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Gary Matthews Jr.

Picpic_tiny by Rev Halofan on in Postgame Threads

I am posting this before the game is over because any game with Gary Matthews Jr in it is over before it is over. For SHAME, Gary. It was the first big error of a rolelrcoaster ride lost on some errors.

Garymatthews_medium

Blame of the Game: Gary Matthews Jr.

photo credit: pattimelt

UPDATE:

• Still the BEST record in baseball.

•7-3 East Coast Road trip with a sweep in Fenway.

We'll take it!

Those10 unearned runs in the final two innings of this ridiculous road trip say it all: it is time for some home cooking.

And I am just going to say this ONCE... Shades of 1995. Hang tight

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Panther

Teixeira!!

by hathaway93 on Aug 3, 2008 12:51 PM PDT   0 recs

we were cursed from the first – once Gary starts, we lose.

by Rev Halofan on Aug 3, 2008 1:23 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

agree

been saying that for weeks
time for the ninja to work some magic.
DFA and hope some contending team takes a chance on him

by UCIHalo on Aug 3, 2008 1:36 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Lackey deserves Blame as well

You have a 5-0 lead. How the hell do you start nibbling around the strikezone? Just go after guys idiot.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Aug 3, 2008 1:21 PM PDT   0 recs

Why not?

He has a five run lead and starts to nibble big time. He got lucky in the 4th, allowed a shot in the 5th, and got torched in the 6th. I hate how he does that sometimes. He tries to be too perfect. You have a five run cushion, just throw the ball over the plate, stay in the strikezone, and let the defense (which is was good) do the work for you. I hate how pitchers do that.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Aug 3, 2008 1:37 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Perfectionism is the game.

It keeps Lackey throwing No-hitters into the 9th, and other days knocks him out after 6.

by shiftyeyedgoat on Aug 3, 2008 1:42 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I'll take Sandy Koufax's philosophy

“I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.”

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Aug 3, 2008 1:51 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

That was some of the WORST DEFENSE I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!

It’s like we wanted to lose today. Blame of the game?? Take your pick…Mathis for throwing the ball into the outfield for the 100th time this season, GMJ for dropping a sure out, Aybar for his continued poor defense, or Figgins for his horrendous mess. I’m digusted with all of them

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 1:24 PM PDT   0 recs

*disgusted

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 1:25 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I don't think it's necessarily Gary's fault

What w/ the TORN KNEE and all.

It’s MANAGEMENT’S fault-esp. Soth-for insisting on trotting an obviously injured player out there every day because of his contract.

Force GMJ to have surgery and problems are solved-he’s out for the rest of the season and likely much more effective when he returns at some point next year. In the meantime, Rivera and Willits get more playing time and who knows-Maybe Kendry gets called up, too.

Light Up That Halo!

by Clutch on Aug 3, 2008 1:28 PM PDT   0 recs

I agree

Soth is being stuborn to a fault with GMJ. Willits or Rivera should play for him for the rest of the season

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 1:31 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Exactly

As someone said with Frosty a few years ago, management needs to take away the option to play GMJ. Otherwise Soth is going to continue putting him out there.

At this point, I’d much rather see Kendry, Evans, or even Wood or Rodriguez getting ABs. But I’m not ready to give up on Gary completely. Remember, he produced pretty well for us last year-to the tune of a 15.8 VORP (not fantastic, but pretty good)-and happens to have been injured since roughly last September. Now that they know what the problem is, Soth needs to-or Reagins needs to force the hand-put Gary on the DL and try again next season.

Light Up That Halo!

by Clutch on Aug 3, 2008 1:34 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

And for benching Vlad when Hunter is already gone.

I swear, if one more person tells me to "work smarter, not harder"...

by Rally Manatee on Aug 3, 2008 1:38 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Can we give the blame...

To everybody EXCEPT Tex and Willits?

by tbone_cutter on Aug 3, 2008 1:31 PM PDT   0 recs

== Resident Point Tallier ==

by scottnak on Aug 3, 2008 1:32 PM PDT   0 recs

matthews needs ot be traded in the offseason

to someon elike kansas city for 1 cent on the dollar. Give us a single A catcher hitting .125 and let us pay 90% of his contract.

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

by ihearhowie2.0 on Aug 3, 2008 1:36 PM PDT   0 recs

figgins get's some mention

blew two double play balls that could have kept like a million runs off the board

by UCIHalo on Aug 3, 2008 1:38 PM PDT   0 recs

he makes that DP in the 8th,

they go into the ninth TIED!!!!

the only time that offense keeps u outta blame contention is if u’re offense comes thru after an error.

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 Aug 3, 2008 1:46 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

So Figgins botches one play,

he definitely doesn’t deserve the whole blame, just 2 unearned runs of the 10. So more like 20% of the blame minus whatever offense he contributed.

