I really disagree on the Scioscia hate

[Erstad Grit]

Who would play besides Hamilton? Cowgill? I'd be fine with that but how much better would he really have done? Maybe a walk? 

 

Trout hasn't even looked better than Hamilton really. 

 

Truth is if we swapped out Hunter for Hamilton we are up 2-0. 

 

Dipoto is my goat. 

[Stradling]

The offense as a whole is my goat.

[ELEVEN]

One Goat At A Time

[Angels_Make_Me_Drink]

Pujols is my goat.

 

We brought him here to lead in these situations. To realistically expect a 23 year old kid to lead this team in the playoffs, in his first playoff experience, is asinine.

[Section517]

Cowgill catches the RBI double that went over the lollygagging Hamilton in Game 1.  Now, the series is tied at 1 apiece.

[Season Over]

Play Cowgill. Play Navarro. Play Hank Conger. I don't care, I just can't take any more Hamilton.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Season Over

[SoCALkid]

Right. That run wouldn't have made a difference. KC would manage to get a run, we would still be squandering opportunities. If you think just benching Hamilton will solve the Angels offensive problems then you haven't watched the past 2 games. He should be sitting but it's not going to matter when Trout Pujols and Kendrick are as useless as they've been.

[HaloFan85]

I'd blame the front office before blaming Hamilton or Pujols for their failures, and I actually did and still do, but that's another story.

 

Sosh on the other hand is just not a big game manager.  Bunting Calhoun in game 1 made that very clear.  There were a few other things, but that decision took the cake.

[Angel Oracle]

This is a total org failure, from the facade bullpen beyond Street and Smith that showed it's' true colors these two games, to the stale lineup that was set up, to the stale NL approach these past two games.

Where are the fundamentals, now seemingly non- existent?

Whose responsibility is it to have the players in the right mood/focus for these games?

BOTH the players AND the manager/coach!

That's who.

[James]

The bullpen is à facade? Lol. Calling this org a complété failure is such bullshit. It has been à tough two games. The Angels bats are just as frustrated as the fans. Sometimes this is how sports go. The series isnt over yet. Stop always bitching and moaning, which has been par for this site for years.

Get behind thé team and stop waiting for something to vent about. Lets go Halos

[James]

Oh and no matter what happens, thiis has indeed been a great season.

[Torridd]

Who would play besides Hamilton? Cowgill? I'd be fine with that but how much better would he really have done? Maybe a walk? 

 

Trout hasn't even looked better than Hamilton really. 

 

Truth is if we swapped out Hunter for Hamilton we are up 2-0. 

 

Dipoto is my goat. 

I agree that this is not Scioscia's fault. And certaainly not Dipoto's. The hitters aren't doing their jobs, albeit Ventura was a monster yesterday.

 

Ultiimately, KC is getting all the breaks so the Angels will have to pull a rabbit out of their hat.

[NJHalo]

Both games have been close enough that one timely hit would have won either game, or both. The meat of the order has had multiple opportunities to get that hit, and with one exception, has failed to do so.

I'll sign on for the pitching we are getting.

[OregonLAA]

Kole Calhoun is the only guy hitting on this team. But Scioscia had him bunt.

Aybar was bunting against a lefty the first game with Hamilton batting behind him.

Cowgill should have come in to bunt Cron over last night, not pinch run. But Scioscia refuses to put Conger in because he likes Ianetta's defense. You know, the guy who bounces throws to 2nd and can't frame a pitch to save his life.

This series is on this pathetic offense, but Scioscia is making all the wrong decisions

[Angel Oracle]

The bullpen is a facade when only THREE guys have done anything and two have crapped the couch in the first two games.

You also don't win close games with only 3 relievers doing anything.

Where the h_ll is Pestano?

[eaterfan]

Cowgill would have made that catch. It's also unfair to say that KC would have scored another run to tie it anyway. They weren't trying to score runs before? They are trying to score as many runs as possible. That being said I am not sure the decision to play Hamilton is on MS. I'd bet the FO and ownership want him out there.

 

My biggest and really only gripe with Scioscia was bunting Calhoun with a 3-1 count. There's a good chance he's getting walked and getting the runner to second without surrendering the out.

