Thursday Halolinks: Angels Can't Figure Out What's Wrong, Call Meeting

Guess which team has the worst record in the American league. Houston? Nope. Minnesota? No. Kansas City? Ha, they're leading the Central division. With a record of 2 wins and 6 losses, the Angels have the worst record...but hey, it's still early. Have some Halolinks:

• Much like the Angels offense this season, I fell asleep during the third inning, woke up in the sixth, saw the score and went to bed. Athletics 11, Angels 5: Brandon Moss has 5 RBI, hits home run as Oakland wins seventh straight - FOX Sports. "Joe Blanton (0-2) was charged with six runs and 10 hits in five-plus innings and did not record a strikeout in his second outing with his new club. The 32-year-old right-hander had made 118 consecutive starts with at least one strikeout since May 31, 2008, when he pitched six innings for the Athletics without one in an 8-4 loss at Texas." Moss leads A's to seventh straight win - Yahoo! Sports. "For the Angels, the loss was their sixth in seven games, and it resulted in Scioscia calling a closed-door team meeting after the game. "The talent's in that room," Scioscia said. "Once we get productive and get rolling, you'll see that confidence level get to where it needs to be. We're going to get into our game and play our game more often. We have nobody to think about but our own club, and I think those guys in that room know we're going to play at a higher level. "These guys are good, and we're going to turn this around." Blah-blah-blah.
  
• It's never good when you're trying to salvage something. That just means whatever you're doing, or whatever you have, has been wrecked: Athletics-Angels Preview - Yahoo! Sports. "The Angels will try to salvage the series finale with help from Jason Vargas, who had a strong debut for the team Friday. The California native, acquired from Seattle in the offseason, gave up one run over 5 2-3 innings at Texas in a 3-2 loss. Vargas (0-0, 1.59 ERA) has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his last seven starts against Oakland, going 3-1 with a 2.01 ERA."
• It's shame Richards needs to go into the rotation, he was doing so well coming out of the pen. Welcome to the Rotation, Garrett Richards - FanGraphs Baseball. "There is room for excitement here, however. Richards, the 42nd-overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft, has stuff to make scouts drool. His fastball has averaged 94.7 MPH out of the bullpen in 4.1 innings this year and was a blazing 95.6 MPH out of the rotation in eight starts in June and July of 2012. His slider was rated as the best breaking pitch in the Texas League in 2011 and has induced a whiff on 34.7 percent of swings in the majors, a significantly better mark than Weaver (28.2 percent) and noted slider artists Madison Bumgarner (24.1 percent) and Matt Cain (24.9 percent)."
• X-rays negative but Aybar rests achy heel - angels.com. "Postgame, though, X-rays came back negative and Scioscia said his switch-hitting shortstop is "walking much better." Aybar won't play on Thursday and is still day to day, with a trip to the disabled list still a real possibility, but it was positive news nonetheless."
• Ahhh, what a nice guy: Offbeat questions with Angels' Mike Trout - ESPN. "If you weren't playing baseball, what do you think you'd be doing? "As a kid, I had this ultimate goal to be a teacher. I wanted to be a history teacher like my dad." But I'd rather he be doing this: Chicago White Sox at Washington Nationals - Apr 10, 2013 - CBSSports.com
  Harper turned on Floyd's first pitch of the at-bat, an 86 mph offering that never stood a chance. With a "thwack!" off the bat, the ball arced into the second deck beyond right field, and Harper paused for a moment to watch his shot before sprinting around the bases.
• Safeco Field fan catches foul ball in full cup of beer, chugs it on the spot - Yahoo! Sports
• Vin Scully asks: ‘What in the world is hashtag?’ - Yahoo! Sports
• Thank Cod, help is on the way! Wait, what? Los Angeles Angels sign Brad Hawpe - MLB Daily Dish. "Hawpe spent part of the 2012 season with the Texas Rangers before being released by the club. He hit .260/.382/.382 with six doubles and three home runs over 152 plate appearances for the Rangers' Double-A affiliate." Double-A? WTF!
  
• Lyle Spencer is not impressed: Umpire Gerry Davis works 4,000th MLB game - Yahoo! Sports. "Umpire Gerry Davis worked his 4,000th major league game Wednesday night when the Los Angeles Angels took on the Oakland Athletics."
• Let's make soup! Goat's head delivered to Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts at Wrigley Field - ESPN Chicago. ""We got a call at 2:30 p.m., responding to 1060 West Addison, Wrigley Field," a Chicago Police Department spokesman said. "We're investigating it as an intimidating package." "Intimidating package"...if I had a nickel for every time I heard that one (I'd still be broke).
  
• The reason the internet was invented: Sport Balls Replaced With Cats.