MondoLinks: LA Angels and Tampa Bay Rays recap

This was a most excellent weekend. 3 out of 4 from the Rays. Sure, the Rays are not at all competitive in their division. And, sure, their AL East Division is not all that competitive either (suck it, easties!). But, still, the Rays. David Price. Joe Maddon. Evan Longoria. James Loney. Logan Frikkin' Forsythe!! The Halos took them DOWN, 3 games out of 4.

The only spoiler to broomage was the Friday game, as the Halos dropped a 3-0 decision behind a damned fine performance by Jered Weaver. Stoopid Pujols, going 1 for 4 and stranding 6 men on base was the key killer.  Move to Saturday. C.J. Wilson learned his Friday lesson and chose not to let the offense drag him down. So he puts up a complete game shut-out. Awesomely enough, the Angels dug into Rays starter Cesar Ramos and ended up cruising to a 6-0 victory. And stoopid Pujols again, going 1 for 4 and stranding 5 men on base. Bring on Sunday, and the miracle that is Matt Shoemaker. Shoe was matched up in a face-off against David Price. And in a day game. And stoopid Pujols was still in the lineup. But damn! Shoemaker held the Rays to 5 hits over 6 2/3 innings to strangle Tampa Bay while stoopid Pujols led the offense by going 3 for 4 - including 2 solo shots as the Halos trumped Maddon's crew once again, 6 to 2.

That, by the way, ties Pujols with Eddie Murray at 504 career homers and 25th place all-time.  Next up, in 24th place, is Gary Sheffield at 509 followed by Mel Ott with 511 in 23rd, then Ernie banks and Eddie Mathews at 512 tied at 21. If Albert could get 12 more home runs he would vault over Willie McCovey, Frank Thomas and ted Williams and hold the 18th slot all alone. That would put Mickey mantle and 16th place in sight for 2015.

All this leaves the LA Angels 8-2 over their last 10 games, second hottest in all of baseball. Unfortunately, the Oakland A's have gone 9-1 in that same span and LA is 3.5 games back. But they are still making enough noise to warrant some attention up north. Note, though, that our guys are 3 games up on Seattle and 3.5 games up on Texas. And it's May 19th. May. 19th. This could be a most excellent summer. Up next: 3 at home with the Astros, 3 more at home hosting the Mariners, and I'll be back here next Sunday...

Speaking of the A's, it appears that they are running the risk of losing their AAA Rivercats affiliate to the SF Giants at the end of this season. That would be a serious bite into the pipeline AND add insult to the ongoing injuries of their stadium and San Jose and all that. Of course, it's not like anybody forced Charlie O. Finley to piss on Kansas City and run off into the open arms of Oakland, so there's that............Yet another entitled ass-hat seeing his control of the narrative slip out of his grasp and into a world beyond his comprehension. Essentially, Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe shouts "Hey fans! Stats suck! Who's with me?".............Texas girls are easy. Note that it is NOT the foul ball he uses to impress his target...........Dear lord, really/ Yes, really. The effin' idiots of the Mets PR staff accidentally shipped out Sandy Alderson's credit info to the entire Mets' media beat distribution list.

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Moreno-Carpino Shame Update

Jim Fregosi still not being honored with a memorial patch.

43 games lost. Only 119 games remaining to save face. And did anything of note occur in Philadelphia that I may have missed???

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Let's talk All Stars. You may already know that ASG 2014 voting is wide open. Of course, ballot stuffing is all the norm on these and it's only reasonable that any fan voter does likewise out of self-defense.

But let's take a different spin on this. Let's not segregate position by position, and contrast that position around the league.  How about, instead, just stack ranking our own players in some order of merit? The point here is not to fill out a full roster that would be a complete team that could take the field and play. Nope, it's more like a team MVP sort of thing.

To this point, who on this team to date would be the most deserving of representing the Angels in this year's All Star Game, to be stuck in Minneapolis? I would say (as I did this past Wednesday), Garrett Richards. Richards is a league leader in BA against, WHIP, ERA, K's, and HR's allowed. Not just a team leader, but a LEAGUE leader.

After Richards, my list would be:

Mike Trout

Howie Kendrick

C.J. Wilson

Erick Aybar

Albert Pujols

Jered Weaver

Just missing the cut are Tyler Skaggs and Joe Smith. Nobody else need apply.

What does your list look like??