Blame GMJ for his lack of defense and offense

by shiftyeyedgoat on Aug 3, 2008 1:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

im not sayin figgy alone

but i think that he should shoulder some of the blame along with GMJ, more to GMJ because he was all-around crap today (like we expected any better), but figgy’s defense late was exceptionally bad

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 Aug 3, 2008 1:56 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

It's true, it's not just Matthews

But I agree with Rev: any game in which Matthews STARTS, we’re basically saying we’re giving the edge to our opponent.

GMJ will find ways to ground into more double plays, be as unclutch as possible and lately even ways to have bad defense.

GMJ should NOT play/start in any of the Angels’ game anytime soon. I can only hope management realized that.

As for the actual blame of the game; you can honestly not put it on one person. MaMayFig ArreShieldsOl – in other words, Mathis, Matthews, Aybar, Figgins, Arredondo, Shields and Oliver and actually, also Lackey, all had some very VERY bad moments at some very, VERY bad times which in the end ended us costing us the game.

Teixeira, GA, Willits are about the only three players that did not deserve to lose today. Oh, and maybe Rivera too – although by the time he started hitting, the game was already lost.

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:39 PM PDT   0 recs

I thought that this was the year we were going for it all - screw the future and go all in

don’t understand than why someone like Gary even sees the inside of a locker room

by UCIHalo on Aug 3, 2008 1:41 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I agree

He’s not part of the future, and shouldn’t be part of today.

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:43 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

My bad

Kendrick absolutely exists and did not deserve blame indeed.

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 4, 2008 2:45 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

The only worrisome thing about this game to me

is that the bullpen cracked under pressure, and the defense completely faltered in the big house of baseball, most likely trembling hands with 55K screaming fans around them.

I agree with RevHF, this has 1995 overshadowed tones and I don’t like it one bit.

Other than that, we’re doing great and should finish out the regular season much more offensively equipped than we were a week ago.

by shiftyeyedgoat on Aug 3, 2008 1:39 PM PDT   0 recs

don't know how much blame you can give the bullpen

if aybar, mathis and figgy would have played defense the yankees don’t score any runs in the 8th and only one run in the 7th

by UCIHalo on Aug 3, 2008 1:42 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

No, they receive most of the blame.

Arredondo gave up a 3 run shot to Nady, although unearned, was a crack in his armor, showing he faltered under the pressure and couldn’t handle the grave error given up by GMJ.

Shields was nibbling and not strong. His first two batters were his fault, but after that, the abysmal defense took over and allowed 5 unearned to be attributed to him.

by shiftyeyedgoat on Aug 3, 2008 1:45 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

You're missing the point

despite the defensive follies, the bullpen was not able to adjust and reacted horribly to the bad defense behind them.

A mark of a good pitcher is to get past the last batter and focus on the next one, ie. giving up a homerun and coming back to strike out the next guy. Today, the pitchers were emotionally affected and unable to cope with the defense, and/or they pitched poorly.

Either way, not a good sign for the bullpen.

by shiftyeyedgoat on Aug 3, 2008 2:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Shields was off, Arredondo was off

They’ve been lights out for a long time, so were “due” for a stinker, as any pitcher is every now and then. It just so happened to be today. I’m not too worried about the bullpen, and not too worried about the defense. I’m sure they’ll rebound.

I AM worried about Scioscia still playing GMJ. I don’t care Torii wasn’t there to be played – give Vlad a day of tomorrow instead of today, Willits in center and Vlad in right and we win the game.

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:45 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Mathis, Matthews, Aybar, Figgins, Arredondo, Shields, Oliver, Lackey

These guys blew it, plain and simple

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 1:41 PM PDT   0 recs

no, not in order

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 1:46 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Lackey didn't blow anything.

He left the game after six with the lead against one of the better offensive teams in baseball.

by shiftyeyedgoat on Aug 3, 2008 1:46 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

THANK YOU

He struck out A-Rod twice in pressure situations … what the hell more do you guys want?

by Rev Halofan on Aug 3, 2008 1:48 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

162-0?

we sometimes forget this is real life, not playstation!

Lamest poster of all-time.

by ineptituderunsamok on Aug 3, 2008 1:57 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

ha

start – choose lineup

down arrow to matthews -> press X

R1 to select bench

down to vlad -> press X

“do you want substitute vladimir guerrero for gary matthews jr.?”

YOUR DAMN RIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!

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 Aug 3, 2008 2:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

with all due respect REV

A-Rod has been anything but clutch this year. One of the knocks on him right now is his inablility to deliver in clutch situations. Even the YES guys were talking about it today during the telecast

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 1:59 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Keep in mind

that A-Rod struck out 7 times in this series and went 4-16.

