AngelsWin.com

By Ellen Bell, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer - 
Picture this: It’s the summer of 1947 and you’re on the grass at Ebbets Field. You’re feeling the heat in your Dodger flannel as you watch Jackie Robinson fly by right before your eyes, safe at first.  
This wasn't a dream, but the first day on the set for Rob Goldman who spent five weeks as an extra on the film, “42.”  
“I kept thinking to myself that day, ‘Holy Cow, how did I get here?” said Goldman, an actor and life-long baseball fan. 
For Rob Goldman, the journey to his summer of “42” began years ago, when as a boy he met Jackie Robinson at Dodger Stadium. It was an exhibition game in 1971 honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Goldman crossed paths with Robinson in the stands and got an autographed program as a souvenir. 
“I had my own Jackie Robinson moment,” he said.  
Years later, as an actor who has appeared in such films as “Dances With Wolves” and “JFK” , Goldman heard about the possibility of a movie about his boyhood idol. Several different directors tried to make the film, but writer-director Brian Helgeland was the first to get a green light and make it a reality.  
“When I heard about the project,” said Goldman “I had to take a chance.” 
In May of 2012, Goldman traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to begin shooting the baseball sequences for the film. Extras aren't guaranteed screen time on a film. Like minor league baseball players, they need to be ready when it’s their chance to bat. On the first day of shooting, Goldman saw an opportunity and stepped up to the plate.  
“People were taking the field and I saw that there was no one coaching first base,” Goldman said. “Instead of waiting for someone to ask, I just took the spot. I hit my marks on the first take and it became my job for the rest of the shoot.” 
That’s where Goldman can be seen in the film, coaching first base and getting in the umpire’s face after a blown call.  
“ I've played and coached a lot of baseball so I brought my experience to the film. It felt good to contribute and be part of the team.” 
Teamwork was prevalent on the set, as more than 100 baseball players worked together   to film the action scenes. There were three different baseball groups; the cast members who had speaking roles and the “Graf Dodgers” named for the college students led by second unit director Allan Graf, who played the other teams. Goldman was part of the third group, called The Rovers.  
“We were the guys who would fill in the holes, playing whatever else was needed.” 
As weeks of shooting passed, the groups of actors became a real team, contributing on the field and joking around in the locker room.  
“There was an atmosphere of teamwork on the project,” Goldman remembered. “The actors weren't ego driven at all. Chad (Chadwick Boseman who played Jackie Robinson) was just one of the guys. Harrison Ford had no trappings, no entourage. He just wanted to be part of the team.” 
“Everyone was committed to the project. The subject matter was too important and everyone wanted to get it right. They put their egos aside.”  
The result is a film destined to become a baseball classic. “42” is a powerful portrayal filled with teachable messages for children. 
Jackie Robinson’s widow, Rachel, was very involved in the making of the film. She felt that the tone should be honest yet appropriate for a younger audience. The racial language is disturbing but necessary in the context of the story. Ultimately, the story of Jackie Robinson is given the respect and reverence it deserves.  
So how does it feel to sit in a darkened movie theater and watch yourself on the screen? Rob Goldman says that, at first, all you see are the technical aspects of the film. Like the way Engel Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee was transformed into Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field though the magic of digital technology.  
But about halfway through the screening, something began to change.  
“I stopped noticing the technical stuff and got swept away in the story, “ Goldman said. “At some point the story took over.” 
So were the 16-hour workdays in southern humidity and weeks of Motel 6 stays worth it?  
“I walked out of the theater feeling very content. This movie’s going to be around for a long time, and I’m proud to be a part of something that can have such a positive impact,” 
Thinking about his life-long admiration of an American hero, he said, “This movie serves the legacy right.”
Pick up a copy of Rob Goldman's book "Once They Were Angels" here!  View the full article

