After taking two out of three from the Twinkies over the weekend, the Halos won a wild one against the Royals on the Monday holiday, ripping off a 10-8 victory. While Ervin Santana looked very beatable, going just 6 innings of 6 run ball while walking 4, and my boy Rich Thompson looked just as bad in his 0.67 innings or relief (2 runs on 3 hits), the Halo offense came up huge to get the team back into things. The Angels bats scored 6 runs in the final three innings, including three in the ninth, and took Kansas City down at the Kauff.
While Bobby Abreu led the team with a 4 for 5 afternoon, it was Torii Hunter that stole the show. Big Game went 3 for 5 with 4 RBI, including two jacks. Hunter hit a solo bomb in the seventh, and added a two run job in the ninth, and got his team leading RBI total to 31 (+4 on Mark "ROY" Trumbo). After starting the season as our big chump, running his mouth about how everyone sucks but him, I'm starting to wonder if he's finally figuring things out.
Over the last 14 days, he's showing that this might just be the case. In the last two weeks, he's been hitting .320 with 4 jacks and 12 RBI in 13 games (50 ABs). His SLG over that amount of time is .640, and you can understand what an improvement this is over his April numbers of .222/4/12. Yeah, he has just as many homers and RBI over the last 14 days as he did over the entire first month+ (that season opener in March, included), and has done it while rocking an average nearly +.100 on his April stat line.
And, as he showed in yesterday's clash with Los Royals, he comes up big in important situations. Baseball Reference's Leverage stats show us that in high leverage situations, Torii is hitting .367 with a .421 OBP and a .714 SLG. Those are pretty great marks for situations where the game can dramatically change in terms of win probability. We (and I include myself in this) have given him a ton of crap for the way he's played in 2011, but with his recent turnaround, it seems like he's making a statement as our best offensive talent.
So what do we expect from here on out? Are we planning on Torii hitting .320 from here to the All Star break? I don't think so, but we would like to see him continue to crank up that average and the other production numbers. Spiderman is still hitting only .249 on the season, and my goal would be that he brings his season average up to somewhere near his career average of .274 by the midway point in the season. Keep in mind that he hasn't hit .274 or below in a season since 2005 in Minnesota when he hit .269. He's bouncing back, and it's fun to see.
Keep it up, Big Game.
After a pretty successful Memorial Day weekend, the Halos are 29-27, and sit 1 game back of the Texas Rangers (29-25). Seattle is 1.5 back of Texas, and Oakland sits 2.5 back as the only team in the division below .500. Look at Seattle going 8-2 over their last 10. I know I keep saying it, but man, this is a fun division right now.
Just to give credit where credit is due, let's look at the offensive leaders on the team thus far.
BA: Howie (.322), Aybar (.308), AC/DV (.306)
HR: Trumbo (10), Hunter (8), Howie (7)
RBI: Hunter (31), Trumbo (27), AC/DV (26)
SB: Aybar (12), Abreu (8), Bourjos/Izzy (5)
And, for me, it's important to compare these stats to the MLB league leaders. Otherwise, I start to overrate my team. So, the league leaders are:
BA: Joyce at .368 (Tampa)
HR: Bautista at 20 (Jays)
RBI: Gonzalez at 46 (Boston)
SB: Boum and two others at 19 (Houston)
This afternoon, the Halos and the Royals go at it again at the Kauff. The Angels will throw Joel Piñero (2-1, 3.15) against Jeff Francis (1-5, 4.52). Francis has been crazy inconsistent this season, most recently having a bad outing against Baltimore. Piñero can't claim much more, as he's been on and off since coming off the DL this season. He allowed 4 runs in 6.67 innings last time out, and hopes to put things together against KC this time out.
Quickly on the way out, I'll point out that Howie Kendrick is slated to come back to the lineup this week against the Yankees, while Vernon Wells is still set to be out until the next Halo homestand. Meanwhile, Scott Kazmir allowed 10 runs in a single inning of his second AAA rehab outing. What are we going to do with this joker?
Speaking of AAA, I figure it's a good time to do our first tour around the Baby Halos system this season. We'll start with SLC, who got a win from Matty Palmer to improve their record to 24-28. Two hitters deserve mention, and they are Gil Velazquez and Jeff Baisley. Velazquez (SS) is a Los Angeles native and is hitting .368 with 24 RBI in 44 games, while Tampa native Baisley (3B) is hitting .347 with 13 jacks and 47 RBI in 50 games. He's straight up on fire. Meanwhile, Amalio Diaz and Eric Junge have looked good on the mound, with three wins a piece.
AA Arkansas are 23-22 after a win against Corpus. Vineland, NJ native and super prospect Mike Trout is continuing to progress faster than all of us expected, hitting .305 with 6 jacks and 18 RBI in the 45 tests with the Travs. Meanwhile, Orangel Arenas and Garrett Richards have 5 wins a piece on the mound. Orangel is a Venezuela native, and is pitching big time, rocking the 5-2 record and the 3.55 ERA despite not really punching guys out like a champ.
Our brand new single-A club from Inland Empire won 11-7 in their last game, as the 66ers improved to 23-28. 1B and UCLA alumn Casey Haerther is hitting .303, and has been a huge bright spot for our new California League club. ASU grad Kole Calhoun leads the squad with 10 bombs, as they continue to chase first place Rancho (we're coming for you, Tremor). DR native Ariel Peña leads the team with 5 wins, and he's 5-1 with a 4.05 ERA along with 61 Ks in 60 innings pitched. He's showing some promise for the IE.
Alright, I think that's enough blabbering. I'll just end by pointing out that my move to the Bay Area is now just two weeks away, and once I start my new position with Contra Costa County it will probably lead to a drop in blogging because I'll actually be busy at work. I'll keep up as best I can, but I just figured I'd throw that out there.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
All the Barca jerseys are coming out of the bandwagoner closets after that Champions League Final, eh? Sorry, Andrew.
As we officially say goodbye to the European and Mexican soccer seasons, it's time for the "weekly" football post to focus on the glorious (and undersupported) MLS. Let's get to it.
Chivas USA 3 - 3 Columbus
It was billed as a probable 0-0 draw, as the league's two lowest scoring squads met on the pitch somewhere in Ohio. Instead, we saw a crazy offensive battle (or maybe it was a lack of defense) that featured Columbus marching back from being down by a goal on three separate occasions. The Goats may consider themselves lucky to escape with a point, considering Jorge Flores got ejected after his second yellow, 20 minutes away from time. It almost ended 3-4 in favor of the bad guys, but Ante Jaziç was able to clear a ball off the goal line in the 90th to preserve that precious point.
I'm sure Robin Fraser is stoked on this one.
It was Nick LaBrocca who got us started early, tallying a goal on an impressive Braun assist just 4 minutes in. That had me pretty excited, but the Massive countered just 13 minutes later on an Andrés Mendoza netter. In the 37th, we got that slimmest of leads back again via the head of Andrew Boyens. Boyens rose to the challenge to head the ball home after a spot on corner from the continually improving defender Heath Pearce. Boyens will be off for international duty following this game, so it was nice to see him contribute on the way out.
Fellow Kiwi, Simon Elliot, made a mistake just on the other side of the half, however, that led to Mendoza getting an equalizer. The whole play got set up for Columbus after El Sueño banged a shot off the goal post in the 49th, as the Crew gobbled up the ball and marched downfield for Mendoza's brace. Just 5 minutes later, though, Sueño made good by scoring the third Chivas goal of the game. Flores was able to outpace the defense and pick up a beautiful pass from Ben Zemanski that was just perfect, and he converted for our third lead of the game.
But, 7 minutes later (again with the 7 minutes), Columbus got a lucky netter than would be the final twine tickler of the match. Eddie Gavin blasted a shot from outside the box that deflected off of a Chivas defender and to the foot of Emmanuel Ekpo. Ekpo received the ball, spun on Zarek Valentin, and blasted the ball home for the game tying goal. The Crew dominated the remainder of the game, being a man up, but Chivas was able to keep them out (barely) and maintain the tie.
G- Dan Kennedy: Everytime I pump this Gaucho up, he seems to have a rough outing. Sure, the defense had the bigger problems, but Kennedy has to take a little blame after a couple of tough outings lately.
D- Zarek Valentin, Andrew Boyens, Heath Pearce, Ante Jaziç: If it wasn't for Jaziç, this defense would have been getting totally abused after this game. Sure, they were up on offense (Pearce got an assist and Boyens got a goal), but outside of our Nova Scotia native (Jazzy), the defense was a let down. How does Valentin get busted on that last Columbus goal? Even worse, how doen Fraser not sub someone in for one of these guys?
M- Ben Zemanski, Simon Elliot (Gerson Mayen 89), Nick LaBrocca: Good game from the middies, outside of the one mistake from The Silver Fox. I love me some Mayen as a sub, but the Los Angeles native could have come in about 10 minutes earlier to mix things up a bit.
F- Jorge Flores, Justin Braun (Chris Cortez 89), Alejandro Moreno (Francisco Mendoza 79): Good game for the three guys up front, but El Sueño was clearly the big shot. It's one thing to see him getting so much time as a starter, it's a completely other thing to see him getting serious shots and even a goal. Tough way for Moreno to go out, though, as he's off for international play.
