Sometimes You Just Run Into a Buzzsaw

[AngelsWin.com]

 

By David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer

 

My favorite time of the year is the fall. I love the holidays in the fall. I got married in the fall. And of course, there’s the Fall Classic.

 

Growing up in Orange County, I loved going to Knott’s Berry Farm. My favorite ride there was (and still is) the Log Ride. 

 

During Knott’s Scary Farm, the park reinvents itself into a horror theme—perfect for Halloween. While the fall as a season is generally a warm and welcoming time, there has always been an undertone of the morbid and macabre as the plants from spring wither and die.

 

The first time I went to Knott’s Scary Farm, I went on the Log Ride with a good friend. I remember seeing how they had changed the opening setting from the lumberjacks sawing logs of wood to miscreants sawing up bodies. One lumberjack had even been made to appear as if he’d walked right into a buzzsaw.

 

When I got off that ride, I joked with my friend about that scene saying “How often does a person walk right into a buzzsaw?”

 

He said “Sometimes that just happens.”*

 

As I watched the Angels play their final game of 2014 season, I was once again reminded of that discussion from so many years ago. They walked right into a buzzsaw. Sometimes that just happens. While the Angels may have been the better team across the entire season, when it came to the playoffs, the Royals outplayed them.

 

I’m not going to get into the pointing the blame game—the failure to win hangs on many. There’s the entire offseason to analyze and debate that. And I am sure that it will be analyzed and debated by all the important figures in the organization to determine what corrective steps need to be taken. 

 

Prior to the start of the season, I filled out my predictions for the upcoming season. My best guess for the season was that the Angels would win 92 games. I wasn’t so bold as to predict that they would win the A. L. West. So, in that regard the team outperformed my expectations. 

 

However, in that same article, I my fearless prediction was that “The Angels make the playoffs and get past the first round.” As we all know, the second part of the prediction didn’t happen. So, not all of my expectations were met in 2014.

 

Am I upset that the Angels were one-and-done? Yes and no. As a fan, of course I’m frustrated that the Angels were swept. They were a better team than that. By all rights, getting swept by the Royals was an embarrassment. The team played as if they did not belong in the post-season, even though they had earned the right to be there. So, more than anything, I feel cheated out of seeing the best the team could do.

 

At the same time, though, I am willing to look at the bigger picture. The Angels won 98 games in 2014. That’s more than any other team in baseball. Garrett Richards will be back next year, and Shoemaker will get a full season in the rotation. Weaver showed that he still has the stuff to be a big-game pitcher. The revamped bullpen will be here for an entire season, so several of the early season losses will be turned into victories. Mike Trout will most likely be an MVP this year and will only continue to get better. 

 

Even if the Angels make no major moves during the 2014-2015 offseason (which I doubt will happen—both Arte Moreno and Jerry Dipoto will work to make this team better during the offseason), the 2015 Angels project to be odds-on favorites for winning the American League West. 

 

Let that sink in again: the Angels project to be the odds-on favorites to win the American League West in 2015. That’s before they make any moves during the offseason to improve the team. While 2015 might not be a walk in the park, I’d still put my money on the Angels to make it back to the post season next year over any other team in the A. L. West. I’d much rather be a fan of our team than any of our divisional rivals. We have far fewer questions than any of them have.

 

When Arte Moreno spoke at the AngelsWin.com Spring Training Fanfest a few years ago, he outlined his annual objective for the organization. From top to bottom, everyone within the Angels knows that his objective is to win a World Series each and every year. He’s not happy when the team doesn’t bring home a trophy.

 

While winning a championship every year is his objective, his goal, is slightly different. Rationally, he knows that winning the World Series every year is an impossibility. So, his long term goal for the organization is to raise the level of play each year so that making post season is not an aberration. It is the norm.

 

In that context, the 2014 Angels were an important step in the right direction. After a long postseason hiatus, the team dominated throughout the season. Of the 20 teams the Angels played, only 5 managed a winning record against them. Of those 5 teams, 4 of them played 6 games or fewer, so there is the problem of small sample sizes. Only 1, Seattle, boasted a solid winning record (12-7) against the Angels. Ironically, it was Seattle who started and ended the season with a sweep of the Angels when the Angels played some of the worst baseball.

 

I’d like to think of the 2014 Angels like I did when I first saw the house I bought (it was a used house). While the paint and tile needed fixing, the structure and foundation were solid. It had good support and bones. With minor tweaks here and there, it has become a much better house. 

 

While the burn and hurt of the early postseason departure for the 2014 still stings, it is also tempered by the knowledge that the 2015 team will be back to compete on the same stage. I had a lot of fun at the ballpark this year and got to take my sons to their first postseason game in their lifetimes that they were old enough to attend. They are already counting down the days until the 2015 season begins and already talking about how many games they’d like to attend in next year’s playoffs. 

 

As a parent, I know enough to never question the innocence of my boys. Just as they are counting down the days until next year, so am I.

 

 

*For those of you who doubt the possibility of running into a buzzsaw, may I remind you of this from “The Running Man”. Sometimes you just run into a Buzzsaw.

 

[Chuck]

Good stuff Dave. Running into a Buzzsaw is an accurate description of what happened to the Angels. The Royals had all the momentum heading into that series.

[Torridd]

I really disagree. KC played extremely well, but not to the point of us being swept, certainly not losing consecutive extra inning games at home.

 

The Royals' offense wasn't potent at all. I feel the Angels played down to them.

