Taking a Series
by Rev Halofan on Apr 24, 2008 3:18 PM PDT
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PrintPanther of the Game: Nominees, please
Panther of the Game: Gary Matthews, Jr.
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nice
will it continue to go under maintenance during games? we can be looking at a nice streak here Rev….something to consider.
it’s kinda nice not to see our players get cursed when things are going bad. :)
If we lose our next game against Boston...
i’ll blame it on the servers NOT being down.
Whatever dude.
by Mayheminthehood on Apr 24, 2008 3:52 PM PDT up reply actions
POG: GMJ??
By the way….I love the fact that both Napoli and Mathis are droppin bombs on yer moms left and right.
Whatever dude.
by Mayheminthehood on Apr 24, 2008 3:23 PM PDT reply actions
Chowda's crying sickness...
My Sox fan friend here at work was saying (jokingly, of course) that we lucked out cause their guys were sick…
Great logic, but we were without our top two starting pitchers.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
AND Howie!
There's an old saying: 50 percent of what's going to happen, you have no control over. And the other 50 percent is going to happen anyway." -- Arte Moreno
Figgins
his single in the 7th really was the turning point in the game in my opinion.
I brought sexy back, but they only gave me store credit....
Matthews for sure
three hits, three RBIs. his two run single broke the tie, on top of everything else, and his RBIs were the difference in the final score.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 24, 2008 3:28 PM PDT reply actions
Mike Napoli was the only Angel to break rookie Justin Masterson's
stranglehold on the Angels’ offense through the six innings he pitched with a homerun.
Scioscia, "Roll the hole!"
Matthews
Even over my man Desmond. Hokie Joe gets an honourable mention for going 4-0 and tying Dice-K and Wang at the top of the AL victories chart.
Don't call me Desmond
That's unreal.
I was just commenting to a friend yesterday about how adamant Scioscia is about sticking with guys like GMJ…and look what Gary has done. We here at HH (myself included) would have benched that dude several games ago. Good job Sciosc.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions
Huh?
Oh, sticking with Shields after he blew arse for several games? Gotcha.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:43 PM PDT up reply actions
i've always said hh is too hard on gmj
he may have his bad days, and may be a bit overpaid, but he’s a critical member of this team. batting average is an overrated stat in my opinion anyway. other then that one stat, he’s been solid behind the plate this season. a switch hitter who has decent speed and is solid in the field…he’s cool in my book.
C: Bengie Molina, 1B: Wally Joyner, 2B: Bob Grich, SS: Jim Fregosi, 3B: Troy Glaus, RF: Tim Salmon, CF: Darin Erstad, LF: Brian Downing, SP: Nolan Ryan, RP: Troy Percival
All week
I’ve been on something of a rant about how he doesn’t belong in the lineup, and boy did he make me eat crow the last two days. Still, he’s a career .249 hitter if you leave out that one anomalous season, and his 2008 numbers through Tuesday were more of the same, and probably will be by the end of the year. But Panther is a game-to-game thing, so.
Me too!
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions
As in yesterday and today.
Kudos to the skipper for sticking with him.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:38 PM PDT up reply actions
and speaking of that
it was so cool to see Shields work a 1-2-3 eighth. Why leave him in, when he could have finally emerged from Boston with two straight solid appearances?
Non-save situation...
Just a question, but who would YOU have brought in?
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions
With a 4-run lead?
ok, JJ, whatever. :0
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:40 PM PDT up reply actions
yeah
it’s a close call, but assuming he was warmed up already…this could be more of a hindsight sentiment, though, as I think about what a good appearance would have meant for Shields’ confidence in Fenway, and how Ortiz dashed that to pieces.
Scotty grooved a fastball, 95MPH, if I recall...
he was daring Ortiz to hit it instead of walking him and having to face Ramirez. It didn’t work out for him. It was a good outing nonetheless, but I understand what you are saying.
