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Saturday, October 29, 2005

Season Review

Pearly Gates presents: two idiots talking about baseball!
RICHARD: Naturally, we'll start at the end. 95 wins, a second-consecutive division title, a playoff victory over the Yanks, and ultimately a difficult to swallow loss to the White Sox in the LCS. I know Angel fans' expectations differed wildly entering the season. In your estimation, was the 2005 season a success?

JOSH: It certainly was a success. I predicted that at the beginning of the year, the team would win around 90 games and win the division, but lose in the ALDS. I thought they would be the 4th best team in the league, when they turned out to be second best. Not only that, but if Eddings isn't a douchebag, the whole ALCS is different. Very good season.

R: Agreed. They certainly beat my expectations (granted, those expectations weren't nearly as lofty as yours), and so I'm happy to admit that I was wrong about this club. I still don't think the 2005 Angels were as good as they could have been or should have been, but it's hard to be unhappy with the final result.

J: Ok, so we are agreed, the Angels played above expectations. Do you think that another manager could have coaxed more wins out of this squad, or do you think Scioscia did as well as could be done?

R: Some of his pre-game decisions were pretty inexplicable, especially in the playoffs (Steve Finley?), but I can't find much to complain about. His teams are always active on the basepaths, but they're always pretty good at it (74% SB%). He has a reputation for "small ball" and giving up outs, but the team was actually fourth in the AL in sacrifices. And I never did get all the criticism over his handling of the bullpen (where was he to turn when Shields, Frankie and Donnelly were all struggling?). Hell, even the contact play gets a bad rap according to Chronicles' count.

Could someone have done it better? No doubt. But I don't think Scioscia was a detriment to this club.

J: I actually feel that Scioscia did about his worst job this year. His major mistake had to be in never giving up on Finley. Also, (and this is purely in hindsight), I don't think he handled the Eddings situation quite right...if there was ever a moment for Scioscia to go Lou Piniella, call out the umpires, etc. that was the time. Instead he chose to go "mellow" and call out his team and they didn't respond. Of course, it is hard to argue against 95 wins and being 3 games from the World Series, and I do not think any other manager could get better results. He was able to artfully get Escobar into the bullpen for the stretch run, where he would most help the team. I don't know if it took any arm twisting for Escobar to be so willing, but it is a credit to Scioscia that that went off without a hitch.

Oh, and I think that the Chronicler stated he stopped counting the contact play at some point.

R: I don't think playing the victim in the Eddings fiasco would have changed anything (not that we weren't the victim...). I rather liked the way Mike handled the situation. I know I didn't take it nearly so well.

And speaking of the Devil, how important was the "Eddings effect" to the end of the Angels season? Would things have been different? Some folks think the Angels died with that call.

J: Well, the Angels certainly weren't alive after the call, so it did not help. As I said before, it is purely in hindsight that I don't think it was handled well...at the time I wanted Scioscia to do more, but I felt what he was doing was what was needed to keep the team's head in the game. Now, I don't think the Angels would have been a lock if the call never happened, but they would have had about a 40% chance to win that game. If that had happened, the Chisox would not have been dead, but they would have been reeling badly. Of course, it is doubtful that the Angel offense would have been improved (of course, it could hardly get worse), but I don't think the team would have looked so dead.

R: I've said my peace on the subject. Now I'd be happy to not hear or think of Doug Eddings for the next five months.

J: Agreed, enough about Eddings. Moving on to the regular season in general, what did you find most surprising about this team?

R: Hmmm... that's a hard one. There weren't a whole lot of "surprises" in how this team played. The inconsistency from the bullpen was shocking, I suppose. The big three all had fine numbers over the season; we just couldn't get them all to show up in the same week.

As for surprising players, it's got to be Ervin Santana. Not that he was phenomenal, but considering that the guy practically skipped AAA to be thrust into the rotation of a contender, throwing the most innings of his life, he preformed about as well as could have been hoped. He's really the anti-Ramon Ortiz, when you think about it.

J: Santana would certainly be up there for me, not so much for his performance, but for his composure. He consistently shut down the good teams and didn't let anything unnerve him.

My biggest surprise was really how hot and cold Vlad was all year. Normally he does this, but each stretch lasts about 1-2 weeks at a time. This year, he would be scorching for a month and then be completely extinguished the next. And up until mid-September (when he presumably jammed his shoulder), he always seemed to have the ability to step up in big moments (his grand slam against the Yankees, scoring from 2nd on a sac bunt in the 12th inning of a game), and I was genuinely surprised when he did not do that in the playoffs.

R: Like I said, Santana is the "anti-Ramon Ortiz". And good point about Vlad. His OPS from month-to-month (including the playoffs) went like-a-so: .996, .697, 1.273, .640, 1.047, 1.060, .481. A portrait of inconsistency.

Let's talk about the best moments of the season (more than a couple of which were provided by Vlad). When you look back on 2005, what image pops out at you? (And if you say Doug Eddings, I will kill you.)

J: Probably Santana coming in for Colon in Game 5 of the ALDS. Colon deserves some kudos for doing what he could to start the game, but it was too much. Suddenly, Santana walks in, struggles at first, but ends up shutting down the Yankees long enough to get it to the bullpen. He should be in playoff folklore for his performance (unfortunately, it will probably be forgotten by most people).

As far as the regular season goes, I have to say Erstad railroading Estrada. It wasn't that Erstad plays with a particular "football mentality" as the media was saying, but that he knew that that was the only way to score the run. No matter his ability at the plate, this play exemplified Erstad's will to win.

R: Forget about the image of Erstad's hit - I can feel the damn thing. As for me, I'd have to go with Vlad scoring from second on a Bengie Molina sacrifice. Simultaneously the dumbest and most incredible play of the season. But that's Vlad for you.

J: Those plays certainly give credibility to the idea that plays at the plate are the most exciting things in baseball. What do you think was the most predictable thing (player, group of players, play, etc.) about this team?

R: Steve Finley. Hated the signing the moment it happened, and time has proven me correct.

J: I'll agree with you there. He was unpredictably bad (in the sense that he was much worse than I think even the worst prediction), but after about May, every at bat was basically predictable. Ground out, pop out, strike out, or foul out. Every time.

R: Yep, Steve Finley may have been the biggest "disappointment" - if you want to call it that - in all of baseball. So which non-Steve Finley Angel was the most disappointing in 2005?

J: I think I have to go with Dallas McPherson. When he played, he was that extra power threat, and it was obvious he was starting to get a handle on big league pitching. His bat in the lineup everyday would have essentially replaced Finley's (I like to think, anyway). And now, because of his injuries, next season is essentially do or die for him...meaning he doesn't get a chance to figure things out at his own pace (which he would have been able to do this year).

R: Once again, we're in agreement. He may have been one of the club's few power threats, but the sub-.300 OBP and the injuries made for a disappointing season.

J: So, Finley and McPherson (the two guys that were supposed to add power to the lineup) were the biggest disappointments. How about the MVP?

R: Do you have to ask? It could only be one person...

