WeekEnd HaloLinks: Bring on the Astros!

Well, that turned out a lot better than where it was heading for most of the afternoon. An 11-4 clobbering of the Tigers as the Halos escape Detroit is a decent prep for facing the Astros in their own house for 3 games. (It's also pretty good timing that Dallas Keuchel won't be embarrassing this offense this time around.)

Lots of amazement in the Thursday base hit machine that showed up late in the game. Andrelton Simmons and Eric Young, Jr. were both 3 for 5. (Young, specifically, is a pistol right now.) Danny Espinosa was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI. 15 total hits out of a roster that couldn't get to second base just a day earlier.

Other game thoughts: I am telling you people for the second time. J.C. Ramirez should not be allowed to pitch baseballs during his first three innings on the mound...........The bullpen was pretty dope, though. 7 strikeouts over 4 innings, with no runs allowed? Yes, please..........In what universe did I fall where an Andrelton Simmons is removed for defensive purposes in the 9th inning of any baseball game in favor of a Cliff Pennington, and a Danny Espinosa goes 3 for 4 without any strikeouts??..........

More of the Lost Weeks Links:

A Little Bit of Angels News

Eric Young, Jr. getting some deserved attention..........

Andrelton Simmons getting some deserved attention. Didn't I say that already? Actually, the article is titled as though Simmons is overachieving. But, actually, this is in the realm of what Simmons has proven before that he is capable of. Nothing to be ashamed of there..........

Just a reminder before we start the weekend: the 2017 MLB Draft starts Monday at 4PM PDT..........(And one top prospect is already getting hammered.)

H/T to Halo Haven twitter feed. Where the heck did this come from? Bobblehead Mike Trout, pulling a wagon with all his hardware??........

______________________________

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?

______________________________

Back in 2002, MLB held a draft. This draft is the one extensively covered in Michael Lewis' book "Moneyball". So that was a seminal moment in modern baseball history. Reflecting back, what was the actual outcome of that draft?............

Any minute now, or the first time since what - May 1st of 2012? - Mike Trout is not the King of WAR in Major League Baseball. In both BBR and FanGraphs,  Zack Cozart takes over the lead...........

When an athlete chooses to go after an antagonistic, over-reactive, tabloid level media base it's a suicide mission where the player is entering the fray unarmed. David Price in Boston is just such a situation, and the future outcome is preordained. Unless Price goes on some Fernando Valenzuela like run, Price is doomed..........

John McCain loves baseball, blames baseball for his being an old guy who can no longer hang like the cool kids do..........

Is this true? A pitcher throws a no-hitter and we don't really care anymore? Not like "in the good old days"? I doubt it. No-hitters, to be truly enticing, tend to require happening within some zone of media access. I recall feeling some form of disappointment when Mike Witt pitched a perfect game, because it came on the final day of the season (1984), on a Sunday, in the middle of the day, lost in Texas, between a California Angels team that had missed the playoffs and a Texas Rangers team that had just lost their 92nd game. Good for Witt, certainly, and it was a fun way to end the season and a nice feather in the cap of franchise history. But if that had happened against a major market team, in contention, on a Thursday night, ESPN would have been breaking into their own regular billiards broadcast with a news ticker running constantly, and cut over for the 9th inning. Sports Illustrated would lead with a cover story and Frank Deford would have done an inning-by-inning human interest article of the emotional roller coaster everybody was going through. No-hitters are still major cool things, but context matters still, just like it always has........

Victory Showers and the Collateral Damage, when the reporters get it the worst. Nobody ever thinks of the very expensive electronics..........

How the Astros got really really good. It starts by tanking, sure, but what really counts is what a team does with all those draft picks and trade results..........

Baseball has a new mystery. A lot of guys are doing things they never did before. Maybe it's still too early?..........

Buster Olney, who should know about stuff like this a whole better than the rest of via having a whole more access to MLB officials than the rest of us, reminds us that MLB will be making some kinds of unilateral changes to rectify pace of play issues before next season. because, as he lays out, as soon as this season ends they can. (How Matt Shoemaker's name did not make it into that article is beyond me.)...........

This is a very interesting read. It's about pitching coach Leo Mazzone and his success with the Atlanta Braves. I don't know if I am being shined by a Lyle-style throwback piece or being introduced to the power behind the curtains causing all these arms to fall off modern pitchers. But it sure is interesting contrasted to our recent rotation health issues..........

Good idea, Houston! With Keuchel on the DL, you should save what's left of your season and trade all your talent to LAA for Alex Meyer..........

Cubs. Sheesh. Win a World Series, act like the Yankees..........

I always link to stuff I find that shows the cable-TV industry as we know it collapsing in the face of cord-cutting. Out of fair consideration for countervailing information I need to link to articles which forecast growth of the status quo. However, in full disclosure, ask me someday about my PwC story. Asshats...........

______________________________