Baseball 2007
Non-baseball fans: You may skip this post and be guilt free. Greg, this means you.Opening Day isn't until Sunday (Cards vs. Mets), but I'm going to a game tonight, so let the season begin!
The Angels have looked very good this spring. Thanks to MLBTV.com I have been able to watch a number of spring games. I think my boys could go far this year. Why? I'm SO glad you asked.
Gary Matthghews, Jr. probably had a fluke season last year and I don't quite get why anybody would BUY HGH but not USE HGH. Still, he unquestionably makes the team better. His center field defense is peerless and his bat is better than The-guy-who-played-third-last-year. Figgins will move to third when his fingers heal and give us a pretty solid batting order. I like Figgy hitting last. I think it brings his average back up to .290.
By the way, my blog is a public record. You may quote me on all of this.
Garret Anderson is healthy again. He looks great. He IS the bat that we were trying to pick up in the off-season. GA hitting behind Vlad is a potent 1-2 punch.
Scioscia continues to impress me. We will continue to steal a lot, go first-to-third a lot, and do all the little things that champion clubs do. I love the value the Angels put on fundamentals. Will we miss Ersty, Salmon, and Kennedy? No question. But Scioscia and Co. will continue to keep everyone doing all the right things.
On that note, how cool is it that Percival is going to sign a minor league contract on Monday so that he can retire as an Angel? There is a team loyalty and respect these days that didn't exist in the old days. Signing Shields long-term is another indication. You have to love it when guys want to stay with your team for their whole careers. By the way, Erstad will always be one of my favorites but I've seen him play this spring too and he's done. Vaya con Dios, Ersty. #17 will always be welcome in the Big A clubhouse.
And what about that pitching? Joe Saunders, a #3 or 4 guy on most clubs, will be in the minors when Colon comes back. Who's he going to bump? Lackey? Escobar? Weaver? Santana? This is one of the best rotations in baseball. What I love about it the most is that when those guys are done, they turn the ball over to Carrasco, Speier, Shields, and K-Rod (who the Fresno Bee identified this morning as "F-Rod." "Frod"???) We have the most dominant closer in the sport and two (count 'em, 2!) great set-up guys. There will be low-scoring games a-plenty this summer in Anaheim (in Orange County near Los Angeles).
The offense is not sparkling. But we are the best team in the division and pitching controls the playoffs. So we could go far. If GA has the year I think he's going to (and Cabrera, Kotchman, and Kendrick), we go a long way. If injuries prevail, we finish second in the division.
There you have it, sports fans. And now, it's a matter of getting through the day so I can pick up my brother, head to Dodger Stadium and catch game two of the Freeway Series. It should be noted that the Angels turned their THIRD triple play of the spring in last night's game. No, it doesn't count in the standings, but Dodgers/Angels is becoming a nice little rivalry, fueled mostly by Arte's name change. Hmmmmm...I wonder if he saw that coming? Then, Sunday night the DVR records the 5:00 game (while Lisa and I work the Mission's Auction) and so the first pitch of the season...which I NEVER miss...will be slightly delayed but in HD which more than makes up for it.
And then Monday night...ahhhhh, Monday night. I understand there will be some sort of basketball game televised that night. Enjoy it. I'll be watching Game #1 of 162: Angels vs. Rangers. ESPN 2. That one counts.
Fer cryin' out loud.....PLAY BALL!
posted by Thurman8er @ 8:33 AM
8 Comments:
I hope your Angels go far, all the way to the World Series, and lose to the Giants.
I skipped to the comments, as my baseball experience centered around Dodger Dogs.
Rick is part of a singing group (six guys, heavy on tenors) that will be performing the national anthem at a Sacramento Rivercats game this summer. Want to come visit and go to a game?
Only if you let me teach you about baseball, Wendy. I promise to use as many haikus as possible.
Go back to third base.
Ball hits glove and you take off!
Tag up on fly balls.
Just to let you know I read your blog though I had permission to skip it. Now that's what a friend is all about!
Oh...you KNOW the sign is going up--you said it!
Baseball....
Ah, how I loved it when I was a kid...chewed countless flat sheets of pink bubblegum for the players' cards. I think my brother "borrowed" them, but never returned them...DRAT! All I got was many visits to the dentist for chewing too much bubblegum.
The game seemed...simpler then. I assume now that strategy existed, but maybe it was confined to the teams. Games were televised only on weekends, I think, and I can still hear Dizzy Dean and his fractured metaphors and his breaking out into song. Those were the days.
One of these days I will go to a real MLB game! (Wendy? Rick?)
I had the Yankee game on yesterday during my planning period. A-Rod dropped an infield fly in the top of the 1st. "Yankee Fan" wasn't very happy. I did see where A-Rod hit a homerun in the game.
Do the Angels still have that cool Rally Monkey?
Does EVERYONE wish they had that new pitcher in Boston? What's his name...Daisuke Matsuzaka...wow
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