[AngelsFaninGA]

I really disagree. KC played extremely well, but not to the point of us being swept, certainly not losing consecutive extra inning games at home.

 

The Royals' offense wasn't potent at all. I feel the Angels played down to them.

 

I agree. As I mentioned before, we both had the same 15-11 September record. They were no more of a buzzsaw than we were. 

[Torridd]

I just consider a buzzsaw more of an offensive team. Yes, they played with vigor and energy, but with all that they had to scrape for runs.

 

The Angels basically let them keep up in the race with them until they tripped. That's why I don't blame the bullpen. How long can you feasibly hold a club from scoring?

[DoubleOffTheWall]

Blah blah. Cardinals and giants havent run into any buzzsaws over the last few years. They play competitive series and sometimes come out on top, sometimes they lose. This is just another angel team that couldnt hit, had poor energy and made dumb mistakes.

[Chuck]

Buzzsaw is an accurate term. The momentum they had coming in helped them execute with RISP. Their defense in the outfield is the best in baseball so it was no shock to anyone that they made the plays they did against us.

 

In the end, they came through offensively, in games 1 & 2 in extras & Alex Gordon's bases loaded double in the 1st inning in game 3. The Angels were shutdown by very good pitching. 

 

The Buzzsaw was the entire team, not just the hitters. 

[AngelsFaninGA]

A buzzsaw is a team on a hot streak that steamrolls their opposition, not squeaks out extra-inning wins. We were a buzzsaw during that 10-game stretch against Minnesota and Texas. The Royals aren't. Our offense died during the AS break and pretty much every team that didn't have a bottom-5 pitching staff shut us down in the second half. 

[Michifan]

I think the buzzsaw simply relates to the momentum they were able to seize and sustain. The Angels blinked and made some mistakes that proved fortuitous to the Royals and allowed them to seize that momentum. On the other side, the Angels needed a few breaks and got none. Instead, the Royals flashed spectacular defense that kept the Angels from grabbing any momentum and gaining an upper hand on the series. 

[laagamer]

I think when a team sweeps you in 3 games, it's a f*cking buzzsaw.

 

Oh well.

 

On to next season. 

[Torridd]

I think when a team sweeps you in 3 games, it's a f*cking buzzsaw.

 

Oh well.

 

On to next season. 

Not in this case. Buzzsaws generally don't take 11 innings to win a game and they tend to win easily.

[Jobu]

If I have a kid, I'm going to name it Moxie Buzzsaw.

[laagamer]

Not in this case. Buzzsaws generally don't take 11 innings to win a game and they tend to win easily.

 

White

[Jobu]

Not in this case. Buzzsaws generally don't take 11 innings to win a game and they tend to win easily.

What if you bought your buzzsaw at National Lumber in 1983 and it spent a few weeks in the back of your truck and has been on a dusty shelf in a leaky shed and you've never changed the blade and the cable is frayed and cuts outs in the middle of buzzsawing?

[Torridd]

Also, KC wasn't even that hot toward the end of the season. That hardly warrants the title of Buzzsaw.

[Lhalo]

The Angels bats didn't do shit. The A's probably would have beat them as well.

[fan_since79]

Let Calhoun swing away in the 8th inning of Game 1 and who knows what happens.

 

Cowgill stays at second on the fly ball, or is bunted over, and who knows, maybe Game 2 is won in regulation.

 

Not really a buzzsaw, just a few bad breaks and four of our hitters never showed up.

[Hollyw00d]

Sometimes you trip over your dog while making a pbj sandwich and impale yourself with a butter knife

[LBHalos17]

This seasons' playoff fail was part KC buzz-saw, and part Angels no-show.  KC came-in with confidence from playing playoff-type games for the last few weeks, whereas the Angels cruised-in. 

 

During the series was the first time I noticed Trout talking to himself during at-bats saying, "Come-on.  Come-on."  He put too much pressure on himself to carry the club that went limp offensively.

 

While I agree that this was still a great season for the Angels, they will have a lot of work to do in order to become a legit playoff-threat-  Pujols and Hamilton need to find their consistent swings, and the bullpen guys needs better-defined roles from the start.

 

I'm rooting for KC now, but I think they're about to run into their own buzz-saw in the O's.

 

See yuall at Spring Training!

[Jay]

What's the opposite of buzzsaw, wet noodle?

 

That's what the Angels were.

[Palomar]

The first catch off of Calhoun's bat set the tone. Their defense, our lack of hitting.  Their buzzsaw was more of a defensive buzzsaw than an offensive buzzsaw.

[Mark68]

If by "running into a buzzsaw" you mean "we sawed off all of our appendages", you would be correct.

 

If the hitters showed up, we win the series. That was not all KC pitching...I mean..Jason Vargas?

 

We shot ourselves in the foot. That would be more accurate.

[Mark68]

However, I do miss Knott's Scary Farm. And the Log Ride.

 

I remember going to Magic Mountain during the Halloween Haunt and riding Colossus backwards.

 

RIP, Colossus.

[Mean Spirited]

David, did you call in to the Travis Rodgers show this morning on 830 AM? I heard a well-spoken caller going off about the 'buzzsaw'.

[Angel_Fan_4_Life]

A thread explaining what  "buzzsaw" games/series are...sad state of affairs this ALCS lose has done to us and to the daily boards. 

 

Hey, bright-side---it's almost Halloween so buzzsaw opinions are pretty much all the rage right now. 

 

Go Halos 2015!