They have done the impossible...

[halo15fan]

Many of you know that my father is @Angel25fan (AKA Brian Ilten, Director of Marketing for Angelswin.com)... Now, you all know that being born into a family where Brian Ilten is the father meant that I was either going to be an Angels fan, or put up for adoption. I have been an Angels fan since 1994... the day I was born, 2 weeks into my life I was at a game... that's the way it was...

When MLB Network launched on January 1st, 2009, I remember sitting around the television with my father and brothers and we watched the first edition of "Hot Stove"... since then, I have not been able to avoid punching in 2-1-3 whenever I get the remote. Whether the Angels were playing, or it was just highlights from around baseball; Bob Costas could be doing one of his "Studio 42: With Bob Costas" specials, or they could be doing the Prime 9 Moments of the Boston Red Sox feature.... I wouldn't care, MLB Network was always where I went first when I had the remote... and I figured that this would never change... even after the slow start of last season for the Angels.

 

And then, this year started... and I had hope... but to be honest, the well has run dry. It hurts to turn on MLB Network... I can't stand watching the highlights of the Astros defeat the Angels, or watching the team sink lower and lower on the Standings Board in Studio 42. The 2013 Angels have something I thought impossible... they have made me not want to watch the game I love. Now, if I want to see if the Angels won, I won't check the phone, or the laptop, or anything else... I will just be on the bus back to the Cast Member Lot at  Disneyland (Where I work), and see whether the halo is lit or not... I have worked there for almost a month now... and granted, I don't work every night, but I have only seen the thing lit on 3 occasions. The Angels have made it so painful... Thank God the Anaheim Ducks are in the playoffs... because without that, I don't think I could watch sports...

By all means, I am still an Angels fan. Always have been. Always Will Be. The fact of the matter is though that the team has destroyed any thought of plans I had this October. 

 

I want to know your opinions on all of this... how much, if any bit at all, the Angels have changed baseball for you this year... please tell me this isn't only me. 

[LightTheHalo]

Talk to your dad about what it was like to be a fan of the Angels from 1987-2001.

[halo15fan]

Talk to your dad about what it was like to be a fan of the Angels from 1987-2001.

Oh I remember 2001... yeah... I remember that... I guess.... I don't know... 2 years in a row that they have picked us to win it all, and in time we are going to be the scaffolding that holds up the rest of the AL West... Including the Astros... 86 was the heart break, and while I was not alive to see it, I understand it. Then we went on the skid... I understand that as well... but we were arguably one of the best teams in baseball from 2002 to 20010 (disregarding 2003... and maybe 2006...)... And now we have fallen off like a boulder off of a cliff. 

[RallyMo]

2010-2012: Winter Is Coming

 

2013-       :  Winter Is Here

[Angel Oracle]

I can vouch for 1966-2001, and it wasn't pretty a lot of the time.

That's why this frustrates me, because I don't want to have to go through yet another bad decade like the 70s and 90s.

 

However, I will support a rebuild process that phases out the old (Scioscia and any remaining old scouts and coaches throughout the org who need to also be phased out), and increases emphasis on farm system/foreign scouting/player development while making STRATEGIC FA signings and trades that don't drain the farm system and never again signing age +30 players to big contracts.   In other words, the Cardinals model.

 

Question: how many age +30 players have signed a big contract to play for ANY team, and that contract hasn't been an albatross? 

[Chris]

Apathy is starting to settle in a bit...

[gotbeer]

Enjoy the Ducks.  The flock in the NHL forum is growing more and more per game.

[yk9001]

The losses actually don't bother me because Angelswin.com has been pretty entertaining during this season.

[RallyMo]

The losses actually don't bother me because Angelswin.com has been pretty entertaining during this season.

 

I was kinda that way until last week, then I realized that in the long-term, watching winning baseball will be much more entertaining.

[NJHalo]

We are gonna look back at getting beat by the Red Sox in the playoffs every year as "The Good Ole Days"

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

I thought in the Ilten family you had to be a Republican or face adoption?

[Brent Maguire]

We are gonna look back at getting beat by the Red Sox in the playoffs every year as "The Good Ole Days"

Sad but true.

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

Enjoy the Ducks.  The flock in the NHL forum is growing more and more per game.