At 3-4-4 (13 points and a +1 goal differential), Chivas USA are sitting 7th in the West. We are tied in points with San Jose, and up by 4 on Vancouver (fall from grace?), while we are trailing Portland and RSL (fall from grace?) by 4. Overall, we sit #12 out of the 18 MLS teams, and while we have a ways to go, we're doing alright for this point in the season with this new of a team. 2-2-1 over our last five, we get back to action rather quickly. Tomorrow we get a mid-week clash against the aforementioned Vancouver Whitecaps FC (1-5-6, -4 GD). Vancouver haven't won since their thrilling season opener against Toronto, and they have seen quite a dip in attention around the Vancouver sports scene. They are kind of swept up in that whole Stanley Cup thing, you know?
So with the Stanley Cup starting on Wednesday, and the 'Caps/Chivas clash going on that day as well, which do you think will get better ratings in BC? Sorry, soccer, but I promise that we'll watch the highlights.
Elsewhere in the MLS...
-David Beckham racked up another headline making assist, as El Salvadorian Miguel Lopez scored a golden goal for the Galaxy against New England.
-Seattle shocked the MLS world with a 2-1 win over RSL in Salt Lake. The result ended RSL's 29 game unbeaten streak at home. Pat Ianni and Tacoma native Lamar Neagle deserve a pat on the back for that one.
-Dallas and Houston finished in a 2-2 draw after an 87th minute goal from SMU alumn Colin Clark. Surprisingly, the Toros are now unbeaten in their last 8, and sit at 6-3-4. Didn't they suck rather recently?
-Despite New York being without Frenchie McHandBall and other stars, Vancouver could only earn a draw against the team named after an energy drink. The 'Caps scored on a penalty in the 23rd, but Red Bulls equalized just 11 minutes later. They had a sell out crowd in Vancouver, though, as 21,000 supporters showed up to wave their Canuck towels.
-Toronto is just bad. Philly put them down like an old dog, grabbing a 6-2 victory. I really, really wish Andrew was a bigger TFC fan.
-The change in name isn't helping Sporting Kansas City, as they could only draw with the former champs from Colorado. However, with a 1-6-2 record this season, a draw with the 2010 champs may be considered a victory. Where are you, Omar Bravo?
-After having to go to penalty kicks in US Open Cup play earlier in the week, San Jose and Chicago ended their game with a 2-2 draw over the weekend. The Fire got a goal in the 80th from Fort Lauderdale native Cory Gibbs to earn the tie.
Set the table...
The new MLS Playoff qualifying makes a little more sense than the old style, as there won't be any weird conference jumping any longer. Now, the top 10 teams overall make the postseason, with the top 3 teams in each conference getting a bye into the quarterfinals, and the "wildcard" teams battling it out to start the postseason. Right now, we're looking at these top ten teams, along with their points:
1. LA (29)
2. Dallas (22)
3. Philly (20)
4. Seattle (20)
5. NY (18)
6. Colorado (18)
7. RSL (17)
8. Portland (17)
9. Houston (15)
10. DC (15)
That leaves Chivas USA just 2 points out of a playoff spot at the #12 slot. We're in striking distance, and a mid-week game with the second-to-worst team in the table could really have us feeling better about our chances.
¡Arriba las Chivas!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Let's see what's on tap for today.
Blue Jays (A) v Cleveland
Angels (T) v Kansas City
The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (B) v Colorado
It's a light day, and that's good, because tomorrow's intensity level is going to be off the charts.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Well, we aren't going to have to wait as long as Leaf fans for the Stanley Cup, but we sure do have to wait a long time for our first Cup Finals series in 17 years to get underway. I figured I'd toss up a quick post to register my feelings on the topic of what will become seven days off in between the Western Conference clincher and the Stanley Cup opener.
So much has been debated on the whole time off versus staying hot by playing right away in all the various major sports and their playoffs, and I think both sides of the argument make good points. Rest is great because it gives players time to get fit, and after seeing Kesler play on one leg in game five against San Jose, I'm all for the rest. However, rest sucks because you aren't as sharp when you finally get back to playing. It takes a little bit of time to get back up to the speed of the game, especially in the playoffs. Having to play again right away is great because you stay hot, you stay on a roll, and you maintain your momentum. However, having to play again right away sucks because you can't catch your breath, you can't heal up, and you have less time to plan your attack against a new opponent.
I'm not going to decide which is better, because I don't think there is an exact answer, but I'd rather approach this from a fan perspective. After all the excitment of the Blackhawks series, we were thrust right into the series with Nashville after just one day off. That seemed a little too intense to me, as we had zero time to celebrate and relish in the quite historical game seven victory. After we beat Nashville, we had a couple of days to wait for San Jose, and it felt perfect. With the first Stanley Cup game not coming until Wednesday of next week, I feel like we risk the danger of losing a firm grasp on the excitment of reaching the Cup Finals.
Outside of that, I'm a little miffed that either the Bruins or the Lightning (it'll be the Bruins, let's not fool ourselves) will have plenty of time, after their Friday night game seven, to travel and develop their plan for game one of the Cup finals. I think a Sunday start would have been awesome, or if they really had to wait, a Memorial Day game also would have been a spot on idea. But Wednesday? Come on!
As for me, I'll keep trying to keep that flame lit under Orca Nation as we wait out this gap between the series, and I'll keep my Canucks hat fixed firmly on my head to remind me of just what we've accomplished, and what we have left to accomplish.
See you Wednesday, Bru-ightning!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Who saw this coming? As Joel Piñero and the Angels are getting shutout 0-4 against the A's in today's series ending day game (top of the 7th, as I type), news has come out that the Halos have signed Russell Branyan. The Warner Robins, Georgia native is an interesting signing. While he's 35 years of age and clearly at the tail end of his career, it was only last year when he hit 25 jacks in 367 ABs for the Indians/Mariners.
To make room on the roster, the Angels placed Howie Kendrick on the DL retroactive to May 20, and as his day-to-day went on, it became clear that this hammy might require a trip to the injured list, and there you have it. The signing of Branyan is quite a surprise, though, and I don't think anyone saw it coming. He was cut from Arizona last week after going .210/1/2 over 62 ABs in 31 games. So, let's explore the deal.
First off, we love us some nicknames, and Branyan comes with a couple of built in beauties. The obvious "Russell The Muscle" is an instant classic, but the less popular "3TO" is my personal favorite. 3TO stands for "three true outcomes," given to him due to his propensity to either draw a walk, strike out, or hit a home run. I really dig that.
As for the value of the signing, I think I'm on board with it. Last season, Russell rocked a 2.6 WAR. While Baseball Reference says that 2+ is an All-Star level WAR (that's debatable, in my opinion), I'm more interested in how his value compares to the rest of the Halos. If you look at the 2010 Angels, only one player had a WAR superior to Branyan's WAR from that 2010 season. That player was Torii Hunter, who sported a 2.9 WAR last season, and I think this shows that the addition of Branyan may be an underrated acquisition.
The only question is, where does he fit in? 3TO is a corner infielder and sometimes corner outfielder. We've got Trumbo and Callaspo at the corner infield spots, and they are two of our best hitters, so you'd have to imagine that this deal was to help pick things up for the Vernon Wells injury. Branyan will most likely take over in left field while Vernon sits out, and he's a ridiculous upgrade over Willits, Amarista, et al out in left. It also, probably, means that Wells is going to be out even longer than we imagined.
I already kind of found the deal and underrated one, but now that I look at it as an upgrade in left, I really like the deal a lot. What's crazy is, what will happen if Branyan does his business and goes .250 with 10 jacks and 25 RBI over the next month or so, and then Wells is healthy again. How could you slot him back in at that point and not get killed by the fans? And, if Branyan sucks, he just gets replaced when Wells is healthy. It seems like a can't lose situation.
Reagins has been doing better and better as of late (save, the Wells deal, maybe, although judgment will be saved until next season on that one), and I'll give him props for this Branyan signing.
Best of luck, 3TO, and welcome to Halo Nation.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
I couldn't pass up this photo of Hideki Matsui, because I thought they snapped a shot of him sleeping in the dugout during the game. To my surprise, the caption read, "Oakland DH Hideki Matsui follows the game from the dugout." If you look real close, his eyes, in fact, are open. Wow.
If you read the blog, you know that I have a theory about Ervin Santana. We don't have to spend the time proving it again via Ervin's stats, as we've done that many times before, but let's just say he's an "every other year" kind of pitcher. Even the most basic glance at his career stat line would make this obvious to even the dumbest three year old. So, based on the overwhelming evidence, I made a bold prediction back in March-ish that Santana would be complete crap this season. And, early on, it looked like I was right yet again.
In his first three starts, El Rosario allowed 3 runs in each game, going a combined 21.67 innings. He went 0-1 over those three games. So that wasn't that bad, if we're being honest, but then he took a giant step back. Erv gave up 6 runs in 4 innings against Texas and followed that with 5 earned runs against Boston over 7. He quickly dropped to 0-3, and his ballooning ERA was at 5.51. Not a very good start for your #3 guy, right? Despite giving up 4 runs (only one was earned) in his last start of the month of April, the Angels slugged him to his first win of the year against Tampa, and he ended April 1-3 with a 4.89 ERA.
On May 4 in Boston, he pitched a no hitter for four innings, but was removed due to concerns about the long wait time before the game due to the rain delay. That could have been when he turned the whole season around, but because of the weird interuption, it wasn't. In his next two starts, everyone's favorite Hooters' Husband coughed up 9 runs in 13 innings. So, as of May 19, our #3 pitcher was sitting on a 1-4 record with a hefty 4.85 ERA.
It was at this point, as I admitted in a post earlier in the week, that I laughed out loud when people said that Ervin Santana and Tim Hudson were set to engage in a thrilling pitching duel. How could the real media feel that we would take them seriously when a guy with the aformentioned stat line is going against a guy who was 4-3 with a 3.03 ERA, and they try and sell us on the pitching duel that was sure to ensue? But, I was completely wrong. It wasn't a pitching duel, so I got that part right, but it was Ervin who dominated, and that completely surprised me.
