MondoLinks: Spring cleaning in Anaheim, Halos end up in dustpan.

While you were away...Well, THAT certainly could have gone a lot better. The Angels spent their only 3 home games in the first two weeks of the 2015 season getting pwned by the Royals, again. These are the kinds of things that really get to me. I know it's early and these first few games aren't going to mean much in the overall scheme of things. And I know that at this early point many players are still getting their mojo on and the world will be different in a bit. But...really? Letting the lucky punks from Kansas come into our own house, in front of our own fans, and out-hit, out-hustle, out-pitch, and out-play us?

If it were me, and I was a player in that clubhouse, I would surely have reminded everyone of last October and promoted the idea that whatever happens later in the season, for THIS weekend everybody needs to show up and kick some ass.

Instead, the Angels lost. They lost all three. And they lost by scores of 2 - 4, 4 - 6 and 2 - 9. That's getting thumped 19 - 8. Giving up 2 runs every 3 innings while scoring only 1 run every 3 innings. And two of those games went right through the top of our rotation.

Worse, it's yet another Links posting when I go looking for Trout pictures and find him being featured missing another fly ball in center field. Dammit.

Anyway, the Rangers are up next. Three games in Arlington.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Texas Rangers. Arlington Stadium. TX.

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Elsewhere in the Heavens of Anaheim

Lines in the sand are being drawn as the Josh Hamilton rehab period continues on. It started on Opening Day when the media got some time with Arte Moreno. Arte is vengeful and was quoted rather cryptically claiming that Hambone won't see another game in a Halo uni. Arte went further, declaring that his contract with Hamilton includes some form of LAA escape clause which he may enforce. So, after Carpino, then Dipoto, now Moreno are on record with their stern posturing, we have one position. Enter the Players Union: first by calling B.S. on Moreno. Then by explaining contract law to the Angels' owner. And, finally, jumping in front of any potential theory that Hamilton or the MLBPA allowed some special exemptions to the CBA/JDA, by rejecting any such notion. Now we have the other position.  In the early skirmishes, C.J. WIlson grows a pair and begins to speak out on behalf of Hamilton.  Then, Wilson spoke up again, wondering aloud if all this animosity would be ongoing if Hamilton were producing? Not to be stopped now, Wilson has spoken one more time, this time accusing the Angels of hiring a private investigator to follow him while he rode around on motorcycles (Dipoto abjectly denies this).  And, perhaps unsurprisingly, it has been observed that Josh Hamilton merchandise has been pulled from the team store.  (I can tell you that Hambone merch is still there on the web store.) So here we are. everything is spiraling down to the lowest common denominator, and a food fight is breaking out during the first course of the 2015 meal. (By the way, you need to remember that C.J. Wilson is the Union rep in the Angels clubhouse. Wilson must take his responsibility seriously.) ..........

MLB itself, represented by the Commissioner, once poised to thrash had Hamilton been found to have violated the CBA/JDA, has suddenly chosen to be passive now faced with the possibility that the violator may have been the Angels themselves..............

Albert Pujols now is the sole onber of 18th place on the All-Time career home run list with 522. Jimmie Foxx sits immediately above him with 534, totally obtainable this season............

Welcome to the Big Leagues, Taylor Featherstone.  Take it from a long-time Halo fan: you don't want to become one of Mike Scioscia' s Sunday afternoon players. It's not a happy role.............

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Around Baseball

The Rangers are going to be pretty frustrated today, having come so close to winning their Sunday game against the Astros with a walk-off grand slam home run. But, nope! The Rangers not only did not win there, but they ended up losing in 14. Ouch...........

Speaking of ouch: That Astros victory? A Hank Conger home run............Only four players on the LAA roster have more RBI's this season than does Bartolo Colon..........And Bartolo Colon, Zack Grienke, LaTroy Hawkins, Scott Kazmir, Joel Peralta, Fernando Rodney and Jason Vargas are a combined 8 and 0 so far this season.

Another PEDs bust: Jerry Mejia, Mets closer, has been sent to the same 80-game suspension bench as was Ervin Santana, and also for testing positive for stanosolol. I am going to keep harping on this until somebody clears it up for me, but I notice that Mejia, like Santana, is from the Dominican Republic. Is it possible that Latin players have the ability to get beyond the reach of MLB during winters by going back to their home countries and their home legal systems?

Baseball, Rising as the Undead: Beyond The Boxscore puts up a pretty cool attendance chart which tracks, visually, the attendance figures from 1890 to today.

Power Outage in Yankee Stadium: And, no, i am not talking about the MFY offense. The somewhat new stadium lost a bank of lights the other night. That is embarrassing enough. More embarrassing? That Yankee fans through they could make up for the lost lumens by using their cellphones.

Penguin Power: One week into the season, and Cincinnati is already needing to pull out the cute animal card to spark some interest.

Jose Canseco, still nuts: Somebody broke into Conseco's SUV and stole his stereo, and Jose wants it back. Or else. And I am thinking or else...what? Has Jose been watching too many Arnold Schwarzenegger movies?

Psyche Warfare: The Nationals are trying to lull the opposition to sleep by playing soft rock while their opponents take batting practice. Kinda silly.

Unclear on the Concept Award of the Day: The San Diego Padres, apparently losing sight of the purpose behind the batter's eye in baseball stadiums.

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