 

There's always soccer, where that forum is always pumping, along with Victor's mom.

[fan_since79]

Talk to your dad about what it was like to be a fan of the Angels from 1987-2001.

A summary of the 15 lost years:

 

http://angelswin.com/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=42330

[Torridd]

I don't know what to say. These last two years have been brutal because you look at the team and say, "This makes no sense."

 

They'll start winning eventually, but it's probably too late to come back already. The problem is I don't even know how to fix this.

[robblin17]

What character are you at Disneyland?

[The Ghost of Bob Starr]

He plays Reagan in the Presidents of the US attraction.

[mota_madness]

yep. no october. yep hard to watch.  But i got my kid in baseball and he's tearing SH*T UP (29K's in 24 innings!) .    thats enough to hold me through this terrible time with the angels... 

[HaloCory22]

My best friend (Dodger fan) and myself pretty much made a pact to not even discuss baseball activity on Ducks game days. We don't want any buzz kills. Its painful to watch this team right now. All offseason I was counting down to Opening Day and I usually watch 140+ games either at the park or on tv. Now, I'm just thanking the Lord that the Ducks are making a run. I've put baseball on the back burner and dedicated my full attention to the Ducks. It sucks that the Angels are doing this. I just have no faith in them whatsoever. I obviously hope they get it together. The playoffs are out of the question, but I still keep track of my favorites (Trout, Trumbo, Richards and Weaver when he returns) and hope they start to play good or even decent baseball.

[fan_since79]

I'm hoping Trumbo will hit 50 home runs this year. I think he would be the first Angel to do that, right?

[halo15fan]

What character are you at Disneyland?

 

 

He plays Reagan in the Presidents of the US attraction.

Sorry guys! No Character Costumes for me! I work in Innoventions in the heart of Tomorrowland! While usually just an Ice-box, right now we have 8 Iron Man Suits from the movies! Mark I-VII and the latest and greatest, Mark XLII. These suits are the real suits they used in the movies. The exhibit is called Iron Man Tech at Innoventions presented by Stark Industries. If you will be at Disneyland between now and September, I highly recommend it! 

[PercySquint]

... how much, if any bit at all, the Angels have changed baseball for you this year... please tell me this isn't only me. 

 

It ain't only you. I have given my pain a name, and it is the Angels. They have tormented me for several years now. But this year has brought a special hell, to be sure.

 

I am a regular here, reading the thoughts and views of most of you folks. I have read your bickering with one another, and various border skirmishes, the inevitable result of sustained losing, which now seems as sure as death and taxes. I have read your autopsy findings and who you point fingers at. And while there is blame that runneth over for many, I have carefully diagnosed the real problem- me.

 

I'm emotionally invested. I'm an addict. I live and die with this stinking team every bloody day. Yes I have other interests, like cards, hot Asian women, jousting, seeing Black Sabbath in September, good Mexican food, among them. I have used some of these to help me emotionally detach from our nightly scoreboard misery. But to no avail. They're too big a part of who I am, and ain't nuthin' I can do about it. The sick part is, I woudn't change that even if I could.

 

The success of the team in the 2000's raised the bar considerably for many of us longtimers who suffered through the first 4 decades. And with higher expectation comes greater disappointment. And that's me. I love them, but I hate them.

 

So how have they changed baseball for me this year? Well, they've made me hate it, and hate them. But I'm stuck with these pathetic vastly underachieving pigs. The best I can do is read some of your venom-spewing tirades, and various gallows humor comments. These help me to avoid breaking furniture, or scraping razor blades along my arms like a teenage girl with low self-esteem, when Hamilton strikes out with runners at 2nd and 3rd and two outs.

 

Thanks for the therapy, AW. It does help a little, like reading the Bible when you're on death row.

[Angel Oracle]

Nicely said Percy. and not even Full Metal Joust could effectively enough dull the senses right now.

[Socaliente]

I can deal with a team that isnt built to win. But this team was put together with the intention to win now. And they havent been winning now for 4 years. The stars that are expected to lead the team and destroys others are our weakest link. Thats what makes it frustrating, they should be in the race, but theres always too many excuses.

 

 

 

Fire Sosh, it would make us all feel better.

[Tank]

you know it's a bad season when even the diehard teenagers are taking a breather.