J: Actually, I do...I can see a number of people being considered MVP. Without Vlad, obviously there is no offense whatsoever, but the last couple of weeks of the regular season were played essentially without him and they averaged 5 runs a game (season average = 4.7). Without Figgins, the team is unable to weather the terrible performances and injuries of people like Finley, McPherson, and AK. Without Lackey turning a corner in late April, the team is hurting severely at starting pitcher. Without Byrd, the team still has someone like Ramon Ortiz or Aaron Sele as the 5th starter, which certainly can't be good. And without Santana, the team is dead in the water in August and September. This doesn't even mention Colon, Washburn, AK, and Bengie, who all put up great performances at key moments. Vlad was just too inconsistent this year for me to call him the MVP; I have to go with the versatile and fast Chone Figgins. Very few players can be plugged into 6 positions and play defense at each adequately (much less above average at most), but he was able to do it and still remained one of the most feared base runners in the league.

R: Finally, something we don't agree on.

In my mind, the inconsistency argument just doesn't fly if you're going to turn around and talk about a bunch of guys who produced at "key moments." Even with the injuries and the frustrating inconsistency, Vlad still lead this club in every offensive rate-stat: AVG, OBP, SLG, and RC/27. His 27 win shares finished sixth in the league, not to mention tops on the Halos. Not only did he lead the club in homeruns, but he hit nearly twice as many as the runner-up (32 vs. Anderson's 17). He also lead the club in total bases and RBI, and had he not missed nearly a month to injury, he would have lead in every statistic short of runs scored.

Put simply, he was the Angels best hitter, and by no small margin. His was the only bat opponents had any reason to fear. Without him, the Angels finish dead last. Chone Figgin's defensive contribution can't nearly make up for that.

OK Josh, I think we're just about done here. You want to wrap this puppy up?

J: The Angels had a successful season. They beat my expectations and were able to make the ALCS. The team was able to overcome offensive and bullpen inconsistencies and was able to ride the starting pitching to a division crown. It is difficult to complain about a season that ends that way. However, there are some complaints: most of them involve Steve Finley and several of the others involve the ALCS umpiring crew. Every regular on the team showed flashes of brilliance (even Esteban Yan) and were able to generate excitement over a whole season. Some of my favorite plays ever happened this year (Vlad's jaunt from 2nd on a sacrifice bunt and Erstad railroading Estrada, to name two), but some of the most painful plays I have seen also happened this year (Frankie's tantrum and Orlando Cabrera "not" tagging up in a Red Sox game, for instance). This was a good team, with some gaping holes in the lineup and bullpen that killed the team at times, that had good results.

R: I don't have anything to add to that, so I'll just let the people know that we have a similar Season Preview on the way at some point (hopefully before the 2006 season kicks off). Watch for it.

Thursday, October 27, 2005

You heard it here second!

Because I said it here first. Thomas Sowell should be nominated for the open again Supreme Court position. There is no one I know of (I don't know enough about any of the major players for the position to say anything about them) that would perform better (ie follow the Constitution) than he would. He is an economist who is currently at the Hoover Institute (a think tank) in Stanford. He has an enormous paper trail that includes hundreds of articles, most of which are opinion articles freely available (so the general public could quickly and easily gain a sense of who he is, rather than let the media do the dirty work). He also has written against judicial activism, which should indicate he would definitely not be an activist judge. He knows the difference between beliefs and law. Probably the only downsides if he is nominated are that he has never been a judge or a lawyer (an unfortunate pseudo-requirement that politicians use for appointing judges) and that he is 70.

Irresponsible rumormongering

An outfielder on an American League playoff team has tested positive for steroids. His name is being withheld pending appeal. And according to Will Carroll, it's "a name we're actually going to care about."

Thank God it's not Jeff DaVanon...

(H/T 6-4-2)

Baseball Playoffs

About 90% of the non-Angel baseball I watched in the playoffs was the important stuff: roughly 20 innings (14 of which were extra innings) over 4 games where there were 4 lead changes and several ties. A list:
  • I watched Game 4 of the ALDS between Houston and Atlanta from the 8th inning on. This was where Houston was down 6-1, and Lance Berkman hit a grand slam in the 8th and Brad Ausmus hit a solo home run in the 9th (with 2 outs) to tie it. The game then continued to the 18th, after Roger Clemens had entered as a pinch hitter, when Chris Burke hit a solo shot to win the game.
  • The next non-Angels game I saw anything of was Game 5 of the NLCS, and I came in with St. Louis up in the 9th inning, 2 on, 2 out, Albert Pujols batting and St. Louis down 4-2 in the game and 3-1 in the series. And the next thing I saw was a ball launched so far, it may have left Houston.
  • The next thing I saw was Game 2 of the World Series, 7th inning with Houston up 4-2. I watched the bases get juiced (with Dye reaching on a full count "hit by pitch") and two outs. Then I watched Konerko increase his asking price as a free agent, putting his team up 6-4. I also saw the Astros catch up in the 9th inning and Scott Podsednik end it with a solo shot in the bottom of the inning.
  • Finally, I watched Game 3 of the World Series from the 5th inning on, where I came in with the score 4-2 Astros and Dye up with 2 on. The Sox scored 3 more that inning to take the lead. Then I saw the Astros tie it up in the 8th and the Sox win it in the 14th.

DMac to move to outfield?

The impending arrival of Brandon Wood could set in motion some strange moves, including Dallas McPherson in the outfield, according to BP's Joe Sheehan (ht: Joe):
Mikey (Canada): How are the Angels going to work Brandon Wood into their lineup when they already have Cabrera and MacPherson on the left side of the infield?

Joe Sheehan: We were just talking about Wood on the internal BP list yesterday. He will probably end up sliding to third base in the next couple of years. McPherson will end up in an outfield corner, although with his star on the decline, he'll need to hit to stay there.
That makes more sense than moving Wood to center, as some have been calling for. Also, the swipe at McPherson is a bit premature, I would think. The guy has less than 250 ABs in majors - it's far to early to start with the "bust" talk.

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Mediocrity Reigns: White Sox 2005 Champions

Nothing against the White Sox - just consider this a preemptive strike against all the BTF'ers who will make snide comparisons to the 2002 Angels in the coming weeks (a battle I'm tired of fighting): 
            PYTH   RANK*
2005  CHS  91-71    4th
2004  BOS  96-99    1st
2003  FLA  87-75    6th
2002  ANA  101-61   1st
2001  ARI  95-67    1st
2000  NYY  85-76    6th
1999  NYY  96-66    1st
1998  NYY  108-54   1st
1997  FLA  88-74    4th
1996  NYY  88-74    4th
1995  ATL  84-60    1st
*Rank by league.
One question: does Jerry Reinsdorf cough up the cash for Doug Eddings' ring?

Sunday, October 23, 2005

*tumbleweed*

We're working on something big, and it should be done sometime next week. I think you'll dig it.

And I'm also going to kick-off another round of scouting reports for the 2006 season, so we're keeping busy.

Thursday, October 20, 2005

Manny being Manny again

Peter Gammons reports that Manny Ramirez wants to be traded. I know, big shock. He definitely does not want to go to the Mets, but is apparently interested in Anaheim and Cleveland, and maybe Arizona or Texas, as well. The Red Sox apparently would want a young corner outfielder, a center fielder and some pitching (pretty steep price, if you ask me). Well, the Angels do have the pieces with Juan Rivera (young corner outfielder), Steve Finley (center fielder), and any one of a number of pitching prospects (Steve Shell, Joe Saunders, Chris Bootcheck). That is my offer to them, and I won't even require them to pay any (well, not much, anyways) of Manny's salary (3 years, $17 million/year). I suspect they would want more than that (Figgins instead of Rivera, no Finley, two or more pitchers with one being Shields), but that is my offer: Rivera, Finley, a pitching prospect.

