This is one of the best things i have ever read. This is from a real 911 call (hat tip: Best of the Web Today, last item).

Dispatcher: Sheriff's department, how can I help you?
Caller: Yeah, I'm over here at Burger King, right here in San Clemente--
Dispatcher: Mm-hmm.
Caller: --um, no, not San Clemente, I'm sorry. Um, I live in San Clemente. I'm in Laguna Niguel, I think that's where I'm at.
Dispatcher: Uh-huh.
Caller: I'm at a drive-thru right now.
Dispatcher: Uh-huh.
Caller: I ordered my food three times. They're mopping the floor inside, and I understand they're busy. They're not even busy, OK, I've been the only car here. I asked them four different times to make me a Western Barbecue Burger. OK, they keep giving me a hamburger with lettuce, tomato and cheese, onions. And I said, I am not leaving.
Dispatcher: Uh-huh.
Caller: I want a Western Burger. Because I just got my kids from tae kwon do; they're hungry. I'm on my way home, and I live in San Clemente.
Dispatcher: Uh-huh.
Caller: OK, she gave me another hamburger. It's wrong. I said four times, I said, "I want it." She goes, "Can you go out and park in front?" I said, "No. I want my hamburger right." So then the lady came to the manager, or whoever she is--she came up and she said, um, "Did you want your money back?" And I said, "No. I want my hamburger. My kids are hungry, and I have to jump on the toll freeway [sic]." I said, "I am not leaving this spot," and I said I will call the police, because I want my Western Burger done right. Now is that so hard?
Dispatcher: OK, what exactly is it you want us to do for you?
Caller: Send an officer down here. I want them to make me the right--
Dispatcher: Ma'am, we're not going to go down there and enforce your Western Bacon Cheeseburger.
Caller: What am I supposed to do?
Dispatcher: This is between you and the manager. We're not going to go enforce how to make a hamburger. That's not a criminal issue. There's nothing criminal there.
Caller: So I just stand here--so I just sit here and block--
Dispatcher: You need to calmly and rationally speak to the manager and figure out what to do between you.
Caller: She did come up, and I said, "Can I please have my Western Burger?" She said, "I'm not dealing with it," and she walked away. Because they're mopping the floor and it's all full of suds, and they don't want to go through there, and--
Dispatcher: Ma'am, then I suggest you get your money back and go somewhere else. This is not a criminal issue. We can't go out there and make them make you a cheeseburger the way you want it.
Caller: Well, that is, that--you're supposed to be here to protect me.
Dispatcher: Well, what are we protecting you from, a wrong cheeseburger?
Caller: No. It's--
Dispatcher: Is this like, is this a harmful cheeseburger or something? I don't understand what you want us to do.
Caller: Well, just come down here! I'm not leaving!
Dispatcher: No, ma'am, I'm not sending the deputies down there over a cheeseburger! You need to go in there and act like an adult and either get your money back or go home.
Caller: I do not need to go. She is not acting like an adult herself. I'm sitting here in my car. I just want them to make my kid a Western Burger [unintelligible].
Dispatcher: Now this is what I suggest: I suggest you get your money back from the manager and you go on your way home.
Caller: OK.
Dispatcher: OK? Bye-bye.
Caller: No--
[click]

Beyond the fact that this is completely ridiculous, you may ask why Burger did not just give her a "Western Barbeque Burger?" Well, I am not a BK eater, but I did look at their current menu and they do not appear to have any BBQ burgers (I know they have in the past). It is pretty obvious this woman is not only stupid for calling 911 about a Drive Thru order gone wrong, but she isn't even at a place that can complete her order. Of course, as the Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger is the food of the Gods, I can understand her disappointment at getting a lesser burger.

What the fuck is this? No, seriously - what the fuck is this?

UPDATE: Bud Selig? Man Babies? My world has been rocked!

Found on the Galaxy's official website about 5 minutes after the Landon Donnovan press conference had concluded:


It is a nice looking jersey... I'll give them that.

I suppose from the fan's point-of-view, having been faced with the possibility of seeing zero games televised locally, any deal is a good deal. But sub-contracting the Nationals' local television rights to Peter Angelos for the next 20 years is going to cripple that franchise and make it considerably less attractive to perspective owners.

Congrats Bud - you've managed to placate the Big Bad Wolf, and all you had to do was sell-out the Nationals for the next 20 years. And what of the other 28 major league owners who are now out several million dollars? If I were an owner, I'd be mighty pissed at the moment.

Neat article about Manchester United and PSV Eindhoven battling it out over the future of "American starlet" Eddie Johnson. I'm just going to assume it's one of those trans-Atlantic language barriers and move on...

Bio:

Name:     Bret Randolph Prinz
Birthday: June 15,1977 (27 on Opening Day) 
Height:   6-3
Weight:   185
Bats:     Right
Throws:   Right
Position: P
Acquired: Trade w/NYY
Drafted:  1998, 18th round (553), ARI
Roster:   25-man
Contract: $342,000

Stats (complete):

YEAR(L)   G  GS IP    H  R  ER HR BB SO  H/9  W/9  K/9  W  L  ERA  WHIP
----------|--|--|-----|--|--|--|--|--|---|----|----|----|--|--|----|---
2002(AAA) 37 0  39.1  42 14 13 4  9  34  9.61 2.06 7.78 1  0  2.97 1.30 
2002(MLB) 20 0  13.1  23 14 14 1  10 10  15.5 6.75 6.75 0  2  9.45 2.48
2003(AAA) 20 0  24.1  39 20 19 3  4  20  14.4 1.48 7.40 0  2  7.04 1.77
2003(MLB) 3  0  3.0   7  4  4  1  4  3   21.0 12.0 9.00 0  0  12.0 3.66
2004(AAA) 29 0  30.2  27 12 12 3  9  33  7.92 2.64 9.68 3  1  3.52 1.17
2004(MLB) 26 0  28.1  28 17 16 5  14 22  8.89 4.45 6.99 1  0  5.08 1.48
----------|--|--|-----|--|--|--|--|--|---|----|----|----|--|--|----|---
MLBCAREER:95 0  85.2  91 48 46 11 47 62  9.56 4.94 6.51 5  3  4.83 1.61

Pitching:

Pitch selection: 1) fastball (mid 90s), 2) slider. Sidearm delivery. 92-96 MPH fastball.

An effective and occasionally over-powering reliever when he keeps his pitches down in the zone, but is batting practice otherwise. Has struggled the past two seasons with a groin injury and mechanical difficulties. It is not known how closely the two are related.

Outlook:

The Angels are gambling that a) Prinz's problems are related to his groin tear in 2003, b) he's now fully healthy, and c) his mechanics can be fixed by pitching-guru Buddy Black. If it works out, Bill Stoneman will have salvaged another class reliever from the league's trash heap, because Prinz clearly has the stuff to set-up in the bigs. However, he's been shelled again this spring, and at this point he may be a lost cause. It's worth the gamble, but chances are Prinz is done. Projected line: 25 IP, 5.50 ERA

Who do you suppose organizes an "Anarchist Bookfair"?

UPDATE: Whatever you do, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN TO THE FIFTH PHOTO! You have been warned.

That would be MSNBC's ratings.

One of my strange obsessions has always been the politics of cable news. That's why I found this so interesting:

"CNN Headline News has supplanted MSNBC as the third-place cable news channel." Bauder notes that "the numbers are relatively miniscule...but they're important for perception and for the business of television news."

It's a market that's over saturated, and the public has obviously decided that MSNBC is the odd man out.

Back when it was assumed cable news networks were a license to print money, NBC had the bright idea to dump Roger Ailes and his "America's Talking" network in favor of a hastily assembled and poorly thought-out partnership with Microsoft. Thus was born MSNBC. As you well know, Ailes is now at the helm of MSNBC's wildly popular rival FOXNews and is unanimously credited for it's successes. This type of tactical masterstroke would become a common occurrence over at 30 Rock. Since that day, MSNBC has somehow managed to walk the fine line between being completely devoid of informational value and avoiding any entertainment value.

Best attacking soccer the men have played in quite a while. Remember how poorly they played in the first half at Azteca? Well, today was the exact opposite of that, and for a full 90. The score could easily have been 4-0 had it not been for an mistakenly disallowed goal and missed handball in the box. A dominating performance on every level.