Going against one of the true aces of the league, Ervin pitched a complete game shutout, punching out 7 along the way and walking none, as the Halos routed the Braves 9-0. It was insane. I chalked it up to another fluke, similar to the way he pitched against Boston earlier in the month. With the A's coming into town, and their ace Trevor Cahill slated to go against Ervin, I figued last night's game would be Santana's probable crash back down to Earth.
However, he made sure to prove to once again, that I know nothing about sports. Going against the best Oakland has to offer (which isn't that great, I get it), Ervin went 6 innings of 1 run ball with 6 Ks en route to the Angels huge 4-1 win. Just like that, El Rosario is 3-4 with a respectable 3.95 ERA. The turnaround has not only showed us that Ervin can pitch well even after getting off to a poor start, but even more so it shows us that he may be our big game pitcher.
While Jered Weaver and Dan Haren have been faltering and struggling to score runs, Ervin has been going up against the best pitchers around the league, and has been bringing his A game. A quick look at his splits only underscores his mid-season transformation:
April: 1-3, 4.89 ERA, 1.345 WHIP
May: 2-1, 2.81 ERA, 1.031 WHIP
If he keeps this good thing going, he may completely blow my theory out of the water. Let's just hope he goes against the other team's ace when his spot in the rotation comes back around. I'm looking at you, Bruce Chen.
Lastly, I just wanted to use Ervin to help disprove the whole, Jeff Mathis CERA issue. You know how Jeff Mathis is the worst hitter in baseball since 1994? Well, Mike Scioscia justifies playing him because of his defensive abilities (which we have proven wrong in a previous post) and his CERA (a magical stat that only the Angels pay attention to). Let's look at what Ervin has to say about the issue.
Ervin's ERA with Conger: 3.06
Ervin's ERA with Mathis: 5.82
Ervins's ERA with Wilson: 4.05
Where was that lovely CERA in the three starts Ervin had with Mathis guarding the dish? Very interesting.
The Angels finish their four game series against the A's with a business man's special this afternoon. We send Jo-Jo Piñata (2-0, 2.67) to the mound against Brett Anderson (2-4, 3.18). Anderson has been solid lately, dominating the Angels over 6.67 on May 16 and following that up with a hard luck loss to San Francisco in his last start. Meanwhile, Piñero goes for his 100th career victory yet again, trying to right the ship after a rough outing to Atlanta his last time out.
Let's see if we can keep the long bombs flying out of the yard, and win this series.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Here's to an exciting sports weekend.
Thursday-
The LSF Game of the Day:Angels (T) v Oakland
Blue Jays (A) v Chicago
Friday-
The LSF Game of the Day: Blue Jays (A) v Chicago
Angels (T) v Minnesota
Dodgers (B, J) v Florida
Saturday-
Blue Jays (A) v Chicago
Angels (T) v Minnesota
Dodgers (B, J) v Florida
The LSF Game of the Day: Man Utd (A) v Barcelona
Chivas USA (T) v Columbus
Sunday-
Blue Jays (A) v Chicago
Angels (T) v Minnesota
The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (T) v Florida
Should be an exciting Champs League final. Have a great weekend, you muppets.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It was, is, and will forever be an unreal moment. The Vancouver Canucks got a bounce that can only be see as Divine Intervention in double overtime, and Kevin Bieksa's slap shot went into the net and sent this long suffering squad straight to Lord Stanley's Cup Finals. As the confetti fell to the ice and hundreds of thousands of Canuck supporters around the world went into a frenzy of celebration, it truly felt like an out of body experience. And to think, there are still four more wins to go.
I almost can't even explain the moment that it all went down. There is no way that words can do it justice. If you weren't watching the game start to finish, if you weren't sitting on the edge of your couch with your hands on your head in a mix of hopeful anticipation and fear, you can never really know how it felt. It was the weirdest and most confusing goal I've ever seen, while at the same time being possibly the greatest single moment in my life as a hockey fan (though I may be a creature of the present, because 1994 was a long time ago, I was only 12 at the time, and it beind my first year as a Canuck fan I didn't really understand fully what it meant).
Let's see if I can actually set this up to give you just a slim sense of how it felt. Just over 8 minutes into the game, Daniel Sedin sent a no look behind the back pass from behind the net to Henrik near the crease. Hank slid it to Alex, and my boy AB nailed the game opener. To be honest, I didn't even cheer. I simply pumped my fist once, knowing I didn't want to get too excited lest I end up suffering the big let down. About 10 minutes into the second, Dan Boyle got the Sharks even. On the power play, Boyle sent in a slapper that was deflected by Keith Ballard's glove and down into the net. It was a horrible break for Ballard, who didn't really have a great game, and I'm just left wondering why he even put his hand up to block the shot with his glove. It was a mistake, but we knew there'd be more to come.
Unfortunately, it came just 24 seconds into the third. A huge turnover led to a two on none rush in on Luongo. Roberto decided to charge Setoguchi, and came WAY out of the crease while attempting to nail a poke check. Guch easily got around him and sent the puck into the empty net. It was a horrible goal to allow as a team, but I still felt confident. As the period went on, though, my confidence seriously dipped. The 'Nucks pulled Luongo with about two minutes to go, but I didn't figure anything would work out. With 14 seconds to go in the game, however, Ryan Kesler provided a shockingly awesome goal. Kes tipped in a shot from Henrik Sedin, and completely saved the game. We were headed to overtime.
The Canucks were hot in the extra frame early on, and that gave us some hope, but nothing came together. There was a couple of no calls that hurt us, including Jannik Hansen literally getting his teeth knocked out by a high stick. That had me going nuts. But somehow, Luongo kept us safe. Even Kyle Wellwood came close to scoring a goal, if you can believe it, but Bobby Lu saved the game with an impressive glove (imagine how a Welly game winning goal would have played among Canuck fans). It was just one of those overtime games where you knew it was going to go a nice long distance.
Then, just about halfway through the second overtime, it happened. With the puck in their offensive zone, Alex Burrows worked hard to keep the puck and passed it back to Alex Edler. Edler had Sharks closing in on him and decided to throw the puck off the glass and down behind the net. Once the puck hit the glass, though, confusion took over. The puck seemed to completelty vanish, players started looking around and pointing to the netting above the glass assuming that it went out of play, and then the puck appeared in the net, bouncing out as if it was shot in somehow. The light went on, the confetti blew out, the crowd went nuts, and nobody knew what happened.
When we looked at the replay, it all came together. Edler's clear in attempt deflected off of the metal piece in between the glass and took a crazy bounce back out to the blue line. Only one player on the ice knew where the puck was, and that was Kevin Bieksa. Bieksa blasted a one timer after the puck came to him on the lucky bounce, and with Niemi looking off to the side trying to find the puck, Bieksa's shot slid into the net to clinch the Western Conference Title. It was insane, it was confusing, it was a really ugly slapper in all honesty, but it didn't matter. Bieksa nailed the shot, and the Canucks are off to the Cup Final.
It doesn't even feel real yet.
And that's just what happened, not anything more. How freaking crazy is all of this? I haven't even mentioned how Ryan Kesler, who scored the insanely timely game tying goal, pulled up lame earlier in the third period and had to go to the dressing room. He scored that goal while basically playing on one leg. I didn't even mention how his injury happened when Boyle scored his goal, which gave San Jose a little extra advantage, and had most fans watching Kesler rather than seeing the goal actually go in. I didn't even mention how much Roberto Luongo stood on his head. He stopped 54 of 56 shots on goal, and it if weren't for him, we wouldn't have even been in that position with seconds to go.
All of that adds to the amazing moment, and there is so much more. How about Henrik Sedin refusing to touch the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, the trophy for winning the Western Conference, as a way of breaking negative traditions? Stan Smyl touched the trophy in 1982, and we lost the Stanley Cup. Trevor Linden touched the trophy in 1994, and we lost the Stanley Cup. By refusing to touch the trophy, Henrik was saying, "We aren't finished. This is nice, but it isn't our ultimate goal." And I think all of the fan base is feeding off of that decision by our captain.
How about Joe Thornton? Yeah, I can give love to the other team, especially once they are knocked out. Thornton came back from his game four injury and played game five with a separated shoulder. And he did really well. I tip my hat to him for being tough, and he earned my respect.
On the other end of that coin, I finally saw why Alain Vigneault has been disinterested in slotting Keith Ballard into the lineup. I never understood it until I saw it last night. A lot of other websites are saying that he played alright, but I say no, he didn't. First Ballard skated the puck from the goal line to the center line, and dumped the puck into the zone, I believe it was in the first period. The only problem was that he sent it in prior to reaching the center line, and got called for the icing when there was absolutely no pressure to ice the puck. Really bad. He also deflected the first San Jose goal in via his raised paw. He also coughed up a puck in the zone, and had to be saved by the younger Chris Tanev. Okay, okay, I get it.
And how about Tanev? How awesome does this kid keep proving he is. He's got the puck behind Luongo will Shark players coming down on him, and he showed no fear in passing it out. No stupid icing play, just a solid play. Tanev has got ice in his veins, and even if Ehrhoff comes back, I don't see sitting Tanev. Sorry, Ballard.
To continue to give some love to San Jose, I have to admit that this was far and away the best game they played in this series, and I'm sure that this makes the loss even harder for Shark fans. They dominated long portions of this game, and this seemed to be the game with the most 5-on-5 action, as the refs finally got the message and put their whistles away, so that says a lot. If San Jose was going to win a game in this series, when you look at all five of the contests, this would have been it (yeah, even more so than when they actually won).