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Albert "Hendu" Pujols

Not really caring about the playoffs anymore, I didn't watch last night's game, but I did flip to it to see the score every once in awhile. One of those times happened to be with 2 outs in the top of the 9th inning, with Eckstein and Edmonds on first and second and Albert Pujols (simply the best hitter in the game) facing Brad Lidge (arguably the best closer in the NL, if not the majors, this year). What I saw next was simply amazing. Lidge hung a slider right over the center of the plate. There was no doubt once it touched Pujols' bat that the ball was gone. But this ball wasn't just gone...it would have landed in the parking lot in most stadiums. Now the Astros have to face their history, as well as being in the same situation that the '86 Angels faced against the Red Sox: being 1 strike away from the World Series and then losing on a gut wrenching home run at home, only to be forced to travel back to their opponent's home for 2 games.

And Pujols' home run: WOW!

Looking forward

The OC Register reports that the Angels will likely let Washburn and Molina go (no big surprises there). Molina said he will not offer a home team discount, which almost guarantees him leaving. Also, it looks like Byrd will sign another 1 year contract (I don't know where they got that, but I like the idea). Scioscia also says that the Angels will not cut Steve Finley and basically hope he returns to form next season.

RICHARD: For what it's worth, the Times says the exact opposite in regards to Molina, speculating that he will be offered a serious contract.

Sunday, October 16, 2005

The End

Depressed? Not me.

The only thing that has me down is that I know history will be overly cruel to this club. We all know what the story of the 2005 Angels will be: The Call. The "loss of focus". The "collapse".

But those of us who have been watching this club all season know better. The Angels didn't roll over and die, not by a long shot. They didn't need to lose focus for the offense to dry up. It's been happening intermittently throughout the season. It has nothing to do with competitive will or spirit or composure. It has everything to do with a poorly assembled roster and an organizational philosophy which preaches that it's better to be lucky than good.

The luck ran out. That's what the playoffs are about.

Slumps happen - especially to teams that refuse to take pitches and don't hit for any kind of power. This one came about at the worst of possible times.

What happened to Vlad? I'd like to know that myself, frankly. Hurt, I guess. But again, those of us who have been watching know that this was the third time this season that Vladdy went MIA for weeks at a time. Sure, it was a little shocking (certainly there was no reason to see it coming). But it didn't stop anyone's heart from beating, either.

And I'm not sure that even the 2004 AL MVP would have changed much, what with the way the rest of the club hit. No need to go into specifics - you were all there.

All and all, sitting here at the end of the season, I'm pretty pleased with the way this team played. After the disaster that was Bill Stoneman's offseason, with the roster he provided, I thought the playoffs were a near impossibility. We got there. We won a series. We weren't the best team in the AL West, yet we won that too. The team beat my (and most other) expectations. Even looks like we'll get a Cy Young and a Gold Glove or two out of it.

For those reasons, I want to thank this club for a wonderful season of baseball.

And, even more so, I want to thank you for sharing it with me. It was a hell of a ride. Now comes the fun part.

MORE: Matt has the exact opposite reaction. Rob hits it on the head. Sean thinks congratulations are in order. Seitz didn't stick around for the end (to tell the truth, I wrote this one in the top of the ninth too).

BTW: I bumped this ahead of Josh's game five recap, to keep it chronological.

It's over

This was the first game the Angels had a serious chance to win since Game 2. They were hitting the ball harder, but it still was right at guys. Of course, the Angels still had no calls go their way (Frankie threw a beautiful strike to Crede that would have ended the 8th, but the ump called it a ball...after that Frankie never recovered). Ok, they had exactly one call go there way, with a fan idiotically reacing over the railing in RF to pick up a ball that would have been a Figgins triple (yes, Figgins had a hit) and was instead a ground rule double (the call that went their way was that AK was given home plate from first, something the umps decided he definitely would have gotten). The Angels mostly beat themselves this time, Escy giving up a home run to Crede, then tagging Pierzynski with his gloved hand when the bare hand held the ball (he even had placed the ball in the glove before removing it and tagging Pierzynski, and he could have avoided everything with a soft throw to 1st), Vlad being terrible (he has to have a messed up shoulder, no other explanation), and Frankie losing the ability to throw strikes after the aforementioned at bat against Crede. I hope none of these umps are considered for the World Series.

Voices

"Sure Josh Paul caught the ball, but if he had just made the tag anyway, we wouldn't even be talking about this."

"Sure Eddings called the final out of the inning, but had the Angels just kept playing, we wouldn't even be talking about this."

"Sure it hit the glove, but if Finley had just run, we wouldn't even be talking about this."

"Sure I ran the red light, but if you had just swerved, we wouldn't even be talking about this... Now scoop your brains off the pavement and get over it."

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Pulling the Goalie

The White Sox are skating with a man advantage, boys. Accept it. Deal with it. Kick their asses anyway.

Liveblogging: ALCS, Game 4

Tonight's matchup: Freddy Garcia vs. Ervin Santana

Well, this is basically it, win or face a large uphill battle to make it to the World Series. There is honestly no Angel pitcher I feel more comfortable with in a big game like this than Santana. Not to mention, he shut out the White Sox back when they were tearing the AL up. If the offense shows up, they have a chance, if it doesn't they have almost none. Let's do this!

JOSH (7:30): Ok, so I was wrong. Santana has no control, walks 1, hits 1, gives up a home run, and 2 of his three outs were long fly outs, all in 34 pitches. Let's hope Bud Black can figure out the problem and solve it before the next time. Meanwhile, if the Angels don't score within the first few innings, it will feel too much like the last game.

JOSH (7:56): The Angels finally get a rally going, with an Ersty walk, a Kotch infield hit with error, and a Bengie single to CF. Of course, with 1 out and runners on first and third and Finley was up. What did I predict? GIDP. What happened? GIDP. And it's really an obvious prediction. And now, it is apparent that there was catcher's interference. Angels are screwed again (of course, they are just as screwed since they put Finley in the lineup).

JOSH (8:12): This might be the worst umpiring crew in the history of the LCS. And they are a bunch of liars, too. Anyways, Finley still should not have swung the bat in that situation...he should have bunted to guarantee the single run (which would have pulled them to 3-2). Fucking ridiculous.

JOSH (8:26): Ckotchy gets the Angels best hit of the game, a double that scores GA from 1st. It's 5-2 White Sox after 4.

JOSH (8:41): This is the worst officiating screw job over an entire playoff series I have ever seen. This time, Erstad tagged Podsednik on a pickoff attempt by Shields, but it was called safe. This leads to another run.

JOSH (9:17): God damn fucking piece of shit umpires. At least neither of those things (the steal that should have been an out and the umpire being in the way of Figgins when he was receiving Vlad's throw) led to a run.

JOSH (10:03): The only group of people that should be more embarrassed than the umpires of this series is the Angels offense. Pathetic.