[Glen]

The bullpen is a facade when only THREE guys have done anything and two have crapped the couch in the first two games.

You also don't win close games with only 3 relievers doing anything.

Where the h_ll is Pestano?

Oh, for ****'s sake. The bullpen didn't shit the bed in the first game. One run in four innings isn't shitting the bed. Last night wasn't great but it still falls on the lousy offense.

[fan_since79]

Kole Calhoun is the only guy hitting on this team. But Scioscia had him bunt.

Aybar was bunting against a lefty the first game with Hamilton batting behind him.

Cowgill should have come in to bunt Cron over last night, not pinch run. But Scioscia refuses to put Conger in because he likes Ianetta's defense. You know, the guy who bounces throws to 2nd and can't frame a pitch to save his life.

This series is on this pathetic offense, but Scioscia is making all the wrong decisions

 

Freese was also hitting, including a home run, and he was removed in both games.

 

And yes, that was the time to bunt, with a runner on second and no outs.

[papawealey]

What a great season. Scioscia did everything possible. "The champions" has a nice ring to it.

 

/sarcasm

[Jay]

This is the Angels team we have been watching all season.  When they're good they're really good, and when they're bad they're like what we're seeing right now.  Dreadful.

 

You look in the newspaper and see they have the best record in MLB but something in your head says, wait these guys aren't the best team in baseball.  No way.

 

Why would anybody be surprised to see that the bad Angels showed up for the division series?  I'm not surprised.

[stormngt]

Trout misplaced a fly ball for a run in game 1. Calhoun MI played a ball for a run in game two. Based on you logic we should be up 2-0 if we didn't play Trout or Calhoun

Cowgill catches the RBI double that went over the lollygagging Hamilton in Game 1. Now, the series is tied at 1 apiece.

[Angel Oracle]

This is the Angels team we have been watching all season. When they're good they're really good, and when they're bad they're like what we're seeing right now. Dreadful.

You look in the newspaper and see they have the best record in MLB but something in your head says, wait these guys aren't the best team in baseball. No way.

Why would anybody be surprised to see that the bad Angels showed up for the division series? I'm not surprised.

This is especially one area the O's had it over us anyway.

You likely didn't see these wild fluctuations with their offense.

It was more consistent from month to month.

Edited October 4, 2014 by Angel Oracle

[acro2008]

Who would play besides Hamilton? Cowgill? I'd be fine with that but how much better would he really have done? Maybe a walk? 

 

Trout hasn't even looked better than Hamilton really. 

 

Truth is if we swapped out Hunter for Hamilton we are up 2-0. 

 

Dipoto is my goat. 

 

I don't see "hate" other than a couple/few posters.  I don't dislike JH at all,  However, I want to win.  I'd horsewhip Scioscia (if I had a horse) for starting Hambone, then covering for Josh with zero logic for playoff baseball, saying Josh needs more at bats to help get him going. Who gives players having a down year and injured on and off all year, just returning from another rehab, carte blanche at bats in the playoffs to try and help them improve their timing? We grabbed the top spot without Hamilton.   This is win or go home. I wouldn't doubt players have lost respect for some of Mike's decisions.

 

"Mr. Ed", an old TV show about a talking horse played for the Dodgers in one episode.  In some twisted way Hambone playing reminds me of this.  Actually, Mr Ed hit an inside the park home run and slid safely home.  If only Hambone could become Mr Ed.

Edited October 4, 2014 by acro2008

[CAAngelsLifer]

This is especially one area the O's had it over us anyway.

You likely didn't see these wild fluctuations with their offense.

It was more consistent from month to month.

 

You're saying the Orioles offense didn't have more than one bad game in a row all season? Two of their last games were to losses to Toronto where they only scored one run. Before that they also split a series with the Yankees who shut the out 5-0. 

They had practically the same let down in their offense as the Angels did after clinching. Otherwise they would have caught up to our record. 

That's ALL this has been. 2 bad games in a row. If it turns into 3 then season over, we all start watching more football... but let's be realistic and not act like the 2014 Angels are the worst team in the history of the game.

[laagamer]

Offense is playing like shit.

 

The Angels have never done better than under Mike Scioscia.