One of our friends over at Athletics Nation has a hate so strong for us that he felt the need to post all of those little things that get under his skin.  I appreciated his passion and was inspired to write a little something of my own.  At first I was racking my brain for all the things I hate about the A's, but then realized that my love for the Angels is far greater than my hate of the A's.  This list is by no means exhaustive, but rather a few things that come to mind.

Things I love about the Angels:

1. Arte - the best owner in baseball.

2. That I know how it feels to have seen my team win a World Series.

3. Vlad's disregard for batting gloves.

4. Garret's disregard for emotion.

5. The Strike Force.

via mlb.mlb.com

6. Scioscia...and the fact that as long as Arte's in charge, Mike is the guy.

7. That we had the best first half in team history - even with an often times inept offense.

8. Naps' beard.

9. Halos Heaven.

10. K-Rod's emotion and the fact that it pisses everyone else off.

11. That we never make trades at the deadline.

12. That K-Rod has more saves than the Mariner's have wins.

13. #26 on that A's fan's list.

14. That John Lackey struggles to close his mouth, but still is one of the best in baseball today.

15. That the first Angel game I ever saw was a 10-5 win over the Yankees.

16. Nolan Ryan.

17. The Rally Monkey and Thunder Sticks...and the anger they cause all other Major League Baseball fans.

18. That we played the Giants in the World Series, forcing some A's fan to cheer for us.

19. Black Magic Santana's tatoo.

20. That we somehow squeezed a Cy Young out of Bartolo Colon.

21. Since Scioscia took the helm we've seen a World Series, MVP, Cy Young, All-Star game MVP, four division championships, and two HR Derby champions.  And I probably am forgetting something.

22. That ESPN gives us no love.  The last thing I want to see is Eric Young, Eduardo Perez, Eduardo Perez's Tounge, Steve Phillips, or Fernando Vina attempting to speak well of the Angels.

23. Looking at this.

24. That last year we were the best team at home in the league and that this year we are the best team on the road in the league.

25. Bob Grich, his mustache, and the fact that he was great friends with my uncle when they were kids and continues to be.

Here's to a great first half and hopefully an even better second half.