Great Chat With Angel Beat Writers About State Of The Team

by ktrain203 on Jul 9, 2008 10:45 AM PDT

Well, it's pretty much deja vu from last year so far for the Angels. We're in first place, we have great pitching, we can't hit and if the playoffs started today, we'd be playing the Boston Red Sox. Here's a good back and forth chat by a couple of Angels beat writers, discussing everything from possible trades to what asset in the Angels minor league system might help to push them over the top.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/think-one-team-2087659-angels-go...

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Comments

This guy has a pretty big hard-on

for sharing OC Register stories.

by TheTypingFiend on Jul 9, 2008 10:49 AM PDT reply actions

Because he is an OC Register emplyee, and this is

the Register’s attempt at viral marketing. Ignore these until Rev bans him…

by Stirrups on Jul 9, 2008 11:14 AM PDT up reply actions

Figures

I wonder if ktrain203 has some special meaning to this employee, or if it was created by the viral marketing department to appeal to the blogosphere.

by TheTypingFiend on Jul 9, 2008 11:26 AM PDT up reply actions

OC REGISTER

Gets fucked in the ass by the LA TIMES in sponsoring the Angels and retaliates with the RAT story. Stay classy and petty Wally George Register…

by Rev Halofan on Jul 9, 2008 5:16 PM PDT up reply actions

Or Gordon Dillow

Who is essentially Wally George with a thesaurus.

"I've got more action than my man John Woo
And I've got mad hits like I was Rod Carew" - Shure Shot, The Beastie Boys

by Zoe Necrosis on Jul 9, 2008 8:36 PM PDT up reply actions

If Wally George were alive today...

...he would yell at you:

“GET OFF MY BLOG!”

by Rev Halofan on Jul 9, 2008 10:50 PM PDT up reply actions

F---ing BEEEAUTIFUL comment

Brought back fond memories. Thanks mate

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Jul 11, 2008 10:22 AM PDT up reply actions

wow.

What a colossal waste of time.

by dmhead on Jul 9, 2008 11:20 AM PDT reply actions

That really was a waste of time...

and it really felt like they were just repeating a lot of what’s said here on a more public platform. I’m starting to think they get part of their analysis from HH.

by BruinHalo on Jul 9, 2008 11:27 AM PDT reply actions

i feel dumber for reading that

i pledge alliegance... to mike Scioscia
and the angels way of baseball
and to each pennant and ring we are sure to win.
one fanatic, under the halo, unwavered
with in n out and world series rings for all

by halofan4life on Jul 9, 2008 12:01 PM PDT reply actions

Yeah, 3 stories on SBNation total

And all of them jerking off the OC Register.

Worthless.

Willits needs to play, every, single, freaking, day. Now.

by 101halo on Jul 9, 2008 12:49 PM PDT reply actions

OC REGISTER GOOD FOR SOMETHING

To see how fast your browser loads a shitty, slow site.

by Rev Halofan on Jul 9, 2008 5:18 PM PDT up reply actions

Their site really is crap

for one of the Top 50 circulation rags in the USA

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Jul 12, 2008 7:25 AM PDT up reply actions

My favorite quote here

BP: Yeah. That excuse doesn’t work anymore. ... Honestly, I thought the Angels and Mariners would both win between 85 and 88 games, go down to the wire with the Angels probably edging them out. But six weeks in Tempe can cloud your judgment.

The Mariners shipped out a bullpen ace for a fragile starter, did nothing about their offense and the gaping hole at first, Ichiro’s a year older, King Felix may or may not take that Big Next Step we’ve all been waiting for, the bench was a train wreck… there were tons of question marks about this team before the season started. On top of all that, their pythagorean won-lost record last year (79-83) was nine runs worse than their actual record (88-74)—that is, they grossly overestimated the kind of team and players they had, and figured they were one or two pieces away from really contending, when in fact the right thing to do was to blow it up and start over. But getting back to the chat quote above, there’s absolutely no reason to think the M’s were anything but a statistical fluke last year.

