I really wanted to see future president Bill Frist, but I must have missed him. Dang.

I did catch Maryland's Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Michael Steele. Wow- this guy could be a rising star. You can see his fine speech, and all the night's others, here.

Now the big boys:

Arnold was awful, but I may be the only one who thinks so. I suppose the performance was strong, but how many cliches can one man fit into a 15 minute speech? And I think it's time to drop all the movie catchphrases. Your the governor of the nation's largest state for Christ's sake- start acting like it! All this did was remind me of why I voted for McClintock.

The Bush twins. Pain. Must. Change. Channel! I have a natural aversion to seeing people make complete and total asses of themselves, so this was hard to watch. But man, that brunette is a stone-cold fox! I just ended up putting it on mute and enjoying the view.

Laura Bush was quite nice to listen to. She put forward a nice account of Bush's accomplishments over the past four years, and she's just the epitome of likeable. Just putting Mrs. Bush in front of a camera is good for Bush and it doesn't really matter what she says. (BTW, has anyone seen Theresa Heinz Kerry lately?)

All-in-all, this night couldn't hold a candle to night one. It's unfortunate that this was the night that the national networks decided to start their coverage.

UPDATE: Line of the night, from NRO Corner, about the first twins:

Wow, I'm shocked, appalled, embarrassed, and just want to look away or hit the mute button... and oddly sort of turned on.

UPDATE: I just watched Frist's speech online. He should have been given a keynote, primetime speaking role IMO- instead he got stuck with an issue speech, on an issue where the Republicans really don't have a leg to stand on. I thought he did quite well with it though. His attack on trial lawyers ("...the litigation lottery...") was especially good, I felt.

Is it to early to start campaigning for Frist/Romney '08?

Lackey is a bit of an enigma, as he’'s put in several of the Angels’ best pitching performances of the season, but he’'s also a candidate to get blown off the mound in every start.

Is that prophetic, or what? Whoever said that must be some kind of genius!

Lackey was awful from the outset, allowing the Sox to get out to a four-run head start at the end of one. Like Rob says, the Angels were already done for at that point. Lackey finishes his disastrous August with a 7.44 ERA for the month. And Ortiz gets dropped to the bullpen?

Don't let the final score fool you- this was a good ol' fashioned beat-down. Amezaga (Amezaga?) made it respectable with a grand slam in the ninth, but this game was long gone by then. Glaus looked pretty good (2-4 with a screaming line-drive double), but that's about it as far as "good news".

Now let us never speak of this again...

About a week ago I wrote a post in which I mentioned Troy Glaus' wife, Anne, in passing.

Since that time I've had 18 searches for "troy glaus' wife" or some other related queries.

You people have problems.

BTW: I also got a hit when someone ran a google.jp search for "mariners shitty". I'm honored to be the number one result for that particular search.

I've done another small Q&A session with the proprietor of El Guapo's Ghost (<--- still the best name ever!) on the eve of the series at Fenway. EGG is one of the better Red Sox blogs out there, so go check it out.

My quick thoughts on the two major speakers on night one of the Republican National Convention: Arizona Senator John McCain, and former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani.

John McCain:

A well reasoned speech, delivered in a slow, lumbering cadence. Quite frankly, John McCain's performance was sub-par at best.

As for substance, he did what he wanted to do- stay above the fray, keeping his "independent" reputation in tact. But this speech did not accomplish the stated goal of the convention, as he did very little to draw contrasts between Bush and Kerry.

Having said that, this was the speech of the political season thus far. McCain put forth the justification for war in the clearest terms yet. He accomplished in 30 minutes what the administration had been struggling to do for the past year. It was just what the doctor ordered for Bush, and was delivered with great conviction.

Do you think Kerry would love to have this guy on his ticket, or what?

Rudy Giuliani:

I desperately wanted to love this speech. I was ready to declare Giuliani's performance "better than McCain's"- but then he kept going. And going. And going.

He was a delight to listen to- that's for sure- and he did accomplish every goal set before him. His praise for Bush was genuine, his attacks on Kerry were not only devastating but hilarious as well, and I don't know if there was a single dry eye in the house when he spoke about 9/11.

Unfortunately the ramblings that made up the bulk of the second half of his speech ruined it for me personally. It certainly won't make it any less effective when it's condensed down to sound-bites for the evening news, but for me, I lost a just a little regard for the mayor.

Interesting column (no, not a blog, no matter what SI.com says) by Albert Chen on the general apathy of Atlanta baseball fans.

Unfortunately, the fans in Atlanta are staying away. Covering the Braves-Rockies game last night I escaped the sterile confines of the stadium press box and planted myself in the cheap centerfield seats, a few rows from Phil Niekro's painted closeup on the Smurf-blue outfield wall, where there were no more than two dozen people scattered in the entire section during the game. Attendance is up at 21 of the 30 major league ballparks, but here in Atlanta, the Braves are drawing their smallest crowds since 1991. This year the first-place Braves have attracted fewer fans than the bottom-feeding Diamondbacks, Rockies and Mariners.

This is nothing new for the Braves, who have even had difficulty selling out playoff games for the past several seasons (I also seem to remember less-than fantastic ticket sales for the 1999 World Series). In fact, the Braves attendance has fallen each year since moving into Turner Field in 1997:


I was quick to blame these numbers on the overall apathy that surrounds all professional sports franchises in Georgia (and the entire south-east, for that matter) as it's common knowledge that collegiate athletics are king in that part of the nation. That, and the normal decline seen after any team opens a shiny-new stadium would explain this little problem. I mean, surely this can't be because Braves fans are bored with 12 straight playoff appearances, can it? I decided to see if other Atlanta pro teams were having similar problems.

Attendance figures for both the Thrashers and Hawks have lagged in the last few years (but of course they do suck, so it's hardly relevant). Meanwhile the Falcons, who have had a fair bit of success recently, but still nothing like the Braves, have seen their attendance figures grow steadily over that time- which sorta of flies in the face of my little theory.

That leads me to believe that, yes, Braves fans are bored with success. That seems to be the only logical explanation for the declines.

What a bunch of ungrateful bastards! This is right up there with Red Sox fans who bitch about the Yankees spending too much money.

While browsing through the BBC's website for soccer news, as I do every morning, I came across this interesting discussion forum set up for the RNC. I'm always interested in how Europeans view the American political landscape, so I started browsing through some of the comments. Unfortunately, the vast majority of commenters appear to be Americans (still some very good insights from all over the spectrum though). I did find one European comment however:

Bush is a stupid, Kerry is smart. It doesn't really matter who gets elected since they're both conservative, but at least it'd be better to have someone with a few brains....
-Jim, Bath, UK

You heard it here first folks: Bush is a stupid!

Tell me again how we got the reputation of being ignorant...

This story again?

In his harshest comments during a season in which he has repeatedly asked to be traded, Ramon Ortiz reacted to another demotion to the bullpen Sunday, lashing out at Manager Mike Scioscia.

"I don't feel good, the way he used me this year in the organization," said Ortiz, who has been sent to the bullpen three times since opening the season as a starter.

"I'm a good pitcher. I won 16, 15 games every year, but this year, he don't respect me."

I gotta say, this time I do agree with Ramon- to an extent. It's obvious that Ramon is far more deserving of the final starters role than is Aaron Sele. But I also see what Scioscia is doing here.

The difference between Sele and Ortiz as starters isn't great enough for the decision to really matter one way or the other (in that neither can be trusted to give you a quality start every time out), so it's just a toss-up. And while, at his best, Ramon is nothing more than an adequate starter, in the bullpen he has been lights-out this season and can be a real asset. It's the tie breaker, and thus Ramon gets sent to the pen. (Sucks, huh?)

I'm not saying it's a particularly good idea on Scioscia's part (Ramon should be starting over Sele at this point, IMO), but it's what he's doing.