Did you notice how angry Shields was on Tuesday to the media about the fact that the Angels have struggled there? It was comical how bitter he was about it. He blamed the media for focusing on it, but it is obvious to everyone but him, I guess.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:45 PM PDT up reply actions
I didn't
I actually saw none of this series. The games all ended before I got home from work, and I didn’t get to see any postgame stuff, either. This was a purely gameday & radio series for me.
I did not see a single pitch...
but I read everything out there for all three games. Sucks to be working late and all day, doesn’t it!
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Frankie
He’s not allowed to be a Panther or get any praise on this site. Next.
Well, I get the sarcastic sentiment
but uh. He got one out today. One.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 24, 2008 3:39 PM PDT up reply actions
But then what is his job?
Shields was stinking it up and K-Rod closed it out. It doesn’t matter how many outs he got, he saved Shields from a probable [but not likely] nomination of ‘BOG’ if the Angels lost.
He retired the side in order in the 8th, and sandwiched a single
around two outs in the 9th. Then he gave up a homer to a juicing fatass down a short porch in right. He was hardly ‘stinking it up.’
K-Rod did his job. But when his job entails him throwing four pitches to get one out to preserve a two run lead with no one on base, that doesn’t merit “panther.” That was the anti-pressure situation to end all anti-pressure situations.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 24, 2008 4:00 PM PDT up reply actions
I thought BB was making a joke...
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 4:02 PM PDT up reply actions
I could be wrong
but don’t we BOG only in a loss? What’s the point if we won?
"Erstad says he's got it. Erstad makes the catch!..."
by Rally Manatee on Apr 24, 2008 4:25 PM PDT up reply actions
If there's confusion.
I think what BBFan1 is saying that had Frankie not saved the game it would have been a loss.
In which case Shields would be the likely candidate for BOtG.
Since it was just another Angels victory Frankie should be considered for POtG as he prevented us from having to debate who is the BOtG.
by TheTypingFiend on Apr 24, 2008 5:15 PM PDT up reply actions
Mattews Junior
Good day to be a Halo fan in Boston.
Northeastern University Huskies: Mediocre hockey, guaranteed.
Congrats to you amigo
Where it with pride!
Howie drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up!
by ReggieBullits on Apr 24, 2008 3:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Ugh
*Wear
Howie drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up!
by ReggieBullits on Apr 24, 2008 3:54 PM PDT up reply actions
Fangraphs
Fangraphs agrees, with Mike Napoli placing a surprisingly strong second for his leadoff homer in the fifth and a clutch walk to load the bases in the seventh.
Witty .sig goes here.
VLAD
FOR TAKING 3 WALKS INSTEAD OF SWINGING AT BAD PITCHES, GIDP’S OR POPPING UP IN THE INFIELD!!!
Pleeeeazzzzzzze Frankie, close the games, don't make them closer!
Vlad should walk every time up til guys start throwing him strikes...
then he should start murdering the ball! He has been missing the strikes (and the balls) thus far! Any idea what his stats would look like if he had Manny’s eye? Me either, but I can imagine…
So speaking of which, I heard a rumor yesterday…a vile one at that, but it did get me thinking…it involved the Angels trading Vlad for 3 prospects and cash. I pooh poohed it at first…then got to thinking about it…hmmmmmmm. Guess it would depend on the prospects…??
I own a Vlad jersey don’t think I am out of my mind, just passing on what I heard. No idea how reliable.
There's an old saying: 50 percent of what's going to happen, you have no control over. And the other 50 percent is going to happen anyway." -- Arte Moreno
Just reporting what I heard...
I was hesitant to say anything, but it came from an unusual source.
I am not advocating it and I love the guy….however, if you start to think about it…the guy played 8 seasons on astroturf (not field turf), plays his heart out, swings from the soul 4-5 AB’s per game, the injuries have been mounting the last couple years, he is 32 in Dominican years (see Tejada), his trade value is still high, we have all kinds of options “in-house” in the OF (Rivera, Mathews, Willits, Evans, PJ Phillips, etc), whoever gets him has a reasonable option for next season, our OF budget skews our payroll, how long do you really seriously consider re-signing him for when he is free (or extend him now?), and are there hard feelings related to salary discrepancies?
