Coping with disappointment - an Angel Tradition

I'll be blunt, people - I can't remember the last time the Angels were bad.

I went to my first Angels game in 2005. I was hooked. They were anything BUT bad.

That year, they made it to the ALCS, where they were cheated out of a trip to the World Series thanks to one Mr. Pierzynski. Frustrating, yes. But were they bad? Of course not.

In 2006, they came just a few wins short of winning the American League West. Disappointing? Absolutely. But were they bad? God, no.

If you take a look at the 2 seasons that follow, you'll find the pattern continues. The Angels left their fans downtrodden, but for crying out loud, they weren't BAD.

We arrive at last in the year 2009, where our beloved Angels are enduring a season of heartbreak and struggle. The death of Nick Adenhart shocked a legion of fans. Our bullpen is playing as bad as it has in years. Our bats are lifeless, and we can't seem to break out of the .500 duldrums.

Tonight, Angels fans bore witness to the epitome of the 2009 Angels' struggles. As fans of this team, we have to ask ourselves: are these Angels...BAD? It's a little early to start calling this team "lousy" or any synonym for "bad" you'd like to call them, but things certainly don't seem to be going their way. Should they continue to play like this for the rest of the season, we can pretty much count them out.

But think of it this way - this is something we Angels fans haven't had to cope with for a very long time - mediocrity.

I know old-time Angels fans who had to cope with losing season after losing season. Seldom were they blessed with the privilege of seeing their Halos play in the postseason.

These days, I'd say we're a little spoiled.

Yes, we've had to cope with loss after disappointing loss in the postseason these last few years. But the fact of the matter is that they're in the postseason consistently. In fact, it's safe to say that (these days, anyway) the Angels are one of the most successful franchises in Major League Baseball, if not in American sports.

Yes, we want to see them succeed. But what we fail to recognize is that for a long time, these Angels were BAD. Really, really bad. There were no K-Rods, no Garrets, no Vlads. Just a few rising stars here and there with no major success to speak of.

The Angels were once either a breeding ground for rising stars that would be gobbled up by wealthier teams or a place where aging superstars could finish their careers as the main attraction for a lousy team in beautiful Southern California - a perfect situation in which to end one's career.

But now these Halos are on the opposite end of that spectrum. While their farm system is superb, they've been known to pick up huge names in recent free agent markets.

This is a team that is just now entering a stage of consistent success. Some of fellow fans waited 41 years to see the Halos raise that World Series trophy in 2002. It was the foundation of something special - a foundation the very team we watch today continues to build. One lousy season will never make us forget that.