Am I rambling? I just feel like we're living a dream as supporters of the Orca right now. We seem like a team of destiny. I've been saying that for a while now, and after the way that game ended last night, I don't think you'll disagree with me. It is just, flat out, incredible.
The Boston Bruins and Tampa Bay Lightning play their game six tonight, as Boston has a chance to close it out and punch their ticket to Vancouver for early next week. Here's what I think: Tampa Bay would be an easier team to beat. They don't even know who they want in goal, and have looked horrible for long stretches of this series. They also have former Canuck fan favorite Mattias Öhlund on their team, and that would be fun to see him reach the Cup.
That being said, I want Boston. I want Boston just like how I wanted Chicago in the opening round. I think the Bruins would provide a difficult and intensely exciting test, I hate Tim Thomas, you have the whole Lucic connection, and I just think winning the Cup against an Original Six team would help silence all the haters. The last thing I want is the Canucks to win the Cup, only for the haters to suggest it wasn't a big deal because it was against some team from Florida.
No matter what happens, I sure want that Eastern Series to go 7 games so that Kesler and company can rest up and get fit.
Well, until we know who we're getting, let's just continue to enjoy the moment.
Man, I'm proud to be a Canuck fan.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Excuse me if this Halo post rambles, but it's going to be hard to stay focused on recapping last night's baseball game after Kevin Bieksa's double overtime goal that sent my beloved Canucks into the Stanley Cup Finals. I'm saving that post for the afternoon, so let's try and turn our thoughts to baseball.
How many times before yesterday's Angels-A's game did you hear about how great Dan Haren has been this season? How The Chessmaster deserves to have a much better record, but he just can't get the run support that he needs to get the wins. Sure, even I pointed that out in my post yesterday, so it must be true. However, if Haren gave up 5 runs, you certainly wouldn't blame the lack of run support for his loss, right? Wrong! That's exactly what happened last night.
Danny Boy went 7 innings of 5 run ball, despite 6 Ks and just 1 walk. He gave up 2 jacks, though, and that was enough to make it his worst start of the year. So, he had his worst start of the year, let's not blame anyone, and just move on, right? That's what I would think. But no, according to the "real" media, this was the offense's fault yet again. Headline after headline on the internet today, we read, "Angels Bats Quiet As Haren Has Off Night." Really? Why would you lead the headline with the fact that the bats weren't there for Dan, when the real story is that he had the worst start of the season? Give the bats a break!
David DeJesus was the Haren killer, blasting two homeruns against The Chessmaster, and that was enough to take care of us. Trevor Bell didn't help in his relief effort, allowing a run in his 2 innings to follow Haren, but it didn't really matter at that point.
Instead of hating on our offense, how about giving a pat on the back to Guillermo Moscoso. The AAA hurler went 6 innings of shutout ball despite walking 3 and allowing 3 hits. He pitched well enough to win, and you can't ask for much more from a callup. The Angels left 7 on base and went 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Even though they probably wouldn't have won due to Haren crapping the bed against a crappy A's offense, it would have been nice to see the bats put a little more effort out, I'll admit.
Not a single guy had a multi-hit game, Mark Trumbo went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks, and Conger and Amarista combined to go 0 for 7. Izturis and Aybar had the only extra base hits, Izzy and Bourjos picked up stolen bases, and Torii Hunter got the lone RBI as he singled Aybar in during the eighth inning. It was over well before that happened, though. David DeJesus, who had already blasted the aforementioned two yard shots, cancelled out Hunter's RBI with a one-run double in the 9th. We were flat out dominated.
Nobody effs with DeJesus.
The loss to the A's makes the AL West that much tighter:
Rangers: 25-24, 0 GB
Angels: 25-25, 0.5 GB
Mariners: 23-25, 1.5 GB
A's: 23-26, 2 GB
It's a fun division, let's be honest.
The four game series with the hated A's continues tonight as Ervin "Young Gun" Santana (2-4, 4.18) looks to pitch like he did against Timmy Hudson and the Braves as he faces Trevor Cahill (6-1, 1.79). Cahill is far and away the Oakland ace this season, and they look to him to keep this injured rotation somewhat on track. Meanwhile, Ervin looks to show that his complete game shutout against the Braves last weekend wasn't a fluke. I don't know about that, but I sure hope he can put a nice start together against the A's.
Let's get this series lead.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
I'm on cloud nine after the Canucks beat the Sharks in double overtime last night, earning their first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 17 years (my first season as a long suffering Canucklehead) on one of the most bizarre goals I have ever seen in my entire life. Great stuff.
I'm sure today will be something of a let down, but let's see what we have scheduled.
Blue Jays (A) v New York
Dodgers (B, J) v Houston
The LSF Game of the Day: Angels (T) v Oakland
Can't wait for the Cup Finals.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Welcome back to British Columbia, we're about to get it done. The Canucks are geared up to battle the Sharks in game five of the Western Conference Finals, and I join all Canuck fans in hoping that we can just get it done tonight. Sure, we have three chances to close the series out, but wouldn't it be nice if we could just finish it as soon as possible? The answer is yes, it would be quite nice.
A win tonight would not only punch the Canucks ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals, but it would also hand us a nice little rest before the battle with the East kicks off. And not only would that allow the players to catch their breath, but it would also allow us fans to celebrate the Western Conference Championship more than the 18 hours we got to celebrate the game seven win over the Hawks. I think we need that extra celebration time.
If we win tonight, it will be our first trip to the Stanley Cup Finals in 17 years, to the day. That's right. On May 24, 1994, we closed out the series with the Toronto Maple Leafs (sorry, Andrew) in double overtime to earn a trip to battle the Rangers in the Finals. So, history is on our side.
It helps, also, that the Sharks are a team with a history of going quietly into the night. San Jose is a long suffering hockey team, and their fans are probably already bracing themselves for this expected exit, as they have had to do so many times before. I'm guessing that Ben Eager will be back out there, as the Sharks try to throw everything they can at the 'Nucks. And while he may be annoying, it's good for us because he takes a grip of penalties. Maybe we can get a couple more 5-on-3s? That seems to have worked out for us.
Alright, let's end this thing and send this lovely fanbase into a frenzy.
Go Canucks Go.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
That's right, loyal reader (I'll use the singular based on the probable lack of readers, plural, this blog has). The LSF is having one of it's writers move to a different location yet again. This time, I'll be heading up to the Bay Area along with my family for a move to the East Bay, to be exact (and to a job that pays a lot more). As you well know, the East Bay is the home of one of the LSF's main rivals, the Oakland Athletics, and I'm going to be smack in the middle of enemy territory. How many guys walking around the East Bay are rocking Halo red? Well, in three weeks, there will be one.
It's also kind of cool because it puts LSF authors in three major spots around the country. We'll have Beasy and J representing in Orange County, myself up in the Bay Area, and our boy Andrew holding it down in Dallas, TX. Talk about an expanding team blog, we've got it covered from all angles.
Speaking of the enemy, the Angels played the A's at the Big A last night, and won a thrilling game 4-1. It was cool because, as I "tweeted," I was sitting on the couch watching the game while drinking a Firestone California Pale Ale out of my Angel pint glass, and I couldn't have felt any happier. Even if the Halos would have lost to the A's yet again, it would have been a good time. But thanks to Torii Hunter and (gulp) Jeff Mathis, the Angels busted the aching A's to keep pace with the healing Rangers.
I want to start by addressing Jered Weaver. He hasn't been getting wins at all lately, and this time he came out with a no decision. 7 innings of 1 run ball seems pretty great right? He left the game tied 1-1, and I'm guessing that most are going the blame the Halo offense for letting him down. But, while the innings and runs against looked good, I'm wondering if he could possibly have had a bad game in all reality. Why would I say such a thing? Well, he only punched out 5, a low total for him, and he walked 3, a high total for him. Out of his 110 pitches, he tallied just 67 strikes versus 43 balls, and that strike total was boosted by getting touched up for a couple of hits in his final inning.
Look, I don't want to be a punk to Jered when he's not getting the run support he needs, but I'm also not going to pretend that he's still pitching as well as he was during his 6-0 run. He's not, believe me.
Meanwhile, Scott Downs continued to prove me right with his solid inning of relief (thanks for warming up Takahashi, now go ahead and sit back down). Downie gave up two hits, but held it down for the hold, and has dropped his ERA of 0.66. What more could you want of our new lefty? Like I said in the last post, he's been awesome since he's regained his fitness. Waldo was also on point, nailing down a solid save with a couple of pitches reaching 100 MPH. He is just dealing straight up gnarly heat, and the bad guys looked completely overmatched.
Much has been made today of Waldo being on the hunt for a new entrance song. He's currently rocking some Rob Zombie job recommended by fellow hurler Dan Haren, and it just doesn't seem to fit him. He's kind of a clean cut guy, and doesn't look like a Zombie-type dude. I'll submit the search to our readers. What song do you think Waldo should come out of the pen to? Leave it in the comments section. As for me, I'd go with "The Set Up" by Reel Big Fish, but I'm a dork, so there's that.
When you look at last night's win over the hated A's, you have to give love to Torii Hunter and Jeff Mathis. First, when the game was tied 1-1, Torii Hunter fielded a single out in right field and fired home a so-so throw to Mathis at the plate to cut down the attempted go ahead run. I'd love to pump up Big Game for the play, but it wasn't a great throw, really. Instead, I'm going to do something I don't do often around here, and that's give love to Jeff Mathis. The Mathis-matician made an amazing play on the ball, and applied the perfect tag to keep things knotted up. After the two combined for the defensive heroics, they stepped up to the plate to deliver the key hits we needed them, as well.
Bobby Abreu stole second base after getting on with a fielder's choice, and Torii Hunter ripped the ball off of the right center wall, easily scoring El Comedulce for the go ahead run. Alberto Callaspo got walked, Trumbo grounded into another fielder's choice, and after Trumbo got a free pass to put him on second with Torii waiting on third, Jeff Mathis delivered a blooper into left field that plated them both. It was kind of funny, because it looked like Mathis crushed the ball (for him), and it only fell in front of the left fielder, who wasn't playing deep to begin with. But it didn't matter. Mathis was the hero for a brief moment.
Hey, he's hitting .202 now! Let's start pumping this guy up.
When I was watching the game last night, I was also very happy to see Alberto Callaspo playing well. AC/DV made an awesome stop at third base on a hot shot grounder, and picked up a hit and a walk in the game. It got me to thinking about how much of an underrated good trade Alberto Callaspo was for Sean O'Sullivan to the Royals. At first we were all kind of ticked about the deal, as SOS seemed like he was developing into an alright starter. And who was this Callaspo chump? We pictured him as an Erick Aybar clone, if you go back and read my posts, and now look at how he's turned out.
Callaspo is hitting .296 with 2 jacks and a solid 23 RBI. His OBP is .364 and he has turned it up when we are on the road, boasting a .319 mark away from the Big A. He has been such a pleasant surprise, especially with the Angels finally giving up on Brandon Wood (Arrrrrr), and I'm glad to have him. Meanwhile, Sean O'Sullivan isn't doing so great for the Royals. So far this season, SOS is 2-3 with a 5.60 ERA over 7 starts and 2 relief jobs. He has clearly lost his way, and his role to some extent. I'd say that we can finally shake Tony Reagins' hand and say good job for this trade. I'm sure the Del Taco fan would appreciate it.
The win has the Halos at 25-24 and helps us keep pace with Texas, as we continue to trail by just 0.5 games. Seattle is 1.5 back of Texas, and Oakland brings up the rear at three back, as we continue to enjoy the battle in the most competitive division in baseball (not good, just competitive).
Tonight we get another shot at a AAA pitcher. Due to the injuries we covered last time around, the A's are forced to send Guillermo Moscoso (0-0, 0.00). Moscoso is 3-2 with a 4.02 ERA for Sacramento this season, and has some big league experience with the Rangers back in the day. He'll match up with the mighty Dan Haren (4-2, 1.84), who will look to continue to show just how great he is. It has been six starts since The Chessmaster picked up a win despite his amazing pitching, but he's unphased, "It's the story of my life. I'm sleeping well." Good stuff from a great guy.
So, I'm moving up to the East Bay, and you know I'll be bringing Halo pride all over that place, especially if we can pick up another big win tonight.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Welcome to the last multi-team football post for some time. The European leagues wrapped things up over the weekend, and the MLS is the only domestic league that I follow that will be in action come next weekend. That being said, let's help Newcastle and Celtic go out with a bang.
Newcastle 3 - 3 WBA
Actually, for the Magpies it was more of a thud. Up 3-0 with 47 minutes gone in their game with West Brom, Newcastle watched as Somen Tchoyi put together a hat trick to help his squad earn the stunning draw. It was a rough end to a game that looked like it could be a hopeful final clash of the capmaign for 'Castle.
Not only was it bad news because of the way we lost, but WBA also denied us a chance for a top ten finish, and sent us to finish below hated Sunderland, who got that #10 spot. What a joke. 16 minutes in, Newcastle grabbed the lead as Steven Taylor fired home a pass from Løvenkrands to get us started. Six minutes before the half, we scored on a bit of controversy. Ameobi headed the ball in and Løvie popped it higher. The WBA keeper caught the ball as it went behind him, but not before it was over the line. He appealed to the refs, but their decision was an easy one. Just two minutes into the second half, WBA helped out after an Enrique cross and scored an own goal to put us up by a triple.
Boy, we were looking good. And then, Tchoyi decided to show up. His hat trick decimated the awesome lead that we had built up, and left the Boys in Bars feeling flat with the season coming to an end.
At 11-14-13, Newcastle completed their first season back at the top level as the #12 team in the league. Our 46 points were 34 behind the league champions from Manchested United, but 7 clear of the relegation zone (farewell Birmingham, Blackpool, and West Ham). Staying out of relegation trouble was our goal coming back for our first season, and we did well to meet that goal, especially after the loss of Andy Carroll to Liverpool.
See you next season, Toon Army.
Celtic 3 - 0 Motherwell
The Bhoys left no doubt as to who should hoist the Scottish Cup with their dominating performance over the weekend. It was Neil Lennon's first trophy win as Celtic manager, and it puts a positive spin on things after falling short to Rangers in the SPL title race.
Korean superstar Ki Sung-yueng opened the scoring 32 minutes in and Mark Wilson bounced a ball off of a 'Well defender 40 some odd minutes later to guarantee victory. Of course, Charlie Mulgrew's late free kick with 2 minutes to go did a little to help out as well. Add to that Fraser Forster's clean sheet in his final game on loan for Celtic, and you have a pretty triumphant day. It's no SPL title, but it's something, and hopefully it's something that Lennon can build on. Like the banner streaming from the light aircraft hired by Celtic supporters to do a pre-game fly over said, "In Lennon We Trust."
As we covered last time, Celtic finished their season 29-4-5, and finished 1 point back of Rangers. At least we qualified for Champions League.
See you next season, Bhoys.
Chivas USA 0 - 1 Los Angeles
Well, that wasn't the plan Robin Fraser drew up for the Super Clásico. 26 minutes into the match, David Beckham sent a free kick to the head of Chad Barrett, and Barrett sent it into the net past Dan Kennedy for the golden goal. Despite getting outplayed by the Galaxy, Chivas had some good opportunities to equalize. The best chance came on a Ben Zemanski shot from eighteen yards out. It was close for the Akron graduate, but it rang off the post. Just like that, we failed to capitalize on some chances, and we lost the battle for the HDC 0-1.
We've been playing so well, so hopes were running high as we headed into this rivalry derby. Why wouldn't we be able to bring our top game in against the Galaxy? Well, in reality, the Galaxy are one of the top teams in the entire MLS, and to lose 0-1 to them isn't really that bad. Sure, it would have felt really good to beat our biggest rivals, but what are you going to do? Well, one thing we are going to do is examine the lineup that Fraser put out there.
G- Dan Kennedy: He's been playing so well, and if just one of the Goat shots would have scored, we'd be talking about how great he did.
D- Ante Jaziç, Heath Pearce, Andrew Boyens, Zarek Valentin: Our defense has been getting better and better as the season has gone on, and I'm proud that they've done it all while Jimmy Conrad has been injured. However, I would have liked Lahoud back there in place of Boyens.
M- Simon Elliot, Jorge Flores (Francisco Mendoza 58), and Ben Zemanski: Kind of interesting to see El Sueño back here in the midfield, instead of playing up. Obviously, it was an experiment that didn't work.
F- Nick LaBrocca, Justin Braun (Chris Cortez 66), Alejandro Moreno: And moving LaBrocca up didn't work either. We had better get our front line straight before we lose Moreno for 6-8 games on international duty.
At 3-4-3, Chivas USA sit 7th in the West and 12th out of 18 teams overall in the MLS. Despite our narrow loss to LA, we still rock a +1 goal differential, and are still 3-2 over our last 5 league game. Plenty of positives heading into this weekend's match against Columbus on the road. The Crew are 3-3-4 on the season with a -2 goal differential, and have only pulled together one win over their last 5 games. Seems like a good chance for Chivas to bounce back.
Projected Starting 11: Kennedy, Jaziç, Valentin, Pearce, Lahoud, LaBrocca, Mondaini, Zemanski, Flores, Braun, Moreno.
¡Arriba las Chivas!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It looks like the Sharks will be without their mascot tonight, as he was arrested for wearing those ridiculous camo shorts and having a name as uncreative as "Sharkie." How will they recover in time for game five?
What's on tap for the long suffering squads today?
Blue Jays (A) v New York
Dodgers (B, J) v Houston
Angels (T) v Oakland
The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v San Jose
There is also a crazy battle in the Nations Cup between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and with the game on ESPN3, you know I'll be representing my Sligo pride.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
I don't want to hear it, San Jose. I don't want to hear how you guys got robbed by the refs at the Shark Tank last night. That just isn't how it happened, and you know it. Orca Haters want Canuck fans to put an asterisk next to their 4-2 game four victory over San Jose, but they're all idiots. Too many men on the ice, delay of game...those are stupid penalties to take, and the Sharks deserved to face the 5-on-3 three straight times. During that whole outburst of penalties, there wasn't a single bad call. And before you talk trash on us for winning thanks to the three straight 5-on-3s, take a long look at yourselves in the mirror, and figure out how you could get shutout on five straight power plays to start the game.
Game four did a lot to erase the pain from game three, but as the game started, we certainly didn't clean up our act. We lost game three due to some crappy play on the ice, getting called for penalty after penalty, and we opened up game four the same way. Man, if we didn't win this game, Coach V would be getting killed right now. How in the world are you going to let your players play with such a lack of discipline at the start of game four? Pathetic! Glass went twice, Bieksa got a high stick, Raffi went off for a charge as the first period ended, and Hammer had a clear hook to start the middle frame. There wasn't a single call that I'd point to as a bad call, we deserved it all.
Coming out of those five straight penalties, I was shocked to be sitting at 0-0, and I'm guessing Shark fans were as well. What the heck were the Sharks doing not coverting, especially the way they'd played with the advantage so far this series? We have to question the Sharks, but we have to give credit to the Canucks as well. After just playing awful on the PK all series long, the 'Nucks came back on the disadvantage and played a ridiculously solid game. It was unbelievable. And the frustration over not scoring on any of those five chances led to the wheels coming off for the Teal.
A high sticking penalty to Danny Heatley at 8:15 was followed by a hook to Mitchell at 9:05. 11 seconds into the first 5-on-3, Ryan Kesler scored on a crazy one timer. He was fed by Sami Salo, and blasted one of the nicest one timers I have seen in my entire life. Okay, back to the 5-on-4. At 10:39, though, the Sharks would get caught with a too many men penalty, and we were back to 5-on-3. Shark supporters can't argue with that call, and just 16 seconds into that two-man advantage we converted again. Sami Salo blasted his own one timer from the point after getting a perfect pass from Hank, and we were quickly up 2-0.
As if that wasn't enough, Douglas Murray chipped the puck out of play just 6 seconds later, and the Canucks were back on the two-man advantage. I haven't seen anything like it in my 17+ years as a hockey fan. It was incredible, and the Blue & Green didn't let the opportunity slip away. Just 10 seconds into the third consecutive 5-on-3, Sami Salo one timed another slapper into the back of the net on a pass from Henrik, and within the span of 1:55, the Canucks had scored three 5-on-3 goals to take a 3-0 lead over the Sharks. The 'Nucks looked surgical, as Canuck announcer and Vancouver native John Shorthouse put it, and he's dead on.
So don't apologize for winning the way we did. It was a clinic out there against the Sharks, and we don't have to feel bad about winning thanks to their poor play. There weren't any bad calls on the whistles that came, and while it may have made the game a little choppy, it was exactly what should have happened. The Sharks completelty lost their cool, and that happened even without Eager on the ice (though rumors have him back for game five).
5:43 into the third, Alex Burrows proved that we could score on the 5-on-5 as well, and Henrik proved that he's a player destined for the record books. Hank sent a pass through the legs of Antti Niemi to a waiting Alex Burrows, and AB tapped the puck in, unmarked. The pass was one of those plays where you think, "He didn't mean to do that, did he?" I think he did, and it shows how awesome he is. Henrik assisted on each of the goals, getting himself a four point game, and he has already broken the Vancouver record for most playoff assists. And to think, the media was killing this guy in the Nashville series.
Desjardins and Clowe got a goal a piece late, but Roberto Luongo looked good enough to get the job done between the pipes. It's funny, because the Canucks only put 13 shots on goal in the game. Yeah, the game. We've seen them post more shots on goal in a single period during these playoffs than they did during this entire game. 6, 4, and 3 were the shot totals per period for the Canucks, and if they wouldn't have dominated on the power play, we'd be complaining about our lack of shots while San Jose put 35 on Luongo. He stopped 33, though, and we finished with a team shooting percentage of 31%. Those two facts, combined, get you a win.
This game against San Jose also showcased our depth, and their lack of depth. We were without Christian Ehrhoff, Aaron Rome, and Mikael Samuelsson, and we were able to slot guys in who played very well. Keith Ballard was finally able to draw back into the lineup, and he looked good in his 10:34 on ice. Ballard's gigantic hip check was on point, and hopefully he earned a little love from Vigneault after playing to that level after being a healthy scratch for so many games. He was paired with 21 year old Toronto native Chris Tanev, and Tanev looked very serviceable in his 9:13. The former Stouffville Spirit star looks like a smart youngster, and he appears to have a ton of upside.
Meanwhile, the Sharks looked lost after Joe Thornton was sent off with an injury. When they were down by two as the game ticked down, even the NBC announcers counted them out because they didn't have Thornton to be the spark they needed. When you're this deep in the postseason, you have to get contributions from everywhere, and if you are collapsing because one guy is out, you don't really deserve to move beyond the round you're in (and you're lucky to be where you are, to be honest). Thornton will be playing tomorrow, but you have to wonder how much he'll be playing and if he'll be anything near 100%. Doubt it.
In the first four games of this series, the Sedin twins have 15 combined points, and that's seen as a blessing after they got roughed up in the Nashville series (7 points in 6 games, and a -10 rating). After the game, Henrik addressed it, "We're both believers in if you work hard, you do the right thing, it's going to turn around." He's right, and he's leading the league in playoff assists. Also of note, the Canucks scored on just one 5-on-3 advantage in the entire regular season, and their three goal outburst on the three 5-on-3s in this game were the fastest 3 goals scored by the Canucks in their franchise's playoff history.
We are one win away from a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals. I almost can't even believe that I'm typing that. You all know that I first became a fan in February 1994, which ended up being a season when the Canucks went to the Cup Finals (only to lose in seven games to my cousin's Rangers). Right now I'm possibly witnessing the first return to the Cup Finals since that season, and it's like living a dream.
Let's go get this game five win at home on Tuesday and wait out the Boston-Tampa winner for a chance to hoist the Cup.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Don Sutton went 28-24 with a 4.16 ERA over his 3 years with the Halos. It was the twilight of a career that was mostly spent with the Trolley Dodgers. Last night, the current Braves broadcaster tossed the first pitch prior to the Angels-Braves game in front of 40,000+ at the Stadium in celebration of our squad's 50th anniversary. He's aged into a kind of a weird looking clown/Harpo Marx hybrid, and he barely fit into his oversized red jacket. Good times.
How about them Angels? It seems like every time they play a game, they are out to prove that I don't know anything about baseball. It all started Friday morning. The Halos were in the middle of a pathetic (and LSF documented) slide after three series against the three other squads from the AL West. I was feeling pretty low, and on the way into work I heard about Friday's matchup against the Braves. It was set to be Tim Hudson against Ervin Santana. The guy on the radio, I believe it was Roger Lodge but I don't want to always bring up how he's usually right and I'm usually wrong (we've already gone into that in the past), makes the statement, "What a great pitching matchup this is going to be." I laughed, because I've paid attention to just how bad Ervin Santana has been this season (as I predicted) and how Tim Hudson has looked pretty decent.
When I got into work, I joked with my boss, and we both made the "bold" prediction that the Angels were just going to get smoked in the game. Of course, the Halos beat the Braves 9-0 on the heels of a complete game shutout by El Rosario. See? I don't know anything. Why are you even reading this blog (I ask my zero readers)? After scoring just one run over the previous three games against a couple of loser teams, the Halos surprisingly found their bats against an ace and a decent squad.
The Angels scored six runs in the third inning, capped by a three run bomb from Kendrys...er....Mark Trumbo. Trumbo would finish the game 3 for 4 to lead the surprising offensive outburst. Alberto Callaspo also had 3 RBI in the game, bringing his total to a second on the team 23 (Torii leads with 24). Yeah, to say AC/DV is underrated is an understatement. But, even though we nearly got free hot wings at Hooters (are the Angels still doing that?), Ervin was the main attraction. 9 innings, 7 strikeouts, 4 hits, 0 runs, and a 0 walks. 103 pitches, 70 strikes. He even avoided hitting any Atlanta batters in retaliation after Hudon beaned Bourjos, Izturis, and Erick Aybar. We hadn't seen anything like this out of Erv Daddy all year (as his 2-4, 4.18 stat line would suggest), and it was awesome.
Saturday was a different story, and I think the media has it all wrong. Joel Piñero went out looking for his 100th career win, and pitched 6 shutout innings. With Scioscia's decision to send him back out in the 7th, however, the wheels kind of fell off. La Piñata allowed 4 runs, as the Braves drew even, and Atlanta gained the eventual advantage via an Amarista error in the 12th. The media claimed he Halos, who now lead the league in extra inning games (and, probably, extra inning losses), were victims to their bullpen once again, but I'm here to tell you that is dead wrong.
We can debate sending Joel out for the seventh. He had a shutout going, but he has been slowly regaining his ability to pitch deep into games, and why not show some faith in your 'pen and sit him down? I probably would have pulled the plug, unless he asked to go back out there. That aside, how did the bullpen blow this game? After Piñero left, we got shutout baseball from Rodney, Takahashi, Downs, Walden, Thompson, and Jepsen (4.67 innings in all). Trevor Bell came in for the 12th and gave up the game winning run to the Braves, but it was unearned. Amarista's error set up the eventual game winning double, not horrible pitching from the bullpen.
The reason the Angels lost was that they stopped playing offense halfway through the game. The Halos didn't have a single hit after the fifth inning, and sitting on a lead (even a 4 run lead) is never a good idea. With all the heat that people have been throwing at the pitching staff this year, let's place the blame for Saturday's loss where it is due...on the bats.
But instead of laying down and giving the series over to our National League foes, the Angels stepped it up on Sunday thanks to Tyler Chatwood and Torii Hunter, and took the series. Chatty Kathy went 7 innings of 1 run ball, punching out 6 along the way, and again reminded us of how little we care about Scott Kazmir's rehab assignment. Meanwhile, Torii Hunter blasted a crucial two run bomb to finally wake up his bat, finishing the game 2 for 4 to raise his average to .231. Yeah, raise it to .231, you read that right.
Scott Downs deserves some credit in the game as well. Since coming back from injury (twice), Downs has been electric on the mound for the Angels. His 0.71 ERA is superb over his 12.67 innings pitched, and his 0.00 home ERA obviously can't get any better. While much has been made of Takahashi's problems since being signed, not enough has been made of Downs' success, and so I just wanted to put a little emphasis there. Walrus also picked up save #8, so that's cool too.
So after a nice weekend, the Angels are 24-24 and just 0.5 games back of the Texas Rangers in the race for the division lead. Seattle sits 1.5 back and Oakland has fallen back to the cellar, a whopping 2 back of Texas. This division may not be any good, but it sure is a hot and exciting race, and that's really all that matters.
The Angels welcome their most bitter rivals into town this week for a fun four game series. Oakland has posted an identical-to-the-Angels 3-7 record over the last 10 games, and both teams look to this four game series as a way to turn their fortunes around. While the A's swept up the Angels in last week's brief two game series, including a 14-0 game, the Halos are coming in hot after the series win over the Braves this weekend. Meanwhile, the A's got swept in the Bay Bridge Series (although it was three relatively close games) and haven't won since that aforementioned 14-0 game against us.
The series kicks off tonight with Jered Weaver (6-4, 2.45) praying for a win against Josh Outman (0-0, 0.00). Outman hasn't pitched a big league game since 2009 when he went off for Tommy John surgery, and he has drawn into the lineup after the A's lost both Brandon McCarthy and Tyson Ross to the DL. Weaver has completely collapsed since he started the season 6-0, partly because of his declining pitching (and more specifically, punchouts) and partly because of a lack of offensive backing. But, he needs to rise above all that and prove that he is the ace the Angels have made him. A win against the A's would be a nice way to rebound
Let's get it done.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
What a weekend! My Canucks are a single win away from the Stanley Cup Finals, and I couldn't be more proud.
What's going on around LSF Nation today?
The LSF Game of the Day: Blue Jays (A) v New York
Dodgers (B, J) v Houston
Angels (T) v Oakland
Is Fat-tolo really pitching against the Jays tonight? I guess it's open season on pinstripes.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
If a pre-game tradition is working, it's my duty to keep it going. And so, I bring you the third pump up post of the Western Conference Finals. So far, we've had two pump up posts, and the Canucks have come away with two wins. Can't stop now.
I have mixed feelings about this series, to be honest. The Canucks played better than the Sharks in game one, and barely squeaked out a win. In game two, the Orca just flat out made San Jose look like a team full of chumps (although, Ben Eager didn't need the help). So, I'm ready to hop on board with the majority of Canuck fans who are saying that we're firmly in control of this series, and San Jose has no chance, especially if we win tonight. I can point to the way that the Shark players are coming out in the media to prove my point. When you have players calling out the other team as "cowards" and "phonies," and they are talking about playing a game three like it's a game seven, they seem to be showing just how rattled they are. Especially when the 'Nucks are keeping their mouths shut and just getting the job done.
On the other hand, the Canucks only won their two homes games. That is what they should have done. The series will have a much different feel if San Jose wins tonight, and it will be all even if the Sharks hold serve at the Tank. So is being up 2-0 right now really a sign of how much we are dominating, or is it just exactly where we should be based on the home ice advantage? That's the part that has me a little apprehensive about saying that it's all over.
That, and the fact that both of these teams almost blew a 3-0 series lead earlier in the postseason.
All that being said, I'm hopeful that the Canucks will continue to dominate the neutral zone, continue to dominate on the third line, and continue to put those confident Twins out on the ice to keep the Sharks guessing. A win would be huge, but a loss wouldn't be the end of the world (unless it happened tomorrow at 6).
Even so, I'm kind of feeling another big Vancouver victory, and if we paste these guys like we did on Wednesday, they aren't getting off of the mat.
Go Canucks Go.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
I really try hard to be positive about the Angels no matter how bad they are doing, especially in May. I think that came across in my last Angel post where I bad mouthed Torii Hunter for saying that things couldn't get any worse. I took steps to try and prove that all the doomsday talk was unwaranted.
And then there was yesterday. A simple pop fly to Torii Hunter in the ninth inning at Safeco got lost in the sun, and the Mariners earned a ridiculous walk off win. It was a perfect example of how the Halos have been as of late, and it kind of woke me up to the fact that things may in fact be as bad as they can get. Sure, we're in a crappy division and we're still only 1.5 games out of first place, but we just look lost out there right now. And it's not just the fact that we're losing that is bothering me, it's who we're losing to.
Everyone has an opinion on the unbalanced schedule in baseball. Some fans don't like it because they think it gives an unfair advantage to teams in a down division, and other fans (like me) think it's cool because you get to play your division rivals more often and get more chances to pick up games in the division standings. No matter your stance, one thing is clear with this type of schedule: You have to do well against teams within the division to have a chance. You aren't going to be successful if you don't beat teams in your division.
And that's what has me so worried. Check out the run down of the last 7 games:
@Texas: 1-4 loss
@Texas: 3-2 win
@Texas: 4-5 loss
@Oakland: 4-5 loss
@Oakland: 0-14 loss
@Seattle: 0-3 loss
@Seattle: 1-2 loss
That's a 1-6 record in the last 7 games, all against teams in the AL West. Not only did we go 1-6 over the week, but we got outscored 12-35. That starts to make the negative reality creep in a little bit.
Maybe Torii Hunter dropped that ball yesterday because he was trying to prove to me that he was right about things not being able to get any worse. Heading into a series with Atlanta certainly isn't going to help. We'll be sending the bottom of our rotation (Ervin, Joel, and Tyler) up against the top of their rotation (Hudson, Hanson, and Lowe), and I don't think simply returning home to Anaheim is going to be enough to push us forward through this three gamer (even if it is interleague play, which I hear we're good at).
Don't think I'm all doom and gloom, though. It's only May 20, and even though some people are predicting that the world will end tomorrow at 6:00 pm, I'm guessing that the Halos will still have plenty of time to right the ship this season. Anything can happen when the division is this crappy.
Let's shock the world and get a win against our old foe Hudson, eh?
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
It should be a fun sports weekend. Let's see what's going on.
Friday-
Blue Jays (A) v Houston
Dodgers (B, J) v Chi Sox
Angels (T) v Atlanta
The LSF Game of the Day: Canucks (T) v San Jose
Saturday-
Blue Jays (A) v Houston
Dodgers (B, J) v Chi Sox
Angels (T) v Atlanta
Celtic (T) v Motherwell
The LSF Game of the Day: Chivas USA (T) v Los Angeles
Sunday-
Blue Jays (A) v Houston
Dodgers (B, J) v Chi Sox
Angels (T) v Atlanta
Canucks (T) v San Jose
The LSF Game of the Day: Everton (J) v Chelsea (B)
Man Utd (A) v Blackpool
Newcastle (T) v WBA
It's the final weekend of domestic soccer in Europe, and that Everton-Chelsea match is quite a way to go out. Also, here's to hoping the 'Nucks close out the Sharks by Sunday afternoon. Lord Stanley, here we come! Enjoy the weekend.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
The text mesage from Andrew read, "Is this a football game?" Being that I was watching on a DVR delay and the score was 2-2 when I received the message, I was a little nervous. Would it finish 2-2, and he was making a joke about the lack of low scoring safety games in the NFL? Would the Sharks blow this thing up and beat the Canucks 21-6? Fear ran through my body. Luckily, the Canucks were on the winning side of said football game, beating up on the Sharks 7-3 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Finals.
I don't even know where to start with this game. The Sharks came out fast and aggressive and looked like the better team as things got underway. 2:28 into the game, following a tripping call to Aaron Rome (don't worry, he'd make up for it later), Logan Couture split the defense to get in on Luongo and score. While his backhand to foreand move was nice, the fact that the Canucks defense left enough room for the Sharks to drive a truck in on net was inexcusable.
Lucky for us, though, Joe Pavelski tripped Daniel Sedin twice on the same play and got sent to the box about 5 minutes later (I'm guessing Shark fans are calling it a double-dive). Daniel would make good on the advantage, getting a sweet pass from Henrik in the high slot, and busting Niemi. 39 seconds later, Christian Ehrhoff slid a puck in front of Niemi and Raffi Torres (of all people) was there to softly redirect the puck in. I find Raffi's goal celebrations to be hilarious, as every time he scores a goal he reacts as if it was an OT winner in game seven of the Cup Finals.
The goal by Torres completely changed the momentum, but the refs would hand the Sharks a gift at 12:19 to help keep the game even. I believe it was Joe Thorton chasing down a puck in the corner when he slipped and fell. Daniel Sedin was right behind him and put his hands forward as Thorton was falling. The refs called it a cross check, despite the fact that Daniel never touched him as he went down. It was a horrible call, and it resulted in a Sharks goal less than a minute later when Patrick Marleau swatted at Luongo's covering blocker, forcing the puck into the net. I would have liked a quick whistle there, but I was okay with a 2-2 game after 20. In fact, after the first period (or actually up until there was like 2 minutes left in the first period, because the opening frame ended with a boat load of play stoppages that kind of killed the momentum) I was thinking that I may be witnessing one of the most exciting hockey games I'd ever seen, it was that fun.
In the second period, the teams came out of the gate much more apprehensive and careful. That is, until 12 minutes in, when Chris Higgins fed a perfect two line pass to Kevin Bieksa, who got in all alone on a sweet breakaway. Bieksa calmly slid the puck past Niemi and into the net, with a goal that was a true thing of beauty. It was an electrifying goal. Six minutes later, somehow, Bieksa was dropping the gloves with Patrick Marleau. Marleau hadn't fought in about 4 years, and he looked outmatched. Bieksa seemed to sense this, and kind of looked like he wasn't giving Marleau all he could, but he obviously dominated the fight.
Ben Eager, watching from the bench, didn't like how it went down (and later suggested that Bieksa is a "phony"). He stood up and started yelling at the Canucks bench about it, and when he went back on the ice, he promptly (and intentionally) boarded Daniel Sedin. Daniel popped up quickly, albeit with a bloody nose, and Eager got a two minute minor. The call was a joke, based on the clear intent of the boarding hit, and Coach Vigneault told the refs as much during the game, standing up on the bench and screaming. After the game he said he expected some kind of disciplinary action from the league. I sure hope so (but I doubt it).
Now, at this point I'll mention that the now famous Green Men were absent from the game. For the first time in recent memory, they weren't in their usual seats near the penalty box. However, I believe that the organization found a suitable replacement. As you can find all over the internet today, a female flasher in a 'Nucks home jersey gave Eager all he could handle when he went to the box, and the TV coverage didn't mind showing it as well. Well, that girl is now famous, and her father is probably real proud. Wouldn't you think those piercings would hurt?
While the Canucks didn't score on that Eager penalty, Ben was ready to help us out again just 7 minutes into the third when he stuck out his leg as he went to the bench for an obvious intentional trip. Chris Higgins tallied the power play goal for the Canucks on that one (yeah, yeah, Mike Gillis is a trade deadline dealing genius), and that was the point where the wheels completely fell off for San Jose. At 10:47, Setoguchi served a too many men penalty that prevented a Sharks breakaway (or allowed it, depending on how you think of it), and Daniel Sedin scored again just a minute later.
Now, at this point, my writing can't do the Twins (and I'm not talking about the sin bin flasher) justice. Daniel and Henrik started to play with a swagger we haven't seen in some time. They were passing back and forth to each other, making the Sharks chase them, and just made everyone in teal look foolish. It was like they were out there just messing with them NHL Street style, between the legs passes and everything. They were pulling off their amazing brand of hockey about 4 minutes after the Dank goal, getting the Sharks to focus only on them and chase the puck like sheep, while Aaron Rome crept in on goal, got a pass, and scored his first career playoff goal. Rome!!
Mason Raymond would score the seventh of the game, as the Sharks were getting carted off for roughing penalties and just showing a total lack of composure, and then Ben Eager would make his true colors even more clear. Eager rushed the net got a pass from Pavelski and simultaniously shot the puck and elbowed Luongo in the head. As Luongo was knocked onto his back, the puck went in. Being a classy guy, and remembering that his team was down by 4 goals with just minutes to go, Ben Eager stood over Luongo and started talking garbage. Pavelski and other Sharkies tried to pull him away, but he kept running his mouth. He was sent to the box again, leaving Shark fans to wonder why their coach was giving this joker so much third period ice time after he was practically costing his team the game.
Roberto decided not to cough up the details of Eager's chirping in a post game interview, but he did his usual "strong game despite allowing one soft goal" routine that I think we are all getting used to by now. He stopped 28 of 31, and did well enough to earn the win.
Now, I will say a couple of things for the Sharks. First, their power play cannot be stopped. They went two for two for in the game and I believe are perfect in the series. Something has to change for the Canucks, because that isn't acceptable. Second, the Sharks must have taken three high sticks to the face that caused blood last night, with Thorton's being the most notable, and they didn't get any of those calls. I'd definitely be complaining about that as a San Jose supporter.
As for the 'Nucks, outside of the lack of a penalty kill (maybe Manny will be coming back after all?), they were awesome. Kevin Bieksa was incredible, getting the Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight) and bringing the big hits all night. His crushing blow on Wellwood stands as a highlight (although, when Wellwood got double checked by Higgins and Lapierre, that was pretty sweet, too). Our third line of Max Lapierre, Jannik Hansen, and Raffi Torre was off the charts. They played such an impressive game, and completely outmatched the Sharks third line. And finally, how about those Twins? Daniel and Henrik looked confident out there, and a confident Daniel and Henrik equals a confident Vancouver Canucks.
So, up two games to none, the Canucks take the quick flight down to the Bay Area for games three and four. For San Jose, memories of last year's loss to the Blackhawks are surely creeping in. For Vancouver, a serious chance to put a death grip on the Sharks comes on Friday night. Will we see the Orca come up big again, or will the Shark Tank inspire the Teal to play a solid 60 minutes for the first time in this series? I think I know what we're all hoping for.
Death grip! Death grip!
Go Canucks Go.
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Boy, that Western Conference Finals game last night sure was embarrassing...for San Jose! What's up for today?
Angels (T) v Seattle
Blue Jays (A) v Tampa Bay
The LSF Game of the Day: Dodgers (B, J) v San Francisco
Hey, at least the Dodgers have a one game streak of not letting people get beat into a coma after Giant games. Let's see if we can get that to two, eh?
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
I did a pump up post for game one of the Western Conference Finals, and we won. So, you know I'm going to have to keep the practice up as long as the streak stays alive.
With the long lay off since game one, we've had plenty of time to pick apart the first clash and make some bold claims for game two. The mainstream media has been focused on how the Canucks aren't being accepted as "Canada's Team," and that's been done to death. "Fans" of both squads have continued to take opportunities to suggest that Roberto Luongo just doesn't have what it takes to be a big time goalie, even though he's one of only four starting keepers still alive. Meanwhile, the Sharks have taken the time to take shots at the Canucks, and call them a team full of divers. See what happens when you give a series too much time between games?
After all that garbage, we are finally just 110 minutes away from the puck drop at the Roger, and we can get back to hockey. The Sharks have made one thing clear, their plan is to beat the Canucks by being more physical. It's an odd strategy, as the Canucks have clearly shown that they can hang as a tough physical team during this postseason. I'm not sure how that is going to work out for them, but I say bring it on. We've got Lapierre ready to step it up along with the other third liners, and maybe Ryan Kesler will come around and take Joe Thorton up on his offer to fight this time around.
So here we go. Depending on how the game goes tonight, the series will have a very different feel to it. If the Canucks hold serve at home, we head down to San Jose with a big chance to put a death grip on the series. If San Jose wins, we're looking at a similar situation to the second round, only the panic and fear around Orca Nation will raise to a new level because we're just one step away from the Stanley Cup Finals. May the best team win.
And by that, I mean...
GO CANUCKS GO!
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
Do you remember back in Spring Training of 2010 when Torii Hunter opened his mouth about race?
"People see dark faces out there, and the perception is that they're African Americans. They're not us. They're imposters. Even people I know come up and say: 'Hey, what color is Vladimir Guerrero? Is he a Black player?' I say, 'Come on, he's Dominican. He's not Black.' As African American players, we have a theory that baseball can go and get an imitator and pass then off as us. It's like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It's like, 'Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips. I'm telling you, it's sad."
Prior to that outbursts, I found Torii Hunter to be a great guy. I enjoyed how open he was to the media, and I thought he was a blast. I mean, he seems to be a good guy, but he just started to open his mouth and say the wrong things. It's hard to say if it's just a lack of knowing when to keep things to himself, or if he's actually just a jerk.
After getting in hot water over the race comments, Torii took a stance of keeping his mouth shut to the media. He kept things to himself, and for the most part kept quiet. I only wish that he would have continued that into this season, because he's back to running his mouth, and it's pissing me off. Earlier this season, he blamed the Halo youth movement for the early season hot and cold play.
"(The last two years) we were a little more mature. Older guys, a mixture of younger guys. But we've got a lot of new faces, a lot of guys with less than five years in the big leagues. And they're still trying to find their way. So consistency could be a problem in that."
We don't need to get into it again, because we've covered it, but the performance of the youth at that point had nothing to do with our lack of winning. It was a lack of hitting with runners in scoring position by our veterans, especially Torii Hunter. If was a weak shot, and it pissed me off.
And now, Torii is sounding off after our embarrassing 0-14 loss to the hated A's. Despite the fact that we were in first place in the division just a couple of days ago, Torii seems to think that things "can't get any worse" for the Angels. However, he seemed to suggest that getting blown out and being thrown on the bench after not performing well in the game was better than the close game we lost in game one of the series.
"It's kind of easier to get over when you lose like that as opposed to last night. I couldn't sleep last night. Tonight I'm going to get some good rest because that's just a butt whooping."
For me, I'm a character guy. Sure, I'm a stat head in a certain sense, and I love to follow all of the numbers associated with baseball, but when it comes to my favorite team in any sport, I want my team's players to have a good character. Running your mouth in the media while talking trash on your team doesn't work for me. Maybe he'd get a pass from the casual fan if he was ripping the ball, but even then I'm questioning it.
In case you're wondering, Torii is hitting .227 with 4 homeruns and 19 RBI in 43 games. His WAR is -0.2, which is the lowest value of his career, if you don't count his 19 plate appearance effort in his first year in Minnesota back in 1998. His 12 GIDPs this season rank him first in the American League, and he has also made more outs with the bat than anyone else in the AL.
I'm not sure what's going on with our Pine Bluff, AR native, but the only thing I can say in my attempt to be a gigantic Halo apologist is that it's only May 18. Torii has plenty of time to turn things around, and with our weak depth in the outfield, he's going to continue to get starts no matter how poorly he hits. However, I'd like him to work on keeping his mouth shut a little more often.
The young guys are not the reason that this team isn't playing perfect ball. And yes, it could get much worse than being 0.5 games back of first place in the division with 119 games to go in the season. Especially if Torii keeps running his mouth.
Tonight we start another short two game series against a division rival, as we head up to Safeco to battle the M's. The freefalling Jered Weaver (6-3, 2.26) will try to get back to his winning ways against the pride of Apple Valley, CA Jason Vargas (2-2, 3.86). A win, and we could jump back into first place. I guess things could get a lot worse, right Torii?
-- Sent from my Palm Prē