There's an old saying: 50 percent of what's going to happen, you have no control over. And the other 50 percent is going to happen anyway." -- Arte Moreno
teeheehee.
good try.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 3:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Oh, I see...
website issue…
allow me to finish spelling it for you…
- R – Y.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 4:00 PM PDT up reply actions
That's just funny!
There's an old saying: 50 percent of what's going to happen, you have no control over. And the other 50 percent is going to happen anyway." -- Arte Moreno
GMJ
3-5 with a double and 3 RBI. If his collision with Torii had injured either of them or lead to runs it would be a different story. But it didn’t so it’s not. The replay kinda looked like Gary tried to pull up at the last second but that was Torii’s ball all the way. Gotta talk out there fellas.
Howie drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up!
ah, a 3rd visitor to the crow buffet (along with me and someone else (see above))
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 4:03 PM PDT up reply actions
Aside from the pleasantness associated with taking 2 of 3 at Fenway
That was a really fun series to watch. Two strong teams going at each other for 3 straight days. It had everything a baseball fan could want. Power hitting and small ball, quality pitching and meltdowns, and superior highlight reel defense on occasion (Aybar is the shit). Whenever one team would jump out to a big lead the other team would come trouncing back and no lead ever felt safe until the 27th out was recorded. Thankfully our bullpen stepped up huge the past two days while theirs continued to toil in mediocrity.
Man that was fun.
Howie drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up!
I agree those were the best games so far with all the late game come back drama,
that gave it the old “play off game atmosphere.”
Scioscia, "Roll the hole!"
Yeah...
but remember that the Sox didn’t have their #1 and #2 starters and other relievers had the flu pretty good. I am happy the Halos won 2 of 3 and all, but I’m not gonna hurt myself congratulating the club either. They should have won 2 of 3 with the three starters the Sox threw out there in this series.
And they were missing Lowell
In all the Angels saw a fairly depleted Red Sox roster that included two AAA starters.
Witty .sig goes here.
A Mr. Lackey and Mr. Escobar on lines one and two for you, sir
Also, Mr. Kendrick left a message earlier. I told him you’d give him a call back.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 24, 2008 4:30 PM PDT up reply actions
Ugh.
I’m not saying that the Halos don’t have injuries too. My point is that before we say much about the series, realize that they aren’t at full strength either and we certainly will see different pitchers in October than we saw this week.
Yeah, uh
and in October, they’d see different pitchers than they saw this week. It’s a completely moot point to say ‘we wouldn’t have done as well if they had thrown Beckett/Matsuzaka/Lowell at us’, because THEIR performance wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good if we had thrown Lackey/Escobar/Kendrick at them. Considering the factors that upset the balance of the series for both teams, it suggests that neither team benefited more than the other here…meaning the result of the series is as legit as had everyone been at full strength.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 25, 2008 9:54 AM PDT up reply actions
Yeah
totally dominates us every time.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 25, 2008 2:02 PM PDT up reply actions
Howie trumps Lowell
Howie drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up!
by ReggieBullits on Apr 24, 2008 4:35 PM PDT up reply actions
Yup
Lackey = Beckett
Escobar > Matsuzaka
Howie > Lowell
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 24, 2008 4:36 PM PDT up reply actions
And at this point
Our bullpen >>>>> Their bullpen up to Papelsmear
We win. Lol.
Howie drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up!
by ReggieBullits on Apr 24, 2008 4:40 PM PDT up reply actions
Sorry, but...
Beckett completely owns the Halos and has some sort of mojo in the postseason.
I’ll take Matsuzaka over Escobar right now – considering one has a torn rotator cuff.
Jesus folks – it’s OK to take off the rose-colored glasses every once in a while.
Shields still has demons in Boston. Weaver looked lost. Garland is Garland. Vlad seems to be a wreck, etc. All is not perfect folks – the team isn’t dialed in and they squeaked out two of three from a AAA pitching staff in Fenway. I’m just sayin.
Statistical Analysis...
...says that your chosen measurements such as “demons” and “mojo” are bunk. Next you will be telling us Darin Erstad’s grit was the key factor in our 2002, 2004 and 2005 winners.
its also ok to say
“wow, we actually just won a series at Fenway!” it’s april yes, but we needed to win this series from a mental standpoint. we haven’t had all of our bullets against them in recent years as well. think we could’ve used the GMJ from the past 2 days in the playoff last year?
bottom line for me: huge step for the psyche winning a series at boston.
Um
the whole point of my analysis was ‘with each team at full strength, the matchups say…’ Yeah, no shit I’m not gonna take Kelvim with a torn rotator cuff. I figured our average member here was smart enough that I didn’t need to specifically say it. My point is we beat the Red Sox in a series in which theywere absent as many key, talented players as we were. Making it absolutely fair to say that, though they were missing several guys, we likely would have seen a similar result in the series had we had our team together, too.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 25, 2008 9:51 AM PDT up reply actions
NO EFFIN WAY
Considering the prep that goes into each matchup, to change starters at short notice could be construed as fairly chumpy>
CONSIDER that if Beckett is subpar the last few starts and we have scouted his flaws, maybe we kill him despite his “afterglow” – meanwhile we have lit up Matsuzaka, so it is not like they got completely jobbed giving us unscouted pitchers in 2 of the 3 games.
Plus, by my lousy recollection...
pitchers who have not faced the Angels before usually have success.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 4:32 PM PDT up reply actions
Nothing lousy about that recollection!
That is a given!
There's an old saying: 50 percent of what's going to happen, you have no control over. And the other 50 percent is going to happen anyway." -- Arte Moreno
Are you kidding me?
We don’t have our #1 or #2 either!
Matchups should have been Lackey vs. Beckett, Kelvim vs. Matsu, and Weavs vs. Lester. I know what happened last year, but what you’re saying is that come October of ‘08, when these are the matchups we’ll be seeing that you’ve already staked the chowds to a 2-1 series lead?
Howie drinks your milkshake! He drinks it up!
by ReggieBullits on Apr 24, 2008 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions
Anyone remember a guy...I think his name is Howie?
Seems to be missing too!
There's an old saying: 50 percent of what's going to happen, you have no control over. And the other 50 percent is going to happen anyway." -- Arte Moreno
Ellsbury hits 2 HR's in one game and then lays down
the most beautiful drag bunt you will ever see…I hate BoSox, but that was a THING OF BEAUTY!
There is not much better than taking 2 of 3 from Bahstin IN Boston!
There's an old saying: 50 percent of what's going to happen, you have no control over. And the other 50 percent is going to happen anyway." -- Arte Moreno
except for sweeping
bahstin in boston, like we could’ve.. lol
Here's to another season of baseball! Angels in '08!
GMJ
as panther. Man is it tough when the site is down, I feel disconnected from all the angst on the site.
Angels in 08!
Panther = Aybar
Juice was driving people in, but I feel like Aybar deserves some props for being on base every time, not to mention his killer D.
I can imagine exactly the conversation that went on in the pen before the 9th though:
K-Rod: So… Shields… you’re going back out right?
Shields: Yeah. So?
K-Rod: And you have a really low ERA, right? Like, a couple runs and allowing the tying run to the plate wouldn’t really hurt you, right?
Shields: ...
K-Rod: Pretty please? I’m tied with Paplebon for the saves lead for crying out loud! It would be symbolic!
Shields: /sighs Fine. But you owe me beer for like, a week. Maybe two.
K-Rod: SWEET! Thanks dude.
