Tuesday Halolinks: Mike Trout Returning To Earth, Vin Scully Not Dead

"And tonight I think he might be able to use that aching old arm one more time to push the sun back up in the sky and give us one more day of summer." Don't you hate late-season off-days? For love of Halolinks:

• The Angels are going to win, no wait, Red Sox, umm Angels...dammit, make up my mind: Red Sox-Angels Preview - Yahoo! Sports. "Weaver (16-3, 2.74 ERA) will face Clay Buchholz again after their matchup Wednesday proved to be no contest. The Angels ace allowed two runs over seven innings at Fenway Park, while his teammates got seven runs and 12 hits off Buchholz in a 7-3 victory. Weaver has been sharp against Boston at home, posting a 1.80 ERA in seven starts including postseason while allowing two runs or fewer in each. The Red Sox, though, haven't lost in Anaheim since dropping the first two games of their 2009 AL division series there en route to being swept in their most recent playoff appearance." I predict a tie (you heard it here first).
  
• Seriously, who thought Trout would do this well? C'mon, fess up...that .286 BA is more what you expected, right? Trout slipping slightly in August - Yahoo! Sports. "Trout went 1-for-13 during the weekend series in Detroit, going hitless in back-to-back games for only the second time since the start of May (he has not gone longer than two games without a hit this season). He is batting .286 this month with 27 strikeouts, one short of his monthly high this season." Is it just me, or does it seem Trout takes a lot of first-pitch fastballs for strikes? Seems like he's walking up to the plate with a 0-1 count.
  
• What's a Pujols? Trout outsells Pujols 2-to-1 at Angels’ stores - The Orange County Register. "Stuff with Trout’s name, number or likeness now accounts for 60 percent of the player-related merchandise sold at the Big A stores. Pujols accounts for 30 percent. Jered Weaver, Mark Trumbo, Torii Hunter and everyone else on the team? The other 10 percent." I still looking for a Bobby Wilson Twitter app.
  
• Angels duo could make MLB history - The Orange County Register. "No team has ever swept the Rookie of the Year, MVP and Cy Young awards in the same season. But Angels phenom Mike Trout has the ROY locked up and is the MVP frontrunner in many eyes heading toward September. Angels ace Jered Weaver held favored status in the Cy Young race for awhile but is now just one worthy contender in a crowded field. "
  
  This is where I go all Maury Povich: "It'd be great," Weaver said of being part of a historic awards sweep this fall. "But I think I kind of screwed that up with those nine runs I gave up." Good quote about winning the Cy Young, but then there's this: Angels ace Jered Weaver putting up Cy Young Award-worthy season - angels.com. ""My motivation is to win a world championship. I'm not into personal accolades," said Weaver on Sunday as he and his teammates prepared to finish off a three-game series with the Tigers at Comerica Park. Does Weaver even pay attention to the race? "Not at all," he said." Except for when he's talking to the O.C. Register about how giving up 9 runs messes up your Cy chances.. Okay, I'm being a little unfair to Weaver, as all he's doing is providing the right soundbite for the interview. Someone asks him about him and a teammate winning an award, he's interested. When asked about it on a personal level, and he's more interested in team success. That's actually pretty cool.
  
• "I need a sign to let me know you're here": Baseball Prospectus | Baseball ProGUESTus: Chin Music: 15 Stadium Songs That Missed Their Mark. "He’s got a point. The song is hokey and outdated, and when it’s paired with the other Angel Stadium song staple, Train’s lap-softening, barbandish* anthem "Calling All Angels", it’s a damn shame that the new foam Trout hats they’re selling don’t come with earplugs."

Every time they play "Build Me Up Buttercup" a puppy runs out into traffic without looking.

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) June 20, 2012

• Alright, now you're just trolling us: Mister Loophole - Hot Corner - Baseball Nation. "Keith Sharon catches up with Steve Green, whose injury in 2002 won the World Series for the Angels, who then (as now) resided in Anaheim, Orange County, California." Damn you Bob Neyer. Damn you to hell!
  
• Still looking for some pitching "help"? Jason Vargas, Kevin Millwood On Waivers: MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com. "The Mariners have placed both Kevin Millwood and Jason Vargas on waivers, and both players are likely to be claimed, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter link). As Rosenthal notes, Vargas is owed just over $1MM for the remainder of the season, while Millwood is owed roughly $200K." And there's also this guy: Pittsburgh Pirates Release Erik Bedard - MLB Daily Dish. "After a promising start to the season, putting up a 3.59 ERA through his first twelve starts, Bedard has struggled. The 33-year-old left-hander has averaged just over five innings a start in the past month, posting a 7.71 ERA in his last five appearances." Vargas - YES!, Millwood - No, Bedard - Maybe.
  
• I've been described as an "over-aggressive guy next door". That means there's an 130% chance I'm a combination of white and not white. Sort of a greyish tinge. Yuck. How MLB Announcers Favor American Players Over Foreign Ones - Adam Felder & Seth Amitin - The Atlantic. "Indeed, it is not so much that announcers are unwilling to praise non-white players, but the terminology they use in so doing falls into a set of pre-defined "code words." For example, if a player is described as being a "guy next door," or "regular guy" there is a greater than 80 percent chance that player is white. If a player is described as "impatient" or "over-aggressive," there is a greater than 50 percent chance that player is not white."
• Vin Scully is sort of a cherry-red: Vin Scully to return to Dodgers' broadcast booth in 2013 - CBSSports.com. "The new ownership of the Dodgers has revitalized the city, the team, the fans and myself," Scully said in the team's statement. "I am so convinced of their great purpose and leadership that I eagerly look forward to joining them in pursuit of the next Dodgers championship." Vin, you're 84. You might want to think about eagerly joining them in a cup of Ovaltine.
  
• Scully is so awesome he causes people to completely lose their shit: Sports anchor lets cuss word slip by when talking about Vin Scully’s return (Video) - Yahoo! Sports. "C'mon Vin, get your @#$! together! Is that all you got? ... Get your stuff together, that's what I meant to say." The video is gone in that link (stupid YouTube), but thank goodness for Deadspin: Los Angeles Sports Anchor Suggests Vin Scully Should "Get His Shit Together" Live On-Air
  
• Yeah, sorry about all of the Dodger crap: Have the Dodgers Become the Yankees of the West? - MLB Daily Dish. "Prior to June 12, the day Andre Ethier signed his five-year, $85 million extension, the Dodgers had just $91.5 million on the books for 2013 to be meted out to fifteen players. With now a little over a month left in the 2012 season, the Dodgers have twenty-one players and a jaw-dropping $182 million committed to their 2013 payroll, $50 million more than the next closest team."