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Well, maybe it's better this way. Quick. Get it over. Like stepping up to the chopping block and requesting that the executioner strike swift and true. this way, I can retain my firm grip on the disappointment wrought by August and not get too wrapped around the axle by the Buttercup in progress in September.
But crap. If only.
As it is now, if this team gets into the playoffs it will be quite humorous. I'll have a ball with it. But I no longer have to be a prisoner of hope to the past 4 weeks of success.
And, to say it out loud, I'm not so upset with Hamilton's catch. He didn't get one over on this Halo fan. It was his own horrible route that made the catch look anything even close to dramatic, and he got the shit beat out of him by the wall for his trouble. A normal route makes that an easy catch, and probably is a more stable play, and made closer to home plate, and possibly even double up Albert Pujols trying to score.
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Angels Baseball
Taylor Made Defense: I know that you have serious angst over the defense of Taylor Featherston, especially after Wednesday night. Well, when it comes to defense, Sosh come to Featherston's. Mike Scioscia still confident in Taylor Featherston's defense. "Taylor Featherston’s defense is his strength, clearly what has allowed the Angels to keep him in the majors all season."............Actually it's the fact that he is a Rule 5 draft pick and to do anything else with him means losing him from the franchise entirely. but then Sosh gives us this: "his athleticism, his ability to turn a double play, is something you want out there." Remember, Mike Scioscia is a crack MLB manager and you are not..............
Mike Scioscia: No, no, this cannot be. Rob Neyer must have missed the memo. That time Mike Scioscia sat on his hands. Someone check the mailing list, please. Mike Scioscia ALWAYS manages his games as if they are June or July. That's why he has all those pages to be turned. We know because we have seen at least 4,000 Mike Scioscia managed games. (Well, not really. But at least 2,000 games.) If we cannot locate the memo, we need to direct Neyer to this: Hitter-friendly park won't alter Mike Scioscia's late-game defensive approach. "As far as wholesale changes, at first, second and third, I think we’ll go the same way we’ve [been going]"
Garrett Richards: Richards takes on the burden of responsibility for Wednesday's debacle. I agree. Next time Garrett, you need to throw a 27 strikeout game. If you allow any batters to hit balls to your fielders, who were the ones who committed the 4 errors and generated all those unearned runs, you have let us all down...........
Big Brass Confidence: Do you want to go to the upcoming tie-breaker game in Anaheim? Tickets are now on sale.............
Future Shock: Bookmark this page. Just in case...
Andrew Heaney:
Heaney, on the 2-2 pitch to Choo: "I'm not one to complain about umpires, but it sure looked like a strike to me."
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) October 2, 2015
That's because it was, Andrew. it was. I am not one to put an extreme amount of faith in PITCHf/x, because I have issues with the way the technology is implemented. But if we accept that the errors I have with the system are consistent, then I cannot overlook the following. In all the years and all the games I have been prompted by curiosity to take a gander at pitch locations, I have never seen a difference between strikes zones in the same game that was this egregious.
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I count 12 pitches that were called wrong with a result in favor of the Rangers, and only 1 such error that resulted in favor of the Angels. And that arrows with the "1", that was the strikeout to Choo. Keep in mind, as the Choo at-bat proves, that screw-ups in baseball by anybody - especially umpires - is an asymmetrical craptastrophe. By this I mean, even if the numbers were 7 to 7 instead of 12 to 1, because of game situations and pitch counts and batting orders there is no such thing as doing one "make up" now for one eff up earlier. The plate umpire absolutely biased the game.
If only the Angels had not effed up August so bad and put themselves into a position where untimely umpire bogusness would lay waste to playoff hopes.
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Elsewhere in Baseball
Nostradamus: I wonder if this guy can text me 7 random numbers for this Friday evening Lotto draw?...........
The 5th Tool: Ok, if Mike Trout now has worked himself into having 5 tools, with the 5th being his throwing arm, what kind of 5th tool is THIS???????????
Marathon Man: One pitcher. One inning. 54 pitches............
PEDS Perspective: Jeremy Affeldt is retiring in a day or two, and on his way out his opens up about a lot of things, most importantly PEDS use. His is the perspective of how not using PEDS on his side cost him as a performer and as a wage earner.............
Buckwheat Harper: I can tell you first hand, as a coffee shop cook in one of my past lives, that doing this kind of thing is the worst. Once you do one, you will never work a shift in your life again without having to do 10............
Debbie Downer: I feel like such a drag, but this kind of stuff makes me think. I know people want to celebrate, and it's totally possible to do so responsibly, but I don't think wild abandon equals responsible use. And I always think of Nick Adenhart. Iknow. It's unfair. But it is what it is............
The Fall of Civilization: Narcissism may be the final stage of social oblivion. I once heard a speech - I no longer recall the speaker - who made the association between our society through the years and the major media publication that mirrored it at various points in time. He said (in spirit, not as a direct quote): At one time the primary publication we all kept on our coffee tables was LIFE. We cared bout all living things, everywhere. Over time, that fell by the wayside and was replaced by PEOPLE. Now what was most important was humans, and all other forms of life were no longer interesting or as important. Later PEOPLE peaked and what rose to prominence was WE. No longer were all humans valued, but just some subset with which could be identified. Finally, there came SELF. That message was delivered years and years ago. Before cellphone cameras. Before selfies.............
The Rise of Civilization: Baseball brings America to the world, the world embraces and makes it its own. It's up to America to embrace what becomes of baseball because of that...........
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This Date In Baseball History: 1908 - Addie Jones, future Hall of Famer, tosses a perfect game...........1920 - The only triple-header ever played occurs between the Pirates and Reds, with the Reds taking 2 of 3. Pete Harrison is the home plate umpire all day long..........1938 - Bob Feller of the Indians sets an MLB record by collecting 18 K's in a single game, but loses to the Tigers anyway, 4-1..........1942 - The Athletics (Eddie Joost, Pete Suder and Ferris Fain) set a major-league of 217 double-plays in a single season and "Joost to Suder to Fain" becomes poetic lore among their franchise fans forever...........1961 - Former Yankee manager Casey Stengel agrees to come out of retirement and skipper the expansion franchise New York Mets, which will begin play in 1962. This doesn't work out so well, with Stengel going 175 - 404 before being fired just over halfway through the 1965 season.............1963 - Sandy Koufax strikes out 15 Yankees batters and sets a new World Series record for K's in a game...........1968 - Bob Gibson strikes out 17 Tigers batters and sets a NEW new World Series record for K's in a game...........1969 - The first-year expansion Seattle Pilots play their final game in Seattle before folding and moving on to become the Milwaukee Brewers. Only 5,473 fans attend the farewell episode...........1972 - Bill Stoneman throws his second no-hitter as the Expos defeat the Mets 7-0, becoming the first Major leaguer to throw a no-hitter in Canada...........1974 - Henry Aaron hits a home run in his final career at-bat as a Brave...........1974 - Billy Martin, then managing the Rangers, chooses not to use the DH (adopted in 1973) and allow Ferguson Jenkins to bat for himself. Ferguson does get a hit, but the Rangers lose 2-1............1983 - Carl Yastrzemski plays in his 3,308th and final game..........1995 - This...........
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