Sometimes You Just Run Into a Buzzsaw

[Dave Saltzer]

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'.

Thank you for equating a well-spoken caller with me. But alas, no, I did not call in the show (was busy at work). Maybe he read the article on here either from our Twitter feed or some of the retweets it got.

 

I stand by my viewpoint that it was a buzzsaw. The team's offense was kept off balance by good timely pitching (even if the pitching across the season wasn't great), incredible defense, and a team that refused to quit. Look at Detroit: their aces all got shut down and lost 3 straight like we did even though they were the better team. Sometimes you just run into a buzzsaw, and there's nothing you can do. I have my ideas for the offseason, which I'll write about after the WS.

[Chuck]

Yep, the term buzzsaw was correct. Just ask the Baltimore O's.

[Blarg]

We will see how much of a buzzsaw they were when the O's destroy them in the ALCS.

 

 

Uh... yeah.

[tomsred]

I still like how everyone blames the losing team for losing in so many ways, but they can't acknowledge  that the winning team was just plain better.  Kansas City is just plain better in so many ways.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

KC has mo on their side.  Good formula too.  Solid starting pitching leading to tough bullpen.  Just enough hitting and clutch late inning heroics.

[Chuck]

I still like how everyone blames the losing team for losing in so many ways, but they can't acknowledge that the winning team was just plain better. Kansas City is just plain better in so many ways.

The wild card reps never get any love. Can't believe as Angels fans that some don't remember that we were the WC rep in 2002 and schooled all the favorites.

[DoubleOffTheWall]

Kc has a solid formula that reminds me a lot of the giants. They are like a mini SF giants but with more speed. This organic approach team building is the way to go in this new era, that I would say started in 2010.

[Brent Maguire]

Small sample sizes can give you a wide variety of results. The Royals on paper should've lost in the WC game or the ALDS, yet they've won their first 6 games. 

 

The Royals aren't the best team in baseball, or even close to it, but that doesn't matter in the playoffs. There's a reason why teams make crazy moves just to get to October. Anything can happen. 

[Jay]

Sometimes you run into a buzzsaw. Other times you produce a cataclysmic choke job.

[Mark68]

Still not a buzzsaw. We sucked. They won. They gained a shitload of confidence, which is certainly not hurting them against the O's.

 

At least the O's are scoring runs off them, but their pitching is not as good. The Orioles have one starting pitcher with postseason experience coming in to this year (Jimenez), and they left him off the ALCS roster. Of course, I would have, too.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Mark68

[Ohtaniland]

There's a fine line between saying your team "ran into a buzzsaw" and offering up excuses. Are we saying that nobody could have beaten the Royals in that series? I think the 2009 Angels would've smoked them.

[Justabitoutside]

The wild card reps never get any love. Can't believe as Angels fans that some don't remember that we were the WC rep in 2002 and schooled all the favorites.

 When I read this board sometimes I get the feeling that many posters wern't born yet in 2002.

[Inside Pitch]

There's a fine line between saying your team "ran into a buzzsaw" and offering up excuses. Are we saying that nobody could have beaten the Royals in that series? I think the 2009 Angels would've smoked them.

 

The 2014 Angels probably beat them if they make some plays on defense....  

[Vegas Halo Fan]

When your top four hitters get five hits in three games and the only run that one of them drives in is on an infield groundout, that says more about you than your opponent. Bluntly put, when the calendar hit October this team didn't hit. The Royals are no buzzsaw. They haven't manhandled anybody.

 

I appreciate your optimism about 2015, but let's be realistic about why this season ended when it did.

[LBHalos17]

The wild card reps never get any love. Can't believe as Angels fans that some don't remember that we were the WC rep in 2002 and schooled all the favorites.

Yep!  There's a lot to be said for continuing your season uninterrupted.  The long break seems to kill teams as they get out of their routines.

[Ohtaniland]

Yep! There's a lot to be said for continuing your season uninterrupted. The long break seems to kill teams as they get out of their routines.

We can't come up with enough excuses. The extra rest was suppose to get Pujols off his feet and give more time for Hamilton to get prepared. If we played in the wild card game we wouldn't have fared any better. We were done after the corks popped. Weaver and Shoemaker sure took advantage of the rest.

Edited October 14, 2014 by CALZONE

[Guest]

We can't come up with enough excuses. The extra rest was suppose to get Pujols off his feet and give more time for Hamilton to get prepared. If we played in the wild card game we wouldn't have fared any better. We were done after the corks popped. Weaver and Shoemaker sure took advantage of the rest.

Many teams deal with rust after layovers but only Scioscia-managed teams seem to take weeks to get their act together after every single offseason and allstar break year-in, year-out. 

[Stradling]

We can't come up with enough excuses. The extra rest was suppose to get Pujols off his feet and give more time for Hamilton to get prepared. If we played in the wild card game we wouldn't have fared any better. We were done after the corks popped. Weaver and Shoemaker sure took advantage of the rest.

Sorry Claude but that is bullshit. I don't remember a single article saying the extra time off would be good for Albert or Hamilton, so I will just assume its just another opportunity for you to dump on those guys. You know who benefitted from the extra rest? Shoemaker.

[Ohtaniland]

Strad if you believe that extra time off had a negative impact and directly harmed the teams playoff performance then I question these athletes heart and desire. This team was not prepared for the post season and they had the biggest advantage to do so. Everyone here says its good to DH Albert to get him off his feet to keep him fresh. That's nothing new here.

[T.G.]

I'll just go back to the title of this thread and give the credit to the Royals...  NO excuses... the Royals played better.  That's easier to digest than playing the blame game.

[Chuck]

I'll just go back to the title of this thread and give the credit to the Royals...  NO excuses... the Royals played better.  That's easier to digest than playing the blame game.

 

Yep. 

[Stradling]

Strad if you believe that extra time off had a negative impact and directly harmed the teams playoff performance then I question these athletes heart and desire. This team was not prepared for the post season and they had the biggest advantage to do so. Everyone here says its good to DH Albert to get him off his feet to keep him fresh. That's nothing new here.

Why would you question their heart? It's more a matter of not having their timing down in the batters box. The pitchers did their job, the hitters didn't hit. That goes for your normal expensive whipping boys, it goes for Trout, it goes for every single player when we had runners in scoring position in the first two games.

[Oz27]

I'm late to this thread, just read the article. I too strongly disagree. It's not like we ran into this hotter-than-hell team who we could never have beaten. We absolutely gifted them two games of this series then suffered the inevitable CJ loss in game three. I don't consider that a "buzzsaw" at all, I consider it blowing a series. Worst case scenario we should have gone to KC tied at 1, with a realistic chance to push it to game five back at home. We could - and probably should - have been 2-0 up. I don't want to give credit to the Royals, we screwed it up and gifted them the series.

[Chuck]

Wrong, still a buzzsaw.

[stormngt]

Many teams deal with rust after layovers but only Scioscia-managed teams seem to take weeks to get their act together after every single offseason and allstar break year-in, year-out. 

It looks like the time off the Orioles took after the ALDS is effecting them the same way the Angels were effected before it.