try and turn the MLS season around (not to mention trying to continue US Open Cup success). 

This was finally a lineup that seemed to work, so let's take a look at why.

G- Kennedy: I'm wondering if everyone is starting to kind of forget about ZTB like I am. I know it's not fair, but Kennedy is ready to be the #1, and after this injury, maybe it's time to the The Beast, thanks for everything, you were great, but your the backup. Still no word out of the Chivas camp about the ETA for ZTB, so maybe it has already gone that way.

D- Jaziç, Trujillo, Delgado, and Borja: Wow, my picks of Borns/Trujth/Cuesta/Umaña were way off tonight. My only thought is that with Houston winning and eliminating us before our game even started, Vasquez decided to let Umaña and Born Identity sit this one out. Although, with Bornstein moving to the FMF next season, I'd like all of him I could get, please. I guess Jaziç was the right call, though.

M- Romero, Gavin, Zemanski, and Espinoza: Wow, I nearly got this one, and I probably would have if Nagamura wasn't stil at home with his new baby. I did say I would also like Osael out there, which was nice to see. However, I think the two Zips starting at middie shows that someone at Chivas must be reading this blog. I likened Gavin and Zemanski to the Sedin twins, being that they have been roommates ever since suiting up for the University of Akron together. It was great to see them rolling together. It was interesting to see Rodolfo play his first game without an assist, and I wonder if that's why Gerson Mayén got the call for him at the 72nd. Overal, I think the middies did well.

F- Padila and Maldonado: It was great to see Giancarlo put one in the net and solidify his starting spot, and it's great to have El Gringo up striking, but I again would have to think Braun would have got some more action if this was a meaningful game. For example, he would have been subbed in the 55th for Maldo, rather than Chuk. This team is just too talented up front.

After the game it was announced that 23 year old striker Sal Zizzo is coming to Chivas by way of the MLS lottery. ...and the attackers get even better. Zizzo is a UCLA alumni, played with Hannover 96 in Germany, and has 8 caps with the US National teams. He's a San Diego native, an American and Italian citizen (real name: Salvatore), but has a history of ACL problems. A strong possibility of being our striker of the future.

Next up for El Rebaño, it's back to the MLS, as we travel to take on the MLS Champs in Sandy, UT. Real Salt Lake and Chivas will renew their rivalry Saturday night, and we get to enjoy the game via Fox Sports Prime Ticket. RSL are #2 in the West, 9 points shy of the out of control Los Angeles Galaxy, but I wonder if our expansion counterparts will be able to keep up with the energy of a Chivas team renewed with recent wins and fresh players.

What kind of lineup will we be sending out in our return to MLS play?

G- Kennedy: Obviously.

D- Bornstein, Umaña, Trujillo, and Jaziç: We have to get Borns and Umaña From Heaven back out there, the Trujth has became the kind of back who is out there no matter what, and Jaziç earned another cap with the sweet assist in the Pachuca match.

M- Espinoza, Gavin, Zemanski, and Lahoud: Just because Rodolfo went without an assist doesn't mean he should be kept out, right? Our expectations may be a little inflated for our Mexican middie. After seeing my combo of Gavin and Zemanski (nickname: The Zip Twins?) start the Super Liga finale, I want more, and I have to give the nod to Michael Lahoud. I can't keep the Demon Deacon out, not knowing if Paulo Nagamura will be back from family leave or not. 

F- Braun and Maldonado: Alright, so Maldo-gol gets his first MLS start after scoring his first Chivas goal. I know that Justin Braun starting keeps Padilla out of my Starting 11, but I'm envisioning El Gringo subbing in for Lahoud after the first 45, and can you imagine having Braun, Maldo, and Padilla rushing up front against RSL? We need the fire power.

Subs- That would give me a prettu hefty sub list of Padilla, Osael Romero, Chuk Chijindu, Gerson Mayén, Cuesta, Delgado, Borja, and Maykel Galido. If I'm picking the three subs I'd most likely go to against RSL, I'm taking Jesus, Osael, and Dario Delgado.

It's a Saturday night brawl between Las Monarcas and El Rebaño. A battle of the expansion class of 2005. A game to show just how far Chivas has come after a slow MLS start.

¡Arriba Las Chivas!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē