Something of a sports coma.

Just wanted to give a head's up so you weren't left wondering. Since the move up to the Bay Area, my job has been much busier than back in Orange County and thus, the blogging has dropped off. Also, I've recently been feeling a pull to going back to just being a normal fan, casually enjoying my teams, rather than analyzing every aspect of their play for the purposes of the LSF.

That being said, I'm making my drop off in blogging official. I'll probably come back by when I just can't keep my feelings in for some reason, but it will be few and far between. Same goes for the Twitter feed. So, check back every once in a while, but don't expect too much.

Talk to you soon...

A Great Weekend For Tony Reagins.

It was an amazing weeknd for the Angels. They swept the Baltimore Orioles at home, they saw Piñeiro pitch well enough to set up a walk off victory on Saturday, they saw Jerome Williams come out of nowhere to dominate the O's on Sunday for his first win since 2005, and they signed a huge five year extension with rotation ace Jered Weaver along with a full no trade clause. It was an impressive three days, and it has completely turned around the feelings of a Halo Nation that had all but jumped off a cliff after our series with the Rangers.

As you would expect, the real media is all over how awesome we've done over the weekend. Everyone is giving props to the surprising efforts by Borujos, Williams, Piñeiro, and Abreu. Everyone is talking up the superb coaching of Mike "Lorri" Scioscia. That's all well and good, but there is one guy who everyone is ignoring, and this guy deserves most of the credit for what happened this weekend, outside of the actual players, of couse.

That man is Tony Reagins. Tony pretty much gets nothing but crap from Halo fans, despite pulling off some big deals in his time as GM (Big Teix and Haren jump quickly to mind), but it may be the quiet moves that make more of an impact. Who would have thought picking up Jerome Williams last month would have done anything to help the big squad? He had been disgarded and long forgotten, and yet, Tony saw something, and Williams was a complete stud in his first start with the Angels. Now we're hoping for (maybe expecting?) more from this so-called nobody.

And how about the Weaver deal? Not a single soul in Halo Nation expected Weaver to extend his time with the Angels. An impressive young ace who often gets zero run support? I think all of us assumed that he'd be headed to the Bronx when it was all said and done. And then, out of nowhere, he signs a five year deal for just $85 million, and he was given a complete no-trade clause. Weaver's contract speaks loud and clear about his desire to remain in red, and that means a lot to us fans. This may be Tony's greatest move yet.

So let's give Mr. Reagins a little love. He, like his Angels, had a stellar weekend.

At 69-59, the Angels are now just 4 back of Texas in the chase for the division. Tomorrow, the White Sox throw Mark Buehrle (10-6, 3.14) against Ervin Santana (9-9, 3.12). Can Erv keep up his hot streak? It sure would be nice.

Go Angels Go.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Get Creative Or Die.

"So, who would you have hitting leadoff?"

The Halos have run out all kinds of different lineups this year. Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis have shuffled in the leadoff hole, Torii Hunter has been a failed experiment hitting second, Alberto Callaspo has been moved all over the place, and Mark Trumbo has gone from crushing as the six man to slumping as the five guy. It seems like Scioscia just can't win. But, when your best hitter is producing at an underwhelming .288 level (HK and AC/DV are tied), you have to try some different looks.

After losing big to Texas last night, the Halos are now 5 games back in the division chase with 40 games to go (9 against Texas). Garrett Richards going down early with a groin injury was the big story (welcome back, Joel Piñeiro?), but that's only because we are so used to the sputtering offense that it isn't even a story to us any more.

However, with the Angels realistically staring death in the face this week if they don't come up with some wins against Texas between now and Thursday, it's time to get creative and figure things out so that we can push a couple more runs across the dish and stay relevant.

If you look back through the history of this blog, I'm sure you'll find numerous posts suggesting what lineup the various LSF baseball squads should roll out there. I've even taken the time to read baseball strategy books in an attempt to learn how to best pick a lineup from any particular roster of players. And, with all that in mind, I present my idea for the Halos lineup from here on out.

1. Howie Kendrick
2. Bobby Abreu
3. Alberto Callaspo
4. Mark Trumbo
5. Torii Hunter
6. Vernon Wells
7. Bobby Wilson
8. Peter Bourjos
9. Erick Aybar

Let the debate begin.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Let The Season Defining Begin.

After an expected difficult weekend at the Roger (isn't it always), the Halos are entering a season defining part of the schedule. Sure, I say that a couple of times throughout every campaign, but this time I really mean it.

Tonight, the Angels start a four game series at home against the Rangers. After coughing up the series in Toronto, we currently trail those very same Rangers by exactly four games. These are the first four of ten remaining games with these guys, and the games in Anaheim are extremely important. The Rangers have lost 11 of their last 15 at The Big A, and we need to exploit whatever it is that's been making that happen. It's a big, big series. 

The series also starts a stretch where the Angels play 18 of their next 24 games at home. With a 17-5 record over thr last 22 games at The Stadium, hopes are high that the squad will be able to put a major push together over this next month.

And speaking of defining a season. Double-A callup Garrett Richards is stepping up on the hill at home against Texas tonight for his second big league start, and his debut in front of the home fans. After getting bashed around a little bit in the Bronx (a game where he said his personal favorite moment was "striking out Derek Jeter"), Richards gets a shot at the high powered offense of the division leaders from Arlington. If he has a great game, he'll be remembered for this one, and the memories of his performance at Yankee Stadium will quickly fade away. It's a big deal for the kid.

We're 65-56, and while it may be exciting to have a palindrome for a W-L record, it's time to get this train back on the tracks and headed in the direction of a 2011 division title.

Best of luck, boys.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

A Deeper Look At Garrett Richards' Debut.

"Yesterday, our prayers were finally answered when Poochie the Dog made his howlingly unfunny debut."

I don't know why, but Garrett Richards debut yesterday afternoon reminded me of that quote from The Simpsons. If you read the headlines this morning, you probably see that Halo Nation is disappointed with the way the double-A callup performed in New York last night. 5 innings, 6 earned runs, 6 hits, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, 2 jacks allowed. After one outing, the Riverside, CA native is 0-1 with an inflated 10.80 ERA. Joel Piñeiro then came in an went 3 innings of 3 run ball, showing that maybe Garrett wasn't all that bad.

If we look a little closer, though, maybe the debut of Garrett Richards was better than we thought. First off, let's point out what this 23 year old was faced with. Richards went from pitching in the Texas League for the Arkansas Travelers, to standing on the mound at Yankee Stadium, throwing the rock against guys like Jeter, Granderson, Teixeira, Cano, Chavez, et al. This was an epic task to ask such a youngster, who hasn't even tried throwing against AAA level talent. When you take that into consideration, it helps put the numbers into perspective.

The nerves were obvious, as the usually steady Richards threw two wild pitches in the start. However, he was throwing strikes, and I think that needs to be appreciated. Over 91 pitches, GR nailed down 59 strikes. That's 65% of his pitches being in the zone, and while that may have gotten him into a little bit of trouble, it is also nice to see, because there is nothing worse than a young pitcher handing out free passes all day. His ground ball to fly ball ratio was also impressive, getting 8 outs on the ground and only 1 in the air. While that might be because everything that went in the air went over the fence, the 8-1 ratio also shows that Garrett was keeping the ball down in the zone more often than not, and that's a great quality. 

Finally, I'd like to point out how his debut only looks bad because of two mistake pitches. They both came to Curtis Granderson, and they both resulted in jacks. Granderson hit a three run bomb in the first, and launched a solo in the fifth. If you take those two away, and Richards gets the homerun hitter out in those situations, you're talking about a whole different story. How would we consider his debut if he would have gone 5+ innings of 2 run ball? Much different story, right? Plus, that first homer by Granderson, the one that put a three spot on the board in Richards' first career inning? That's a hard one to bounce back from as a rookie. You never want to give up runs early, and once that happened, it became that much more difficult to get things back on track.

It won't get any easier for Garrett, as his next start will be against the Rangers, if he's still up with the big boys in 5 days. But, at least he'll have the home crowd behind him.

At 64-53, the Halos are 1.5 games back of Texas in the AL West title chase. The Thursday morning special (it actually starts at 10:05 am our time) against the Yankees today should be a fun one. Rookie Tyler Chatwood (6-8, 4.10) goes against former Halo and current fatty, Bartolo Colon (8-6, 3.33). I think this will be a fun one for us Halo fans. 

