Number of times the Angels lost 4 out of 5 games in 2009: 9
Number of games the Angels won in 2009: 97

Number of times the Angels lost 4 out of 5 games in 2008: 7
Number of games the Angels won in 2009: 100

In April 2007 the Angels lost 6 straight games, and 8 out of 9. That team won 94 games.

On April 25, 2009, the Angels were 6-11, 5.5 games out of first place.

On April 18, 2007, the Angels were 6-9, 2.0 games out of first place.

And on April 22, 2002, the Angels were 6-14, 10.5 games out of first place.

Since July 1, 2006, a span of 574 regular season games, the Angels have been playing .602 baseball.

Seattle is 1-4. Boston is 1-3. Mark Teixeira is 0 for 16. Milton Bradley is 1-17, Josh Hamilton 1-11. It's early April.

So vilify the sloppy play, complain about the banishment of Mike Napoli, and if you're at the Big A this weekend please do me a favor and get on Torii Hunter's case good & loud about the lollygagging and fraternizing. But fer crying out loud, mix in a little perspective now and then. You don't really want to end up like L.A. Seitz and scareduck, do you?*

* For you newcomers, this is a good-natured dig at two of our longest-running and most-beloved pessimists.