So, in summary, Ramon may have a good point this time, but he still needs to shut the fuck up.

UPDATE: Sean is on this.

Jarrod Washburn: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K in Rancho Cucamonga's 5-4 loss to Lancaster.

The Angels made a flurry of roster moves today:

• Disabled DH/OF Tim Salmon

  This is a good move for Salmon. He was completely ineffective with the bat over the past month, and apparently he was physically unable to so much as pick up a bat for the last few days. Have the surgery now Tim- come back next year for a proper farewell.

• Activated 3B/DH Troy Glaus

  Well there you go. It was just a week ago that we started to hear grumblings that Glaus could be on his way back at some point this season, and here he is. He started today at DH, batting seventh.

• DFA'd RP Matt Hensley

  Not much of a surprise, what with the Angels going to a four-man rotation, thus dropping a starter to pen for at least the next week or so.

• Called-up 1B/DH Adam Riggs

  Ummm... why?

From the LA Times:

Troy Glaus, who had three hits, including two home runs, in 13 at-bats in the first four games of his rehabilitation assignment for Rancho Cucamonga, probably will skip a stint with triple-A Salt Lake and join the Angels in Boston this week.

Glaus is recovering from surgery May 21 on his right shoulder. The original plan was for the slugger to spend a week or so at Class A and then play a few games at triple A, where he would face better pitching.

But the Angels are satisfied enough with Glaus' progress to believe they can drop him into the sixth or seventh spot in their batting order this week.

Are we that hard-up for power? With Glaus only hitting .200 (albeit with a huge OBP of .428 and a SLG of .600), I would feel much better with him getting a few games in at AAA. Somehow I don't think the pitching on the Inland Empire 66ers and Lancaster JetHawks is quite the same quality as the Boston Red Sox.

"Hey, you're pretty cute for a sex worker."

And creative to boot.

(Take a look at all the pictures- there's a bunch of hotties in that bunch, and I'm pretty sure they're easy. Damn, I'm in the wrong party.)

How does Huddler say it? "A few bloops and a blast?"

That's what happened to Bart today. His line doesn't look too hot (6 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 5 K, 0 BB), but it's not really indicative of the way he performed. That third inning was as un-lucky as it gets- the Twins scored four runs on only one hard-hit ball (Jones' homerun), a lucky bunt, and a couple of cheap singles.

As for the other side of the ball, there's no shame in getting shut-down by the game's best. Santana had the Angels off balance from the get-go. He did get a ton of help from his D, with Jacque Jones robbing the Angels of at least three hits, but that's just how the cookie crumbles. You could make a case that the Angels hit the ball as well, if not better, than did the Twins.

I went to go check out the Angels coverage at LATimes.com this morning, as I do every morning, only to find that my online ID has been deleted. Again. For like the tenth fucking time.

But don't worry, I'm still getting all their spam.

BugMeNot, here I come!

Argentina 89, US Men 81

At this point, I would much rather see the US Men's Basketball "team" come home with nothing but shame than see them come home with a bronze.

How do we go about revoking someone's citizenship? Is there a petition we can sign or something?

Speaking of the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, the club is set to host yet another Angel on their journey back to the big club. Having already enjoyed the services of Troy Glaus for two games (1 for 6, with 1 HR and 2 BB), the Quakes are now going to be the first stop for Jarrod Washburn on his road to recovery. Washburn will start for Rancho this Sunday against the Lancaster Jethawks.

In the same story, Troy Glaus is expected to be with Rancho through at least the next two games before likely heading to AAA Salt Lake.

This is starting to get so specific it's absurd.

Introducing 'The Steel Wheel Champs', a blog devoted to Angels property BJ Weed. (I shit you not.)

Dude- sorry to burst your bubble, but BJ Weed sucks. He's currently batting .271 with a laughable .301 OBP and no power to speak of at class-A Rancho Cucamonga. I've also heard nothing but bad things about his glovework at second. Oh well, whatever floats your boat or finds your lost remote I guess.

Seriously though, the author does do a very good job of covering the day-to-day happenings of the Quakes, so it looks like it's going to be a very worthy daily-read for Angel fanatics. Welcome to the blogosphere!

What does the 2600 block of Kattela Ave need? A third professional sports stadium, of course!

The OC Regester is ga-ga over this. Reading their coverage it seems like a done deal. Wishful thinking- this is probably just a bargaining chip in the NFL's negotiations with the groups who want to bring a team to the Rose Bowl, the Colisseum, and Carson. At least I'm hoping this is just wishful thinking.

The plan calls for a 70,000 seat stadium to be built in the parking lot surrounding Angels Stadium. Yeah, that's a great idea- because I almost never have a problem finding a parking space at the stadium. You know, except for game-days. Peep this quote- it tells you all you need to know:

"The existing agreements include a promise to ensure the Angels 12,000 parking spaces, a number that could shrink depending on how the stadium fits on city property."

Let's do the math. 12,000 parking spaces for 45,000 people. This in Southern California, where "car-pooling" refers to the activities that take place in your average rapper's hummer-sine. That is just not going to work.

I would be thrilled to get NFL football back in SoCal. Even more so to have it in the OC. But why do we have to shoe-horn everything into a 3-mile radius in Anaheim? Are we just never going to do anything with El Toro, ever?

This is brutal. I'm going to flip on over to the Oakland/Baltimore game, which is currently a far more competitive game, and in which Bruce Chen flirted with a no-hitter into the sixth.

Yes, Bruce Chen is still alive. I was just as surprised as you are.

UPDATE: Damn you Orioles! Damn you!

UPDATE: Jeff Fuckin' DaVanon! Hell yeah! Party at Maya's, and all you non-believers aren't invited.

UPDATE: Grand Slam Jose Molina! I'm so excited I may just vomit. 21-6 Halos in the 7th.

UPDATE: And that's how it ends.

Of all the numbers one can draw from this 7-game season sweep of the Royals, I think the most important one is thirteen. That's the number of errors committed by the Royals during those seven games, as compared to a big, fat zero for the Angels. Also consider the countless wild pitches and passed balls which led to nine (!) unearned runs scored by the Angels. Play like that isn't going to win you very many games- but of course the Royals know that all to well.

Baseball Crank has a great post reminiscing about the days when the Democrats were up in arms about the "crushing of dissent" taking place during the whole Al Franken v. FOX News "Fair and Balanced" lawsuit.

But where are they now that John Kerry is threatening to sue everyone in sight over the Swift Vets controversy?

MSNBC is showing the final game of the Olympic baseball tournament, live, at this very moment (Yes, live. Isn't that a novel concept?). It's a match-up of heavily favored Cuba versus a group of career minor-leaguers representing Australia.

I'm rooting for Australia- and not just because the Cubans are a bunch of pinko-commie bastards, but because the Aussies feature two Angels properties, both of whom play at Rancho Cucamonga:


Good luck to Nick and Richard! Come home with a gold guys!

A thought: Do you suppose that MLB GM's who might be watching the Cuban team in this game feel like they're watching the shopping channel? Scout over the television, order over the phone, wait four-to-six weeks for delivery.

What can be said about this win that wasn't said yesterday?

Nothing.

Troy Glaus will start tonight for Rancho against Inland Empire.

Wow.

UPDATE: According to Bill McDonald, Glaus' ETA is 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.

Once again, wow.

UPDATE: Here's how sudden this decision was- Glaus was nearly scratched from the starting lineup because he stuck in traffic. And apparently the Quakes didn't bring any extra helmets on their road-trip, because Troy was wearing his red Angel's helmet during his first at-bat (a fly-out to center on the first pitch he saw).

UPDATE: Glaus just crushed a 3-run homerun in the top of the sixth. Holy bejebus!

UPDATE: Final line for Troy: 1 for 3, 1 BB, 1 HR.