I've got to think that had Leverkusen seen Donnovan play the way he did today (or rather, gave him an opportunity to play like he did today), they would think twice before letting him walk.

As stated yesterday, it has finally gotten close to approximating warmth these last two days, with teh temperature today peaking above 70. Unfortunately, there was no BBQing, as it was supremely windy and the grass is still wet from the melting snow. There is supposed to be some thunderstorms coming in tonight or tomorrow morning that will end Thursday, while the temperature dips back to the 50s, before it hopefully decides to permanently decides to rise above 60. Unfortunately, this likely means no BBQing for at least another week, maybe two.

So much for Jake Woods - the Angels pulled the trigger on a deal that sent catcher Wil Nieves to the Yankees in return for right-handed reliever Bret Prinz. Prinz will most likely take the final spot on the Angels opening day roster, as he's out of options.

It's a head scratcher. I'm going to let it sink in before commenting further.

UPDATE: It seems like a gamble worth taking. Prinz looked like a future relief ace with the DBacks in 2001, but has been a wreck ever since. When I saw him throw last season it looked as though the injuries had taken their toll. If there's a chance he can recapture that magic, great. If not the Angels can release him with no regrets, having only given up roster filler in Nieves.

I have very little doubt the Prinz experiment will fail miserably by the end of April and the Angels will realize they were better off giving the spot to Bergman/Bittner/Woods/Bootcheck/Peralta/Moseley. But seeing as how Prinz is completely expendable, it's not as though he'll be blocking any of these guys.

UPDATE: Is it safe to say that the make up of the opening day roster will be the following?

Pitchers: Byrd, Colon, Donnelly, Escobar, Gregg, Lackey, Prinz, Rodriguez, Shields, Washburn, Yan

Catchers: B. Molina, J. Molina, Paul

Infielders: Cabrera, Erstad, Figgins, Izturis, McPherson, Quinlan

Outfielders: Anderson, DaVanon, Finley, Guerrero, Rivera

Maybe the Angels would be more comfortable with Merloni in the bigs and Izturis in AAA? That's the only question left unanswered.

Andres Galarraga retired today. He felt he could not compete at his normal levels and has decided against pursuing home run #400. His career ends with 399 HRs, his last one with the Angels last September. He made no qualms last year and wanted to reach #400 before he was done, but he also wanted to play for a winner and a team he could contribute for. The Big Cat was always one of the game's good guys and he was very successful in Montreal and Colorado before he made an emotional comeback from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In his short time with the Angels, he helped the team by imparting his wisdom upon the team and in general making them happier. When you watched them on TV you could notice a difference in the team from August to September, with and without him. He will be missed from the game.

This brings up my favorite player, Tim Salmon. The Big Fish is in a similar situation, where he is near a milestone (10 HRs from 300, which would be the first time an Angel reached that mark), but has had difficulties in playing the last few years, largely because of injuries. In 2002 and 2003 he played well (not great, not up to his standards), largely because he was injury-free and could be Tim Salmon. However, in 2001 and 2004 he was terrible and was injured much of those years. He may not play at all in 2005 and his contract runs out at the end of the year, so he may not be on the field as an Angel again. This could mean retireny at the end of this season or in spring training next year (as the Big Cat did) or it could mean he tries one more year to prove he still has the ability and then retires during the 2006 season (because he is really bad), after the 2006 season (because he is below average but not terrible or because he does decent, but not well enough that he feels he can continue much longer), or a couple of years in the future (if he does really well). I am torn here, because I want to see him get his 300th home run (preferrably in an Angels uniform) but I also want him to be able to leave the game with dignity, and I am not sure he can still do that if he tries to play in 2006. Either way he chooses, though, I will support him and root for him to be successful.

RICHARD ADDS: I had a post on Galarraga in the can only to discover that Blogger was down (again). Now Josh has beaten me to the punch.

Any-hoo, another former Angel looks prepared to call it quits - Kevin Appier has said that if he doesn't make the Royals major league roster out of spring training, he will retire rather than accept a minor league assignment. Considering that Appier has an 8.71 ERA this spring, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that he will retire.

Bio:

Name:     Vladimir Alvino Guerrero
Birthday: February 9,1976 (29 on Opening Day) 
Height:   6'-3"
Weight:   205
Bats:     Right
Throws:   Right
Position: OF
Acquired: Free Agent (1/11/04)
Drafted:  n/a (Free Agent - D.R.)
Roster:   25-man
Contract: $70m/5 years, through 2008. Team option in 2009.

Stats(complete):

YEAR(L)   G   AB  R   H   2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
----------|---|---|---|---|--|--|--|---|--|--|--|---|----|----|----|---
2000(MLB) 154 571 101 197 28 11 44 123 58 74 9  10  .345 .410 .664 1074
2001(MLB) 159 599 107 184 45 4  34 108 60 88 37 16  .307 .377 .566 943 
2002(MLB) 161 614 106 206 37 2  39 111 84 70 40 20  .336 .417 .593 1010
2003(MLB) 112 394 71  130 20 3  25 79  63 53 9  5   .330 .426 .586 1012 
2004(MLB) 156 612 124 206 39 2  39 126 52 74 15 3   .337 .391 .598 989 
----------|---|---|---|---|--|--|--|---|--|--|--|---|----|----|----|---
MLB TOTAL:11604375765 142126536 273828 43355813874  .325 .390 .589 979 

Hitting:

Coiled stance, closed to the pitcher with a long, violent stroke. Awesome power and contact ability. Guerrero’s defining trait is his superhuman ability to hit any pitch a pitcher can throw at him. To coin a phrase from Rex Huddler, Vlad will hit anything “from his nose to his toes.” The disturbing part is that his power respects no borders – he will hit towering homeruns on pitches at eye-level, in the dirt, and anywhere on (or off) the plate. So as you can imagine, taking pitches and drawing walks isn’t Vlad’s thing (nor should it be as long as he can hit like he did in 2004). Discounting intentional passes, his K/BB ratio was 74/38 and he only saw 3.17 pitches per plate appearance – good for dead last on a club full of free-swingers.

Defense/Baserunning:

Guerrero’s range in the field has been severely limited by back and leg injuries. He never had great positioning or instincts, but his speed more than made up for those deficiencies in the past. So much so, in fact, the Expos considered him to be an option in centerfield in the early years of his pro career. Those days are past. Nowadays his range in right must be considered sub-par. That’s not to say Guerrero is a defensive liability – his arm (the strongest, if not the most accurate, in the game) saves enough runs for the Angels you excuse the occasional gaff.

A former 40-40 threat, you can pretty well close the book on Vlad’s basestealing days for the same reasons as above. He’s also an extraordinarily stupid baserunner. He’ll get caught going first-to-third or stretching a single into a double often.

Outlook:

This was the hardest of the scouting reports to write. I mean, what can I say about Vlad that hasn't been said a hundred times before? Nothing, that's what. So I will simply say this: Vlad will be Vlad. As long as he’s healthy, I see no reason he won’t defend his MVP award. Projected line: .335/.390/.610, 45 HR

...because Rob's season preview (featuring Matt Welch) is HUGE. And this is just part one.

UPDATE: Since Blogger's commenting is still fucked, I'll leave my comment to Rob and Matt's preview here.

I agree with Matt, in that you’re being far too pessimistic on the Angels rotation. Colon will show a rebound of sorts, if for no other reason than the fact that, unlike last season, he’s healthy at the outset of the season. At the very least the Angels should get a couple of good months from Bart before injuries set in. (Though I’m not sure about PECOTA’s assessment that he’s sure to breakdown. Even last year with the ankle injury, he managed to pitch through it - however poorly. The nagging injuries brought on by his weight my sap his effectiveness, but I doubt they’ll be able to shutdown a guy who’s tossed 200+ innings in 6 of his 7 years in the bigs.)

Also, I see no reason to believe that 2004 was a "career year" for Escobar. None of his peripherals showed eye-popping improvements over his career averages - he just allowed fewer hits, which we all expected with the switch to real grass and real defense. Is there any reason not expect a similar set of circumstances this season? Health is my only (minor) concern regarding Escobar, but otherwise he should do just as well.

No surprises - the trio will start the season on the DL with knee trouble, arm trouble, and age trouble respectively.