~Till the Halo burns out...
rofl
btw his velocity is back up
Northeastern University Huskies: Mediocre hockey, guaranteed.
by Carl Johnson on Apr 24, 2008 5:57 PM PDT up reply actions
Angels tops on the road
in all of baseball right now! 8 road wins. Imagine if they keep that up AND do their usual win 2 of 3 at home.
HGH for Panther all the way.
Props to Frankie for getting 4 outs in a row going back to last night. And of course props to 4-0 Junkyard (I insist on that over ‘Hokie,’ it’s got such a nice ring to it – Junkyard Joe), a guy I am proud to say I have never nay-sayed, if that’s a word.
"Erstad says he's got it. Erstad makes the catch!..."
Naysaying Big Pimpin' Joe is like booing Santa Claus
So the only way you could trash talk the hokie is if you’re a Philly fan.
by Caseys Kiss of Death on Apr 24, 2008 4:34 PM PDT up reply actions
I can't say...
that I have seen a negative comment on HH about Joe ever. The guy had so much pity from everyone, because he kept getting shuttled between SLC and OC.
Arte, please buy the Angels back from the Red Sox...they've owned us long enough.
by Downing Rules on Apr 24, 2008 4:35 PM PDT up reply actions
If Scot Shields can one day exorcise those Fenway demons
then the Panther should be given to his psychiatrist.
Toby? Toby Wong. Toby Wong? Toby Wong. Toby Chung? Fucking Charlie Chan. I got Madonna's big dick coming out of my left ear, and Toby the Jap... I don't know what - comin' out of my right.
as far as I'm concnered he did today
Giving up homers to David Ortiz is a pretty standard stat across baseball. His pitches were pretty filthy otherwise.
Plus he drinks Bud Light while making millions a year. Gotta respect that.
Northeastern University Huskies: Mediocre hockey, guaranteed.
by Carl Johnson on Apr 24, 2008 5:58 PM PDT up reply actions
interesting game goin on with salt lake
The 17-1 stingers’s pitcher gave up 6 first inning runs only to see the stingers put up 6 of their own in the bottom of the inning including a BWood two-run double
guess when things are goin good, they are goin really good
I'm gonna drop the hammer, and dispense some indiscriminate justice!
Terran siege tank
Now 18-1. Bees win it in the 10th, 8-7
Walk-off single scores Terry Evans.
~Till the Halo burns out...
Gary Matthews Juicer
He doesn’t get a lot of love, but he is the reason we’re leaving Chowdtown happy.
White trashin' the 909
Panther has got to be...
GMJ. I was one of the unspoken naysayers, but alas…thanks for proving me, and us, wrong Gary.
By the way, I’ve gotta give a shout out to the majority of the Halos’ lineup for allowing us all to overlook how relatively crappy the 3-4 holes are doing…
by Big Easy Halofan on Apr 24, 2008 8:15 PM PDT reply actions
i didn't read anything above...
but gmj deserves it. he is panther of the series…i know you all hate him, but he’s been more productive than vlad and ga all season. batting average is overrated. he’s underrated on this site.
C: Bengie Molina, 1B: Wally Joyner, 2B: Bob Grich, SS: Jim Fregosi, 3B: Troy Glaus, RF: Tim Salmon, CF: Darin Erstad, LF: Brian Downing, SP: Nolan Ryan, RP: Troy Percival
GMJ
My POG was about to be GA, but I hope he can regroup and be more comfortable against RHP. So GMJ is my final choice.
--
Kotch 魂！
gary mathews!!!
yea gary i like you, just not batting second.
batting right-handed gary was a diff gary and when he came up batting right-handed again (w/ em loaded) i actually expected good to happen. i know it was a weird situation.
even though shields gave up the homer his stuff looked real good and was pounding the zone real nice like.
onward to detroit halos!!!
If your a true Angel... Gary Mathews --you'll stare into the sun long enough to go blind.
We own Detroit
This is gonna be a fun series. Let it bleed red …
Arggggh! The Highlander …
Don't call me Desmond
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