I must say, it was a real treat listening to a minor league game for the first time in years (I used to attend Bakersfield Dodgers games all the time as a kid, but since I moved to the big city it's been strictly big leagues). You could really feel the atmosphere of the ballpark through the broadcast- people chatting, laughing, and heckling- things you don't normally get through a big league broadcast.

Oh yeah- Rancho Cucamonga won the game 4-1 behind seven strong innings by my favorite Angels' prospect, Steven Shell. He collected six more strikeouts to bring his total to 180 in 154 IP. Yowza!

Read this post and thread from "The Iraq War Was Wrong Blog". In fact, take a quick look through the archives- you'll learn something. For instance, I didn't know that Wally Joyner was dead.

Tell me this isn't some kind of joke.

UPDATE: Venessa, will you marry me?

A comment by Ensie (of the blog Both Hands), in response to my criticism of Olympic Dressage:

"Be careful what you say about competitive horse walking; I grew up riding with Ann Horrell, a fellow eventer and dressage rider, who now goes by the name Ann Glaus.

Your favorite Angel and his wife are WAY into competitive horse walking."

Troy Glaus: 'horse person'? I refuse to believe it.

UPDATE: Heres the proof. It looks like Mrs. Glaus is quite an accomplished rider.

Steve and Rex (and even Rob, of all people) were giddy about Troy Glaus' performance during batting practice before last night's game. (In case you missed it, Troy hit several monstrous homeruns, including a couple that landed behind both bullpens and a couple that hit high off the rocks.)

Before anyone else gets excited- remember that this was BP. We're talking 60 MPH fastballs, lobbed down the center of the plate. Let's all take a deep breath and calm down here.

If Troy is going to show any ill-effects from his shoulder injury, it will be in the form of diminished bat-speed. So sure, he can square-up a BP fastball right now. That's great- it's a start. But that doesn't make me feel any better about his prospects of catching-up to a 90+ MPH fastball in a live game. Let's wait and see what he does in a real game situation in the minors before we declare him 'the old Troy'.

Sorry about the lack of blogging lately. I've come down with a wicked bad cold, and to combat its effects I've been chugging NyQuil like a frat-boy. So basically I've become the living dead over the past few days.

I really only have one thing to say about the Angels' win over the Royals: I've seen the Royals play just five times this season, and despite having viewed that relatively small number of games, I am confident that I can call them the 'Worst Team I Have Ever Seen'. I didn't think anybody was ever going to take that title away from last year's Detroit Tigers, but low and behold, just a year later and someone has come along who sucks so hard even the Tigers would look down upon them. Hell, these Royals suck so hard, they actually blow.

A sweep in New York- and a convincing one at that. Three stellar pitching performances and a sudden power surge. This is easily the best the Angels have played all season.

I'm still hearing media types insulting Kelvim Escobar for whatever reason (I would go into further detail and dissect their opinions, but they don't seem to have one other than "he's just not good"). Maybe this kind of performance on the game's biggest stage will change things. Kelvim has obviously been the Angel's top starter this season- that's not even up for debate- now hopefully he'll begin to get his props.

UPDATE: The Angels win, and this time they get something to show for it: Oakland (1-2 @TB) and Texas (2-10 @KC) have both lost today.

Wow, that's got to be demoralising for those guys. You're playing the two worst teams in the league, meanwhile your major competition is playing the very best. At the very least you've got to expect to hold your ground.

Ballsy.

Stupid- but ballsy.

Check out Pat Oliphant's latest editorial cartoon, in which he attempts to paint the 'Swift Vets' as cowards.

Several of these men spent years in North Vietnamese prison camps, suffering unspeakable torture.

There's only one word to describe it: disgusting.

In two games started by Ortiz and Sele the Angels have held the Yankee's murderer's row to one run. Who would have taken that bet?

It's clear that Sciosica thinks this is the most important series of the season. He used Shields/Donnelly/Rodriguez for a full six innings today, in a game that was never particularly close. This comes after he used Percival in a non-save situation the night before. It's a good thing in that you don't want to play games with the Yankee's bats, but it does leave us with a severely depleted bullpen for tomorrow's finale (I'm not looking forward to seeing Hensley in a pressure situation in that environment). Perhaps stretching K-Rod for two innings was a bit more than was necessary.

With back-to-back homeruns from Jose Guillen and Maya's guy, the Angels have now hit eight homeruns in their past four games.

I'll give you a second to pick your jaw off the floor...

Ready? Ok...

Yes, we have a miny power serge happening here. Perhaps more amazing is the fact that they've also drawn 14 walks over that span, or 3.5 BB/G. That's almost a full walk better than their season average of 2.69 BB/G (how sad is that?)!

So getting on base on hitting for power is an effective way to score runs. Who knew?

BTW: The game featured a nearly four hour rain-delay and took well over six hours to complete. Why no Elimidate?

There's been a great debate over the Hall Of Fame credentials of Bobby Grich all over the blogosphere as of late, and it's spilled over to Chronicles. Go on over there and share your thoughts.

This just keeps getting uglier and uglier.

The 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' have a new ad coming out, in which they blast Kerry for his claims that US soldiers (his unit specifically) regularly committed war atrocities.

"John Kerry gave the enemy for free what I and many of my comrades in the North Vietnamese prison camps took torture to avoid saying."

I have heard about one atrocity committed by Kerry's unit, but I doubt that Kerry would want that one to get to the media...

And now the Kerry campaign is calling for the publisher of Unfit For Command- the Swift Boat veterans take on Kerry's Viet Nam service- to pull it from shelves. (via LGF) Would a book burning be to your liking Mr. Kerry?

Where was the outrage when Michael Moore was spreading his filth? Oh wait, I forgot- freedom of speech only applies to the Democratic Party.

Troy Glaus has been making steady progress since arriving in Arizona for rehab on his right shoulder, and could be back in the fold down the stretch. He has graduated to soft-toss after hitting off a tee for the past several days. The Angels are hopeful that he will begin taking batting practice in the near future, meaning he could return to the Angels lineup sometime in September.

First off, I'm not holding my breath. I'm sure there will be a set-back somewhere along the way (this is the Angels after all...). And besides, this progress report seems to be coming from Glaus himself- I would be willing to bet that we're getting a generous prognosis here.

Also, I'm not sure I even want Glaus to return. Coming off this shoulder injury is going to severely limit his power. Now I'm not nearly as gloomy as Rob is about this, but there is simply no way he's going to be the same Glaus anytime this season. I don't think his career is over by any means, but he does face a long, hard journey back. In the meantime he's going to be a singles hitter- and a rusty one at that. The last thing we need is another weak-hitting DH on this club- we already have three too many.

I've already said my good-byes to my favorite Angel. We shouldn't drag this out any longer.

Frankie sure did make that interesting. He was getting pinched to be sure, but that doesn't excuse the inability to get one measly out.

Bart was solid. Not as great as his line (8.2 IP, 2 ER, 5 K, 3 BB) would suggest, but it was a step forward after two sub-par starts. I'm still amazed by how inconsistent his velocity has been- today he was topping out at about 95 mph, markedly lower than he was throwing during his hot July. He did control the game very well- I will give him that. He was throwing his pitches and getting them over for strikes.

As for the offense, once they start to give you hope that they're snapping out of it (six runs in the first three innings against Hendrickson), they smash all your dreams by getting shutdown for the rest of the game. The D-Rays' bullpen is surprisingly strong, but still, they should have been able to step on their necks.

Who was doing the color work on ESPN tonight? It was as though he had just rolled out of bed and into the broadcast booth. His analysis sounded like one protracted yawn. And that heckler! Jebus H. Christ- the lungs on that guy!

Baseball Crank has a look back on the 1994 Expos- one of baseball's best "what if?" questions.