For the first time since about November, we had 60 degree weather. You don't realize how warm 60 degrees actually is until you spend 4 months at sub-40 degrees. Thank god for spring finally arriving. I may even just barbeque tomorrow.

This title could refer to the four games played over the last two days, the teams still left, or the number of overtimes total in those four games. As I don't really watch college basketball (even during the tournament), I missed some pretty stellar endings. As it is, I only lost one of the three games I still had a team competing for, and that was the team I had pegged as the runner-up. They lost in double OT, which takes the sting off (it means I was close, whereas if it was a team I cared about then it would hurt more). However, they did lose to a team that I had picked to not make it out of the first round, which is pretty embarrassing. My current school, Wisconsin, lost by 6 to UNC and it was close nearly the whole game.

Go ahead and laugh it up Mexico. Just don't forget about this. What happened today hardly qualifies as "revenge".

What was up with the US in the first half? That was the ugliest, most timid half of soccer I've seen from our boys in a long time. Azteca is no place to be playing for a nil-nil tie, Bruce.

The OC Register has a story about a guy named David Matranga. They say he is similar to Eckstein, except a little bigger and faster, and only wants to play for one team, the Angels. He has apparently played well enough to make it to the team's last cut even though he was a non-roster invitee. How many times do you hear a major league caliber (or near-major league caliber) player say that the only team they want to play for is the Angels. The only other guy I specifically know of (that hadn't already been on the team) was Steve Trachsel, who also is an Orange County guy. Good luck, Matranga, I hope you achieve your dream.

DMac back on the field

It looks more and more like Dallas McPherson's back will be ready for opening day. Today he played in two minor league games:

Third baseman Dallas McPherson played three innings in the field and got eight at-bats in two minor league games against the Giants on Saturday. He singled in his first at-bat and went hitless thereafter, but said it was a good day.

"I did all right," said McPherson, recovering from a herniated disk. "I squared up and drove some balls. My swing felt good. My timing wasn't where I thought it would be."

McPherson will have Sunday off but take batting practice and field ground balls. He said he'll play in a game Monday and probably again Tuesday to get in consecutive days.

Here's hoping. And if he should lose his race with time? Believe it or nor, some questions have arisen about who would start in his place. With Robb Quinlan's well-publicized defensive issues at the hot corner, Scioscia may be considering raising Maicer Izturis on the depth chart for opening day. Izturis got the start at third today, but didn't but didn’t fare much better than Quinlan.

If it comes to that we may very well be witnesses to the weakest hitting infield ever devised by man. Think of it as something to tell the grandkids...

Another one bites the dust...

The Angels reassigned reliever Scott Dunn to minor league camp today. That should pretty much lock-up a roster spot for Jake Woods.

Washburn, party of five

Jarrod Washburn's wife, Kerrie, gave birth to the couple's third child today - a girl by the name of Ava Reese Washburn.

ESPN's Ives Galarcep keeps an online journal on his Mexico City experience leading up to tomorrow's giant qualifier. Festivities begin at 6:30 AM with "Outside the Lines: USA Soccer All-access", with kickoff at 10:00. Unfortunately I'm probably going to miss the beginning, as I have to drive out to hell on Earth... err... I mean Hesperia... for a family reunion. Drive fast you say? I'm way ahead of you.

And I agree with Ives - scheduling a match between the US and Mexico on Easter Sunday was an incredibly stupid move on the part of CONCACAF.

But I only have three. Of course, all of those are in my Final 4, so I am not doing terrible right now. It seems like most people overestimated the ACC this year (and why not, UNC and Duke were #1s and Wake Forest was a #2) and a lot of people overestimated the Big East (UConn and Syracuse both lost before their time), meanwhile the Big 10 has three teams among the last 8 and has a reasonable chance at piling all three into the Final 4. Of course, for my own bracket, I hope Michigan State and Wisconsin lose (wow, I actually want the school I am at to lose...SCANDALOUS). Let's just say it is mixed feeling there, and I don't care enough about this place (I am a graduate student, not an undergrad).

RICHARD ADDS: My bracket took a beating as well. Things really fell apart for me in the Sweet Sixteen. But on the bright side, three of my Final Four teams are still alive (Illinois, North Carolina, and Kentucky) including my Final match-up. That puts me in the 75th percentile among Yahoo users, which is about as well as I've ever done. It's also good enough for a comfortable first place in my blogger pool (those political bloggers never stood a chance).

I just noticed this while surfing on ESPN.com, but they have an Angels blog, called Inside the Halo. It seems to be, at first glance, to only be semi-officially affiliated with ESPN. By that, I mean that the analysis is more as a correspondent than a reporter. And apparently it has been an Angels blog since March 2004.

Multiple sources say the US MNT star is heading to the Galaxy, just two months into his second stint with German giants Bayer Leverkusen. Apparently Leverkusen have decided that Donovan doesn't fit into their system. How they can make such a diagnosis after refusing to give him any real playing time is beyond me.

I'm not sure this is a great move for Donovan, but sure is for the Galaxy, and thats a-ok with me.

UPDATE: Former Galaxy defender Greg Vanney is back stateside as well, having signed with Dallas. It always confused me as to why he and Wade Barrett (also returning to the MLS, with San Jose) decided to leave MLS in the first place. They jumped the pond into relatively minor European leagues (French Ligue 1 and the Danish SuperLigaen respectively - the latter is a step-down from MLS in terms of quality) where they still struggled to find everyday places with their clubs. In the process they jumped themselves right out of Bruce Arena’s national team player pool, stunting a burgeoning international career in the case of Barrett. Now they come crawling back looking to resurrect their careers.

Thanks to a new deal with FSN, Angel fans will now see 158 games televised locally. It's still four games too few, but it's better than the 106 we were looking at before.

Powerline has been all over the saga of a possibly forged Republican talking points memo that spells out Republican strategy regarding the Schiavo case. The unsigned memo called the case a "great political issue, this is a tough issue for Democrats" and thrills that "the pro-life base will be excited." It's a disturbing admission of cold political opportunism on the part of Republicans - that is, if it's true.

I've shied away from mentioning this previously because, frankly, the evidence of forgery put forth by Powerline is unconvincing. I must say, it’s incredibly irresponsible of John Hinderaker to claim that it “looks most likely” that the memo was a “Democratic dirty trick” while the evidence is so inconclusive. Still, it's clear that something fishy is going on here, and it's definitely something to watch.

The Lakers have lost their 7th game in a row. They are now 5.5 games behind the 8th place team (the Nuggets, who they played today) with 14 left. Since, I haven't seriously cared for basketball except for the Lakers in about 10-15 years, that means that I won't pay any attention to the NBA for the rest of the season (barring a miracle Lakers run getting them into the playoffs).

Typically, the time between the Super Bowl and Opening Day are a void for me. Sure, I pay attention to the NCAA Tournament, but I don't really care about it. I start actually looking at NBA games and scores. I look to see who will be in the NHL playoffs. And I glance through Spring Training. Once April hits, though, I am back into sports mode, where baseball season has started, basketball is in the playoffs (although, like I said, only paying attention to the Lakers), and the NHL is in the playoffs. By May, my interest in baseball wanes a little bit as the Lakers have typically gotten deeper and the hockey playoffs become more and more tense. This year, because of the smell the Lakers put off and the NHL's desire to cut its own foot off, however, I will have nothing to seriously sustain my sporting interests except for baseball until August when football-y things start happening again. So, I guess what I am saying is that this is the season for the Angels to start off fantastic (if they repeat last year's first 45 games, we have no problems) so that I don't focus too much hope on a single mediocre team.

Bio:

Name:     Maicer Izturis
Birthday: September 12, 1980 (24 on Opening Day) 
Height:   5'-8"
Weight:   150
Bats:     Switch
Throws:   Right
Position: SS/2B
Acquired: Trade w/WAS (11/19/04)
Drafted:  n/a (Free Agent - Venezuela)
Roster:   40-man
Contract: ???

