TuesdoLinks: Shutting down the Big Blue Machine

Nice start to The Freeway Series. Taking on the blistering Dodgers and shutting them down completely, winning 4-0 with a patch-work roster in their own backyard. So, at a minimum. the Angels reap a Chavez Ravine split. And this makes them 5-2 against three consecutive playoff favorites on this road trip - all sans Trout.

That Dodger team? They are this year's 2016 Chicago Cubs juggernaut. I mean, they Dodgers are so good that they make this Jeff Passan Top Ten list TWICE. Our guys got ONE win. Still more work to do, but it's gotta be good for building confidence. Hell, THIS WHOLE ROAD TRIP should be forcing odds makers and power rankers to reconsider the prospects for this team...........

More of the Lost Weeks Links:

A Little Bit of Angels News

Ted Berg, author of Mike Trout Mondays, found Mike's wedding registry. And he bought Mike some BBQ skewers. Now I am  inspired, as should we all. Time to make a Halos Heaven Statement, people!............

All-Star voting is pretty much over, and Mike Trout is still #2 among AL outfielders. He will have the invite from the people. Will he be ready enough to pass the Mike Scioscia Health-o-Meter??..........Other ASG races are too close to call...........

Ain't this just great? It's why you and I are not baseball execs. We would do such silly things. Things such as bringing up a red-hot Kaleb Cowart from AAA to help prop up some of the infield struggles we have. And then, after seeing Cowart be a key producer and leverage his hot streak to power the Angels to a Series win over the Red Sox (and the very Doug Fister that Arte, himself, paid to rehab) with both his bat, AND with his glove, we would have him in the lineup against the white-hot Dodgers in a key series. What we would NOT do is exchange Cowart for a Jefry Marte who has been hitting worse than the plate umpires standing behind him calling him out all the  time.............

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Josh Mayhood's Library of Mike Trout Hagiography

This section placed on hold indefinitely, in memory of Mike Trout's 2017 season. In the meantime, we provide The Jessica DeLine Trout Recovery Watch tracker. When will Mike be back?

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Yeah. Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger probably won't be hitting 50 homers, so let's calm down. Welcome to my wagon, Mr. MSM of Obvious Now That It's Obvious..............Judge had 10 home runs in 22 games in April, then 7 home runs in 26 games in May, and 9 home runs in 24 games in June (so far). More importantly, his K count over those months have run 24, 33 & 35. So, instead and to keep up the hype, let's start focusing on his Bases on Balls.. And, since his live game HR rate is slipping, let's start hyping his batting practice.........

What's this? Clayton Kershaw might not be the game's best pitcher already any more? I doubt that it is because we are fickle, but more because we are so attuned to watching detailed data sets that we are quick to pull the trigger on the normal cycles of any career..........

Terry Francona continues to struggling with nagging health issues. Makes one wonder...........

Tigers outright release K-Rod, which is a sad turn........Nationals sign K-Rod, upgrading him right into the playoff race.........

Now that we have seen how well tanking works, and have to deal with teams that have vaulted into powers via tanking, how can we shut off the tanking tap for the rest of  MLB teams??...............

Here is a life lesson for the LAA Marketing Department. The Tamp Bay Rays, and their sour attendance rates, stand as a living example to contrast against Minor League franchises in how to leverage fresh and compelling promotional campaigns to instill game-attendance motivation. After all, tickets sold is one thing, but butts in seats are another thing altogether. And the worst thing would be non per-caps butts occupying the high per-caps seats thanks to Stub Hub and fan disinterest............

Here is some Sports Media Biz Stuff: FOX Sports has decided to shitcan all their online writers and are flipping to video content. Because people don't read anymore, I suppose............And this lets FOX dive head long into "debate sports"............I am with Ron Jaworski, in that I don't want to see a bunch of people screaming at each other on TV, either. But as long as the folks of ESPN - and now FOX - are not clever and skilled enough, nor work hard enough, to give us compelling content that draws a larger audience than screaming people, ESPN and FOX are proving that there are enough viewers who DO want to see that shit to keep the ad slots filling up...........

College World Series Game 1 (3 max) is over and Florida wins over LSU 4-3 to lead the series 1-0. Remaining schedule here...........

This is fun. Distribution execs blame Disney for accelerating cord-cutting and cutting off their own ESPN nose..........

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Yeah, THIS is the way to solve Pace of Play. Just stop playing them at all. (FYI, the article is sarcasm, folks.).............Imagine having a 9-3 lead with the game half over, and still losing 15-9. That would be that monster Texass Rangers' Farm System in action.........Minor League players were dealt a big set back in their pursuit of a living wage. It ain't over, but I am coming to the conclusion that some day they will have their Marvin Miller, and there will be a work stoppage...........Catch this preview!!! Definitely something we should all watch. I will when I get some time...........Nice work, there, Javy..........Charlie Sheen is auctioning off some Hall of Fame quality Babe Ruth memorabilia. I'm not certain that handing Sheen a wheelbarrow of cash is a healthy thing.........This Canadian catcher is a true defensive wizard..........