The balance on that team was simply amazing. They were quite possibly the best 1-25 team I've ever seen (granted, I can only attest to around ten years of baseball, but that's still saying something). It's hard to imagine that playoff success wasn't in that club's future. Of course, they never got the chance to show what they were capable of, as the 1994 strike ended the season prematurely.

Just think what Stade Olympic would be like today had the Expos won a World Series in 1997- or even just made the playoffs. Would we be talking about Washington DC or Virginia right now? I doubt it.

The LA Daily News is reporting that Robb Quinlan's season is over with a "torn left oblique muscle" (via Sean). Well shit.

I wonder if any decent stop-gap third basemen passed waivers in the past few days. I don't have the stomach for a playoff run with Figgins at third.

It was a day of blowouts in the American League today (OAK 11, BAL 0; TEX 16, CLE 1 (early yet); SEA 10, KC 1), and none of them were good news for the Angels, the least of which being their own loss in Tampa Bay. Ok, it was pretty close up until the late innings, but a blowout's a blowout.

There's just not a whole lot to say about this one. Escobar struggled, but you can hardly lay the blame on him alone. The 3-4-5 hitters went 2-12, but you can't count on Vlad and Guillen to win you every game. Gregg let it get out of hand late, but it was pretty much over by that time anyway.

Let's just chalk this one up to a confluence of events and move on with our lives.

Robb Quinlan has been placed on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique muscle. He suffered the injury in batting practice before today's game. Tough break for Quinlan, who looked like he had nailed-down a starting role.

Bengie Molina has been activated in his place, a few days earlier than expected.

With two golds from Michael Phelps, one in fencing (the first US gold in 100 years), a couple of silvers (women's gymanastics and uber-hottie Amanda Beard in the pool) and a bronze (fencing, again), the US has taken it's rightful position at the top of the Olympic medals table. We're now tied with China with 18 medals apiece (granted, China has more golds, but we'll fix that soon enough):


Say it with me: USA! USA! USA!

Because a day without blogging is like a day without air, I bring you the rundown:

Molina not fat, just big-boned:

Bengie Molina broke his media boycott on Saturday when he took time out to explain his injury woes:

"When I went to spring training, I went very, very prepared," said Molina, noting that he had spent eight weeks during the off-season working exclusively on his legs because he was coming off surgery on his left wrist and had been asked to refrain from upper-body workouts. "I was ready to play the whole season."

He went on to explain the reasoning behind his media boycott:

"You're telling the fans I'm overweight when I bust my butt all winter trying to get ready for the season," Molina told a gathering of reporters in the Angel clubhouse. "Now the fans are going to see it a different way. That's what hurt the most."

We've heard this before from people in the Angels organization- weight doesn't matter. We heard it with Bartolo Colon and now Molina. But I just can't help but notice that the two largest men on the Angels' roster have both suffered nagging injuries this entire season- whether it be Colon's back and ankle or Molina's hammys. I think it is pretty clear that Molina's weight is a problem and will continue to be a problem in the future unless dealt with.

I understand that Bengie is never going to be a thin man- them's the cards he's been dealt. But one look at his brother's offseason transformation proves that at the very least he can be fit. These guys are both swimming in the same end of the gene pool, so what's the cause of the substantial weight difference between the two?

His excuse that a wrist injury kept him from performing upper-body exercises, thus causing him to report overweight, is absolutely ridiculous. How does a wrist injury keep you from jogging over the offseason? From eating right?

Washburn throws with no pain

Jarrod Washburn reported no ill effects after a short throwing session on Saturday. He will travel with the team on this roadtrip with the hopes of getting in a bullpen session, meaning his return could be sooner rather than later.

Trumbo signs

The Angels have signed 18th-round pick Mark Trumbo out of Villa Park HS. Trumbo will recive a huge bonus of $1.425 million- a record for a non draft-and-follow prospect drafted below round ten. Good to see Arte is still willing to splash the cash.

The Angels plan to convert the right-handed pitcher to third base in order to utilize his powerful bat, which has been compaired to Troy Glaus by many scouts.

It looks like the Venezuelan people have followed in the footsteps of us Californians, and have ousted their un-popular, left-leaning leader. Exit polls are showing that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is well on his way to defeat in today's referendum. The early count has Chavez down by over a million votes.

Chavez thought himself something of a Robin Hood- stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. And while helping the poor majority of his nation is noble goal, completely destroying it's economy and middle-class was, in retrospect, not the smartest way to go about it. Many have compared him to Fidel Castro- which, given many of his policies, seems to be a fair characterization.

He's also been quick to blame all of his country's woes on America and regularly accuses his political opponents of working for the CIA, so I'm sure no tears are being shed in Washington tonight.

UPDATE: CNN is reporting that Chavez has won the election in a landslide. So either a) the independent was misinformed as to the early results, or b) something fishy is going on here.

Ah, there's the Angels' offense we all know and loath. Six hits and just two for extras isn't anything to write home about. Although this was against Jason Johnson, who some might call a 'real pitcher', so I suppose it can be forgiven.

I would like to tell you how Sele did, but I missed the entire game. It completely slipped my mind and I popped in 'Kill Bill, Vol. 2' instead (very interesting, but nothing compared to the Vol. 1). Sele's line is pretty decent, and he did allow just the one run- unearned. Anybody who did see the game, please share your thoughts on Sele's performance. Was he strong? Was he barely holding things together? Enquiring minds want to know!

The US Basketball team is currently in the process of getting bitch-slapped by Puerto Rico. A quote from commentator Doug Collins:

"Puerto Rico isn't at all intimidated by the talent of this US squad."

Talent? Are you kidding me? Name one talent that this team possesses. They can't shoot. They can't defend. They can't pass. They can't control the ball. The only talent I can see is the uncanny ability to trick NBA owners into giving them hundreds of millions of dollars.

I'm at the point where I don't want these guys representing my country anymore. I want them to walk off the court, take off those jerseys, and never come home. Seriously- if this team is supposed to represent the US, shouldn't we get some kind of vote in the matter?

UPDATE: Final score, Puerto Rico 92, United States 73.

Seriously- don't come home.

I was forced to watch the Olympic Dressage competition today. What the fuck is this shit? As best I can tell, it's competitive walking. I can't even begin to comprehend how this could be interesting to anyone- even the competitors. This is an actual exchange between me and my lady friend while watching the Dressage:

Me: "What the fuck are we watching here?"

Her: "It's Dressage. You see, the horses walk, then they back-up, then they gallop, and then they prance."

Me: "...and that's interesting, how?"

Her: (very combative) "Well, how is Boxing interesting!?"

Me: (once I stop laughing) "Boxing is a test of two men's strength, speed, agility, endurance, skill, and competitive will as they battle for personal and national honor. This is a test of one horse's ability to walk."

Her: "Fine then, let's watch boxing."

Ok, that last line never happened. She is still watching Dressage at this very moment, which is why I'm in the other room blogging about this whole sequence. It really gives me a new found respect for Frinklin- he's married to one of these people.

Just a thought: Why is there no horse racing at the Olympics? I mean, you've already got a bunch of horses there for all these other lame events, why not put them on a track and see what happens? I'd watch that.

The European soccer scene is just starting to heat up, and with several big American names heading across the pond it stands to be the most exciting season ever (for American fans, anyway). I plan to keep abreast of all the news and force-feed it to you with a weekly-ish post.

DaMarcus Beasley scores in Dutch debut

DaMarcus Beasley scored PSV Eindhoven's final goal in the club's 5-2 win over RBC Roosendaal. It was the Dutch season opener.

Beasley's goal was a wonderful solo-effort, in which he cut-across the penalty area and beat two defenders before slotting home.