Stats(complete):

YEAR(L)   G   AB  R  H   2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
----------|---|---|--|---|--|--|--|---|--|--|--|--|----|----|----|--
2003(AA)  54  218 31 61  11 5  1  20  24 23 14 6  .280 .351 .390 741
2003(AAA) 85  301 43 79  16 4  2  29  24 28 14 6  .262 .317 .362 679
2004(AAA) 99  376 65 127 19 2  3  36  57 30 14 12 .338 .428 .423 851
2004(MLB) 32  107 10 22  5  2  1  4   10 20 4  0  .206 .286 .318 604

Hitting:

Effective from both sides of the plate. A slap hitter with anemic power. This guy could play his home games on a little league diamond and still only hit 3-4 homeruns a season. Hit for average in the minors, but don’t expect the same in the show. Shows superior plate discipline and will take walks often. Izturis’ minor league numbers are eerily similar to David Ecksteins’ at this point in his career, which isn’t too surprising considering that the two sport similar body-types and skill sets.

Defense/Baserunning:

Maicer's glovework is often compared unfavorably to his older brother, Dodger’s shortstop Caesar Izturis. And rightly so - he doesn't cover nearly as much ground as Caesar, and his arm isn't quite as good (though is still well above average). Maicer is not a gold glove caliber defender. He is, however, above average at both middle infield positions. He also has blazing speed but has had problems turning it into success on the basebaths. Needs to become a more selective basestealer.

Outlook:

One can no longer classify Izturis as a “prospect” at this point. He'll turn 25 this season (there are rumblings that he may be older than that, as he and Caesar are listed as being born just 7 months apart. Hmmm...), and no one holds out much hope that he's going to take any big leaps forward. In other words, he’ll never be an everyday player on a good team. But what he is, right now, is a pretty darn good utility infielder. He's fully capable of matching David Eckstein's production from a year ago, and at very least, he's a worthy heir to fill the Alfredo Amezega role on the Angels roster for several years, until the club has to pay him a real salary. Projected Line: .260/.350/.390

It's official: DaVanon will get the lion's share of at-bats as DH and will bat second. This almost makes too much sense coming from Mike Scioscia - I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop...

So here's what we know about Scioscia's preferred lineup:

1. Erstad, 1B
2. DaVanon, DH
3. Guerrero, RF
4. Anderson, LF
5. Finley, CF
9. Figgins, 2B

I would expect the empty 6-7-8 holes to be filled by Cabrera, McPherson, and Molina respectively.

I just beat Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords last night. My verdict? Not as good as the first, but pretty dang good. It started out a lot slower (despite starting as a Jedi in this one it took longer to get a lightsaber than the previous one). Some of the good upgrades to the game: influence of the minor characters (can affect their light side/dark sidedness), special abilities for each character (beyond the standard class feats and force powers), new and more upgradeable items, and semi-major changes in the storyline based on the choices you make throughout. The problems: as I said before, it started out slow and the influence of other characters was good, but one thing I enjoyed in the first game was learning everyone's backstory. In this game, if you weren't able to gain influence on a character (either from non-use or poor choices when speaking to them) you never could learn their back story. They were able to bring in several of the playable characters from the first game, some returned as playable characters and some did not. One major difference to the game, though, is that the story was not particularly important but the philosophizing about the Force and the light side and the dark side were very interesting. In the first game, the story was amazing and drew me in immediately. In this game, it was when I realized they were playing with the boundaries of the light and dark sides of the Force to really make you think about why and whether you should make the choices you do.

In other Star Wars news, if you have not seen the new trailer for the upcoming movie, just one word: WOW!

So, after my terrible Saturday, I had a pretty good Sunday. With 6 of my teams playing in the 8 games, I only lost one (UConn). That means I still have 8 teams left, including four Elite 8 teams, three Final 4 teams, and my entire championship game. The games that matter for me tomorrow: Illinois vs UW-Milwaukee (Illinois) and Oklahoma State vs Arizona (Oklahoma St). The games that matter for me on Friday: UNC vs Villanova (UNC) and Kentucky vs Utah (Kentucky).

Today's final Jeopardy answer is (was):

"The names of these two expansion teams begin with the same three letters; one might catch the other."

What are the Mariners and Marlins?
(Highlight above for the answer.)

It's only 10:40 in the AM, and already the Halosphere is in rare form.

Rob:

"This team couldn’t spell OBP if you spotted them all three letters."

Chronicles:

"If Heidi Klum's body were a pitch, it would be K-Rod's slider."

Shutup guys. You're making it harder for the rest of us.

Bio:

Name:     Casey John Kotchman
Birthday: Febuary 22, 1983 (22 on Opening Day) 
Height:   6'-3"
Weight:   210
Bats:     Left
Throws:   Left
Position: 1B
Acquired: Draft
Drafted:  2001, 1st round (13), ANA
Roster:   40-man
Contract: min.

Stats:

YEAR(L)   G   AB   R  H  2B 3B HR RBI BB SO  SB CS AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
----------|---|----|--|--|--|--|--|---|--|---|--|--|----|----|----|--
2002(A)   81  288  42 81 30 1  5  50  48 37  2  1  .281 .390 .444 834
2003(R)   7   27   5  9  1  0  2  6   2  3   0  0  .333 .379 .593 972
2003(A)   57  206  42 72 12 0  8  28  30 16  2  0  .350 .441 .524 965  
2004(AA)  28  114  19 42 11 0  3  18  10 7   0  0  .368 .438 .544 982
2004(AAA) 49  199  32 74 22 0  5  38  14 25  0  0  .372 .423 .558 981 
2004(MLB) 38  116  7  26 6  0  0  15  7  11  3  0  .224 .289 .276 565

Hitting:

Quick, compact, natural swing. Hits for average and controls the strikezone exceptionally well (career BB/K of 1.2). Hasn’t shown much homerun power as of yet, but it’s hard to believe it’s not coming when you look at that stroke. His huge doubles totals at all levels are also a sure sign of developing power. Simply put, Kotchman is one of the top-five hitting prospects in the game today.

Defense/Baserunning:

Hands as soft as freshly churned butter. May not cover a lot of ground laterally, but is a big target at first and can pick low throws with the best of them. There's a gold glove in Kotchman's future. Doesn't look to steal, and is a strictly station-to-station baserunner.

Health:

Health is likely the only thing that could derail Kotchman at this point. He’s never had a fully healthy season. He suffered from a broken wrist and nose in 2001, an injured back in 2002, a torn hamstring in 2003, and another relatively minor hamstring injury in 2004. I for one am not overly worried that Kotchman is “fragile”- several injuries have been freak accidents and not a sign that he is prone to injury. What does worry me is the fact that Kotchman has had problems with his hammys in two consecutive seasons. This could be a recurring condition, and is something to watch.

Outlook:

Unlike many, I’m not quite ready to declare Kotchman ready for the big club. During his major league call-up in 2004, Kotchman adopted a free-swinging attitude that he took back to AAA. He struggled with his plate discipline throughout the rest of the season, posting more strikeouts than walks for the first time in a minor league campaign (something that’s gone largely unnoticed, as he also hit a blistering .372 over that time). He also showed little development in the power department. Now don’t take this to mean that I’m worried about Kotchman’s hitting ability – I still feel that, as long as he’s healthy, he is an absolute lock to hit .300/.380/.520 in the majors with 20+ HR. I would just like to see him put together a complete average/on-base/power season in the minors – something he has yet to do. ETA: He’ll see time this season, and should seize the everyday job sometime in 2006.

Halofan moves to SportsBlogs? Wuzzah?

No offense HF, but you don't exactly fit the mold cast by Blez...

Earlier in the offseason I took some flack for suggesting that Macier Izturis could (and should) be the Halo's everyday shortstop. Turns out that Bill Stoneman and Theo Epstein have a similar opinion of the younger Izturis (via Rob):

The Angels are extremely impressed with shortstop Maicer Izturis, acquired from Washington in the Jose Guillen trade this past offseason. "This guy is an outstanding defensive player at short or second," said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. "I would have no fear playing him every day. He moves the ball around and can hit." The younger (by six months) half brother of Gold Glover Cesar (the Dodgers' shortstop) hit .338 with 57 walks and 30 strikeouts at Triple-A Edmonton. Boston tried to deal for him after the Angels got him from Washington, but GM Bill Stoneman would not budge.

So Stoneman loves the kid. I'm not sure if that validates my point or not...

CBS SportsLine.com has their Angels Spring Training story up. It talks about their lack of patience at the plate (why walk when you can hit?) and Five Things About the Angels.