Friday, October 14, 2005

Liveblogging: ALCS, Game 3

Tonight's matchup: Jon Garland vs. John Lackey

This is the first matchup of the series where the Angels have an obvious advantage in the pitching matchup. The Angels have beat Garland twice (including his first loss of the season which led to Garland's season going downhill slowly). Even so, Garland is a solid pitcher this year and made a leap from young guy with promise to a solid no. 2 or 3 starter (which the White Sox have a few of). Lackey actually had a similar leap this season, but really has become a big game pitcher. If the Angels win this game the Eddings controversy will be largely ignored unless/until the Angels lose the series. Here's hoping this game is a stepping stone towards that.

JOSH (5:28): Fox shows the Angels fans booing the umps as they came onto the field. Also, Eddings has more security near him than normal.

JOSH (5:37): Lackey leaves about 4 or 5 breaking balls up in the zone and the Sox kill three of them for a single, a double, and a home run, giving them a 3-0 lead to start the game.

RICHARD (5:52): McCarver and Buck are making a lot of sense. That scares me.

JOSH (6:06): Erstad, normally a great baserunner, just made a huge baserunning error. Trying to stretch a double into a triple with 2 out, he is about by a lot. The Angels look flat in just about every aspect right now.

JOSH (6:19): Lackey is lucky to get out of the 3rd with only 1 run scored. He just doesn't have it today. Thankfully, OC was right where a liner went and was able to double Dye off.

JOSH (6:48): The wheels are off for Lackey. I don't know how he made it through 5 with the fat pitches he was throwing up. No more posts from me until the Angels score.

JOSH (7:13): OC hits a HR with AK on, 5-2.

JOSH (8:30): Well, the game is over. Every starter besides Cabrera performed poorly. Vlad has nothing. Finley never had anything. Lackey couldn't get the curve down. Just one of those days. I am pretty sure that the ending to Game 2 had an effect on the team this game...they just looked flat from start to finish. On the plus side, Donnelly and Gregg both pitched pretty well, keeping the team in the game as long as possible. I feel confident about tomorrow: Santana is pitching.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

Last thing on Eddings (for now, at least)

So, I decided to search for Eddings on Google on a lark (actually, I did it after reading this story Rob found. I clicked through a few pages of Google before I decided I had enough, and I basically ignored all of the stuff about last night's game and any time he is listed as just umpiring. As a caveat, an umpire's name only comes up when there is some sort of a controversy and I do not know how this compares to other umpires. Anyways, let's begin the link tour:

In 2003, in an article about misuse of umpire power, near the bottom Eddings is mentioned tossing Bobby Higginson out (Higginson essentially says Eddings was on a power trip) in the context of "...26 umpires out of a total of 68 with four or less years in the majors; ten of the 17 four-man crews had two of these young umpires while six crews had one and one crew, none." Kirk Gibson was also ejected that game after coming to Higginson's defense.

Eddings was also home plate umpire in an important Game 2: the 2002 ALDS Angels-Yankees series. Eddings is mentioned at the bottom of this article, which declared a wide strike zone the whole night.

In a game on June 15 of this year Braves catcher Johnny Estrada apparently bumped Eddings and was instantly ejected. No idea if this was the proper call or not (the article makes no claim as to whether the bump was on accident or not and whether or not that matters). In a game on August 28 of this year, Craig Biggio (major league record holder in HBP), was hit by a pitch and Eddings, the home plate umpire, declared Biggio leaned into it. Was this a good call? No idea. Biggio flied out and was later ejected for arguing the call.

Bronx Banter discussed Eddings in September 2004 (second paragraph) when discussing Zach Greinke's domination of the Yankees before a full count walk in the 5th, in the words of Alex Belth: " believe it was a fastball, inside at the knees. Though it was called a ball, it looked like a strike from where I was sitting. Greinke and his catcher thought it was strike three as well and they started toward the dugout. Howver, Greinke walked too far, prompting the home plate umpire Doug Eddings to walk to the mound and remind him that although he's mad talented, he is still just twenty years old." After that, the wheels came off for Greinke a bit and he ended up losing.

The White Sox had a mild controversy with Eddings in late August, where Damaso Marte pitched inside twice in a row to Rangers 1B Mark Teixeira. The columnist (from Chicago) says that Teixeira over-reacted to the pitches, which led to Eddings issuing a warning to both benches. This article also was meant to illustrate that Guillen doesn't accept his pitchers going after batters, not that Eddings was wrong in any way.

In 2004, he was home plate umpire for Ben Sheets' 18K game (mentioned in the first comment). It basically argues that Eddings' large (and expanding) strike zone was a big help to Sheets.

So, how big is this guy's strike zone? Well, this year he called the most strikes of any ump, 65.9% when the average was between 62 and 63%. Well, is he consistently higher than the rest or is that just this year? In 2002, Baseball Prospectus looked at umpire K/BB rates for 2001 and determined that Eddings was not just an outlier at 2.97 K/BB, but was .3 (~10%) higher than the next guy (2.67 K/BB).

Will's Minnesota Twins Page points us to a previous post of his (in early June) in which he relates a humorous take on Eddings gaping wide strike zone. A comment on that first link claims that Eddings has a history, quite possibly much larger in scope than I have been documenting.

Finally, in what appears to be a picks website, they claim (in the Bal-TB game) that the home team wins 67% of the time when Eddings is home plate umpire. This was on August 11, so it was about 2/3rds of the season, and by the end of the season, the home team won 53.7% of the time. Pretty striking difference to me.

So, there are some facts, take them as you will. The only things we know for certain are that he has a big strike zone and people like to argue with him. It certainly does seem like this guy is not a Major League caliber umpire, though.

Lies, Lies, Lies, Yeah

Doug Eddings is pathological:
Given another chance, umpire Doug Eddings said he would've been more emphatic in making the call that helped the Chicago White Sox win Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.

...

Eddings told the newspaper that he planned to change his style to more clearly reflect the difference between calling a strike and calling a batter out.
That's his story and he's sticking to it. Of course the problem wasn't a lack of enthusiasm or confusion in Eddings' signals - his call of "batter out" came across loud and clear to all nine Angels on the field and an entire nation watching at home. The problem, as I see it, is that Eddings seems to think that he can undo the end of an inning and no one will notice. And so he can change his "style" all he wants, and it won't help one bit, as at the end of the day he'll still be a fucking moron. You are who you are, after all.

The article also notes that Eddings was welcomed by two OC Sheriffs deputies upon his arrival at John Wayne. I ask, where's the epidemic brutality when you need it? I expect Angels fans to give him a proper welcome on Friday.

Don't Tread On American Soccer

Nike's newest soccer marketing campaign might just be the slickest bit of design work I've ever seen:


Incorporating a sharp, modern design aesthetic with the coolest flag in the history of the Republic (no offense to the Stars and Stripes, but come on - it doesn't get any better than the Gadsden Flag) to make darn pleasing and meaningful statement. If they put out a line of apparel emblazoned with this logo, I'd whip out my credit card in a heartbeat. I'm begging you Nike: come take my money.

Get over there and grab one of the awesome wallpapers, and then poke around the site. Again, awesome.

Wednesday, October 12, 2005


Doug Eddings:
...that was my 'strike three' mechanic, when it's a swinging strike. If you watch, that's what I do the whole entire game.
Mr. Eddings has been caught in a lie.

UPDATE: Here's a black and white version that prints up nicely on an 8.5 x 11 page. You know, in case you want to take it somewhere. Like a baseball game.

Robbery!

We've seen a lot of bad calls this year (Larry Young, anyone?), but that was by far the worst. Doug Eddings is incompetent and a fucking liar. If I had half a chance, I would kick his fucking face in.

Don Denkinger? Don Denkinger who?

UPDATE: Here's where I'm at: when Doug Eddings dies (and I'm not suggesting he should die of anything other than natural causes at a ripe old age) I'm going to do two things.
  1. Laugh my ass off.
  2. Travel to wherever he's buried, with a Big Gulp in hand, and let nature do its business. Maybe a nice, big, figure 'A'.
I'm taking this to someone's grave - and I've got a solid 20 years on this asshole.

JOSH: This is what you need to read to know about the call. The ball never hit the ground, the umpire called AJ swinging by putting his arm out, then the umpire called AJ out with a fist pump as he moved towards his dugout, then AJ turned and started jogging to 1st, and Paul rolled the ball to the infield. Eddings then calls AJ safe at first. The point is Eddings CLEARLY called AJ out according to how he had called strike outs in the dirt earlier in the game. I hope the Anaheim fans give a good jeer to Eddings (assuming he remains on the crew). Abso-fucking-lutely Ri-fucking-diculous.

RICHARD: Perspective here folks.

Should Josh Paul have tagged Pierzynski and left it beyond doubt? Yeah, of course, in hindsight. (Although he did in fact catch the ball cleanly, so you can excuse him if it wasn't the first thing that popped into his head.)

Did the call lose the game for the Angels? No. No one is arguing that. They still should have gotten out of the inning. Though there can be no doubt that it drastically changed the course of the game.

Do either of those facts make Eddings' actions (ending the inning, and then reversing his own call as though there would be no consequences) any less horrendous? Hell no.

Do they excuse or justify the call in any way? Hell no.

Do they excuse Eddings from owning up to his obvious mistake on the field? Hell no.

Do they excuse Eddings from lying during the post-game press conference? Hell no.

So let's stop finding ways to deflect attention from this man's incompetence, shall we? Stop using Josh Paul and AJ Pierzynski as distractions from the real issue. Their plays effected the outcome of the game. But they wouldn't have mattered had Eddings made the right any clear decision. It's his mess, completly of his own making. Let him stew in it.

Liveblogging: ALCS, Game 2

Tonight's matchup: Strep Throat vs. Buehrle

The Angels have already stolen a game in Chicago, if they win this, the series is all but over. With Wash still ill, I am basically hoping for 5 innings from him.

RICHARD (5:24): "if they win this, the series is all but over."

Ah, now why would you go and say something like that? So help me God, if you just jinxed them...

JOSH (5:26): Sorry, but I did say "all but" and I wouldn't have done that if it was anyone but the Angels. It's on my head if they win tonight and lose the series.

JOSH (5:41): Wash is pitching very well, but he can't seem to throw to first. Is it nerves? Illness? Anyways, that caused one run to score.

RICHARD (5:51): For those of you who have a DVR and can't stand the FOX crew, you can hit this link for a free feed of the Angel's crew and match the two up. Regular radio won't work, because it's slightly ahead of the TV broadcast.

JOSH (5:56): That was the craziest play I have ever seen. Rowand double to the right field corner, where Vlad bobbled the ball, allowing Rowand to make it to 3rd easily. Vlad then launched the ball towards 3rd, and OC decided to let it go by, where it went way up the 3rd base line. Quinlan sprinted after it, Rowand ran home (the 3rd base coach told him to) and Quinlan threw a perfect strike to Jose, who applied the tag while Rowand's arm is in the air about 2 inches above the plate. Quins saved a run.

JOSH (6:02): The Angels get their first runner on! Of course, it is on an error and the inning is promptly ended by a DP.

JOSH (6:11): I am officially missing Lost right now, that's how dedicated I am (of course, I have it taping, so no real harm). Streppy is doing pretty good so far. Now we are at the second time through the lineup, we need to start getting to Buehrle.

JOSH (6:15): OC gets the Angels' first hit, a double.

JOSH (6:17): Molina is a freakin' pinata!

JOSH (6:30): Wash is doing a great job...he made two throws to first right to Ersty! Great pitcher's duel so far.

JOSH (6:33): Quins HR! So far (other than Wash) Quins is by far the MVP of this game. Game tied.

RICHARD (6:39): Q is the everyday 3rd baseman, Mike.

RICHARD (6:40): BTW, the skins are back. Cox is still having problems with their FTP though, so we still can't publish the liveblog.

JOSH (6:54): Wash is done (well, he was done about three batters ago, but he was able to get two outs in the 5th), but he did a great job. Donnelly is coming in with the bases loaded and 2 out. Washburn gave a great performance considering his condition: 4.2 innings, 1 walk, 4 hits, 0 ER (although if any of the guys on base scores, those will be added).

JOSH (6:58): Donnelly gets Dye on three pitches. For all the bad he has done this year, he typically does it when he starts an inning, not when he comes in with men on, and this K just exemplifies it. I expect Donnelly to start the 6th, Shields to come in if needed to finish the 6th, Escobar pitching the 7th and 8th regardless of score (unless it is a blowout either way) and Frankie to pitch the 9th only if the Angels are tied or winning.

RICHARD (7:00): Nasty. This is one of Donnelly's good nights.

JOSH (7:12): Shields comes in to start the 6th and rips through the Sox, with 2 Ks (both third strikes on questionable calls though). Now we need some runs...

JOSH (7:24): GA saves Escobar by catching a line drive with Crede on 2nd. Crede was 3/4 of the way to 3rd when he realized GA was gonna catch and GA got him at 2nd (it was close, I will grant that, but the replays show he was out).

JOSH (7:34): Angels have just missed two 2-run homers to LF in this series. This time it is OC with DVo on 3rd. Tough break. Josh Paul is gonna catch, Vlad leads off the 9th.

JOSH (7:43): Escobar has absolutely filthy stuff that inning, and despite giving up a two out single, makes the other three guys look bad. Bobby Jenks is warming up, the rookie-turned-Sox closer. This is the same Bobby Jenks that the Angels had had enough of his antics off field. This means the Angels should have him scouted better than any other team, but his demeanor may have changed significantly since joing the Sox, which could bite the Angels in the ass.

JOSH (7:49): Three terrible at bats against Buehrle by Vlad, Bengie, and GA and we are headed into home team wins with a single hit territory. I have to imagine Escy and Buehrle pitch one more inning each.

JOSH (7:59): Angels got robbed on an Escy K. Even so, with the batter running to first, you NEED to tag him or throw to first.

RICHARD: Eddings clearly called the batter out. What a bullshit call.

JOSH (8:02): Game over. I hope Scioscia was playing under protest.

RICHARD (8:03): Fucking robbed. I am as pissed as I've ever been.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Liveblogging: ALCS, Game 1, Angels at White Sox

Richard isn't able to set up the kick ass liveblogging system yet (thank god it lasted through the game last night), so here is mine. There will be quite a bit fewer posts and no e-mail contributions (and Richard has indicated he won't participate). Feel free to comment, and onto the game.