This comes after Beasley was lauded by his new manager for his mid-week performance in the Champions League. PSV lost that game, 3-2 to FK Crvena Zvezda (Serbia), though Beasley acquitted himself quite well. He went the distance and created a number of dangerous attacks.

Convey solid for Reading

Bobby Convey started for Reading in their English First Division clash with Sheffield United. He was solid, though unimpressive before being removed in the 74th minute. Reading won the game, 1-0. American Marcus Hahnemann also started in goal for Reading.

Americans get chances with United

Two Americans were in uniform for Manchester United's 2-1 Champions League win over Dinamo Bucuresti on Wednesday. Eighteen-year-old defender Jonathan Spector was on the bench, though he didn't see any action. Tim Howard started the game in goal and seems to have solidified his position as number one entering the EPL season. He made several excellent saves behind a porous Man Utd. defense.

Where in the hell did that come from? Four homeruns is literally shocking coming from this team. You know how long it's been since we've seen a genuine offensive explosion form this club? Too long, that's for sure. A couple of interesting numbers from tonight's game:

• The Angels hit four homeruns tonight. They had hit four in the previous eight games combined.
  
  
• The Angels last hit multiple homeruns on Saturday, July 30th against Seattle- 12 games ago.

This offensive explosion was due in no small part to Scioscia's new-and-improved lineup:

1. David Eckstein
2. Darin Erstad
3. Vladimir Guerrero
4. Jose Guillen
5. Garret Anderson
6. Robb Quinlan
7. Tim Salmon
8. Jose Molina
9. Chone Figgins

Finally, a little common sense from the Skip. There's nothing about this lineup that I can take issue with (other than the absence of Jeff DaVannon, who should own the two spot by now). I especially like the decision to move Quinlan up and Anderson down. I suppose it would be nice if Figgy and Erstad would swap places, but given the way Figgins has played lately, I don't think it would change much. Mad props to Sciosica on this one- now stick with it for a few weeks and see what happens.

Notice that I've made two positive observations- this is me gushing. Don't get used to it. Now I'm going to drop a bit of reality on you.

We're still screwed, and this game is the best evidence yet. Yes, we won. Of course that's great, and obviously it's the most important thing, blah, blah, blah. But Ramon Ortiz got bombed on tonight (6 ER in 4.2 IP). Colon got ripped on Thursday. Sele has gotten annihilated over the past two months. That's 3/5 of the rotation, all showing troubling inconsistency (or being consistently horrendous). With Washburn out, these are three men who are going to have to carry us into the playoffs (well, maybe not so much Sele). Without them pitching at their best, we don't have a chance.

Do you trust these men?

I rest my case.

It's too bad that the entire team has to suffer a loss that should rest squarely on the shoulders of Mike Scioscia, but hey, that's how team sports work.

I mean, really, what has Mike seen from Troy Percival this season that told him he was even remotely qualified to pitch in that situation? I don't trust Troy with a three-run lead in the ninth- a tied game is out of the question. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Jayson Stark has a couple of interesting Angel-related notes in his latest Rumblings and Grumblings.

First, Ramon Ortiz has failed to pass waivers and has been pulled back. That brings to an end all trade rumors involving Ortiz.

Do your self a favor and check out some of the names on the 'passed waivers' list. Some of the more interesting names for Angel fans: Buddy Groom, Jason Grimsley, Brian Anderson, Al Levine, Justin Speier and Darrell May are all available.

Secondly, he has this interesting tidbit on Robb Quinlan:

In Anaheim, Robb Quinlan may have seemed to come out of nowhere to become the fifth rookie in the last 20 years to roll off a 20-game hitting streak. But he was once the Angels' minor-league player of the year. And maybe their biggest challenge is to figure out a position for him.

It won't be third base, with Dallas MacPherson on the way. But one scout says: "If I were them, I'd play him at first and deal Casey Kotchman. I really like this guy. I see him as a 20-to-25 homer guy, an RBI guy and a dangerous hitter."

Ummm, no. Nothing against Robb Quinlan, but there's no way he can play first base on an everyday basis for a championship caliber team. I'm also not a huge Kotchman fan, but he seems to have more of the pieces than does Quinlan and he should get a chance to put them all together.

Reports from Athens are saying that the US delegation got a warm reception upon entering the Olympic stadium during today's opening ceremony. What a pleasant surprise.

You'll have to wait until 8:00 pm to see the ceremony here in the US, thanks to NBC's time-delayed coverage. Unfortunately I'll be at the ballgame tonight, but I am bringing my watchman to catch a little bit of the festivities between innings.

Headline at the NRO Corner, regarding the resignation of New Jersey governor James McGreevey:

THE GOVERNOR FROM THE SWING STATE

Before anyone gets all up-in-arms about cracking-wise about a person's sexual orientation, just remember: he was a very bad man. Not only did he cheat on his wife, but his administration has been awash in scandal from the get-go, including serious campaign finance investigations. And now it looks as though he's been funneling over $100,000 of the taxpayers' money into the pocket of his gay lover.

He's a very bad man, and he deserves everything he gets (hopefully that includes substantial jail time). Remember that when he tries to play the victim in the coming weeks.

Speaking of budding federal investigations, our honorable Secretary of State here in the state of California looks like he's the next to go down. Watch this story over the coming days.

The O's out-hit the Halo's in this series 43 to 18. Yowza. But they were only able to cash-in 19 of those hits for runs, so I suppose that's something...

You see, I can be positive!

How about Bartolo 'Nibbles' Colon?

It works on two levels!

UPDATE: Bart's final line: 5 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 6 BB, 3 SO. Can't say it's a shock considering that he was a bit shaky in his last two starts.

Wow, what an upset. Portugal has some of the best youth teams in the world (the Olympics are an under-21 competition) and probably the best U-21 player in the game today, Christiano Ronaldo. Iraq had no business beating the likes of Portugal, but look what can happen with a motivated team out to prove they belong on the world stage. This wasn't some fluke either- Iraq dominated from start to finish and certainly deserved the win.

Congrats brothers! With the US not qualifying for the Olympics this time around you're my team.

It has been reveled that Tim Salmon, who recently underwent an MRI on his previously-injured shoulder, has "tears in three of the four muscles that make up the rotator cuff, as well as a tear in the biceps tendon", requiring surgery. Salmon has decided to put off the surgery, which will require about 10 months of recovery time, until the off-season.

"There are some significant issues, and I'm definitely going to have some work done this winter," said Salmon, who had surgery on the same shoulder in 2000. "Everything just caught up with me, all those years of grinding it out, compensating for one injury and hurting something else."

Salmon started at DH Wednesday, his first start in five games, and struck out in all three at-bats. The club's all-time leader with 290 home runs, Salmon had only nine at-bats in the Angels' previous nine games.

But he has not complained about playing time, because "physically, I can't play every day," Salmon said. "As much as I want to play, physically, I don't know if it's possible….

"When I wake up in the morning, I think, 'How am I going to swing the bat today?' Then I come to the park, get some treatment, get the blood flowing, and I can swing OK. I want to provide whatever I can, but it's a catch-22. I want to play more, but rest and recovery between games helps too."

I find it interesting that Tim believes he is "helping" the team by playing injured. By the way- doesn't the Galarraga signing make a whole lot more sense now?

Salmon is going to have this surgery sooner rather than later- I don't expect for him to wait until the off-season. According to Tim, the most promising prognosis is six months of rehab- meaning that, if he were to delay the procedure, he would be pushing spring training, and obviously the ten month prognosis would cause him to miss a good portion of the regular season. If he wants to be a productive hitter in his final season with the Angels, he needs to have the surgery now. He must sacrifice this season for next. That will eventually be the case, with Galarraga taking Tim's roster spot sometime in the coming weeks.

It's sad to see Tim struggle like this, but it actually brings me some relief to learn that it is due to an injury and not just plain-old suckage. Good luck Tim- I hope to see the old you back next year!

