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30 hits. 20 runs. 20 pitchers. Over 400 pitches. The second 4 hour and a half hour game the Angels have played in 4 days. The Angels are grinding through marathons to get the W's. And yesterday again they labored, survived, thrived even there at the end, winning 11-9 in 11 innings.
Every starting position player got a hit except for that laggard Mike Trout kid. Albert Pujols went 3 for 5, having been awoken by the public humiliation of his identification as the worst player in MLB. Home runs by Luis Valbuena and the Iron Man Martin Maldonado (a pair of HR's 3 RBI) showed the power. Sweet defense from Brandon "Flip" Phillips. And the final, go-ahead extra-inning triple from Kole Calhoun all add up to a tasty win on a day when Minnesota and Baltimore both lost. The Angels exit the holiday weekend within a 1/2 game of the WC slot, and an offense that is starting to look fearsome for the first time in years.
You are rewarded with Marathon Baseball Links:
A Little Bit of Angels News
Some Justin Upton love. "Few teams could have benefited more acquiring that kind of power-hitting left fielder." Because it's "score another one for general manager Billy Eppler...........
Bud Norris will be back tomorrow. Don't look so excited there, ok? Yunel Escobar is also on his way back, but with the Minor League seasons winding down he may be short on seeing some live pitching before he gets back to Anaheim...........
I'm not sure this article really answers it's own promise of How Blake Parker became one of baseball's best relievers. Ok, he throws more splitters. But why are his splitters today more effective than his splitters of yore?..........
Roster moves: Daniel Wright was DFA'd, and Billy Eppler claimed Dayan Diaz. Diaz is a RHP off the Astros, who DFA's him to make room to receive Cameron Maybin..........
Interesting. In Fantasy Baseball worlds, Justin Upton holds his value moving from Detroit to LAA. But in moving from LAA to the Division-leading Houston Astros, Cameron Maybin's value tanks dramatically. I say interesting because Maybin is supposed to bring improved defense and important base-stealing leadership. But Fantasy players don't think Maybin is going to actually get any chance to play..........
Josh Mayhood's Library of Mike Trout Hagiography
A still-very young Mike Trout continues to lap existing Hall of Famers as he moves up the career WAR list. As I type this he sits on the BBR career leader board at #239. But his talent should rocket him into the Top 100 early in the 2019 season..........
As I type this, Trout is now tied with Anthony Rendon for 2nd place in fWAR throughout MLB, at 6.2. He is 0.4 fWAR away from the position player lead held by Jose Altuve. With 6 Plate Appearances yesterday, Mike now has 412 total, 2.96403 average per LAA team game. If he has 6 PA's tonight, he will be at 3.00719 tomorrow morning, which meets the 'qualified' level of measure. 4 today, 4 tomorrow and he is on the boards Thursday.
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Everywhere In Baseball
Robbery Day: Adam Engel faceplants against the wall on a theft of Austin Jackson...........Alex Gordon robs Mikie Mahtook..........(Uh, yeah, that's now a pretty snake bitten Mikie Mahtook this weekend.)
The Panda's return to San Francisco is working out pretty much as Boston fans would have predicted...........
Jeff Passan has fallen in love with the long ball. I know. It's seductive. "Giancarlo Stanton...is turning in one of the most valuable seasons in baseball history." As if standing in the batter's box and hitting baseball over the outfield fence in the only way that it matters for baseball players to deliver value. As a point of note, after 134 games Stanton sits at 6.0 fWAR. He might reach 7 fWAR by the time the season is out. Damned good, yeah. One of "the most valuable seasons in baseball history"? Passan knows better than that..........
In case you forgot, Labor Day is supposed to be about celebrating the working class. I think the author here means union labor. Not farm labor, or blue collar labor. Certainly not white collar labor. But anyway, it's all Baseball's fault..........
An interesting tidbit buried here. Justin Verlander would rather have gone to the Cubs or the Dodgers, but took the chance to land in Houston since there was no guarantee that either the Cubs nor the Dodgers would pursue him in the offseason, and he didn't want to be stuck in Detroit during the rebuild. So when he learned that it would be "Houston or nothing", he settled for Houston..........
Whistling in the dark, there Dodger fans..........And pay no attention to the J.D. Martinez humiliation handed out yesterday against your Division rivals...........
Back in the late 1800's based of the success of black players and black teams in white leagues, a group of Black baseball people ventured to form a league of their own...........
Didi Gregorius: greatest shortstop in MFY history?............
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The Duffle Bag
Dear Cincinnati Reds, just a friendly reminder that you are just days away from complete playoff elimination. You are at only 59 wins. You do NOT need to practice your World Series celebration moves...........Mark Whicker, thinking he is so clever in his pursuit of the 2017 Lyle Spence Award of Ignorance..........You are right, Ian Kennedy. You would be pretty stupid to opt out of a personal fortune..........Pretty chill, there, Steve Gelbs...........Nick Williams proves me wrong on head first slides............
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Jordan Serena Destiny Watch
Serena benched, and the 66ers were punished by the gods of prospects as a result, 11 to 4............
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