ESPN just showed an interview with Barry Bonds during the telecast of today's Braves/Mets game. Maybe I just misheard (I was in the other room at the time), but it sounded as though Barry has resigned himself to missing the entire 2005 season. There's no transcript, so there no way to confirm what I think I heard.

UPDATE: Pinto heard the same thing, and he has a transcript.

UPDATE: Now there's a story on ESPN.com.

You have probably heard about the Terri Schiavo issue at some point. This is a complex issue that I think could push our society in one direction or another. First, a summary of what I know (which may not all be correct):

Terri Schiavo got in some sort of accident a number of years ago, which left her more or less a vegetable. She only needs a feeding tube in order to survive, no extended life support equipment, and there is no immediate need for her bedspace. She also left no definite wishes as to whether she should be kept alive or not in this type of situation. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, has long since moved on, to another woman with whom he has two children (but cannot marry at this time). Her husband is currently her sole caretaker, in that he is the one that can decide whether or not to pull the feeding tube. A couple of years ago, he finally decided to do that, and her parents fought him at every turn. Eventually, last Friday the feeding tube was pulled for good, intiating her long starvation to death. Congress has since enacted some legislation or another, specific only to her to temporarily put the feeding tube back in, while the case gets tried again.

My thoughts on this are very convoluted, and part of the purpose here is to get them down to try to understand the situation better. First and foremost, I think in these cases that you must err on the side of life, because once life is ended, you cannot go back and say "Wait, we were wrong" and hope that everything can go back. The next issue at hand is whether or not she should be euthanized, but since she left no living will about the matter, this is the ambiguous part that makes the whole rest of the case matter. This Michael seems like he could be a pretty big sleezeball (not that he moved on, that is fine), but because he is trying to use his husbandly powers (the decision of whether or not Terry should be supported or let die) while not acting as her husband any longer. Using this particular reasoning, it is obvious the parents would become the caretakers and would choose to let her live. This, of course, would be the simple solution.

The next question is, whether the state courts have jurisdiction to make that decision and whether or not Congress has (Constitutionally or otherwise) the ability to override that decision. It is obvious that state courts would have the initial jurisdiction and they chose in favor of the husband. So, the next question is, does Congress have the power to override the state courts? Well, based on the 14th Amendment, they do in certain cases, especially with regards to the rights laid out by the other Amendments. One of these rights is the right to life, which is implied in the Amendments and laid out specifically in the Declaration of Independence. Congresses ultimate jurisdiction is always decided in federal courts anyways (they do over step their bounds and the check is there to hold them back). Of course, that sets a bad precedent (Congress should at least attempt to limit its powers to those enumerated in the Constitution without an external force). Congress did, however, create legislation in an effort to allow for at least one more hearing of the case. Are they overstepping their bounds? Maybe. Should they have done this? It is really hard for me to say, for this one case it seems reasonable...but the consequences of the precedent set could be huge.

For what it is worth in the end, the part that truly bothers me is the method of death. The doctors will remove her feeding tube and let her starve to death over about 2 weeks. This type of treatment is not even humane enough for people sentenced to death after due process of the law...they must be killed instantly. If they are going to let her die, they should try to make it as quick and painless as possible. This whole passive death thing takes the burden off of the doctors and the husband. To me, it is way worse. I probably would ignore this whole flap if it weren't for the slow death that is coming to this mindless woman. Anyways, I hope this helps someone collect their thoughts around some of the many complications facing this issue.

RICHARD ADDS: This story has overwhelmed the Halosphere today - there's a nice discussion happening over at Rob's place as well. I don't have much to add myself, so I’ll just reiterate what I said in Rob’s comments.

I’ve always been against an individual or state deciding to end a human life, whether it be in the form of abortion, euthanasia, or the death penalty. Like you, I feel that in the absence of a living will medicine should err on the side of life rather than take the word of an individual who may not have the patient’s interests at heart. One man's testimony would never be sufficient to condemn a criminal to death, nor should it condemn Terri Schiavo. Of course that's easy to say never having the misfortune of seeing a loved one in a such a sorry state.

So the moral everyone should take out of this story is have everything in order – get yourself a living will. It's a morbid thought, but a wise one.

UPDATE: For those who insist that starvation is humane because Terri "can't feel anything," there is this story about a woman who was being starved in a "Persistent Vegitative State," recovered, and describes her own horrifying experience.

A commenter by the name of Buster points out that CBS Sportsline has the full array of Cactus and Grapefruit league stats, including walks, SLG%, HBP, and SB. Now was that so hard?

Talk about showcasing teams that have gone in opposite directions since the Snow Bowl. Usually they put the previous season's Championship Game combatants on the first weekend (generates extra interest than later in the season when one or both may stink), but the Randy Moss as a Raider buzz must be too strong.

Newsweek has it all wrong. This is how it really happened.

Looks like the Angels may yet field something resembling a major league baseball team on opening day:

• Kelvim Escobar has pronounced himself "100 percent" after his second outing of the Spring:

  Escobar has put behind him concerns regarding the tight right shoulder that held him back earlier in the spring, and his live fastball and good control dispelled any doubts about his physical condition.
  
  "I'm not thinking about that any more," Escobar said. "I feel good; I feel strong. I feel 100 percent. For now, I'm just going to focus on working on my mechanics and commanding my fastball better."

  He's looking good to make his first scheduled start.
  
  
• Run-Producing DMc's (I stole that from someone, but I don't remember who...) back injury is progressing ahead of schedule, and with any luck, he could break camp with the big boys.
  
  
• Bengie Molina started back-to-back games behind the plate over the weekend, even hitting a homerun on Sunday.
  
  
• Garret Anderson is back on the field after missing several games with knee tendinitis.
  
  
• The Times reports that Adam Kennedy may depart for his rehab assignment as early as next month.

Ok, and now for the bad news:

An MRI to Scot Shields' right shin showed a stress reaction, which can grow into a stress fracture if it continues to take a pounding. Previously, the team thought Shields was suffering from shin splints. Manager Mike Scioscia said Shields has been cleared to pitch, but he won't do the running pitchers normally do after and between their outings.

...

"If you keep pushing it, yeah, it can become a serious problem," Angels general manager Bill Stoneman said. "That's why we're having him back off."

Losing Shields for any substantial period of time would be a devastating blow to the Angels. It would mean real innings for guys like Yan and Gregg - something I'm not at all comfortable with.

It's all the rage: Fred has found a new home for his long-winded rants over at Frinklin's place. I've taken the opportunity to make some long-needed changes to the blogroll.

There is a story about the young, great Francisco Rodriguez in the Register. Apparently, he is having an issue with refining his game during spring training:

"How can I work with five-pitch, 10-pitch innings?" he asks.

Poor guy.

So, today was the bane of my bracket's existence. Texas Tech and Washington specifically screwed me out of two Elite 8 spots and one Final 4 spots. In the West Region, I only have one game left that means anything and that is for Louisville vs. Georgia Tech. On the plus side, I predicted that Wake Forest and Boston College would not make it out of the second round, I just chose the wrong team to play them. Arizona also knocked UAB out of the Sweet 16, reducing my number of Sweet 16 teams left to 9 with 6 playing tomorrow.

The over-riding message from this protest in Montreal would appear to be: "Racism no, anti-Semitism yes!" The tolerance is just overwhelming...

LGF has a ton more. The moonbats were in rare form for the second anniversary of hostilities in Iraq.

I would just like to point out that a good friend of this blog, Joe Lederer, has been blogging-up a storm over at Tour Reporter and Chargers Confidential. His massive Chargers season review/preview is an especially good read.

And speaking of football and blogs, MVN has a new Raider blog for all you fans of the Silver and Black.

I lost 5 games today, with New Mexico losing to Villanova (although they made it surprisingly close after being behind by more than 20), Kansas losing to Bucknell (probably destroyed about 80-90% of brackets), Charlotte losing to NC State, Old Dominion losing to Michigan St, and Vermont shocking Syracuse in OT. This makes me 24-8 in the first round, with four Sweet 16 teams out (Alabama, Creighton, New Mexico, and Syracuse) and one Elite 8 team gone (Syracuse). Now for my excuses: I really should have never trusted Kansas (it's Kansas), but I figured they could make it through one round; I had a really good feeling about Old Dominion and they were actually the 12-5 upset I picked instead of UW-Milwaukee (I had decided New Mexico would make an upset no matter what and I try to be careful with how many upsets I pick); I had a good feeling about Vermont and I would have picked them against any other 4 seed on the table (no, seriously, I think the other 4 seeds stink) and I only picked Syracuse because I felt they would make it a long ways. Basically, Richard is beating my pants off right now.