UPDATE: The opinion around the Angels blogosphere appears to be that Tim should take this opportunity to bow out gracefully. I can't say that's a bad idea.

The Angels are currently in the process of being one-hit by that perennial Cy Young contender, Erik Bedard.

I'm not trying to be so negative- really, I'm not- but I'm just not seeing anything to suggest that this team can keep up with the likes of Boston and Oakland.

UPDATE: Now that I think about it, the four walks the Angels have drawn off Bedard are something to smile about. That includes two (!) for Darin Erstad. Say it with me: Hoo-Ray!

UPDATE: Vlad crushed a homerun to right field to lead-off the sixth, giving the Angels their second hit and first run. GA followed up with a single. Things are looking up.

UPDATE: The Angels jumped all over BJ Ryan and Jason Grimsley, and now lead 4-1 in the top of the eighth.

Mike Scioscia just made a horrible move. He's removed Robb Quinlan for a defensive replacement (Amezaga). Quinlan was set to lead-off the bottom of the inning, needing a hit to keep his 21-game hitting streak alive. So not only does Scioscia prematurly end Quinlan's hitting streak (the most exciting thing happening to this team at the moment), but he puts the weak-hitting Amezaga in the lead-off spot. Bad, bad, bad.

UPDATE: Angels win 4-2. Escobar has another strong outing (7 IP, 1 ER, 7 SO), and Percival just manages to close it out.

The resemblance is uncanny:

DaVanon back in action

The man, the legend, the MVP- Jeff DaVanon- was activated prior to last night's game and Wil Neives was designated for assignment. DaVanon had one at-bat in garbage time, striking out. Strangely, Maya seems less than excited.

Angels honor Percival

I don't know if it was shown on television or not, but before last night's game the Angels honored Troy Percival for his 300th save. Personally, I felt it was a bit much. Percival received four different mementos from various sources which caused the ceremony to drag on for about 15 minutes, delaying the start of the game. I wouldn't have minded the delay, but Percival himself seemed to be uncomfortable with the whole thing. It was nice to see Chuck Finley though.

Let me preface this by saying that I don't give a damn about John Kerry's Viet Nam record. In my mind, it has no bearing on his ability to lead either way. I would much prefer if we could all stop living 30 years in the past and start living in the now. Why does it matter who did or did not defend his country in the past? I care only about who will defend his country in the future.

Therefore the Swift Boat Vets' allegations have no relevance. For the most part I'm trying to ignore the firestorm. But the lies that are being reveled are relevant and are becoming impossible to ignore. They are beginning to stack up all around Mr. Kerry, leading me to believe that he may be near-pathological when it comes to exaggerating the events of his past.

It would appear that John Kerry has been lying about service in Viet Nam since he returned State-side. First we had the whole "Christmas in Cambodia" controversy. It didn't take long to see through the holes in John Kerry's March 27, 1986 Senate speech, in which he attempted to convince Ronald Reagan that his Central American policies were leading to another Viet Nam-style quagmire (good call on that one, John):

"Mr. President, I remember Christmas of 1968 sitting on a gunboat in Cambodia. I remember what it was like to be shot at by Vietnamese and Khmer Rouge and Cambodians, and have the President of the United States telling the American people that I was not there; the troops were not in Cambodia. I have that memory which is seared--seared--in me, that says to me, before we send another generation into harm's way we have a responsibility in the U.S. Senate to go the last step, to make the best effort possible in order to avoid that kind of conflict."

He also wrote a October 14, 1979 article in the Boston Herald, in which he discussed his "Christmas in Cambodia":

I remember spending Christmas Eve of 1968 five miles across the Cambodian border being shot at by our South Vietnamese allies who were drunk and celebrating Christmas. The absurdity of almost killed by our own allies in a country in which President Nixon claimed there were no American troops was very real.

The factual inaccuracies in these two quotes are almost too numerous to list. Let's start with the most obvious- Richard Nixon was not yet president in December of 1968. He wouldn't be president for another month. Secondly, there seems to be no evidence (other than Kerry's word) that American troops entered Cambodia at any time before 1970. There is also the fact that none of the men Kerry served with can corroborate his story. Perhaps most damning is Kerry's own diary, in which he himself writes that he spent the day in the village of Sa Dec- over 50 miles from the Cambodian border.

And that's just scratching the surface of Kerry's Cambodia lies. Go check out this post for more.

Now comes this doozy of a fib via Hugh Hewitt:

The hat was a little mildewy. The green camouflage was fading, the seams fraying.

"My good luck hat," Kerry said, happy to see it. "Given to me by a CIA guy as we went in for a special mission in Cambodia."

Kerry put on the hat, pulling the brim over his forehead. His blue button-down shirt and tie clashed with the camouflage. He pointed his finger and raised his thumb, creating an imaginary gun. He looked silly, yet suddenly his campaign message was clear: Citizen-soldier. Linking patriotism to public service. It wasn't complex after all; it was Kerry.

If we've already established that John Kerry never crossed the Cambodian border, then we can easily label this one as a boldface lie. And this isn't just the normal embellishment you would expect from a veteran trying to impress the grandkids. This is an entire elaborate scenario, completely invented in the mind of John Kerry.

Now, as I said, I don't care about what my president did or didn't do 30 years ago. But I do care deeply about my president being truthful. John Kerry has now been caught in a series of lies for political gain (I would assume that is the justification- either that, or he's just a pathological liar). Even that alone wouldn't necessarily sour me on a candidate, but considering that a) Kerry has based much of his campaign on his Viet Nam service, which has now been brought into question, and b) the amount of criticism he's thrown towards Bush for supposedly 'misleading' the country into Iraq, he's not making much of a case.

So now it looks as if the left has become the thing it hates. They hate Bush for lying about pre-war intelligence (well, not even lying really- "inferring" that there may have been a connection between Saddam and Al Quida, and "exaggerating" evidence of WMD) in order to advance his policies. Meanwhile, they have found themselves in the position of supporting a candidate who is clearly truth challenged and has shown a willingness to sex-up his past for political gain. Am I to belive that the left is willing to trade an accused liar for a proven one?

Does anyone else see a problem here?

UPDATE: If you think this is the kind of thing the Kerry campaign can just duck, think again. Even if the major media chooses to ignore this story right now, the blogosphere will keep this one alive (a-la the Trent Lott/Strom Thurman story a couple years ago). There's no way they can ignore this story forever.

UPDATE: Here's another lie for political points (via Large Regular). This guy is willing to say anything to be president, and what's more, no one in the Democratic Party seems to have a problem with that.

Note: I wrote this during the ninth inning when the Angels were down 3-1 and things were looking bleak. I should have known that the Royals daily meltdown was coming. It's a good post- it'd be a shame to let it go to waist. Let's just imagine this took place in an alternate reality, in which the Angels lost to the Royals by a score of 3-1. A little 'what could (should) have been', if you will.

Why did we lose to the worst team in the American League? I don't know- why don't you go ask Rob. I'm sure he knows how this happened.

A little good news/bad news:

Good news: Ramon Ortiz looked very sharp. Maybe he really can fill the void left by Washburn's injury. But then again, all he did was shutdown the Royals, which is not all that impressive a feat when you think about it.

Bad news: The offense still looks awful. Tonight we got shutdown by Brian Anderson for seven innings. Anderson came into the game with a 6.01 ERA, 1.68 WHIP and a .328 (!) BAA. Not. Acceptable.

Good news: We won three out of four. Hoo-ray!

Bad news: Other than the fact that we won the games, this was quite possibly the worst the Angels have played all year (at least with the bats).

Good news: The Red Sox and the Rangers both lost, keeping us in a three-way tie for the wild-card.

Bad news: The A's won, and will continue to win in the future, so we can kiss the division good-bye.

