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The cat was let out of the bag a couple nights ago, but yesterday evening we got official confirmation from the Angels: Dave Hansen is going to be the Angels' new hitting coach, replacing Don Baylor. Dave Hansen is no stranger to the Angels, of course; he's already been working as an assistant for the team, and had many years of coaching under his belt from his Salt Lake Bees days. Heck, it isn't even the first time he's had the job, as he was tabbed to fill in as hitting coach for the big league club in 2014, after Vladimir Guerrero broke Baylor's leg before the season had started.
We all love this hire, right? A local guy, good track record, players seem to like him, and he used to jam with Matt Welch. Enough said. Along with Dave Hansen's promotion, the Angels also promoted Paul Sorrento to assistant hitting coach. If there's one staunch rule of baseball that you never want to break, it's the need for multiple hitting coaches. Well, the Angels are all set now in that respect; Sorrento too had already been working with the club, as some sort of "third" hitting coach throughout the season.
Also, there's this nugget:
Favorite Hansen fact: Loves playing guitar. Dodgers teammates gave him a Strat in '02. Scioscia plays, too. https://t.co/z2TC7xrHhT
— Jared Ravich (@JaredRavich) November 4, 2015
So it looks like Mike Scioscia may have found some buds to jam with. We're a few Dino Ebel drum lessons away from the formation of the most important band this world has ever seen(beating out Los Angeles Sports Band, of course). We live in amazing times. Please, can we have some footage released of these guys rocking together, maybe playing some Blue Oyster Cult or Marshall Tucker Band? Thanks.
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Angels Baseball
More on Dave Hansen: Alden Gonzalez gives a little more info and details on the Dave Hansen promotion, with background on both Hansen and Sorrento.
Trout Porn: Fangraphs takes a look at Mike Trout's first four years, and apparently those years were kinda good, ya know? "In Mike Trout’s first four full seasons, he’s had peak Willie Mays’ batting average, peak Tony Gwynn’s on-base percentage, peak Mel Ott’s slugging percentage, peak Albert Pujols’ wRC+, more homers than peak Stan Musial and more steals than peak Jackie Robinson." Yeah...like I said, he's kinda good.
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Elsewhere in Baseball
Not so fast on that Dodgers job: Most thought Gabe Kapler was a lock for the Dodgers manager gig, but apparently there are still decisions to be made.
That's a lot of Kansans: Dang...KC really turned out for this parade. I mean REALLY turned out. Twice as many people as live in KC showed up to the victory parade held yesterday and the photos are staggering. This is most likely a result of people coming far and wide to see the spectacle and celebrate. I know people from my hometown of Neodesha, KS who went, and Neodesha is about three hours away. Good for Kansas City(the city, not the team...i'm still bitter).
Everybody hurts, sometimes: There were SO many people going to the Royals parade, that many fans ended up abandoning their cars on freeways and highways so they could make their way to the celebration on foot. R.E.M. did it first.
Yeah, ok, dude: Jonny Gomes gave a speech yesterday at the Royals' victory parade, and did that Donald Trump-ish thing of being all "Hey, I'm not politically correct. I tell it like it is, aren't I a wild card?!" to rousing applause(naturally). Cool, bro.
They will never be Royals: Cut4 compares the World Series-winning Royals to actual Royals, to humorous results.
Zack Greinke likes money: Have you seen Idiocracy? You know how Dax Shepard's character is always saying "I like money"? That's how I picture Zack Greinke right now, because he's opted out of his Dodgers contract and stands to make a lot of green. A LOT.
I'm a man: Dusty Baker is the new Nats manager, after they lowballed Bud Black. His first order of business is teaching Bryce Harper how to be a man. Sounds like he's on his way to managerial success already!
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