Surviving April or The Road to .500

[AngelsWin.com]

 

By Geoff Stoddart, AngelsWin.com Director of Social Media - 

 

What is it about the Angels and April?  

 

And what is it about Angel Fans and April?

 

Year in and year out it’s always the same.  It looks a little something like this …

 

End of March/Beginning of April:  The team comes off a solid Cactus League performance down in Arizona.  They appear to be firing on all cylinders and ready for the season.  Fans are excited to shake off the cold of winter, a subpar performance by their NFL team (unless you happen to be a fan of my Denver Broncos!  Suck it, Cam!) and dive head first into some Angels baseball.  

 

First Week of the Season:  The Angels come out of the gate flat.  Any and all concerns coming out of Spring Training are magnified as the pitching and/or hitting and/or fielding struggles.  Like clockwork the Facebook posts, tweets and new threads on AngelsWin.com cry out in one voice:  â€œFire Scioscia!”

 

Second & Third Week of the Season:  The team shows flashes of brilliance.  Some bats start to heat up, there are some solid pitching performances and the team begins to deposit some victories in the win column.  The performance is just good enough to re-energize the fan base with some hope.  The cries begin in earnest, “It’s still early!  Remember 2002!”

 

End of April:  The team ping pongs back and forth between wins and losses.  The final days of the month present themselves as fans begin to wonder, “Will we end the month at or above .500?”  

 

Honestly folks, there is no greater pattern life more consistent than the Angels and their fans in April.  Makers of atomic clocks look to us as the gold standard for precision and consistency.  

 

As the Angels look to complete their sweep against the defending World Series Champion Kansas City Royals tonight, the question is yet again:  â€œWill we end the month at or above .500?”

 

The Halos currently own a 10-11 record with three games left in the month. 

 

Best-case scenario:  The Angels will be 13-11.  Two games over .500!

 

Worst-case scenario:  The Angels will be 10-14.  Four games below .500.

 

My bet:  The Angels will go 2-1 and complete their journey on the road to .500 in April.  

 

And honestly, should we expect anything different?  

 

Noted social media free spirit and bathroom aficionado, Curt Schilling, once said, “I think I've earned a certain level of respect, based on my accomplishments and my consistency.” As fans of this team, do we not owe them that same level of respect based upon their consistency?

[Dave Saltzer]

Well, you're forgetting that a change has happened. I'm getting sick of them, but this year the calls for trading Trout (really?) are starting. That's a change, and I really hope (but doubt) that it goes away.

 

Still, very good article.

[Angel Oracle]

Four certain things in life:

Death

Taxes

Corrupt politicians

Halos meandering in April

[Troll Daddy]

Facing the Cubs and their pitching the first two games didn't get us off on the right track.

[stormngt]

The record for April doesn't matter. It matters in a September. Yes losses count the same but the important thing is how you play over 162 games. Didn't Texas fall flat last April? (I maybe wrong)

[Chuck]

The record for April doesn't matter. It matters in a September. Yes losses count the same but the important thing is how you play over 162 games. Didn't Texas fall flat last April? (I maybe wrong)

 

 

Yeah, Texas started out rough and played great from late June through September. 

[halosfan1970]

Houston started off 2015 strong and faded badly down the stretch. They really only made the wildcard because the Angels were so awful in August. 

 

Hanging around .500 while the offense struggles isn't a terrible thing right now especially in the AL West.

[Chuck]

 

Houston started off 2015 strong and faded badly down the stretch. They really only made the wildcard because the Angels were so awful in August. 

 

Hanging around .500 while the offense struggles isn't a terrible thing right now especially in the AL West.

 

 

Yeah, one wonders if Trout and Pujols didn't go through a slump in August where we'd be last season. I suspect we would have won the division and taken that momentum into the playoffs. 

[Bruce Nye]

At this point in the season, I think the angels will be okay (which is below great and good).  The concern I have is the bullpen.  It's awful.....again.

[Troll Daddy]

I guess it's just me ... I wouldn't call the bullpen awful nor would I call it great.

[Dick B Back]

I guess it's just me ... I wouldn't call the bullpen awful nor would I call it great.

How 'bout sucky?

[Spirit]

Nothing for the "Noted social media free spirit and bathroom aficionado, Curt Schilling..." line?

 

Come on!

[tomsred]

Getting swept by a flailing Minnesota team ......... eowwwwww!

[Spirit]

The last sentence of the piece actually got cut off.  It should read ...

 

 

 

"Noted social media free spirit and bathroom aficionado, Curt Schilling, once said, “I think I've earned a certain level of respect, based on my accomplishments and my consistency.”  

 

As fans of this team, do we not owe them that same level of respect based upon their consistency?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

[Chuck]

The last sentence of the piece actually got cut off.  It should read ...

 

 

 

"Noted social media free spirit and bathroom aficionado, Curt Schilling, once said, “I think I've earned a certain level of respect, based on my accomplishments and my consistency.”  

 

As fans of this team, do we not owe them that same level of respect based upon their consistency?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

 

That was my bad.

 

Fixed!

[Spirit]

Thanks!