Tuesday Halolinks: Garrett Richards turns the page, more batter's box offense please

Congratulations to Salmonguy for winning this season's Halos Heaven fantasy baseball league.  Salmonguy finished the season a whooping 55 games ahead of second place finisher erstadsayshesgotit.  The Northwesterners and Hamilton's Demons rounded out the top 4.  Now for some Halolinks:

• I take full responsibility for Garrett Richards' bad start.  I've had horrible luck with pitchers I streamed (yeah, yeah...no one cares), but I thought Richards would be different.  Nope: Athletics keep rolling, beat Angels 10-5 - Yahoo Sports. "Garrett Richards (7-7) gave up eight hits and seven runs while failing to get out of the fifth inning in his worst start since joining the Angels' rotation full-time in late July. The right-hander got rocked in his final home audition for a rotation spot in 2014, giving up the most runs he has allowed in 12 starts taking Joe Blanton's spot."
• Obviously, he wasn't changing the batter's eye-level nor trusting his stuff:  Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels - September 23, 2013 - MLB.com.  "It's part of a learning curve," manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's part of a guy getting his first opportunity. I think if you look at everything that Garrett's done since he got back in the rotation, you have to be excited about the progress he's made in understanding his talent, and tonight's one we are going to turn the page on."
• Tonight's game features these two guys: Athletics-Angels Preview - Yahoo Sports.  "Griffin was a 4-1 loser in his last visit to Anaheim on July 19, giving up four runs and three homers in five innings. The right-hander had won his two previous games there, yielding one run over 16 innings. The Angels will again counter Griffin with Jason Vargas (8-7, 4.28), who allowed four runs and two homers in six innings Wednesday."
• This is interesting: Analysis: Angels need assess who'll pitch in to help turn things around next season - latimes.com.  "A team molded more in Scioscia's image — good pitching, defense, situational hitting and aggressive baserunning — has performed much better of late. In their 29 games before Monday, the Angels had an AL-leading 2.99 overall ERA and 2.04 bullpen ERA, second-best in the majors. They were averaging 5.2 runs per game in September."  So what i get from this bit is; the Angels are winning now because they're getting good pitching. However, Scioscia thinks it has more to do with a different type of offense: "We're pitching well with terrific situational hitting, good baserunning and solid defense. That equation adds up to winning," Scioscia said. "Early, we were built around batter's box offense, and when that struggles, it becomes one-dimensional. That's something we need to take a broader look at."  He mentions three things that have improved resulting in their current success, yet two of them have nothing to do with hitting.  It wasn't the ineffective "batter's box offense" that caused the Angels to falter most of this season, it was the lousy pitching (I'm looking at you Joe Blanton), poor defense, AND poor performances from Pujols and Hamilton.  Here's an example:  Oakland Athletics at Los Angeles Angels - September 24, 2013 - MLB.com.  "Much of Oakland's success the past two seasons stems from its pitching staff. The rotation is performing well this month, as the starters have allowed two earned runs or fewer in the last 16 games."
• Remember the last shortstop the Halos converted to third base?  No, wait, not Brandon Wood.  The other guy, Troy Glaus.  Yeah, Troy Glaus!  Green prepping to play the hot corner in '14 - angels.com.  "Aside from pregame drills, Green's only experience at third came during a brief period with Triple-A Sacramento, but the 25-year-old feels a strong offseason will set him up to compete for the position next season."
• Neato: New York Yankees: Mariano’s Million-Dollar Man Cave - Yahoo Sports.  "Los Angeles Angels: A 6-foot oil painting by noted artist Stephen Holland, who has painted portraits for the Los Angeles Kings, the Baltimore Ravens, and the U.S. Olympic Committee. (Estimated value: $20,000.) Perfect for behind the couch."
  
• Yet, it's much better than this crap: Gallery: All The Tacky Crap MLB Teams Gave Mariano Rivera This Season. 
  
• Bummer: Manny Machado carted off field with left knee injury, will have tests Tues. - CBSSports.com.  "Machado was in obvious pain and spent several minutes on the ground with the trainer. He was eventually carted off the field."
• I guess Houston's not as big of a baseball town as Dallas-Fort Worth: Astros drew a 0.0 TV rating Sunday in the Houston area - Yahoo Sports.  "The Astros were playing in Cleveland at the same time that the Houston Texans were playing in Baltimore, so it was an easy choice if you're a Houston sports fan. The Texans game, by comparison, was seen in about 526,553 households, according to Nielsen (via the Houston Chronicle). That's 23% of Houston’s 2.28 million TV-watching households."
• He needs a session at the "Mike Sciosica School of Interview Giving" A Scene From A Bill Belichick Press Conference