RICHARD ADDS: Kansas' choke-job has effected far more than 80-90 percent of brackets. According to Yahoo's pick distribution, 98.2% of users picked Kansas over Bucknell in the first round. 81.1% had the Jayhawks getting as far as the Sweet Sixteen, and a full 42.7% had them in the Elite Eight. But I prefer to focus on the 1.2% who are reveling in today's Bucknell victory. What in the world would inspire a person to make that pick?

JOSH ADDS: Those are impressive numbers, but there are three types of people that would pick Bucknell: Bucknell alumni, those who really hate and despise Kansas, and those who have no faith in Kansas as a good tournament team (for instance, I did not feel they would make it past the second round anyways...even if they had been a 1 or 2 seed).

Bucknell? Buck-freakin-nell!? Way to piss-off every amateur bracketologist in the nation guys.

Oh, well. My bracket is still in pretty good shape, despite the fact that I just lost one of my elite eight picks. I successfully picked 27 of 32 opening round games, including Vermont's "stunning" upset (yeah, maybe for you guys...) over 'Cuse. That puts me in a tie for first place in my bloggers tournament pool (with Justene Adamec from CalBlog). Am I eligible for some mad props, yo?

Maybe Josh can give you guys an update on where his bracket stands.

Want anymore proof that spring doesn't mean a damn thing?

One of the knocks on using Darin Erstad as a leadoff hitter is that he isn't big on taking walks. But Erstad looks like Mr. Moneyball this spring. He has yet to pick up a base hit, but he has a .533 on-base percentage because he has walked eight times in 15 plate appearances.

"How about that?" Erstad said. "Ask and you shall receive."

Someone might have noticed this phenomenon earlier, had any of the spring training statistics included walks. What is that about?

Out of 16 games today, my teams went 13-3, and I predicted upsets of UAB over LSU and Nevada over Texas (is 9 over 8 really an upset?). Unfortunately I also lost two of my Sweet 16 teams (Alabama, which lost to UW-Milwaukee, and Creighton, which lost to West Virginia). I am upset about both of these, the first one because I was VERY VERY tempted to pick UW-Milwaukee, but did not quite feel it (sometimes you have to go against the popular pick for an upset) and the second because Creighton collapsed in the last 20 seconds. They had the ball, tie game, 18 seconds left, 12 seconds on the shot clock and could not move the ball forward or even set up for a reasonable shot. Their star (Nate Funk) airmailed it, which a West Virginia player caught and tossed it down to one of two players on a fast break (a two-on-one). They dunked it with 3 seconds left and that was it. I guess all of the upsets I picked are in tomorrow's games. For comparisons sake, Richard is only down Texas, Alabama, and UCLA, one of which he had in the Sweet 16. I would have linked to my listed bracket, but the link is not working for whatever reason. Just go to my old blog and scroll down a bit if you actually care.

Going into spring there was really only one roster spot up for grabs - that of a versatile reliever to fill out the bullpen. Matt Hensley figured to be that guy, but now that he's out indefinitely, the Angels' are faced with a rather difficult decision.

Here are the guys the Angels are considering for that spot, with their spring numbers:

            IP  ERA  H  R  ER HR BB SO
Bootcheck   7.0 0.00 6  0  0  0  0  2
Moseley     6.2 0.00 4  0  0  0  0  5
Peralta     6.0 9.00 12 6  6  1  2  6
Woods       6.0 0.00 3  0  0  0  2  7
Cyr*        4.2 1.93 6  1  1  0  0  4
Bergman*    4.0 6.75 8  7  3  0  4  3

All of them are pretty good choices, so you really can't go wrong. If I had to make the choice it would be Dustin Moseley, but that's mostly just to satisfy my curiosity concerning the Angels newest toy. Bootcheck is more likely to get the call however, and Bergman is probably second in the Angels' sights, both having appeared for the big club last season.

I'd say the dark horse candidate is Eric Cyr (because I think he's very cut), but he's already been reassigned to the minor league camp. Cyr would seem to fit the Angels needs to tee - he's a left-handed swingman with a little Major League experience, at least in comparison with the others on this list, and it's entirely possible that he has the best stuff.

UPDATE: The Times seems to think Jake Woods has the inside track. I’m sorry, but the Angels are going to need a bit more than 7 good spring innings before they declare someone like Woods – who had a miserable 2004 season in AAA – ready for the show. I understand none of these guys are proven commodities, but they're going to at least pick someone who has a pedigree in the minors.

Also: I forgot about Scott Dunn. He’d also be a front runner, though his rough spring can’t be helping his chances.

UPDATE: Mark Saxon is singing the same tune in the Register. Strange that in both these articles the writers proclaim Woods the frontrunner, then support that with a less than enthusiastic quote from the manager.

If you thought a new group format would change the content on this blog, you were sadly mistaken. In fact, I'm returning to what is perhaps my favorite meme - the familiar "Barbara Boxer is an idiot" post. (This would be the "spoonfed conservative agenda" Josh was referring to in the preceding post.)

The Democrats continued their excruciating slide into irrelevance yesterday with a small rally on the Capital steps on the subject of judicial appointments. Harry Reid reaffirmed his position that obstruction is the same as opposition before handing the mic to a litany of Democratic Senate leaders. One of those leaders (heh-heh) was the ever-informative Mrs. Barbara Boxer (Idiot, CA):

Why would we give lifetime appointments to people who earn up to $200,000 a year, with absolutely a great retirement system, and all the things all Americans wish for, with absolutely no check and balance except that one confirmation vote.

...and impeachment power, and the power to initiate constitutional amendments, and pardon power... you know what Babs? It's all right here in the US Constitution. It's a hell of a read. I suggest you pick up a copy...

So we're saying we think you ought to get nine votes over the 51 required. That isn't too much to ask for such a super important position.

Why yes, yes it is. You see, this "Constitution" thing (I'm sorry to keep harping on it, but it is rather important) states that "with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, [the President] shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law". Now, I realize that's a bit above your reading level, but "advice and consent" has always meant a simple majority (100 / 2 = 50 + 1 = 51!). I suppose you could use that new-fangled amendment power if you really felt like having it your way. Oh that's right - according to you no such check and balance exists. Well, then I guess you're screwed...

There ought to be a super vote. Don't you think so?

And I'm sure you'd be calling for this "super vote" if it were the Democratic Party that held a clear majority of Senate seats...

It's the only check and balance on these people. They're in for life. They don't stand for election like we do, which is scary.

Well, that's obviously the answer. Elections! It's a surefire way to keep the Judiciary running smoothly. Get on it Democrats! You've got to stand for something, right?

Peggy Noonan at Opinion Journal has the transcript of Ashley Smith's testimony about what happened in Atlanta and how they were able to catch the guy that killed a judge and I think it was three other people last weekend. Ashley Smith is a truly inspiring person.

So,Richard and I are joining forces to make Pearly Gates the Angels blog to spend your weekend at (Disclaimer: This statement only true insofar as we have a chance to post on the weekend and people actually are interested in spending their precious weekend hours reading a blog about the only sports team currently in a fight with its city about its name). This means a couple of things: 1) The Acerbic Alchemist will be updated less, possibly even eliminated (I haven't decided, and it may still be appropriate to post some things there) 2) The Pearly Gates will be updated more often, hopefully...but now with two voices...although there are very few instances where they actually disagree over anything 3) You don't have to click on as many links to get your Angels information (or spoonfed conservative agenda or whatever else we post) 4) I will now be blogging on a more fine-tuned template and will have more readers a day than 20 (these things make me happy) and 5) I will now be posting with my real name, which makes some sense since Richard posts with his).

Enough about blogging, now about me (if you haven't found out via The Acerbic Alchemist this will be new to you). I lived in Orange County (Fullerton, Yorba Linda, and Irvine) up until recently. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Chemistry from UC Irvine in 2003, which preceded a move to the University of Wisconsin-Madison for graduate school...my first extended stay (more than 2 days) east of the Rockies. As a side note, it is cold here for a long time...for example, it is snowing tonight, while people like Richard can actually BBQ. You can reach at Darth Ecks on AIM or e-mail me at darthecks@hotmail.com.