By Ellen Bell, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer - 
Picture this: It’s the summer of 1947 and you’re on the grass at Ebbets Field. You’re feeling the heat in your Dodger flannel as you watch Jackie Robinson fly by right before your eyes, safe at first.  
This wasn't a dream, but the first day on the set for Rob Goldman who spent five weeks as an extra on the film, “42.”  
“I kept thinking to myself that day, ‘Holy Cow, how did I get here?” said Goldman, an actor and life-long baseball fan. 
For Rob Goldman, the journey to his summer of “42” began years ago, when as a boy he met Jackie Robinson at Dodger Stadium. It was an exhibition game in 1971 honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Goldman crossed paths with Robinson in the stands and got an autographed program as a souvenir. 
“I had my own Jackie Robinson moment,” he said.  
Years later, as an actor who has appeared in such films as “Dances With Wolves” and “JFK” , Goldman heard about the possibility of a movie about his boyhood idol. Several different directors tried to make the film, but writer-director Brian Helgeland was the first to get a green light and make it a reality.  
“When I heard about the project,” said Goldman “I had to take a chance.” 
In May of 2012, Goldman traveled to Birmingham, Alabama to begin shooting the baseball sequences for the film. Extras aren't guaranteed screen time on a film. Like minor league baseball players, they need to be ready when it’s their chance to bat. On the first day of shooting, Goldman saw an opportunity and stepped up to the plate.  
“People were taking the field and I saw that there was no one coaching first base,” Goldman said. “Instead of waiting for someone to ask, I just took the spot. I hit my marks on the first take and it became my job for the rest of the shoot.” 
That’s where Goldman can be seen in the film, coaching first base and getting in the umpire’s face after a blown call.  
“ I've played and coached a lot of baseball so I brought my experience to the film. It felt good to contribute and be part of the team.” 
Teamwork was prevalent on the set, as more than 100 baseball players worked together   to film the action scenes. There were three different baseball groups; the cast members who had speaking roles and the “Graf Dodgers” named for the college students led by second unit director Allan Graf, who played the other teams. Goldman was part of the third group, called The Rovers.  
“We were the guys who would fill in the holes, playing whatever else was needed.” 
As weeks of shooting passed, the groups of actors became a real team, contributing on the field and joking around in the locker room.  
“There was an atmosphere of teamwork on the project,” Goldman remembered. “The actors weren't ego driven at all. Chad (Chadwick Boseman who played Jackie Robinson) was just one of the guys. Harrison Ford had no trappings, no entourage. He just wanted to be part of the team.” 
“Everyone was committed to the project. The subject matter was too important and everyone wanted to get it right. They put their egos aside.”  
The result is a film destined to become a baseball classic. “42” is a powerful portrayal filled with teachable messages for children. 
Jackie Robinson’s widow, Rachel, was very involved in the making of the film. She felt that the tone should be honest yet appropriate for a younger audience. The racial language is disturbing but necessary in the context of the story. Ultimately, the story of Jackie Robinson is given the respect and reverence it deserves.  
So how does it feel to sit in a darkened movie theater and watch yourself on the screen? Rob Goldman says that, at first, all you see are the technical aspects of the film. Like the way Engel Field in Chattanooga, Tennessee was transformed into Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field though the magic of digital technology.  
But about halfway through the screening, something began to change.  
“I stopped noticing the technical stuff and got swept away in the story, “ Goldman said. “At some point the story took over.” 
So were the 16-hour workdays in southern humidity and weeks of Motel 6 stays worth it?  
“I walked out of the theater feeling very content. This movie’s going to be around for a long time, and I’m proud to be a part of something that can have such a positive impact,” 
Thinking about his life-long admiration of an American hero, he said, “This movie serves the legacy right.”
Pick up a copy of Rob Goldman's book "Once They Were Angels" here!  View the full article

The Angels Can Be Good for Your Health    
  By Glen Mckee, AngelsWin.com Columnist - 
  No really, despite the horrible start - what, is this 2012 again? - the Angels can be good for you!  You just have to have a plan.  I've had a plan that I have used for a few years, but usually taper off and on.    “The Angels Push-up Plan!”  In the past it was simple: do 10 push-ups for every run the Angels score.  Easy, straightforward, and it rewards your fandom with enhanced pecs if the Angels are doing well.    This season, I've been more serious about getting into better shape so I added to the plan: 10 push-ups for every run the Angels score, and five for every run the other guys score.   Eight games into the season, I've realized something important: even at a 1:2 ratio the other team is making me do more push-ups than the Angels are. Thanks blowpen and questionable starters!  I wonder if I can somehow deduct money spent on Angels gear by claiming Mike Butcher as my trainer, because of his wonderful work with the pitching staff?   If you're into fitness at all then you know that repetitious training is not good for the long term; if I keep doing just push-ups eventually there won't be much benefit to them. So, taking a good look at how the Angels have performed so far I've come up with … “The New and Improved Angels Fitness Program!”   This complete training regimen that will have your flabby body beach-ready in a month, but only if you stick to it.  Oh, and you have to do this for every game.  No slacking!  Note that with the exception of the push-ups (in case of a high-scoring game), all of these should be done during the game when the events happen (there will be some overlap, but do them in order of occurrence).  OK, here's the program: 
* Every run the Angels score: 10 push-ups.   * Every run the other team scores: five push-ups.   * Every runner left on base (non-scoring-position): 10 four-count jumping jacks.

* Every runner left on base (scoring position): Two eight-count body builders 
(http://www.youtube.c...h?v=TxQT-wZdP28).   * Every inning an Angels starter gives up more than one run in an inning: Plank for 30 seconds    * Every time Albert Pujols screws up on the bases: 10 leg-lifts  (http://www.youtube.c...h?v=l-mPHKQFMkk)   * Every time Josh Hamilton strikes out: Run in place for 30 seconds.   * When the camera shows Mike Scioscia looking confused: Jump rope for one minute.   * The bullpen, according to your own definition, is mismanaged: 10 good morning darlings  (http://www.youtube.c...h?v=tv8drdaRWL8 go to 1:49)   * The Angels get a clutch hit with RISP: eat two raw kale leaves.   * Dino Ebel waves a runner home while standing about 10 feet from home plate: 10 arm windmills, both directions.    * You find yourself saying "Scioscia made the right move there" and are surprised by that: 20 crunches of your choice.   * The Angels take the lead and then give it up in the next half -inning: eat a can of spinach.   * The game goes longer than three hours: drink a beer, you're gonna need it (yes, I know this goes against fitness in general but you need to reward yourself a bit too).   * The Angels lose: 15 angry squats or five minutes on a speed bag.   * The Angels win: Two sets of 10 star-jumps:    * The Angels come from behind and hold on to win: find your significant other and make sweet, sweet love to him or her.  