Not a great series for him.

by shiftyeyedgoat on Aug 3, 2008 2:03 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

still, Im not saying Lackey deserves all the blame

far from it. Our defense was horrendous today

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 2:03 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

agreed

he did try to throw too many breaking balls in the 6th, but was overall giving the team exactly what is expected with a bullpen as strong as ours.

thats the strength of this team, shortening games, almost everytime a game gets into the 7th that is tight, its close to over THEN b/c arre, shields, and k-rod shut the other team down.

yeah arre gave up a bomb, he was due and teixeira bailed him out.

shields got the DP groundball he needed and figgy “bucknered” it.

this game has a defensive blame all over it

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 Aug 3, 2008 1:51 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

doesnt it just break your heart

to know that gary matthews’ salary will cost us a Frankie Rodriguez, Teixeira, Figgins or Lackey?

Think about that for a second. And try not to kill something

by ihearhowie2.0 on Aug 3, 2008 1:42 PM PDT   0 recs

OUCH

a stab in the heart of hope

by Rev Halofan on Aug 3, 2008 1:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Might not

Arte might open his hearts and wallets to us.

Don't call me Desmond

by highlandhalo on Aug 3, 2008 3:20 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

disaster...

but definitely better than it happens in October; and as for GMJ, we should trade him for several bunches of balls or a dozen of bats, just like this

by jjlooney on Aug 3, 2008 1:42 PM PDT   0 recs

amen

four losses after the all star break….all games where GMJ started…..

by ZiK on Aug 3, 2008 1:45 PM PDT   0 recs

whoopee.

Knew you’d come in handy with the doomsday news ;)

== Resident Point Tallier ==

by scottnak on Aug 3, 2008 1:46 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

what are the chances of some team picking up Gary if we DFA him

cause if its higher than 25% It would be hard not to do it

by UCIHalo on Aug 3, 2008 1:45 PM PDT   0 recs

I don't think it's even CLOSE to 25%

Nobody would want him now.

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:46 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

come on, don't snatch away my dreams

some sucker in a division race might be that desperate

by UCIHalo on Aug 3, 2008 1:48 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

To make sure they won't make the postseason ?

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

not gonna have many games like today

This was an anomaly, thankfully. This might be a weekly occurrence for the Rangers.

by yeswecan on Aug 3, 2008 1:46 PM PDT   0 recs

I was thinking the same thing.

Hopefully it’s a blip, not the start of a trend.

Lamest poster of all-time.

by ineptituderunsamok on Aug 3, 2008 1:58 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Maybe we should hack Angelsbaseball.com

And put out a fake pressrelease on how The Angels DFA’d Matthews after this game.

Think that’ll send them the signal they need ?

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:46 PM PDT   0 recs

(in case you are serious)

I do not condone this statement.

by Rev Halofan on Aug 3, 2008 1:49 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

I was not serious

FWIW

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:50 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

But I AM frustrated ;-)

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:50 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

So does this game make us feel better about Izturis ?

Hey you! What are horse mackerel!
Hey, the chair are sailing! You believe that I am toad of the month!
(Yes, that is K-Rod's entry music, translated)

by infant on Aug 3, 2008 1:48 PM PDT   0 recs

Ive always said Izzy is better than Aybar

and it is because Aybar’s D is subpar

Write to the Angels front office. Get Tim Salmon's number 15 retired!

by KingF15h on Aug 3, 2008 2:13 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

Aybar

I don’t know if they get a DP on that play anyway…Christian was already at second when he bobbled it, but he could have got the guy at first.
The Figgins, Mathis and GMJ were much more costly, because I don’t think Aybar could have turned two there, Christian was too fast. As evidenced by his stealing third right after that.

Trade Manny for a bag of salt...

by hk47 on Aug 3, 2008 2:42 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

matthews no trade clause goes through next season right

i think we need to try really hard to get him to OK a move in the offseason. If he’s around next year when we might lose 2 outfielders….theres a chance that he could be an everyday starter

DEAR GOD NO

by ihearhowie2.0 on Aug 3, 2008 1:50 PM PDT   0 recs

good thing a no trade clasue doesn't apply to being DFAed

serious, right now might be our best opportunity to dump him. teams get pretty desperate at the end of the season.
wait, what am i saying. we are stuck with him
maybe we can reopen the case to void his contract

by UCIHalo on Aug 3, 2008 1:56 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

need to plant some HGH in his home

and sabotage some urine test.

Just kidding.

Sort of.

by ihearhowie2.0 on Aug 3, 2008 2:00 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs

hahahaha

http://inplaynoouts.blogspot.com/ - A blog about teams I like, written by me.

by Carl Johnson on Aug 3, 2008 2:01 PM PDT to parent up   0 recs