Steve Physioc 'quote-o-the-day': Heard after a wild-pitch advances Angels' runners to second and third in the ninth inning, just one batter after Adam Kennedy popped-up a sac bunt attempt:

"It's just like the sacrifice worked!"

No Steve. It's just like Kennedy cost us a run.

Rex Huddler 'quote-o-the-day": Heard after Kevin Gregg balked in the Royals' third run:

"You can't blame him for that one."

I suppose it was society's fault?

Edgar Martinez has announced his retirement from the Seattle Mariners, effective at the end of the season. I'm sure it's a very sad day in Marinerland.

Edgar may have played for the enemy, but I always felt he was a first-class ballplayer and man. I want to wish him the best of luck in all his future endeavors.

UPDATE: There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not Edgar will play out the rest of the season. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: ESPN.com had it wrong- Edgar will play out the rest of this season. Good- at least this way he will get a proper farewell.

Thank Jebus! (via Frinklin)

Fanboys worldwide breathed a collective sigh of relief when Entertainment Weekly talked to funnyman Jack Black, and confirmed that he is not going to slip into the emerald tights. "I took a meeting with someone who has the rights, but there's no [Green Lantern] script," Black told EW. "I'd be interested if there was a really good writer attached, but it's far from a [done deal]."

Oh, goody-goody gumdrops!

Peter Gammons' new column covers all the intrigue behind the Nomar Garciaparra controversy- a situation he has dubbed 'NomarGate' (seems fitting given the day). Well, is it technically a 'controversy' if the only people who give a damn live in Boston?

It had to be expected- the public outcry that is. Boston fans are like that. Look what happened to a normally level-headed blogger like Chris over at Large Regular when the news hit him (start here and work your way backwards). Poems, songs, and 'feelings'? Goddamn it Chris, get a hold of yourself!

Thank you Royals! A win- just what we wanted! How thoughtful of you...

Mike Wood kicked our ass. Let that marinate for a second. Mike Wood. Thank Jebus the Royals' daily implosion came when it did.

Louisiana congressman Rodney Alexander, a registered Democrat his whole political career, has switched allegiances and has registered as a Republican for his up-coming re-election bid. The best part of this story is that he waited until the last possible moment to jump ship, preventing the Democrats from putting up any real competition for the seat! I love this guy!

Welcome to the vast right-wing conspiracy, Rodney!

"Here's your membership card (its good for a free Slurpee at 7-11!) and here's a diagram of our 'secret handshake'. You gotta learn that, or you can't get into the meetings. Oh, and make sure to come next Friday- we're fabricating a bunch of evidence for our up-coming war on France!"

I may be the last person in all of blogdom to realize it, but Larry Walker's home/road splits this season are exactly the opposite of what one might expect from a man who plies his trade in the Mile High City:


Granted, it's a small sample size (just 38 games), but it is surprising nonetheless. I'm sure that's one thing the Cardinals looked at when they made this move. Of course it's highly unlikely he will stay anywhere near these numbers, but even if Walker regresses to his normal road numbers (about .280/.390/.490) the Cards have still got themselves a damn fine ballplayer.

I’d say that’s the most conservative estimate on how Walker will fare out of Coors. Ask the Rockies’ pitchers- they’ll tell you the problem with Coors Field isn’t so much the fact that the ball jumps off the bat, it’s that all their breaking stuff is dead. And once they do figure out how to make the ball dance at elevation, they head out on the road and have to start all over from scratch. I’m sure it’s much the same for the hitters. You get used to facing guys with no movement to speak of at home, then you go on a road trip and all of a sudden everything looks like a Barry Zito curveball. It takes time to adjust, and by the time you do you're back on the plane heading for Denver.

Once Walker starts getting a good gauge on non-Colorado breaking pitches (he looks like he’s already there) he’ll probably get in a groove and stay there. Now there's no trips to Colorado to take him out of it.

From the LA Daily News:

Andres Galarraga was hitless in four at-bats, lining out twice, in his first game for Triple-A Salt Lake. The Angels signed Galarraga, 43, to a minor-league contract Wednesday.

"It's an opportunity to be in the playoffs," Galarraga told the Salt Lake Tribune. "I have to say 'thank you' to the Angels for the opportunity. I have the feeling I can help the team as a pinch hitter, once in a while play first base."

Is there something to the whole "Erstad to center" scenario? I still don't see it- it's more likely we'll see Galarraga at first against left-handers with Erstad on the bench.

Glenn Reynolds does it, so why not?

No, no, no, no! That's a bad Angel offense! Bad!

Three runs against Derrell May and his 5.13 ERA and 1.51 WHIP? I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but that is unacceptable. At least we had a bit of power tonight (3 XB-Hits, including a HR), but what are we going to do when Robb Quinlan realizes that he's not Vladimir Guererro?

The St. Louis Cardinals have aquired Larry Walker from the Rockies for Jason Burch and two other minor-leaguers. The Rockies will also pick-up most of Walker's contract.

If there was one thing a team that features Albert Pujols, Jim Edmonds, and Scott Rolen needs, it's more power...

Washburn's return still a long way off:

Jarrod Washburn did not take part in a scheduled long-toss yesterday, likely a sign that his return is still weeks away. He may not be cleared to pitch until "the final weeks of [the] pennant race."

Bad news. This means the Angels' hopes rest on the arms of Aaron Sele and Ramon Ortiz. Both are going to need to step-up, or the season is over.

Weaver, Angels not talking

The Angels and first-round draft pick Jered Weaver have not yet begun contract negotiations.

"It would be nice to be negotiating, but we're not," Stoneman said by telephone. "There's nothing happening here."

Stoneman wouldn't divulge details of conversations with Weaver's agent, Scott Boras, but when he was asked if he felt the process was going as planned, he said, "I don't think it's going normally, no. I'm not sure exactly what we expected, but we were hoping to have a negotiation here and it's not really happening."

This really has to make you feel good about Bill Stoneman. "I'm not sure exactly what we expected"? Scott Boras told you what to expect: a Prior-esque signing bonus in the $10m area. Why don't we start there? PICK UP THE FUCKING PHONE!

GA not worried about lack of power

Garret Anderson, who doesn't have an extra-base hit since July 15th and whose SLG has nosedived to .434, says that he's not worried about his lack of power:

"I'm just not hitting anything in the gaps or over the fence," he said. "I've never claimed to be a power hitter. I just happen to hit line drives out of the park sometimes. That's just not happening right now."

Well, if he's not worried, I'm not worried. Yeah, right. GA's decrease in bat speed since his return from injury has been stunning. You actually can see the difference with the naked eye. Don't see it? Just count how many foul balls he hits over the home dugout in a single at-bat.

We salvaged one in Minnesota, and didn't lose much ground in either race. Now it's time to get serious- we need all four in Kansas City, and anything less than three out of four will be a disaster. The Royals are quite possibly the worst team in baseball and they're sending three starters (Saturday's starter is still undecided) with a combined record of 12-24. There is no excuse not to sweep this one.

As for today's game, 15 hits is good. 14 singles is not.

Sele looked rough, but he got the job done. I suppose this performance will keep him in the rotation for at least another couple of weeks. That may not be a bad thing, considering Ramon Ortiz's struggles the day before.

...isn't this the definition of censorship?

Government officals threating to shutdown a news network for supposedly showing a bias- welcome to Soviet Russia people...

The Kerry campaign is now threatening to sue any television station that airs the 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' ad.

Kerry's lawyers claim that "...not a single one of the men who pretend to have served with Senator Kerry was actually a crewmate of Senator Kerry's and the man pretending to be his doctor was not." They go on to say "...your station is responsible for the false a libelous charges made by this advertiser."

I told you someone was lying. Now we just need to figure out who...