Go Angels Go!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Worst Players In Halo History.

As AA callup Garrett Richards takes the mound against the Yankees tonight, hoping to eventually become one of the greatest Angels in history, I figured it'd be a fun time to build a short qucik and dirty list of the worst players in Halo lore. They were doing this with the Celtics on a Boston basketball blog this morning, and it seemed like a cool idea to steal.

My 5 submissions, after quickly checking my memories and the stats, are as follows:

1. Brandon Wood: No, I'm not kidding. Ausrin, TX native Brandon Wood has the lowest OBP and OPS of any player with 450+ ABs in all of Angel history. He hit .168 with a .197 OBP over his 173 games in a Halo uni. I'd say we gave him enough of a chance before we just gave up on him. Look, I was a big supporter of the guy, always begging the Angels to give him a fair shot, but when they finally did, he proved me wrong.

2. Jeff Mathis: We should count ourselves lucky to be able to see such historical type players in such a recent span of time. The Florida native was a two sport star in high school, and with every at bat he shows us that he should have picked football as his career path. Mathis' suckitude has been well documented across Halo Nation. Over nearly 400 games, Math hits .197 with a .259 OBP. Not as bad as Wood, but we never started Wood full time and quickly got rid of him. What's our excuse with Mathis?

3. Tom Egan: Might as well go out and grab an obscure one from the early days of the club. It seemed like it would be so good with Egan, being that he was a native of good ol' LA, but it didn't work out that way. Egan sucked. 238 games, 656 PAs, and a .186 batting average with a tiny .251 OBP. The highlight of this El Rancho High grad's career was catching Nolan Ryan's third career no-hitter. He probably went 0 for 4 with 4 Ks in that game. Boy, I wonder what his CERA was? He was a mistake to have around, and yet we kept him for 10 years. Doesn't inspire much hope for the second player on our list getting cut any time soon (he's already on year six).

4. Buck Rogers: Buck wasn't nearly as cool as his name would suggest. Another guy from the beginning of time, Buck played 8 seasons with the Angels, getting a chance in over 3,300 PAs and finished his Angel career with a pathetic .232 average. You're not going to believe this, but Buck was considered a top defensive catcher during his time, and was started despite having nothing going with the bat. Man, this is just turning into giant list of Jeff Mathis clones. Buck ended up having a much more successful managerial career, as you probably know.

5. Shea Hillenbrand: Easily a forgettable Angel, Shea brought us 200 ABs of misery during the 2007 season. He hit .254 and was well known as the rally killer for the Red Hats as he proved over and over again what a horrible acquisition he was. And it's weird, because he was alright overall in his career, but it just never happened in the OC. He also is one of many on the list of people who have played (and sucked) for both the Halos and the Trolley Dodgers. What a douche.

Honorable mentions: Steve Finley, Mo Vaughn, David Eckstein, and anyone you suggest.

What do you think? I know it's early, and he's still young, but I'm pretty sure that Jeff Mathis is going to win the crown when it's all said and done. Sorry, buddy.

Speaking of Jeff Mathis, he's catching our boy Garrett Richards (even though he isn't worthy to carry the kid's cleats) against the Yanks right now, and we're losing 0-3 in the 2nd after a big Curtis Granderson bomb. Keep focused and get this game back, boys.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Rotation Rumors And Reality.

Joel Piñeiro has been banished (temporarily?) from the rotation, Jered Weaver dropped his appeal to the six game suspension, and all of the sudden the Halos have some rotation questions. When something like this happens, and when AAA doesn't really have any "for sure" starter callups who are ready to go, the rumor mill goes nuts, and that's just what is happening.

The OC Register started things off by quoting Mike Scioscia back on Sunday, where he said that Matt Shoemaker and Garrett Richards won't fill the Wednesday hole emptied by Piñeiro's exit. Scioscia said, "They are making strides, and they will be on our depth chart at some point." It's interesting, because most people (myself included) thought that Richards would be an automatic callup in this situation. Shoemaker seems like a good option as well, holding down a 2.38 ERA with 110 Ks and 26 walks over 128 innings pitched. He's 10-2 over that time with AA Arkansas, but his numbers since coming to the Bees have dropped off. Meanwhile, Richards success has been well documented. The super prospect is 12-2 with the Travs this season, rocking a 3.06 ERA, 100 Ks, and 40 BB.

They are both studs, and I'm not exactly sure why they aren't an option right now. But, they either aren't, or Mike is stonewalling us. I guess we'll find out soon. However, the rumor mill is picking up even more steam. As of this morning, ESPN's Keith Law has reported via his Twitter account that Garrett Richards has, in fact, been called up. But, Halo announcer Victor Rojas has countered that report, saying he knows nothing of it. I would probably tend to believe Rojas, but more reports are coming in. Roto World has seconded the report along with second (or third) rate Angel blog Halo Hangout. If it's true, Richards would be set to start on Wednesday against the Yankees. It would be quite the major league debut.

But wait. The LA Times wants to get in the mix. The Times is reporting that reliever Hisanori Takahashi is set to take over the empty starting spot, and the official Angels website has been dropping hints to back that idea up. They note that Trevor Bell, Jerome Williams, and Richards are also in the mix, but site their sources to say that Taka will take the Spanks on this Wednesday in Joel's spot. Taka has a history as a starter, including impressive performances against said Yankees in the past, and the Times is saying that he's Scioscia's secret answer to the Piñeiro question.

The cool thing about all of this has been Joel's attitude. "If they want me in the bullpen, that's their decision. They're the bosses. I wish I was pitching better, but it's a bad little stretch- a really bad stretch." You've got to appreciate his statement. He knows what's going on, and he's going to accept it like a stud. I'm guessing he'll either A) be a solid help out of the bullpen or B) be back in the rotation soon. 

While we don't know much about the reality versus the rumor of the situation as of yet, we do know a couple of things for sure: The Angels are 63-52, 1.5 games back of the Texas Rangers, and are facing a huge week+ coming up. Three at Yankee Stadium, three in Toronto, and then back home for four against the Rangers. The next 10 days are giant. 

This afternoon will see AJ Burnett (8-9, 4.54) try his best against the continually impressive Dan Haren (12-6, 2.81). The Chessmaster has pitched into the eighth inning in each of his last three outings, and he'll look to continue the magic against Burnett, who is starting one day early, and the Bronx Bombers, who have won 8 out of their last 10. 

As the Halos get ready for their big series againt New York, I wanted to point out that Mark Trumbo has tied Wally Joyner (1986) with his 22nd homerun for fifth on the list of single season jacks by a rookie. Amazing. Do we realize what we're watching this guy do? 

Go Halos. Crush the Yankees.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

The Kazmir-ification of Joel Piñeiro.

I apologize for the majority of my Angels posts being either about rookies or pitchers, but that's just the slant that we have going on right now in Haloland. 

What the heck is going on with Joel Piñeiro? I'm kind of getting sick and tired of hoping that he will come around start after start. It's just one let down after another with this guy this season, and I'm starting to wonder if La Piñata is headed down the same path as our dearly departed friend, Scott Kazmir. 

The last time Jo Jo picked up a win was way back on July 9, and since that win, things have been really, really bad.

July 17: 0.3 IP with 8 runs allowed
July 23: 5.3 IP with 3 runs allowed
July 28: 3.3 IP with 6 runs allowed
August 3: 4.3 IP with 7 runs allowed

Over those previous four starts, Piñeiro is 0-3 with a 14.85 ERA. That's just a flat out disgusting line. Also over those games, he has just 2 Ks, while allowing 6 walks. And it isn't just now. Earlier in the season, back toward the middle of May to the first part of June, the Halos lost in 5 consecutive Piñeiro starts (remember when he was trying to get win #100 and just couldn't seem to do it?). While he has had moments of success, he has only pitched beyond the sixth inning in 4 out of his 18 starts this year, and comparing that with the terminal illness that afflicted Scott Kazmir at he end of his Angel career is just scary.

Overall, Joel is 5-6 with 5.31 ERA and a 1.587 WHIP. His WAR is -1.2 right now, and when you compare that to Jeff Mathis' -0.2 WAR, you start to get even more nervous about our #4 starter. Last year as an Angel, Joel had a +3.1 WAR, and I was kind of expecting a similar thing this time around. I don't think he has a shot to get back to that here in 2011, and while I may not be ready to just cut him like we did with Scottie, I'm getting close to pinning my hopes on possible AA callup and Riverside native Garrett Richards (12-1, 3.04) to fill his spot (or technically, to fill Chatwood's spot, with Chatwood slotting up to #4).

