Angel Campos Umpires Angels to Defeat

If major league umpire Angel Campos is not on the take to manipulate baseball games he should be. Both teams got mocked at the plate by this cartel conspirator, this dreamkilling fleshbag of deceit, this hoarder of power, this dark angel of campfoddery. He was behind home plate this afternoon and it appeared at times that he was behind lots else.

The predictability of his makeup calls at the plate - signaling awfully located pitches as strikes after corner-blackening masterpieces had been scoffed at as balls - the hallmark of amateurish guilt was dolloped on top of this burrito like vinegar-flavored sour cream at the day-old buffet.

Still, the Angels had a lead and pitchers nibbled around the Campos-ground of the plate way too close for comfort. Albert Pujols did nothing after being robbed by a great Endy Chavez catch int he Left-Center gap. When Dan Haren ran out of gas late, Scott Downs turned a 1-0 game into a 2-1 disaster. Howie Kendrick gaveth when he hit a tying HR but booted a grounder in extras to let the lead run score and tooketh away for good going down on strikes with a man on 3B in the bottom of the 10th.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter was ejected for protesting the umpiring of Angel Campos, which was utterly blind, perhaps hungover or, considering the history of Anaheim as a party-girl and cocaine-fuled major league hotspot (as revealed in the positive drug test of Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington after a 2009 road game here) strung out in need of the cheap fix at dawn that never came. Don't take it out on the fans when your dealer stiffs you, blue. Worry about one set of white lines at a time.