I feel it is important to note that the Kerry campaign doesn't seem to have a problem with the "false and libelous charges" being made by groups such as MoveOn.org and the Media Fund or by Micheal Moore. Because, as we all know, free speech is only a right for those on the left.

UPDATE: An Instapundit e-mailer responds to the accusations:

The letter from Kerry's lawyers is disingenuous. It calls the Swift Boat vets frauds because none of them were "crewmates" of Kerry's. The vets claim is to have "served with" John Kerry. They actually commanded boats in the same unit. The doctor is called a fraud because he didn't do the paperwork on Kerry's first Purple Heart injury.

In the vets book, and in interviews, he says he treated the wound and a corpsman filled out the reports. I'm not a lawyer, but the letter seems to play fast and loose with facts. Are the Swift Boat vets that big a threat to Kerry? Is this desperation?

The Kerry campaign? Fast and loose with the facts? No![/sarcasm]

Found via Baseball Crank:

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR BEDROOM WALLS? White. I've lived here for over five years and haven't so much as touched a paint brush.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Inside The Kingdom, by Carmen Bin Laden

3. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Nothing. Plain-old black mousepad.

4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? Trivial Pursuit

5. FAVORITE MAGAZINE? Stuff. I know, I'm a pig...

6. FAVORITE SMELL? The smell of fresh-baked bread.

7. FAVORITE COLOR? Red.

8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? Orange.

9. HOW MANY RINGS BEFORE YOUR ANSWERING MACHINE PICKS UP? Four.

10. MOST IMPORTANT MATERIAL THING IN MY LIFE? I'd be lost without my computer.

11. FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ICE CREAM? Mint chocolate-chip.

12. DO YOU BREAK THE SPEED LIMIT DAILY? Of course... who doesn't?

13. DO YOU HAVE A STUFFED ANIMAL IN YOUR ROOM SOMEWHERE? Yes. A stuffed Scooby Doo dressed-up like a marichi, which I won at Six Flags Magic Mountain a few years ago.

14. STORMS - COOL OR SCARY? Cool.

15. FAVORITE DRINK? caffeine-free Pepsi. Yes, I'm that boring.

16. WHEN IS YOUR BIRTHDAY? June 25.

17. FAVORITE VEGETABLES? Green Beans.

18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Angels GM.

19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? I like my black hair. Wouldn't change it for the world.

20. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN LOVE? Nope.

21. TOP THREE FAVORITE MOVIES (IN ORDER)? Full Metal Jacket, Pulp Fiction, Passion of the Christ. Quite a list, right?

22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? Nope.

23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? Books, books, and more books.

24. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? Two. That was always my number in little league baseball and soccer.

25. FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH ON TV & IN PERSON? Baseball... duh.

26. WHAT IS YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST FEAR? Flying.

27. FAVORITE CD OF ALL TIME & RIGHT NOW? All time: Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral. Right now: Modest Mouse, Good News For People Who Love Bad News.

28. FAVORITE TV SHOW OF ALL TIME & RIGHT NOW? All time: Sopranos. Right now: Arrested Development.

29. HAMBURGERS OR HOT DOGS? Burgers.

30. THE COOLEST PLACES YOU'VE EVER BEEN? Getty Center museum. Civil War battlefields throughout the South.

31. WHAT WALLPAPER AND/OR SCREENSAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW? Twix & Catsby from Penny Arcade.

32. DOES MCDONALD'S SKIMP ON YOUR FRIES & DO YOU CARE? Sometimes. The quantity and quality of food from McDonalds is far from steady.

33. FAVORITE CHAIN RESTAURANT? Sonic.

34. IF YOU HAVE A BOY (OR HAVE ANOTHER BOY) WHAT WOULD YOU NAME HIM? Something classic- none of these new age names. John, Anthony, Paul- something like that.

35. IF YOU COULD LEARN TO PLAY ONE INSTRUMENT OVERNIGHT, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Guitar. Being able to play a guitar is the best way to pick-up chicks.

It's no secret- I dislike John Kerry. But even I'm repelled by this nasty attack ad from 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth'.

A part of me is saying "he's the one who wants to talk about Viet Nam, so lets talk about it..." But another part of me is screaming "this is the kind of garbage that gives the party a bad name." It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and after all is said and done, the 'Swift Boat Veterans for Truth' come out looking worse than Kerry.

Even if it is true- if John Kerry has been lying about his service in Viet Nam, and his tour of duty was somewhat less than prestigious (and borderline treasonous if you talk to these guys)- it's not something that could ever be backed-up by anything other than these men's allegations. I'm just not willing to condemn John Kerry's service based on their words alone.

As far as I'm concerned, he was there. Even if it was just four months- that's more than I would have done if I were in that situation, and certainly more than can be said about President Bush.

Wil Nieves has been called up to replace Bengi Molina on the 25-man roster.

Because you always need a third catcher...

The Angels have signed Andres Galarraga to a minor-league contract today. He will not replace Bengie Molina on the active roster, so the Angels still need to make a move before today's game in Minnesota.

I like Andres Galarraga, but I just don't understand this move. There's no room for a 1B/DH type with either the big club, or Salt Lake (where he will report tomorrow). His presence in the Stingers lineup will force either Casey Kotchman or Adam Riggs to the bench. And obviously the last thing the major-league club needs is another DH.

This move would of made a whole lot of sense about three months ago when Erstad was down, but now this is just a head-scratcher.

UPDATE: Rob thinks that this signing is a signal that Angels management is panicking, and will trigger a series of moves eventually leading to Erstad playing center field. I wish I could believe it, but I just can't. Bill Stoneman has had a couple of months to push the panic button and make a move- but he hasn't. Why would he do it now?

And if Rob is right, and Bill Stoneman waited until three days after the trading deadline to make a move, he needs to be fired.

Sean points out a very interesting factoid that somehow got missed during last night's game:

"...last night, Garret Anderson got his 5695th at-bat as an Angel, giving him one more than Tim Salmon."

I don't know about you, but this one really snuck up on me. I had no idea that Garret was anywhere near Salmon or Downing on the list of all-time Angel at-bats. Here's the top ten (active players in bold):

1. Brian Downing, 5854
2. Garret Anderson, 5695
3. Tim Salmon, 5694
4. Jim Fregosi, 5244
5. Darin Erstad, 4339
6. Bobby Grich, 4100
7. Gary DiSarcina, 3744
8. Chili Davis, 3491
9. Dick Schofield, 3434
10. Wally Joyner, 3356

Clearly GA has left Salmon in the dust, as Timmy's days of 500+ AB season are long gone. And according to Sean we can expect GA to pass Brian Downing sometime late this season.

It's hard for me to wrap my head around Garret Anderson being the "old man" of the Angels. It seems like he's always played in the shadow of Tim Salmon. No offence to GA, but Salmon has always been the face of this club and will continue be in my mind, even if (when?) he has been completely erased from the club's record books.

So even if being the club's all-time leader in at-bats doesn't necessarily make you "Mr. Angel", it is still a truly impressive feat for GA. It's also a testament to his "shut-up and play" style of baseball for him to have done this so quietly.

Somehow, some way, Bengie Molina's "split fingernail" had turned into a full-on broken finger, forcing him to the 15-day DL. No word yet on a call-up.

UPDATE: It looks like the replacment will be aquired via trade (yes, Bill Stoneman making a trade- I'm shocked too), with the Mets' Joe McEwing being the primary target. That's right- 31-year old utility infeilder Joe McEwing, who is batting .253/.287/.305 this season. Sounds like the Angels kind of player.

In happy news, the Angels' number one young arm, right-hander Ervin Santana, is throwing again after being shut down with elbow tendinitis. He could make a couple of minor-league starts before the season ends.

Similar news on the Jeff DaVanon front, as he looks to be on target to return from the DL on Monday when the team is in Kansas City. Hoo-ray!