By the way, in case you are wondering, I think Joel's decline goes all the way back to July 28, 2010, when he got scratched from a Red Sox game due to a shoulder injury while warming up (remember, they gave Gas Can Shields the start, and I got all excited that it would be the return of Scottie 2 Hottie, and it didn't work out?). Piñeiro was supposed to miss the rest of the season, but came back early, and was pretty effecitve. However, one has to wonder if that decision has come back to bite him, and sent him to the brink of oblivion. 

Let's hope not.

Texas lost last night, so despite dropping to 60-51, the Angels are still just a game off the pace. Tonight the series with the Twins finishes up as Dan Haren (11-6, 2.89) takes the hill against Francisco Liriano (7-8, 4.67). The Chessmaster has only allowed 2 runs over his last 16.67 innings, and he'll be looking to stay on a roll against these Homer Hankie loving freaks from the Twin Cities.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

More High Praise For Ervin And Mark.

Man, Ervin Santana is a freaking stud. After busting out his no hitter last week, El Rosario came through with a complete game win against the Twins at the Stadium last night. 9 innings of 1 run ball, allowing 8 hits while punching out 7 and walking two. It was quite an encore to his no-no, and showed that he's able to effectively get out of jams and help carry the Halos to victory. Meanwhile, Mark Trumb hit a three run bomb deep to center to boost his rookie campaign homerun tally to an impressive 20. These guys deserve continued praise, and I'm up to the task of giving it to them (hat tip to Halos Heaven for the historical background).

What can I say abot Ervin? 2011 was scheduled to be a down year for him, and overall it has been (I've covered Ervin's "every other year" phenomenon at length in previous posts), however, these last two starts may be the sign of something amazing. First a no-no and then a complete game right after? He may still be just 7-8 on the season, but these are the kind of wins that can turn around the campaign of a young starter with a 3.32 ERA. With yesterday's effort, Santana became the first Angel to follow a no hitter with a complete game since Nolan Ryan did it in 1975. I'm not trying to compare Erv to Nolan, but I think looking at what he's doing in historical context makes us appreciate it more. In fact, it has been 20 years since ANY pitcher in the entire MLB has followed a no-no with a complete game gem, as Tommy Greene was the last to do so way back in 1991.

Ervin is slowly turning some heads, and that's great for the team, when it comes to getting some play outside of the local atmosphere. He's looking like one head of what is developing into a three headed monster. In their last seven starts, the Weaver-Haren-Santana trio are 6-1 with a 1.16 ERA. Now, I'm not suggesting that Erv is going to be able to keep this up over a larger sample size, though I would really like to see that happen. I'm just saying to enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Meanwhile, rookie of the year candidate Mark Trumbo went 1 for 4 last night, but that one hit was a game deciding 3-run bomb that travelled 457 feet into center. The swing was effortless (per my Dad's analysis via text message) and his 20 homeruns show that he was more than ready for the show (Kendrys is shaking on his one good leg). Mark has now driven in at least a run in each of his last eight hits, has driven in 14 over the last 11 games, and leads the entire team in HR and RBI (sorry, Torii). He has become only one of six Halo rookies to hit 20, and he's the first since Timmy did it in '93. And it's only August. 

Trumbo has been more impressive than I could have imagined, and while we're always quick to point out how our prospects never pan out (Wood, McPherson, Mathis, et al), we need to focus big time on them when they do work out. Way to go, Mark.

Vernon Wells went 2 for 3 in the game, as well. Can you believe that he has raised his batting average to a stellar .216? Wow! 

The Angels are only a game back! Watch out, Texas. At 60-50, we have a chance to get a piece of the division lead as early as tonight (go Tigers go!). Oakland is 12 back and Seattle is 13.5 off the lead. The series with the Twinkies continues at the Stadium tonight, as Jo Jo (5-5, 4.91) goes against Scott "Never Trust A Guy With a Last Name That Is Also A Profession" Baker (8-6, 2.86). La Piñata has been having a well-documented off and on season, and I am on the record with saying that if the Angels are going to be a success in the playoffs (again, if they make it that far), Piñero is going to have to get his stuff sorted out. The Twins' Baker has been underrated this season, holding down a 2.86 ERA in spite of a so-so 8-6 record, but he flat out sucks against the Halos (1-5, 4.49). Let's hope the suckfest continues.