By now everyone knows about the House Government Reform Committee’s hearings on steroids in baseball, to be held tomorrow. The story is literally everywhere – print media, cable news, talk radio (both the news and sports variety) and the internet.

That's why I am in fucking awe of Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), the committee chairman. While this bastard may be the epitome of the modern publicity-whoring politico, I can't help but be impressed with the man’s political senses. Chew on this – his utterly pointless political circus will be televised live, not just on CSPAN, but on ESPN! This man has managed to get face time on several million television sets for something that, under normal circumstances, you couldn’t pay the average sports fan to watch. While Mr. Davis' actions and intentions are worthy of our contempt, you cannot deny his political abilities.

I bow you, good sir. Now go fuck yourself.

The Halos are playing the ChiSox, right now, on ESPN2. In fact, Vladdy just went oppo. But you missed it, because you're reading this. Way to go, idiot.

My bracket:


Disclamer: I know jack shit about college basketball. My picks are based a) overheard conversations and b) uniform preference. I figure that gives me as good a chance as anybody. If you want actual college baskeball analysis, go here.

UPDATE: Fine, I guess you IEers can see it too. But had you been using Firefox like you should have, this never would have been a problem.

Others: Frinklin... such a homer...
Alchemist isn't so nifty...

I was pretty well shut-off from the sports world over my little hiatus, so I'm going to need some time to get caught up with all the Angels news. In the meantime, here's some stuff I would have blogged about had I been blogging.

• Baseball Crank has his Established Win Shares Levels report on the AL West up (and here's an explination of EWSL). The Angels easily come out on top with 83 wins, ahead of the A's at 79, M's at 71 and 'Gers at 68.
  
  I don't have the slightest clue how much stock you should put in his projections, because EWSL had big problems last year. Namely, it vastly overvalued experienced (read: old) players, while there existed no way to accurately project the younger players and rookies (hence the projection that the Mariners would win the AL West with 92 wins in 2004). Crank has fixed the first part by weighting by age, but the second still seems to be a problem, as evidenced by the complete lack of love for the Rangers.
  
  
• Ben Jacobs has continued his rankings of the best offseasons in baseball, in which he pegs Bill Stoneman and the Angels at tenth. Anyone who reads this blog knows that I don't agree with that assessment, so there's no reason for me to get into it. But the strange thing is, Jacobs agrees with me. He starts his comments on the Angels by saying this:

  "The Angels are somewhat like the Yankees, in that they spent a good chunk of money, but didn't really get much better in the big picture for this season, and certainly didn't go a good job of getting better in the long term."

  He then goes on with 600 words summarizing the Angels wheelings-and-dealings - very few of them complementary. So why does he rank the Angels tenth, ahead of such clubs as the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants? Because he "[doesn't] see great improvement for either of the teams that were close to them in the standings last year, so they're still the favorites to win the division." While this may be true (and I hope it is), it doesn't mean the Angels didn't have a disastrous offseason on their own merits. That's the kind of flawed logic I expect to see from ESPN.com, not The Hardball Times.
  
  
• The only sporting event I did see during the past week was the US MNT beat-down of Venezuela (correction: it was Columbia. In my defense, the two flags are virtually identical, and the flags are my most vivid memory of the night) on Wednesday. I saw it live and in-person over at Titan Stadium. The atmosphere at US soccer matches has improved greatly since the 2002 World Cup - an improvement seen mirrored in the squad itself. The Sam’s Army contingent is larger than ever and growing with each match. Gone are the days when American fans would find themselves out-numbered in their own backyard. We’ve even got real chants going these days! It’s an incredible experience and I challenge anyone who attends one of these games not to immediately fall in love with the sport.

...grilling season has begun.


Regular blogging shall recommence tomorrow.

Angels 17, Athletics 4. Yowza.

Did anyone out there happen to catch this one? I'd love to know what Bartolo's velocity looked like.

An excellent piece on California's crippling welfare state in the San Francisco Chronicle, of all places:

It's a common media device to utilize the image of the voiceless poor. But in Sacramento, it's nonsense.

To the contrary, social-welfare advocates enjoy the most powerful lobby of all -- public unions that push chronic growth in social welfare. Such growth means more programs, government hiring and bigger union fiefdoms.

The fact that the public doesn't know this, and that some media don't explain it, is a bit scary. Joel Kotkin, senior fellow with Pepperdine University's Institute for Public Policy, recently studied inept economic decisions made by California politicians. Kotkin told me: "The exception is if the California Legislature says 'no' to welfare-expansion demands. Unions and welfare groups are linked at the hip, and the idiots in the Legislature throw money at them, not grasping whether it helps or hurts."

Good luck Arnie...

DMac sits out

Back spasms have caused Dallas McPherson to miss the past two days of spring training, but he doesn't think it's any cause for concern. You see, he can dress himself:

"I couldn't walk or put my clothes on [after suffering a ruptured disk during the 2003 season], so I'm way ahead of the game right now," McPherson said. "I'm fine compared to that."

Good to know.

Let the back-biting begin!

The Angels and Scott Boras have begun trading barbs in the aftermath of the failed Weaver negotiations:

Weaver's agent, Scott Boras, has said the Angels had ulterior motives for drafting Weaver last June and that they scouted him lightly before the draft.

...

"We invited Jered, his family, all the coaches from Long Beach State and Boras to attend a game in Mr. (Arte) Moreno's box," [Angels scouting director Eddie] Bane said. "Jered was all excited, but he called back a half-hour later and said he wasn't coming. I think you know where that came from."

I can't imagine what kind of "ulterior motive" the Angels could have had to burn a first-round draft pick. Some have suggested that Arte wanted to get in Bud Selig's good graces by showing that he's willing to toe the league's line on draft bonuses, but if that is the case, how does one explain the substantial bonus given to 17th-round pick Nick Adenhart?

And as for Bane's complaint about not being allowed to negotiate face-to-face with Weaver himself: well duh. He hired the biggest shark in the industry for precisely this reason. The Angels plan to go behind the back of Weaver's representation is just another example of the club refusing to negotiate in good faith.

More productive outs

The annual cavalcade of "Darin Erstad doesn't suck! Sabermetrics suck!" articles continues, this time in the pages of the OC Register.

Bullpen implodes again, Angels lose

There would seem to be one open spot on the Angels 25-man roster, that of a versatile reliever in the bullpen. The only question is, who wants it? Apparently not Matt Hensley or Joel Peralta.

That Russian winter can drive a man to do crazy - some might say superhuman - things (via Vodkapundit):

Yuri F. Kravchenko was found dead today in a cottage near the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Officials ruled it a suicide. Kravchenko supposedly had information regarding the 2000 death of a prominent journalist that could have been potentially devastating to former Ukraine president Leonid Kuchma. Kravchenko served as the Ukraine’s “interior minister", and ordered his agents to trail journalist Georgy Gongadze. Kravchenko was set to talk to prosecutors today about his involvement with Gongadze’s death.

Kravchenko reportedly shot himself in the head. Twice.

I bet.

That John Sickels is everywhere now that he's free from ESPN. He's got his own blog, was recently a guest blogger over at Baseball Analysts, and now he's got a column on Dallas McPherson up over at Future Angels. He's a writer possessed, I tell you!

UPDATE: It sounds like Sickels will be a regular contributor to Future Angels. How cool is that?

Rob says Kendry Morales has solved his visa issues and should arrive in camp shortly. It's probably too late for him to make any kind of impact, though.

Alan Greenspan, partisan hack?

Just another strange comment from Harry Reid.

I may have just seen the most vicious attack ad in the history of politics, courtesy of LA Mayor Jim Hahn (and the LA media that pollutes Orange County). In it, he attempts to paint two of his opponents as conspirators in the Enron/deregulation debacle, and even goes as far as claiming that they secured the release of a convicted crack dealer! This after he accused the pair of negative advertising! I was literally shocked speechless after seeing it. To tell you the truth, I’m more impressed than disgusted. Impressed that a politician would so readily stoop to such a subterranean level (I guess it gets easier when you don’t have soul). Really - it was amazing, and I think anyone who saw it would agree.