Tonight pits Byrd (on short rest) vs. Contreras (on extended rest). The White Sox are under quite a bit more pressure than the Angels right now. If the Angels win either of the first two games, the White Sox could be finished, while if the Angels lose both of the first two games, the Angels will be in decent shape with starters on normal rest. The Angels biggest problem is the loss of Colon, who put up a fairly heroic effort in trying to tough out his crappy shoulder. The other major problem is Washburn's illness could force him out of Game 2 (or into a poor performance), which will further strain on the bullpen. Both of these problems mean innings for Gregg and Yan, both of whom have performed adequately at times and terrible at others. If the Angels want to overcome these pitching issues, Finley needs to be a pinch hitter, Kotchman and Quinlan need to get more at bats, and Vlad and Figgins need to contribute more. If the Angels can weather the first two games, I feel they have a great shot at winning the series.

UPDATE (7:23 CDT): Contreras' splitter is pretty effective right now. Hopefully the Angels will learn to lay off of it soon.

UPDATE (7:30 CDT): Byrd does what he needs to in the first, 3 outs, just 8 pitches.

UPDATE (7:34 CDT): GA HR!!! Man, he is so on right now! He has a completely different look in his eye the last 4 games. His approach is the one he had before 2003. Here's to the new old GA!

UPDATE (7:43 CDT): Byrd watch: 17 pitches.

UPDATE (7:55 CDT): The Angels manufacture a couple of runs with consecutive singles by Fins and AK, a Fig sac bunt, an infield hit by OC (3rd baseman hesitated before going after OC), and a Vlad ground out to the pitcher (would have been a DP, except OC forced the throw to 1st to go high, which allowed a run to score). The White Sox then employed the shift on GA (haven't seen it against him before), and he grounded out to the 2nd baseman.

UPDATE (8:05 CDT): Byrd watch: 33 pitches, 3 hits, 1 run (solo homer). Erstad may have saved that inning from extending longer by making a good catch on a pop foul ball that moved a lot in the wind.

UPDATE (8:28 CDT): Byrd watch: 54 pitches, 2 hits, 1 run. Byrd is doing what the Angels needed, now that they have seen Contreras twice, they need to start really hitting him.

UPDATE (8:42 CDT): Byrd watch: 67 pitches, 1 walk (and caught stealing on a well-timed pitchout).

UPDATE (8:52 CDT): Byrd watch: 72 pitches. The Sox completely lost plate discipline in that inning, and Dye even tried bunting (popping out to the mound) on the first pitch. Byrd has done the minimum that he needed to do. I expect Shields to be ready to come in if needed.

UPDATE (9:02 CDT): Erstad gets a one out single and steals second (running into Iguchi's knee with his helmet on the slide), but is stranded on a pop out by Rivera and a K by Fins. Fins hit one pitch hard, foul...which brings up something I have noticed in the playoffs: he hits the ball really hard foul, but stinks when the ball goes fair (which may explain why people say he is swinging well and "due").

UPDATE (9:08 CDT): Byrd watch: he hits Rowand with a pitch, first of the inning. Shields is put in immediately. Final line for Byrd: 6 innings, 73 pitches, 2 ER (plus he has left a guy on base), 5 hits, 1 walk. This is about as good as the Angels hoped for from him. Fantastic job, Byrd!

UPDATE (9:14 CDT): Shields just punked the Sox: force out to 2nd, Pierzynski CS, short fly to right. Done on just 6 pitches.

UPDATE (9:25 CDT): Vlad FINALLY found some power with Fig on 2nd and 2 out, but the ball died at the warning track.

UPDATE (9:43 CDT): Shields gets through the 8th, with a couple of base runners, although only one was actually a decent hit. Frankie will Everett, Rowand, and Pierzynski in the 9th (Shields was kind enough to let enough on so that Frankie wouldn't have to face anyone in the top).

UPDATE (9:47 CDT): Contreras is taken out after Bengie gets a 1 out single. He pitched a good game, getting better after the first time through the lineup. He threw 102 pitches and gave up 7 hits, 3 runs (and is responsible for Bengie), and had 4 Ks in 8.1 innings. Let's hear for the two starting pitchers.

UPDATE (9:53 CDT): Three outs left: it's Frankie K time!

UPDATE (10:06 CDT): ANGELS WIN! Frankie kicked ass today. Hell, all the pitchers did. After Figgins couldn't handle a rocket to 3rd with no out, he made a great play on a sac bunt attempt by throwing to 2nd, getting the force and taking away the small ball possibilities. Frankie then finished it off with a line out to right and a strike out on a huge curve.

UPDATE (10:11 CDT): One final comment: it is so refreshing not to here comments that are 90% about the Yankees and/or Red Sox by the commenting crew.

Bartolo Colon left off ALCS roster

According to ESPNews.

UPDATE: Confirmation from ESPN. Yan gets a spot to round-out the roster. Also, in the same article, we learn that Washburn is set to start game two. So it looks like the rotation has sorted itself out.

Roster breakdown

The contract status of every player who appeared in an Angel uniform during 2005 (and a couple who didn't):

Under Contract
$
 Renew/Option
$
 Free Agent
G. Anderson
$10.00
 C. Bootcheck
Renew
 P. Byrd
O. Cabrera
$7.50
 J. Christiansen
$1.60 opt.2
 L. Merloni
B. Colon
$12.00
 J. DaVanon
Arb.
 B. Molina
D. Erstad
$8.50
 B. Donnelly
Arb.
 C. Pride
K. Escobar
$6.50
 C. Figgins
Renew
 B. Prinz
S. Finley
$7.00
 K. Gregg
Renew
 T. Salmon
V. Guerrero
$12.50
 M. Hensley
Renew
 J. Washburn
A. Kennedy
$3.35
 M. Izturis
Renew
K. Morales
$0.151
 C. Kotchman
Renew
E. Yan
$1.25
 J. Lackey
Arb.
J. Mathis
Renew
D. McPherson
Renew
J. Molina
Arb.
J. Paul
Arb.
R. Quinlan
Renew
J. Rivera
Arb.
F. Rodriguez
Arb.
E. Santana
Renew
J. Saunders
Renew
S. Shields
Arb.
J. Woods
Renew
1Morales: $350,000 if on Major League roster in 2006.
2Christiansen: $1.6m club option, $0.05-0.15 buyout. Can also demand trade.
Numbers:
  • Ten players under contract for $68,750,000.
  • Seven free agents made $25,410,000 in 2005.
  • Eight arbitration cases in 2006. One (Josh Paul) in 2005.
UPDATE: The Angels actually released Bret Prinz a couple weeks ago. I guess it doesn't change his status, but I noted it anyway.

Monday, October 10, 2005

Technical Difficulties

The server where I host all the stylesheets, images, and liveblogging has crashed big time. No clue when we'll get everything back.

On the bright side, at least they had the common courtesy to wait until the game was over. Had a ton of fun chatting with all you guys tonight.

UPDATE: And we're back.

UPDATE: Well, we were back for a minute there.

UPDATE: It's all good - for real this time.

Liveblogging: ALDS, Game Five

12:00: Email contributions for this game are now closed.

Got something to say? Say it! No subject required, comments are published immediately, in whole, and unedited.

