Sometimes You Just Run Into a Buzzsaw

[Ohtaniland]

Dear Albert and Josh,

I carried you guys all season long and at some point I kinda expected that with all of your post season experience that you would've somehow led the way after we clinched the west. After all that's why Arte brought you guys here.

Best Regards,

Mike Trout

[stormngt]

Dear Albert and Josh,

I carried you guys all season long and at some point I kinda expected that with all of your post season experience that you would've somehow led the way after we clinched the west. After all that's why Arte brought you guys here.

Best Regards,

Mike Trout

Dear Mike:

 

Pay attention to your second half performance.  You didn't carry us all year long.

 

Best Regards

The rest of the Angels team.

[QuinlansMinion]

Are we now confusing "getting hot" for playing the game the right way.

Maybe if we got some guys in here that dont swing at crap and get themselves out, we can get hot too.

Edited October 15, 2014 by QuinlansMinion

[Reveille1984]

I guess winning 98 games with guys that "swing at crap and get themselves out" while also scoring the most runs in baseball was just luck then.

 

We were streaky durning the season as well and had multiple hot and cold streaks on offense. 

 

Our bats got ice cold at a pretty terrible time, get over it already.

[QuinlansMinion]

I guess winning 98 games with guys that "swing at crap and get themselves out" while also scoring the most runs in baseball was just luck then.

 

We were streaky durning the season as well and had multiple hot and cold streaks on offense. 

 

Our bats got ice cold at a pretty terrible time, get over it already.

Yeah beating up on the Astros and Rangers surely is proof of how good this team was.

[Blarg]

I didn't know they played just those two teams for 98 games. The scheduler really ****ed up.

[fan_since79]

I didn't know they played just those two teams for 98 games. The scheduler really ****ed up.

 

Angels' record against teams that finished last or next to last in their divisions: 49-16

 

Record against teams that made the postseason: 20-22

Edited October 15, 2014 by fan_since79

[Guest]

I didn't know they played just those two teams for 98 games. The scheduler really ****ed up.

The moronic commissioner of baseball set up a schedule in which teams play teams within their division 19 times each and teams outside their division but in the same league only 6-7 games each. 

Should be 13 games in division, 10 games outside the division. Still somewhat more intradivision play but overall a closer to balanced schedule. 

[QuinlansMinion]

Angels' record against teams that finished last or next to last in their divisions: 49-16

 

Record against teams that made the postseason: 20-22

Clearly just unlucky.

[Biergott]

Angels' record against teams that finished last or next to last in their divisions: 49-16

 

Record against teams that made the postseason: 20-22

 Be curious to see what those same numbers are for each of the teams in the postseason.  (Not disagreeing with you, legitimately curious and not good with sorting stats)

[mtangelsfan]

Angels' record against teams that finished last or next to last in their divisions: 49-16

 

Record against teams that made the postseason: 20-22

 

Baltimore's record against teams that made the postseason 14-11

Detroit- 13-26

KC-21-18

 

Doesn't really mean much man.  Most good teams are going to be around .500 against other good teams.  It is how you play against the bad ones that is going to make the real difference.

[stormngt]

Yeah beating up on the Astros and Rangers surely is proof of how good this team was.

We beat the Astros and Rangers 98 times?  

 

I guess playing the A's and Seattle as much as we did  didn't balance that out.  The A's only had the best record in baseball for most of the year.  Seattle was the sixth best team in the league.

 

We sure are lucky we didn't play the White Sox and Twins as much because our record sure would have sucked!

Edited October 15, 2014 by stormngt

[stormngt]

The moronic commissioner of baseball set up a schedule in which teams play teams within their division 19 times each and teams outside their division but in the same league only 6-7 games each. 

Should be 13 games in division, 10 games outside the division. Still somewhat more intradivision play but overall a closer to balanced schedule. 

Your solution makes a lot of sense.  The Wild Card system is really unfair to teams in strongest divisions.  

[QuinlansMinion]

Baltimore's record against teams that made the postseason 14-11

Detroit- 13-26

KC-21-18

 

Doesn't really mean much man.  Most good teams are going to be around .500 against other good teams.  It is how you play against the bad ones that is going to make the real difference.

Yeah KC clearly handled their own against good teams.  If we were really so much better than KC, we would have had a much better record then them against the playoff teams. 

 

I think it has more to do with the fact that their style of baseball can beat any opponent.  Ours, we dont steal bases, dont grind at bats, and have some of the biggest hackers in baseball.  That isnt going to translate well in playoff baseball.  At some point you have to stop hoping you get lucky and try fixing the problem.

[Capital_Dave]

The Angels went 0-3, but the O's went 0-4.  We did better against the Royals!  I'm pretty sure that means, mathematically, that we're the second best team in the American League!

[Blarg]

Wrong, the A's went 0-1.

[Stradling]

So the Angels just suck, that's cool. At least we have an awesome fan base to fall back on, just like the Cubs.

[Mark68]

Most teams are going to have at least 54 wins and 54 losses. Those other 54 decide your regular season fate.

 

If you start 54-54 (the Royals were around .500 for most of the season), then go 40-14 in that last 1/3 of the season, you are generally in a better position going into the postseason, because you are hot and are playing with confidence.

 

The Angels had a great record in the last half of the season, but not for the last week and a half going in to the playoffs.

 

Hot team>cold team. The postseason generally bears this out. Once the playoffs start, it's not about how many games you won during the regular season, it's how well you are playing going in (and continuing). This is true of the 2014 Royals, as it was for the 2007 Rockies, and the 2002 Angels. All of these teams put everything together at the right time.

[QuinlansMinion]

So the Angels just suck, that's cool. At least we have an awesome fan base to fall back on, just like the Cubs.

Yeah one thats satisfied with division titles, and uses the slogan "its not your money."

[tdawg87]

Season over.

[Stradling]

Yeah one thats satisfied with division titles, and uses the slogan "its not your money."

Once again it's not our money. How many owners would pocket his money and not try to improve the team like Arte has tried? I'm not satisfied but I'm not going to call this season a failure. You want to bitch about how bad the Angels are, go ahead, it's pathetic though. They lost, KC won, get over it.

[QuinlansMinion]

Once again it's not our money. How many owners would pocket his money and not try to improve the team like Arte has tried? I'm not satisfied but I'm not going to call this season a failure. You want to bitch about how bad the Angels are, go ahead, it's pathetic though. They lost, KC won, get over it.

Yeah I know that.  Im in the camp that says KC won, we didnt just get unlucky.  There are flaws that need to be addressed with this team regardless of how successful the regular season was.

[Stradling]

I agree there are flaws, but this was more a situation of the entire offense failing and less about a flaw. I get that we need to get guys that grind out at bats, but at what cost? We literally have three guys on the team that do that. We can trade Howie, but who knows if Green will be any better at working the count. Aybar is too good to move simply for a better approach. Nothing is happening with Josh or Albert. So we have to find a 3rd baseman and a DH that can also work the count.

[mtangelsfan]

Green will definitely not be as good as Howie offensively or defensively.  He might be adequate, but he will not match Howie on either side of the ball.

[Mark68]

Green will definitely not be as good as Howie offensively or defensively.  He might be adequate, but he will not match Howie on either side of the ball.

I would be inclined to agree on the defensive side of the ledger, but we really don't know offensively. Green still has a small sample size.