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Riding the citizens of the Emerald City back off on the broomstick of the Wicked Witch of the West is a brilliant way to open the back half of the season. Keeping shut the pasty-faced yap traps of the teal-garbed Seattle noobs being forced to slum it here in the gorgeous confines of Southern California makes home games all the better in the sport of baseball. Especially for Halo fans subject to their snooty rancor in Angels Stadium while trying to pay attention to superior players executing a superior version of the sport.
And that is precisely what the Angels did to open the current homestand, sweeping the Mariners out of town with a 6-3 come-from-behind-with-one-Mike-Trot-tied-behind-their-back victory. Fueled by a very timely Matt Thaiss 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th, his first homer as a pro.
This book-ended a weekend that was launched with the most magical single game of the 2019 season. The Friday night combined no-hitter thrown by Debbie Skaggs + Taylor Cole + Felix Pena, on a day before what would have been Tyler Skaggs’ 28th birthday, on the first game back at home, in front of the warm embrace of Halo fans, since Tyler’s death. And it all ended back on the mound, where all the Angels laid to rest the Skaggs #45 jersey that they had been wearing to honor their fallen teammate. Not lost in the magic was a power outpouring of Mike Trout’s prodigious talent. 3 for 4 with 6 RBI, including a home run and a double (4 RBI) in the 1st inning alone. The team left the game ball in Tyler’s empty locker.
In between those two games, by the way, was a Matt Harvey sighting. And it was a rare side of Harvey that we saw. 5.2 innings pitched allowing only 1 run on 4 hits and 3 walks with 3 K’s.
Houston comes to town, No Justin Whinelander but we do get Gerrit Cole on Wednesday.
Let’s keep roaring with these ongoing Division-Rival-HaloLinks:
A Little Bit Of Angels News
Jonathan Lucroy needed a nose job, which will keep him out of service for 3 weeks..............Lucroy recalls the collision, but he doesn’t remember anything afterwards.............
Zack Cozart is done. He is going to undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his shoulder to clean out the damage on his left shoulder. So we get to reboot this reboot of his career all over again next year. What a bust..........
Mike Trout, is having one hell of a July. And July is right in the middle of one hell of a season............And with some calf tightness, Mike is now day-to-day. (In a post-game interview Trout said he felt just fine.)...........
Tyler on the beach.................
Weekly Mike Trout Career WAR Perp Walk. Mike had himself quite the week. About 1⁄2 a WAR point, depending on which you subscribe. And that is not bad at all when you realize that there was only 3 regular seasons games since last Sunday due to the AS break. And Mike didn’t play but a few moments yesterday. So that was over 2 full games and an At Bat. Trout has climbed up to a tie for 95th in Career bWAR, with Barry Larkin and Frankie Frisch. That vaulted him over Gary Carter and Scott Rolen. He is one heavy breath behind Ron Santo. With no some heavy separation between he and Miguel Cabrera/Zach Greinke, Trout is the second highest-WAR leader playing the game today, behind only Albert Pujols............Just for kicks, Pujols is the only MLB player who has accumulated more WAR than Mike Trout from the 2003 season to now. 18 1⁄2 seasons. And Mike has only played in less than 7 1⁄2 of them.
Everywhere In Baseball
Legend Bob Gibson has made it known that he is battling pancreatic cancer..............
We have had our first steal of first base. Put it in your notebook. The player’s name is Tony Thomas...........
($$) - ex-MLB star Dale Murphy is pretty upset seeing how friendly players are with other. Not players who are teammates, but players who are competing against one another. At a minimum, he feels, players should not let that show in front of the fans, who take the competition pretty seriously..............
Jesse Chavez is a Ranger now (he cruised through Anaheim back in 2017 with less than remarkable success). And he has this theory: if the pitch is close, it’s close enough that you give the call to the pitcher. The other night home plate umpire Rob Drake foolishly had a difference of opinion. What Chavez wanted as a K ended up as a BB, followed by a 2-run home run. Chavez was not happy when the inning ended, offering up his glasses to Drake. But since Drake must have vision problems, he failed to see the gesture and therefore failed to eject Chavez, which would made this whole story even more humorous...........
No other MLB player gets so much press for being merely above-average (and by ‘average’ I mean replacement level) than Yasiel Puig. His personality draws the attention, and his occasional moments of brilliance keep his head above water. But all that adds up to a lot of fascination.............
On the other hand, Marcus Semien is not getting enough attention. There is no excuse for his not being an All-Star this year.............
Doc Gooden was arrested and charged with cocaine possession last month. A tragic story that continues to remain tragic............
Trade Rumors
TheRinger has decided that their magic 8-ball just cannot keep up with all of the variables of the current season. No trade projections are possible............
The Red Sox pulled the trigger on a deal with the Orioles, picking up RHP Andrew Cashner. Cashner has been having a pretty good season, and he came at the price of two Red Sox minor leaguers, with an emphasis on minor...............
And Oakland picked off Homer Bailey from the Royals. And they did it while Bailey was in the bullpen warming up for his start with Kansas City. Bailey is only costing the A’s a single minor league prospect, but then Bailey is only having a minor quality season............
The Padres, in search of starting pitching, made a pitching trade themselves. But not something that has anything to do with rotation needs. They sent away bullpen arm Phil Maton to the Indians in exchange for International signing cash...............
The Rays made a deal with the Rangers, acquiring RHP Peter Fairbanks in exchange for INF/OF Nick Solak. Makes sense. Tampa Bay is swimming in infielders...........
The Yankees are a superteam, but when they are only one among many superteams, well, that’s not acceptable in the Bronx. Because they need to be the super-most-team, the Yankees are scouting Noah Syndergaard.............
The Duffle Bag
Cubs fans. Cubs fans in the bleachers. Cubs fans in the bleachers on a hot day. Cubs fans in the bleachers on a hot day with lots of beer..............The Reds/Rockies game was delayed 2 hours on Saturday due to thunderstorms in the area. This is why that was a most excellent idea.............Dayum, Tatis! I did not even think that they taught the hook slide anymore!!!..........Joey Gallo get The Shift From Hell..............