On my way out, I'd like to give props to Big Baby for appealing his unwarrante 6 game suspension, and poops to Garden Grove native Bert Blyleven for rocking the Twinkies cap in Cooperstown.

Go Angels.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē

Was Aybar's Bunt Acceptable?

Yes. But before I get into why, I'll briefly point out that the Halos did nothing at the trade deadline. This was expected, really, especially with their recent run of success. In the division, the A's traded reliver Brad Ziegler for some prospects, the M's picked up a couple of prospects for Bedard, and the Rangers added Mike Adams and Koji Uehara to their bullpen. In reality, none of the teams got that much better than they were, and therefore the Angels' inaction doesn't mean too much, in my opinion.

With the deadline coming and going quietly around the division, the big story of the day was how the long awaited duel between Jered Weaver and Justin Verlander played out. It was an exciting, intense battle, and it put the question of baseball etiquette at the forefront of our minds. In this game alone, we saw a hitter showing up a pitcher after a jack, a pitcher being tossed from throwing at the next batter following the questionable homerun celebration, and a hitter trying to break up a no hitter in the eighth with a bunt. Baseball purists are rolling over in their collective graves (or beds, if they are still living...and sleeping).

But, with a little explaining, I think I can be a Halo apologist of such quality that I will convince you that everything the Angels did was legit and everything the Tigers did broke the unwritten rules of the game. Of course, the Tigers won 3-2, so none of this really matters, but to avoid being down and complaining about the loss, let's get to exploring the issues within the game.

Carlos Guillen ripped a Weaver pitch into the seats in the seventh, turning a 2-0 Detroit lead into a 3-0 lead, and he stood at the plate and admired his bomb for way to long. His celebratory trot around the bases only rubbed it in even further, as he stared Big Baby down with his hands up, and Weaver barked at him as he went around just to show his distaste. It wasn't just the Angels who thought he was showboating, as the homeplate umpire warned both benches after the homerun not to follow it up with any funny business. That's proof that Guillen's celebration was BS, right?

Well, like any of us would, Weaver ignored the warning and fired the next pitch right at the head of Alex Avilla. After the game, Weav would say that the pitch "got away from him." We all know that's crap, but he had to say it. He could be seen jawing with the Tigers bench on the way to the clubhouse, obviously upset with the classless Guillen. 

When Verlander came out to continue his no-hit bid in the eighth, the code of baseball was just thrown right out the door. Erick Aybar came up and dropped down a bunt, trying to break up the no-no with a surprise infield single. Verlander threw wildly to first (on purpose?) and the play was ruled an error. The Tigers' starter stared Aybar down like crazy when EA was standing on second base. He would eventually come around to score, and in the bottom of that inning, Verlander could be seen yelling at Aybar from the dugout, motioning that he'd throw one at Aybar's back the next time they square off. 

For us fans, it was awesome.

Now, everyone who knows baseball, knows that you NEVER go for a bunt single late when a guy is working on a no hitter. But, with everything that happened prior to the situation, was it actually acceptable? Was Aybar breaking an unwritten rule of the game to stick up for his pitcher, who had been shown up and then ejected the previous inning? Some are saying that the bunt was allowable because the game was late and close at 0-3 in the 8th, but I disagree. The score and inning of the game had nothing to do with making it acceptable. It was an alright thing to do because he was backing up his boy by sticking it to Verlander. Plain and simple.

All of this overshadowed an impressive game from Bobby Abreu, going 0 for 1 with an impressive 3 walks in the game. It all helped to also cover up the performance of Torii "Declining Trade Value" Hunter. Big Game went 0 for 4 with 3 Ks in the 2-hole, dropping his average to .232.

The Angels are 59-50, 2 games back of Texas, and come home to face Minnie starting on Tuesday, as Ervin tries to make it two no hitters in a row.

-- Sent from my Palm Prē