Friday HaloLinks: A Gumball Rally All Over The Map Edition

Hey, It's Friday. It's the last few moments before all but the die hards take flight for the next few days and HH traffic will be light (not too many folks to insult!). And it's my day at Halo Links Command Central. So sit back and watch the Friday Edition evolve over this season as I force y'all to suffer through my attempts to cast further and further afield and still remain somehow related to Angels Baseball. I warn you: it will get weird before it gets finished! Plus, later in the year, I will have some trivia contests and a Baseball on the Internet Scavenger Hunt Contest, winners get tix. But you gotta subscribe to Friday mornings...

• CJ Wilson continues to steam roll through his ST starts, which can only make Rangers' fans feel a geometrically greater need to vest in The Great Hope of Yu if anyone is going to believe them when they try to lay claim to one of the finest rotations in baseball. The Halos defeated the Reds 3-1 and are strating to see some pretty fun offensive numbers out of the gate for Howie Kendrick, Albert Pujols, Alexi Amarista, Mark Trumbo and Erick Aybar (SLG's of .900, .895, .889, .786 and .625 respectively).
• Jeff Sullivan spends some time separated from The Dark Side of the Force and finds himself doing a magical happy dance over the Best Starting Rotation In Baseball. "This is honest, sincere, genuine gushing, and while I know the Angels added Albert Pujols, it's the rotation that wows me the most."..."I should stop but I don't want to." Welcome to The Golden State, Jeff. Enjoy the sunshine! And don't think that we won't be dropping links to this article to trip up M's trolls this season.
• Here is something to think about in future years: Should MLB be Worried About Valley Fever? This, in response to Mike Trout suffering from flu-like symptoms where the doctors ruled out Valley Fever. While the author can only come up with two actual MLB cases ever, which is a drop in the bucket compared to all the man-days spent by MLB players in and around the Southwest over the years, the truth is that cases of VF are, as the author is quick to point out, dramtically on the rise in the Phoenix area.

• Speaking of rotations, could it be that the mere thought of people considering any team other than the Phillies having The Best Rotation In Baseball is driving Philly fans and media to go a little crazy?
• I know that the bar is set pretty low at this particular point in history, but Arte Moreno being named LA Sports Executive of the Year certainly does park him way out there in front of the pack and forces every other local sports franchise to play catch up going forward.
• Well, that was quick. In one single off-season the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim went from overlooked in the media via east-coast bias, to ungodly media pressure via overblown hype.
• The Halos trimmed the ST roster down, and Albert Pujols makes the cut! Sent down were (in alphabetical order) Doug Deeds, Johnny Hellweg, Luis Jiminez, Fabio Martinez, Matt Meyer, Ariel Pena, Matt Shoemaker and Daniel Tillman.
• The Irish-American Baseball Hall Of Fame announced their 2012 nominees and, once again, Ken McMullen, Tom Egan, Tom Murphy and Adam Kennedy are shut out. Shameful. Any other obvious Halos of Irish descent out there?
• COMPLETELY OT LINK OF THE WEEK: I have never understood falling down as any sort of planned activity, much less one that is sought after to the extent that many consider it a sport. But this guy at least gets the idea of Go Big Or Go Home.

==================== A Twist of Fate Worthy of Shakespeare ====================

As first posted here by ItCouldHappen, Brandon Wood is being gifted yet another opportunity to add to that comedy of errors that has been his career thus far. But once you get over all the usual and customary reactions expected of Halo fans everywhere, one can sense the complex hand of a talented myth maker reaching out from the grave and toying with modern sensibilities. Consider the paths of the principals Brandon Wood, Jim Tracy, Carney Lansford, Mike Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher.

Tracy became the Manager of the Dodgers right after the Dodgers passed on Mike Scioscia, who then becomes Manager of the Angels and oversees the drafting of Brandon Wood. Mike will eventually try to establish him as a power hitting third baseman via the instruction of Mickey Hatcher.

Carney Lansford was drafted by the Angels and joined the Big League club almost exactly when Mickey Hatcher joined the Dodgers. Lansford DOES become that Angels' Rookie Of The Year that we had hoped for of Brandon, on his way towards an actual career as a power hitting third baseman. But the Angels traded away Lansford prior to his most productive years.

And now Jim Tracy and Carney Lansford rescue Brandon Wood from the offensive failure that he realized under the tutelage of Mike Scioscia and Mickey Hatcher? So doesn't that mean that you have the guy who DID manage the Dodgers and the guy who WAS the power hitting third baseman that the Angels DID develop trying to take the player that was drafted by the guy who did NOT manage the Dodgers and was tutored by the guy who was NOT a power hitting third baseman, and turn that player into the power hitting third baseman that everybody hoped he would be in the first place after that player was released by the Angels prior to what would then become his most productive years, as happened to the guy who WAS the Angels' power hitting third baseman?

Truly, only William Shakespeare could have come up with such an tangled set of fates and fortunes. Shall this be a story of all's well that ends well, or much ado about nothing?

==================== Seafood For Ethical Treatment of Baseball Players ====================

I wonder what is going to be the worse thing for the fish that have been locked up in the fish tanks that are the backstops in Miami's new stadium: the constant beating that they are going to take behind home plate, or being forced to sit in the front row, eye locked wide open, and stare at a Miami baseball team that won only 72 games last season?

==================== Weekly Rundown ====================

... Dipoto meeting with Aybar's agent about a long-term extension...Perhaps lost within all the attention we spent on Weaver's 2nd outing was Juan Rivera showing >Wells power this ST...Trade food for thought: the KC Royals just got thinner at the catcher spot. Just sayin'...The way I read the new social media policy of MLB, Selig wants players to join us here at Halos Heaven...and, finally, Ervin Santana will be ok, most likely making his next scheduled start.