Angels Baseball Returns Today: Halolinks

Angels to get first look at Pineiro - angelsbaseball.com
Newly acquired Joel Pineiro will get the starting call on Thursday when the Angels kick off Cactus League play against the White Sox at Tempe Diablo Stadium in a 2:05 p.m. PT charity game.

THERE'S GOING TO BE AN ANGELS BASEBALL GAME TODAY!  ON TELEVISION!!  TODAY!!!

Angels announce new play-by-play announcer - Yahoo! Sports
The Angels announced Wednesday that Rojas will join Mark Gubicza in the broadcast booth, calling games on FOX Sports West and KCOP.

In case you haven't heard...the Angels have a new guy to talk during the games on television.

Morales eager to build on '09 success - angelsbaseball.com
Morales' late start was a simple matter of U.S. Immigration paperwork running its natural course. A native of Cuba with a residence in the Dominican Republic, he applied for his visa on Feb. 3, having had to wait a year and a day after his 2009 document expired in accordance with the law.

Now I understand why some players have a visa problems.  I always thought they were just lazy, "Oh yeah, spring training begins next week, I better apply for that visa {yawn}".  If he has to wait a year and a day for his previous documents to expire, does that mean he's going to be even later next spring?  If he plays long enough, he's going to miss the entire season.

25 Angels: Bobby Abreu and Torii Hunter - The Orange County Register
Entire weeks go by without Bobby Abreu flying out to right field. That’s no exaggeration — here are two and a half months of Abreu’s at bats, and only three put outs by the right fielder.

Sam Miller has some cool graphs to show you.  At least he's not writing about "Saved By The Bell".

List of 2009 World Series shares -  Sporting News
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Share of Players' Pool: $7,088,773.93; value of each full share: $138,038.51). The Angels awarded 43 full shares, 7.995 partial shares and 14 cash awards.

That's 138,038 and a half double-cheeseburgers off of McDonald's dollar menu.  For each player.  That's a lot.

Kazmir reunited with his nasty stuff - angelsbaseball.com
His ERA soaring, the Rays made Kazmir -- and his three-year, $28.5 million contract with a 2012 option -- available in late August. Aware that they might lose John Lackey as a free agent, the Angels snapped up the two-time AL All-Star, sending prospects Sean Rodriguez, Alex Torres and Matt Sweeney to Tampa Bay. Reunited with Butcher, Kazmir flourished with a sizzling 1.73 ERA in six starts, solidifying a rotation that had been patched together all season owing to injuries and the death of Nick Adenhart.

See, Rev was right.  Kazmir replaces Lackey in the Angels rotation, not Pineiro.

Dodgers sign Garret Anderson - latimes.com
Anderson, 37, who grew up in the San Fernando Valley and grew into a star outfielder with the Angels, is expected to compete with Brian Giles and Doug Mientkiewicz for one spot on the Dodgers' bench. If he makes the team, Anderson will earn $550,000, with up to $200,000 possible in incentive bonuses. If he does not make the team, he can ask for his release.

G.A. in L.A.  No way!  Yep.

Hideki Matsui Quietly Went to Angels His Way - NYTimes.com
"I made my decision to sign with the Angels before receiving any offer from the Yankees," Matsui said. "Had I waited, I don’t know. They might have made an offer, they may not have. That part’s not very clear. But that was the situation." After signing Matsui, the Angels also hired Kahlon and Isao Hirooka, who was the Yankees’ coordinator of Japanese media relations. Many reporters who covered Matsui with the Yankees have also relocated. About 50 Japanese reporters are following the Angels this spring, compared with three daily beat writers from American news organizations.

"I have much to learn from Uchiyama-San and will gladly shed my old, disgusting ways of laziness and become my best under his guidance."  Or "Big hit, happy body"

Four teams boycott breakfast over 'Cubs tax' -  NBC Sports
Angels spokesperson Tim Mead explained that "we just fundamentally disagree" and "feel it's fundamentally wrong to implement a tax on loyal baseball fans."

I agree.  Plus, this year's breakfast was catered by Silvia's House O' Cakes which is owned by Silvia Kowalski originally of Oak Park Illinois.  Ms. Kowalski was planning to add an automatic gratuity of 18% to the breakfast total, which the other teams feel is 3% more than their share. Or something like that.

Blyleven: It’s not easy letting go of the game -  nbcsports.msnbc.com
"I’m not trying to be disrespectful," Jim Edmonds told the writer, "but if I was healthy, I could do as much or more than 85 percent of the guys out there."

"Out there" being major league baseball?  Really?  Is it just me, or does it seem like Edmonds needs to wipe the dried spit from the corners of his mouth a little more often?  Shit's gross.

Quinlan feels fortunate to be back with Angels - LA Daily News
Utility outfielder Robb Quinlan didn't expect to return to Los Angeles this season but an unsuccessful free-agency stint landed him back with the Angels. "Up until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't think I was coming back," Quinlan said.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, we didn't think he'd be back either.  Which begs the question, WHY is he back?

March 4 - BR Bullpen
1944 - The woeful Philadelphia Phillies announce their new nickname -the Blue Jays. The winning entry in the contest was submitted by a Mrs. Elizabeth Crooks, and was chosen over a number of names ranging from Daisies to Stinkers. Team president Carpenter says he hopes to have the farm system identified by the same blue color, with the Wilmington club called the Blue Rocks and possibly the New Bradford team as the Blue Wings. The Blue Jays will be the unofficial team name for 1944-45 but abandoned in 1946, though the team will still occasionally be referred to in newspaper accounts as the Blue Jays through 1949. Ms. Crooks wins a $100 war bond and a season ticket to the Blue Jays.

1994 - Michael Jordan comes to bat for the first time in a Chicago White Sox uniform. Playing in a spring training game, Jordan taps back to Texas Rangers pitcher Darren Oliver, who tags out the former National Basketball Association star. Jordan will eventually give up baseball after one season and return to the NBA.