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I know the Angels are already playing like dead meat, but they are only 5.5 games out of the AL West lead and only 3.5 games out of the playoffs. And that's with 142 games left to go. What this team needs to a break. liking getting to play the Blue Jays, a team that is "really, truly struggling".
I wonder about the offense, though. Looking back now, from late April, it seems like my memory is telling me that the Spring Training offense for the first 5 innings was pretty lame, and the Spring Training offense from innings 6 on out was more exciting, and created more win opportunities. And that first offense is the one playing in Anaheim while that latter offense is down on the farm. I am probably just imagining that. It's easy. I am living large in a beach-front campground and my head is swimming with rum
Nut you know what, everybody. You people do Links. Lots and lots of Links. The sun is setting over the ocean and I have a fire to whip up:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Oh joy. Albert Pujols and his .200 BA with RISP is achieving milestones. Color me giddy! Most RBI for a person born in the Dominican Republic! And now tied for 12th in MLB career doubles!...........
(FYI, in terms of milestones, Mike Trout recently passed 50 career bWAR and is now 0.3 bWAR away from becoming the top MLB player in career bWAR with a last name of "Trout".)..........
Garrett Richards is now on the 60-day DL. Oh, joy. Oh, Rapture. Now, Garrett insists that this has nothing to do with his elbow injury. But I dunno. Even if his current bicep issue was the other arm, the process of pitching a baseball at the major league level is such an integrated, violent, thing. It's not hard to suspect that the process of working one problem out and favoring that one thing for so long a time might not have had an impact on some other thing. I am not a doctor, but I do have personal experience with this very thing and my ankles. Back in my youth. End of my athletic career. Long story...........
And that bullpen blowing up? Well Cam Bedrosian going on the 10-day DL with a groin injury, joining the Hustom Street we may never see again, sure doesn't help any...........
Ryan LaMarre has been shipped off to the Oakland A's farm system............
Kole Calhoun flying like Superman, flashing the leather..........
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Everywhere In Baseball
Yeah, well, like we didn't see this one coming. Josh "I got my paycheck and the world thinks I have worked hard enough" Hamilton has screwed up his other knee, and needs surgery. So the Rangers are cutting bait. Not even they are pretending anymore. He won't be officially retiring, however. Not before October............
Hey now, it looks like there is an unwritten rule behind the unwritten rules and we fans had no idea. First there was a nasty slide by Manny Machado of the Orioles, that took out Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox. This happened Friday. We all know what happens next. Manny Machado comes to bat on Sunday with the game well decided. It was late. Too late, really, to expect any retaliation for anything a Red Sox pitcher might do. So a Red Sox pitcher does do something. Matt Barnes throws at Machado's head. (Barnes was ejected immediately). There. The unwritten rule applied. Matt Barnes has Dustin Pedroia's back. Uh, oops. Pedroia goes public with the news that he subsequently told Machado that he "...had nothing to do with that." Pedroia does not have Matt Barnes' back. And now we get to that extra layer of unwritten rules. Hearing of Pedroia's statement, Zach Britton then calls out the Red Sox clubhouse for not having their shit together on how to handle the unwritten rules. It's against the rules, apparently, to screw up the rules..........
I love me my Angels but we gotta be honest here. We complain about pace of play and point our fingers at pitchers taking forever and batter constantly leaving the box. Kole Calhoun is in the box, and in the box for a good deal of time. So Marcus Stroman throws the pitch. Calhoun gets awarded first base (automatic ball, and there were three balls called already) for an illegal pitch? John Gibbons gets ejected?? That's messed up. folks. And expect this episode to be referenced in the future.........
Madison Bumgarner crashes his dirt bike and sends himself to the DL? This is the kind of thing that can crush a team's playoff hopes. It's also the kind of thing that teams write into player contract and preclude players from doing. for the precise reason that it can crush playoff hopes. I also hope none of you guys drafted him in your fantasy league..........By the way, Ford Motors, nice timing. Nice timing, indeed..........
Looks like the battle over smokeless tobacco has moved from the field and into the clubhouse. The local police are not in there to enforce local laws, but MLB is issuing demerits, by golly.........
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The Duffle Bag
So this is what happens when you take the tarps off up in Oakland...........Jonah Keri says we should legalize PEDs, but also says that illegal PEDs should still be illegal. Say what?...........Cincinnati Reds Social Media maven takes on Cubs bandwagoners.............Yasiel Puig tries to give a kid a baseball, doesn't realize that said kid is the offspring of Yunel Escobar...........Umpire CB Buchnor is having an awful, awful week............I linked about Madison Bumgarner above, and his failure to operate a motor vehicle safely. It must be something in the team diet. Because even the Giants' team bus driver is having issues.............
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