Of course Mr. Hahn - who's running as a brave leader willing to make unpopular decisions for the good of the city – couldn’t muster up the bravery to appear in his own attack ad. And good luck finding it on his campaign website – it’s conveniently absent from the “TV Ads” section.

Thanks to Rob, we've got this Press Enterprise story which adds a few more pieces to the payroll puzzle.

BOT 1st: I'm coming in a little late, so I'm not sure what the lineups look like. Whoever's batting for the Giants, they got to John Lackey in the top of the inning to the tune of three runs. SF 3, ANA 0

TOP 2nd: Lackey is gone after one inning, replaced by Jake Woods... I've managed to piece together the Angels lineup:

1. Erstad (1B)
2. Figgins (2B)
3. Guerrero (RF)
4. Anderson (LF)
5. Finley (CF)
6. Cabrera (DH)
7. B. Molina (C)
8. McPherson (3B)
9. Izturis (SS)

BOT 2nd: Anderson doubles, reaches third on a throwing error, and comes across on a Bengie Molina ground out. SF 3, ANA 1

BOT 3rd: Woods set the Giants down 1-2-3 in the top of the inning, and Benitez comes into the game for San Francisco... Darin Erstad comes to the plate. Speaking of the Punter, Chronicles has details on Erstad's obsession with "productive outs" in an LA Times article that is eerily similar to this one from last May... ERSTAD DRAWS A WALK! He's dissaponted he wasn't able to make one of those productive outs, no doubt... Never too early to start defending that MVP - Vlad knocks a two-run double to tie up the game... Finley drives in Vlad with another double. SF 3, ANA 4

TOP 4th: Shields in for Woods, who was quite impressive. He could be making a play for that last spot in the bullpen, and being a lefty, he's got a very real shot at it.

BOT 4th: Through 3 1/2 innings, and I've gone through an entire box of Tagalongs. Damn you Girl Scouts... Quinlan in for Erstad. Why not Kotchman? You're guess is as good as mine... DaVanon walks with the bases loaded to drive in a run. Hennessy is really strugling to find the plate... Pinch-hitter Casey Kotchman drives in a pair with a solid single... That's it for Hennessy, lifted for Armoando Almanza (whoever that is). SF 3, ANA 7

TOP 5th: Wholesale changes for the Angels:

1. Quinlan (3B)
2. DaVanon (CF)
3. Kotchman (1B)
4. Merloni (2B)
5. Mathis (C)
6. Cabrera (DH)
7. Pride (LF)
8. Prieto (RF)
9. Izturis (SS)

And Yan in on the mound.

BOT 5th: Rory Markas has just now noticed the Stoneman/Expo connection on the Angels. The Angels now have four players from the Stoneman era Expos - Guerrero, Cabrera, Pride, and Yan. Plus Colon, Izturis and Rivera, who are also Ex-pos (though not during Stoneman's time with the club). I must say, being the dumping ground for one of the worst organizations in baseball is not the greatest feeling in the world.

TOP 6th: Tagalong ice cream? Oh Girl Scouts, you are pure evil... Steven Shell into the game for the Angels. He's probably the single most intriguing player in camp, IMO. I can't wait to see him in person.

TOP 7th: Mendes (?) knocks a two-run shot off Shell to make this a game... Shell recovers nicely and gets the next three. SF 5, ANA 7

BOT 7th: The Giants now have (Fred) Lewis and (Doug) Clark in the outfield. Cute.... Pride hits triple, and Nick Gorneault follows up with an infield single. SF 5, ANA 8

TOP 8th: Mark Watson is in to pitch for the Angels. He came over as a free agent from the Reds, having been with the Brewers, Indians, Mariners, Rockies and Cubs organizations as well. His Baseball Cube page. See also: LOOGY... Watson promptly loads the bases with no outs... The Giants score one on a sac fly... another run scores on a wild pitch. I gotta say, Watson isn't making much of a case for himself... Watson out, Joel Peralta in... He gets the final out, preserves the one run lead. SF 7, ANA 8

JERED WEAVER NEWS: Markas is saying that Mike Scioscia is resigned to not having Jered Weaver, saying "It just didn't get done." He also claims the Angels have taken there offer off the table completely, which seems like an awfully stupid decision.

BOT 8th: Former Angels Al Levine is in for the Giants. I've always felt that Levine was the most under-appreciated member of those late-90's Angels clubs... He makes my point by setting the Angels down 1-2-3.

TOP 9th: Peralta still in, trying to get the save... Strikes out Lewis for the first out... Broken-bat groundout back to the pitcher for the second out... After a walk and a bloop single, the Giants have runners on first and third with two outs... A hard single drives in the tying run. Damn... Another run will cross the plate before the third out is recorded on a rundown. The Giants take a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth. SF 9, ANA 8

BOT 9th: Angels go down with a whimper. FINAL SCORE: SF 9, ANA 8

A less than auspicious start to the 2005 season...

Selective outrage from the Kossacks.

UPDATE: Wait - I think I understand this one. As any good foaming at the mouth leftist knows, the Holocaust was nothing more than a Zionist plot, so comparing someone to Hitler isn't that big of a deal. Certainly nothing to resign over. Keep on truckin' Mr. Byrd, you Klan-loving douchebag!

It looks like we may have passed the point of no return in the Weaver negotiations. The Times is reporting that the club's "final offer" was rejected by Weaver's representatives, and the Register is going as far as to say that the Angels have "abandoned talks... amid angry words with Scott Boras."

More from the Times story:

The Angels decided to play hardball with pitcher Jered Weaver, giving the first-round pick until midnight Wednesday to accept a $4-million signing bonus before pulling it off the table, but the representative for the former Long Beach State ace hardly blinked in turning it down.

Agent Scott Boras remained open to the possibility of Weaver's being signed before June 7, the day the right-hander would re-enter the draft and the Angels would lose his rights. According to a source, any subsequent Angel offer would be lower than the one on the table.

That leaves the sides millions apart, the chances for an agreement remote, and the Angels in jeopardy of losing their first-round pick from June's draft.

There can be no regret over taking the best player on the draft board - it's what they had to do. We knew from the start that there was a chance the Angels would never get Weaver under contract. Still, I can't help but be disappointed in the way this sordid affair has worked itself out. It never seemed as though management was interested in having serious negotiations. Granted, Boras' asking price is steep (even now, after he dropped it to $8m over four years), but the Angels have insisted on low-balling him throughout.

As Rich Lederer has said repeatedly, there was (is) a middle ground here. We’ve seen the Boras camp make a modest attempt to find it, but nothing from the Angels. They look like the bad guys here.

As Karl Rove has said many times, the Republican party has a very real chance to solidify their hold on power for the next decade with a conservative/libertarian coalition. Yet some in the party insist on pissing all over the fragile peace between the two factions: "Senator: Decency Rules Should Apply to Pay TV, Radio". For the love of God, would someone please shut Ted Stevens up!?

Nats vs. Mets - right now on ESPN!

The Angels have reached agreements with their last remaining renewable players - Francisco Rodriguez, Dustin Moseley and Wil Nieves on Monday, and Brendan Donnelly, Chone Figgins, Kevin Gregg, John Lackey, and Juan Rivera on Tuesday. The club won't release any numbers, but acording to this Valley Tribune article Rob picked up, Frankie's deal is worth $440,000 (now added to the payroll estimates).

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has come out against Malcolm Glazer's bid to buy English soccer superpower Manchester United. (Glazer, the American owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has made two previous bids for the club - both rejected by the club's board of directors.):

"I support their fight against Mr Glazer. This is only FIFA's philosophy because we cannot intervene, we are powerless in the commercial forces of the market," he said.

"We can do nothing but we have to make sure that a club is not only an industry. We have to protect the club ethic because football is a game for everybody."

A game for everybody except Americans, that is. I could feel for the ManU fans (who have been very vocal in their opposition to Glazer) if their complaints were something more than thinly-veiled anti-Americanism. The idea that Glazer - who comes in at 514 on the Forbes list - doesn't have enough money to run a club with a $322.4 million operating income is simply ludicrous.

UPDATE: By the way - Glazer's latest bid is in the neighborhood of $1.49 billion (and the club is valued at twice that). For comparison’s sake, the Yankees are valued at a paltry $832 million.