All HH'ers can see the Angels have fielded a pathetic offense this year. How pathetic? Here's a comparison to the glory days of 2009...or one specific glory day anyway.

Angel batting averages* at the close of play vs. Cleveland Indians, August 18, 2009:

Angel batting averages* at the close of play vs. Texas Rangers, August 18, 2011:

Side by side comparison of 2009 to 2011 by position and deviation:

So total deviation is .582, which translates into .065 per position. That's right...the per position batting average is .065 less. That's a lot of points to give away on offense.

Here is the data sorted by deviation, greatest to least by position:

NON-SURPRISES:

1)      The greatest drop in offense is at the catching position.

2)      The next greatest (DH) may not be a totally fair comparison, since Branyan rarely plays. Substituting Abreu for Branyan helps, but that position deviation is still over 60 points.

3)      Left field has seen a drastic reduction from Hunter Rivera in 2009 versus Wells in 2011...110 points less.

RANDOM NOTES:

1)      There is not one position (!) where the batting average is higher in 2011 versus 2009. As Jim Fregosi would say, "Hitting is contagious".

2)      Aybar is 54 points lower this year versus 2009. That a significant drop.

3)      Hunter is exactly 50 points lower.

4)      Izturis is 31 points lower.

5)      Kendrick is the only one that hasn't shown a significant drop in batting average (10 points).

6)      How bad would we be if Trumbo had been as bad as expected (not gleaned from stats above, but from his power numbers)?

CONCLUSION: No team could expect to continue hitting like the Angels of 2009. But a decline in batting average of 65 points in 2 years would be catastrophic to any team's chances of appearing in the playoffs. If Arte is paying attention (events yesterday confirm he probably is) , I don't see how major front office and roster changes can be avoided this winter.

* These are the 9 players listed in the box score at the conclusion of the game.