Sunday, October 09, 2005

Liveblogging: ALDS, Game Four

12:00: Email contributions for this game are now closed.

Got something to say? Say it! No subject required, comments are published immediately, in whole, and unedited.


Saturday, October 08, 2005

Liveblogging: ALDS, Game Four Off Day

12:00: Email contributions for this game are now closed.

Got something to say? Say it! No subject required, comments are published immediately, in whole, and unedited.


Friday, October 07, 2005

Liveblogging: ALDS, Game Three


Thursday, October 06, 2005

Why did I come here?

So, today had a high of 53 in Madison. Oh, and windy, so you couldn't forget that it was cold. Please, oh please, let it be warmer soon.

End of an error... I mean "era"...

As his first act as controlling partner of the Devil Rays, Stuart Sternberg has fired GM Chuck LaMar. How Chuck lasted this long is between him and the devil.

FAVORITE CHUCK LAMAR STORY: Trading passable infield prospect Antonio Perez (who would breakout for the Dodgers this season to the tune of .297/.360/.398) for sixth outfielder Jason Romano, on the assumption that Romano was a middle infielder. Romano had started all of seven games at second or short in his career, collecting five errors in the process. He was placed on waivers a week later.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Liveblogging: ALDS, Game Two


Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Liveblogging: ALDS, Game One

RICHARD (3:00 PDT): I'm a man who can admit when he's wrong. And so I was. Completely wrong, on these counts at least.

But you're never going to convince me - no matter what happens in the coming weeks - that the 2005 Angels were the best team in their division. You'll never convince me that this team was as good as it could and should have been. You won't convince me that the years ahead spell anything but disaster under the aimless leadership of Bill Stoneman.

That being said, and however we got here, we're here: game one of the American League Divisional Series. Lets make the most of it.

Let's Go Halos!

RICHARD (3:15 PDT): Fearless prediction time. Believe it or not, I see the Angels disposing of the Yankees fairly easily. I'm tempted to say sweep, even (with visions of Kelvim Escobar and 7-inning games dancing in my head). But the Yank's overwhelming firepower gives them one game - the Angels take the series 3-1.

It's that next series we've got to worry about. I don't like the looks of either of the Sox. I say the White verity prevails in the ALDS, and they'll be the ones to end our season in the Championship Series. The South Siders are the only AL club who can hope to match the Angels in the pitching department, and I like their offense a bit better than ours. Shall we say 4-2?

RICHARD (3:31 PDT): I was just about to say something, but I see that Nathan has complied with the terms of our little bet. No rough feelings, right?... loser!!!!

JOSH (6:46 CDT): It's nice to see the Red Sox get pounded like they did. I am not going to make any predictions, but I agree with Richard that this series feels like it will be the easiest one. I can only really see two outcomes: the Yankees offense gets hot and destroys the Angels pitching (unlikely, but possible) or the Angels scrap themselves to a few wins. I really am not going to worry about the ALCS yet.

JOSH (7:03 CDT): Fox's pre-pre-game sequence (where they show scenes from games past...specifically playoffs on Fox) was 90% focused on the Yankees and Red Sox. The rest of it was a scene or two of the Dbacks, the Orioles, and the Cardinals. They showed no scene with the Angels (who won the World Series just three years ago). Abso-freaking-lutely ridiculous.

JOSH (7:20 CDT): Angels fans boo Jeter start the game, then he grounds out to 3rd. Good start.

RICHARD (5:21 PDT): Finley in the lineup. Damn you Scioscia.

JOSH (7:35 CDT): Colon gave up 3 runs because of one bad pitch (and that one wasn't even that bad). I have to say that he looks pretty good so far, but the whole giving up 4 hits and 3 runs, certainly doesn't bare that out.

JOSH (7:45 CDT): The strike zone is very wide tonight. Also, when did they move the Fox broadcast booth to the Yankees bench?

JOSH (8:40 CDT): It's an hour and 20 minutes into the game and just 3 and a half innings have gone by. Yankee batters are 0-8 with less than two outs, but 6-10, with a walk and a hit by pitch with 2 outs. Colon is pitching like Lackey used to. I won't post again until the Angels score.

RICHARD (7:27 PDT): Gotta be active on the basepaths if the Angels are going to win this series. No complaints here.

JOSH (9:47 CDT): Finally, a run. Bengie hits a home run to dead center. Finley almost hit one out to right...he is hitting the ball hard today, which is good, but that means he will probably be in the next game. I agree with you about Vlad, but I don't think that was the time to steal (Erstad was pretty unlikely to get a hit against Leiter) and it almost seemed like a failed hit and run (which could be a way for Erstad to get a hit). However, the umpire did blow that call...Jeter wasn't close to tagging Vlad.

RICHARD (8:15 PDT): Bottom 9th, tying run at the plate in the person of Bengie Molina. C'mon boys!

RICHARD (8:18 PDT): Josh Paul? He's faster, yeah...

RICHARD (8:19 PDT): Down to our last out. Turning to Kotchman.

RICHARD (8:21 PDT): Wasn't to be... Angels lose 4-2.

JOSH (10:22 CDT): You can probably hang that loss on the offense. Colon pitched well the whole game, but got unlucky on a few of those hits. After the 2nd, hec completely shut down the Yanks, but it was too late. I seriously hope that Quinlan replaces Finley tomorrow.

Monday, October 03, 2005

ESPN Postseason Predictions

Before the season started, I posted ESPN's "expert" predictions for the AL. They did pretty good (15 of 19 picked the Angels in the AL West, 18 of 19 picked the Yanks and Red Sox to split the AL East and wild card, with the Indians getting the other WC pick).

Today, they posted their "expert" predictions for the playoffs. Out of 15 guys, 12 pick the Angels to beat the Yankees, 9 for them to move on to the World Series and 6 to win the whole damn thing (shockingly, Rob Neyer picks against the Angels in the first round). Other interesting notes: the other ALDS winner (Boston or Chicago) is only picked to win the ALCS three times (with Boston and the Yanks each winning a World Series), the Astros are picked to win the NLCS 8 times and the World Series 5 times, and the Cards are picked to win the NLCS 7 times and the World Series twice. The Braves are only picked to beat the Astros thrice, and the Padres to beat the Cards once. My feeling is that the Angels are picked so heavily because of their recent run, and it should not be construed as a lack of East Coast bias (its more like an overcorrection, as to not appear biased).

Week in Review: September 26 - October 2

Overall Record: 95-67 Pythagorean Record: 95-67 Games Ahead: 7 Week Record: 6-1
Record after 162 games:
2002: 99-63 2003: 77-85 2004: 92-70

Opponents: at Oakland (3-1), at Texas (3-0)

Hot: Juan Rivera was good this week, going 10-35 with 2 doubles and 2 home runs. Flying Molina, the Elder also hit the ball well, going 6-16 with a double and a home run (both in the clinching game). Meanwhile, Ckotchy headed the scrubs, going 6-17 with a double (and finishing with the 2nd best OPS on the team) and pushing for inclusion on the playoff roster. Figgins continued his scorching base running, picking up 6 steals in 6 games, giving him 11 over the past two weeks to propel him to the major league steals title (not to mention he was able to force 6 walks). Also, GA absolutely crushed the ball against Texas, going 6-13, with a double and two home runs. The starters and bullpen all pitched pretty well, with the only exception being Yan (who probably knocked himself off of the postseason roster). The bullpen (minus Yan and Christensen) had a 22:1 K:BB and Frankie K picked up 4 saves (giving him 9 in their last 16 games).