The most charitable thing you could say for Bavasi lately was that he at least understood Horacio Ramirez had to go, but it certainly isn’t clear he can tell a good player from a bad one. It also undoubtedly didn’t help that ownership pushed Bavasi into re-signing Kenji Johjima to a multiyear deal when they had arguably the best catching prospect in the minors languishing at AAA after a failing to deliver in a very short stint at the major league level.

Witty .sig goes here.

by scareduck on Jul 9, 2008 2:03 PM PDT reply actions

Not to mention there were clear signs Bedard was a fluke

Called it here.

And that’s without even speaking to the fact that he’s fragile, and before we even knew he’d be a Mariner.

Willits needs to play, every, single, freaking, day. Now.

by 101halo on Jul 9, 2008 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions

ERRONEOUS ASSUMPTION

“Status of OC Register would indicate competent sports analyst employed there”

by Rev Halofan on Jul 9, 2008 5:19 PM PDT up reply actions

Plunkett might not be all that competent

But he’s a hell of a nice guy. He really is. I suspect by his “six weeks in Tempe can cloud your judgement” comment that Plunk was knocking back a few bottles of Bud after all those spring training games.

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Jul 12, 2008 7:28 AM PDT up reply actions

Eh.

That team should be better than it has been. Three of their bats have had Izturis-level bad luck with LD, while Washburn, Batista and Silva all decided to tank.

Admittedly, they weren’t that good of a team last year, but as our Pythag this year demonstrates, you always have to take that stuff with a grain of salt.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Jul 11, 2008 11:47 AM PDT up reply actions

Big pythag difference

Is that they overachieved their run differential like crazy WITHOUT SUFFERING ANY INJURIES TO THEIR THIRTY-SOMETHING STARTING LINEUP. That’s what people don’t get—it’s when you’re lucky and your Pythag is all perquackey that we can begin talking about true “luck.” The Angels look lucky mostly because Lackey was out when Figgins/Kendrick were in, and vice-versa.

by mattwelch on Jul 11, 2008 2:27 PM PDT up reply actions

Eh.

I dunno. Some of it is just a team’s image of themselves I think. It’s not repeatable because they aren’t good enough to get off to a good start every time. But Silva and Washburn tanking entirely when every other pitcher in the league basically is playing above their head, Betancourt going from awesome to suck at Defense in 2 years, plus the aforementioned bad hitting luck by three of their starting hitters- I don’t think the team was really this bad, even given the injuries they’ve had. They weren’t going to win the division without getting really lucky but adding Bedard SHOULD have made them an over-.500 team.

But still, I know what you’re saying.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Jul 11, 2008 9:23 PM PDT up reply actions

Really Zu?

I haven’t seen enough of the M’s to fairly comment, but I remember Betancourt being an awesome SS defensively. Has he really gone to shit with the glove?

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Jul 12, 2008 7:29 AM PDT up reply actions

The guys on Lookout Landing believe this to be the case.

They agree that two years ago he ruled the school, but now he’s horrible apparently.

~Till the Halo burns out...

by Zu Long on Jul 12, 2008 9:20 PM PDT up reply actions

There's a lot of "smart" people who had the Angels winning around 85-88 games

I think, in fact, scareduck made a chart of them doing so back in March or April…. It was dumb then and it’s dumb now.

by mattwelch on Jul 11, 2008 2:45 PM PDT up reply actions

My Favorite Quote

“I would worry a little about giving Arredondo too much responsibility because of his inexperience.”

Good thing we didn’t consult your opinion with our young reliever in 2002.

by Northwest on Jul 9, 2008 4:14 PM PDT reply actions

There's nothing less attractive than...

...a public display of kissing your boss’s ass.

Please fuck off.

I see red people

by The Limey on Jul 9, 2008 4:24 PM PDT reply actions

not as worse

as kissing your ass’s boss…

i think…

by Rev Halofan on Jul 10, 2008 12:08 AM PDT up reply actions

But Plunk and Whick are great guys and their perspectives carry a hell of a lot of weight. I’m heavier than I used to be but I bet Plunkett and Whicker are both still fatter bastards than me.

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Jul 11, 2008 12:01 AM PDT reply actions