Steve Finley Award: Ersty was 3-16 in limited time this week, and GA was terrible against Oakland, going 0-8 before being rested the rest of the series. Vlad was 3-12 this week (just enough to keep his hitting streak against Texas alive at 36 games) and has only one home run since the Angels started ripping opponents apart. Yan was the only particularly bad pitcher, giving up 5 runs in 5 innings.

Coming up: The playoffs!!! The last time the Angels faced the Yankees in the playoffs, they won the World Series. As a matter of fact, since 1998, every team that has won the World Series has either been the Yankees or beaten the Yankees. The Angels have a good chance, with better starting pitching and defense, but the Yankees lineup is always dangerous. Both teams played hot in September to make the playoffs after starting the season with expectations to win their divisions.

ALDS: Game 1- home, October 4; Game 2- home, October 5; Game 3- New York, October 7; Game 4- New York, October 8, if necessary; Game 5- home, October 9, if necessary

Probable Starters: Colon vs. Mussina, Lackey vs. Chacon, Washburn vs. Johnson, Games 4 and 5 TBD

Sunday, October 02, 2005

And so it begins...

Many other bloggers have already expounded on the glory of the Angels' finish. On September 15th, the Angels lost their 4th straight, a sweep at the hands of Seattle and then a loss to Detroit. That losing streak dropped them back into a tie for first with the A's and gave them a 29-33 record from July 7th (the beginning of the Seattle series just before the All Star Break) to September 15th. Since that day, the Angels have gone 14-2 and one of those losses was with an offense of scrubs, likely all nursing hangovers from their huge party the night before.

Because of this fantastic sprint to the finish line (which conjured up memories of the last week of 2004), the Angels were not only able to leave the A's in the dust (winning the division by 7 games), rest their starters, and set their rotation, they were able to tie the Yankees and the Red Sox with the second best record in the AL (3rd best in the majors). Because of head-to-head tiebreakers, the Yankees won the AL East over the Red Sox, while the Angels picked up the number 2 seed in the AL. This means they will host the Yankees starting Tuesday in the ALDS, while the Sox will battle each other in the other AL series. This matchup has to be considered favorable to the Angels since the last time they met in the playoffs, the Angels won everything, the Angels have the best record against the Yankees of any major league team since 1998, and the Angels would have been 8-2 against them this season if they hadn't blown consecutive 4 run leads (the whole bullpen has been looking very refreshed lately, so they are unlikely to repeat that).

Meanwhile, the Angels will probably be going to a 4-man rotation, with Colon and Lackey starting games 1 and 2, and then some other starters pitching the other games as they come up. Colon, I worry about a little, but only really against Alex Rodriguez, who has hit 4 home runs off of Colon in two games...Colon has basically kept the rest of that team down. The other starters have held the Yankees offense down extremely well, although the Yankees appear to be a different team than they were back in July. Facing Colon on Tuesday will be Mussina, who the Angels have beat twice and lost to once. The starter the Angels should probably fear the most is Randy Johnson, because he has shown flashes of his younger self in the past month. However, my guess is that he will not start until game 3...and the Angels were able to score runs on him earlier this year.

Who would I like to see on the playoff roster? Well, the normal lineup of guys, of course (Fig, OC, GA, Vlad, Rivera, Bengie, Ersty, Quinlan, AK) plus the regular bench guys: Ckotchy, Ztu, Jose, Fins, and DVo. The pitchers would be: Colon, Lackey, Wash, and Santana as starters, with Byrd, Escy, Donnelly, Shields, K-Rod, and Gregg out of the bullpen. Gregg gets that last bullpen spot over Yan, who collapsed on Saturday and Christiansen, who would give the Angels the LOOGY everyone thinks they need (why not just go with the best guy in the pen?). This of course leaves one roster spot open, which I would go with Sorensen or Josh Paul. I don't really see the need for a third catcher in the playoffs (I understand it a little bit in the regular season), but Paul is used extensively as a pinch runner. From what I understand, Sorensen is a much better pinch runner, and so I would rather have him in the mix. Wash would be my 3rd starter (he has the team's best starter ERA), which gets him a start on the road this series, and Santana would be my 4th starter simply because he has dominated each of the AL playoff teams (although it should be kept in mind that he was tagged for 6 runs in 4 innings the last time he faced the BoSox). If he starts badly, Byrd can always come in for long relief, with Escy and Gregg prepared to be extra backup. Of course, you never know how things will go, we can just hope we have the team on the field that gives us the best chance to win.

Spam, spam, spam, spam

Comment spam has been out of control across blogger for the past few days (I've deleted at least 30), so I'm activating verification mode. We'll try it for a week or so, then see where things stand.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

Saturday Notes

  • The Brewers won their 81st game on Friday, marking the first time since before the 1994 strike they have had that many wins. The team has a bright future with youngsters like Prince Fielder and Rickie Weeks and ace Ben Sheets. This is not to detract from the rest of the team, which contains solid players like (fan favorite) Lyle Overbay and Geoff Jenkins, slugger Carlos Lee, and closer, former Angel, Derrick Turnbow. Making it to 81 wins is a big deal for this team, and winning their 82nd will be even bigger if they can get it tomorrow.
  • The Angels, Yankees and White Sox won (which means the Red Sox and Indians lost). This means the White Sox have the best record in the AL, the Yankees have won the AL East and are 1 game ahead of the Angels for the no. 2 spot (home field in the ALDS). If the Yankees win their last game, they pick up that no. 2 spot, while if they lose and the Angels win, the Angels get it. The Red Sox are 1 game ahead of the Indians for the AL Wild Card, so the Indians can only make the playoffs if the Red Sox lose and the Indians win. The scenarios: 1) if the Red Sox and Angels win, the Red Sox are the Wild Card (facing the White Sox) and the Angels will host the Yankees (the Angels own the head-to-head tiebreaker 6-4); 2) if the Red Sox win and the Angels lose, the difference is that the Angels will be hosted by the Yankees; 3) if the Yankees win and the Indians win, the Indians and Red Sox will have a 1 game playoff, 3a) if the Red Sox win that, it will be identical to scenario 2, while 3b) if the Indians win, they will go to NY and the Angels will go to Chicago; 4) if the Indians lose, it will be identical to scenarios 1 and 2, depending on how the Angels and Yankees perform. So, the fate of the wild card race is largely in the hands of the Yankees and Red Sox. The Indians game starts an hour earlier, so at some point in the Yankee-Red Sox game, there could be a strong shift in how the teams play (once they know the fate of the Indians).
  • Wisconsin clobbered Indiana at home today, 41-24. Wisconsin has now hit 5-0 after not being ranked before the season. This is head coach Barry Alvarez' last season and the teams seems to be trying to make him go out in a bang.
  • USC, meanwhile, started out extremely sluggish (which they tend to do) and was down 21-3 at the half at a very good (14th rank) Arizona State team. USC was able to roar back on the strength of its run game and several interceptions to win 38-28.