Note: if you let this be the only time you make sweet, sweet love I am not responsible for broken relationships due to the infrequency of boot-knocking. Trust me, you'll need to do it more often than this.  Much more.   That's it, folks!  Follow this plan and you'll go from Paul Giamatti to Channing Tatum or Melissa McCarthy to Anne Hathaway by the end of the season!

By Glen Mckee, AngelsWin.com columnist - 

“We will always be busy making misery” - Soul Asylum, "Misery"
I've been an Angels fan since 1979, when as a wee lad of 10 and I started paying attention to baseball.  I remember having the "Yes We CAN!" button proudly displayed at the top of my button board after I made the decision to root for this team.  Unfortunately, they couldn't.  Not that year, not in 1982, not in 1986, and not any year until 2002 and not again since then. 
I'm still a relative rookie in terms of Angels misery, compared to some of the misery veterans that have been around since the beginning in 1961.  However, yesterday something made me realize that I am indeed a misery-aholic and the Angels are my poison of choice. 
Before I explain that, I have to confess that although I enjoy my Angels misery I understand it's not even a bummer compared to what Cubs fans have experienced.  Or fans of any Cleveland football or basketball team.  However, I do take some sad pleasure in recently passing Red Sox fans on the misery index.  They had a much longer and more miserable spell but they won two World Series' in a handful of years, and that effectively ended their misery cred.  Shut up, Seattle fans.  And San Diego fans.
Anyway...this year, after once again making a big free-agent signing splash the Angels started out horrible.  Some posters on AngelsWin.com, myself included, were already writing off the season before the game on Friday, April 19.  The Angels were 4-10, a 1/2 game out of last place, and looked horrible.  Starting pitching was awful, the offense was inconsistent, hitting with RISP was - I'm running out of synonyms for "suck" here - abysmal, and the bullpen was a train wreck (apologies to the nice train wrecks out there).  And then Friday night's game ... 
Even for the first seven innings and a 3-0 lead, misery held sway like it usually does.  Scoring opportunities were wasted, Hanson was barely dodging bullets, and it felt like the bullpen was gonna blow the game and justify our (my) misery.  And then in the bottom of the 8th the Angels turned everything around.  They put up a crooked number of runs for the first time since we had a different president, the bullpen did its job against a (struggling) playoff-caliber team, the game was won and misery was hesitantly pushed aside to celebrate the game.  And then Saturday happened ... 
I was at a matinee movie so I missed the incredible first inning (and several after that) so I never had time to get miserable.  After the game was over I found my misery, though, if only just barely.  â€œThey'll probably lose tomorrow,” I thought to myself.  Petting my misery like it was a hurt dog.  And then Sunday happened…
For a while my misery once again seemed justified.  The Angels faced an early 3-1 deficit.  Woohoo, they're gonna blow it again!  Then the Angels tied the game and misery went to hang out in the basement, sulking.  As the game progressed into extra innings misery crept back upstairs and sat beside me.  She (misery is always the opposite sex) didn't have to say anything; I knew she was there and she knew I knew.
Then Trumbo came up in the bottom of the 13th inning and he kicked misery back down the stairs into the basement and slammed the door shut.  She didn't even protest (perhaps because she knew...).  Mark didn't even break his leg jumping on home plate, which was like gagging misery.
I was excited!  The Angels just completed a sweep, and played three straight games the way they should have played most every games this season.  For the last three days everything was firing on all eight cylinders - this team is a V-8 for sure!  But then I looked to my left, and whaddaya know ... misery was sitting there again. 
I thought about the series for a bit and then went to AngelsWin.com to create a thread titled "How much worse can Hamilton get?" - because he was the only bad spot this weekend. 
After posting the thread I began to feel a little guilty for sharing my misery on what was truly a happy day for Angels baseball.  So shortly thereafter I tried to make amends by posting another thread talking about how good it felt to sweep.  However, that thread sank down the board while the Hamilton thread kept getting posts.  (Apparently misery does in fact love company.)  
It was a feeble attempt to pretend that the misery wasn't riding shotgun with me.  I tried to tell myself it wasn't and then thought about the series coming up: three games with Texas in Anaheim.  My first thought: “Man, I hope we don't get swept.”  I couldn't even enjoy the weekend.
We could build a factory and make misery.  But not now.  That'll start tomorrow night if the Angels fall behind.  Until then, I'm kicking misery back into the basement where she belongs! 
For now. View the full article

By Jessica Grey, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer -   There’s no way to sugar coat this: the start of this season has sucked.  I’m a generally optimistic person, but even I’m having a hard time finding the silver linings in this particular black cloud.

Sometimes good things come out of bad starts.  I know you’ve heard the comparison before, but the 2002 season did start off pretty crappy.  True, the win/loss ratio was a little bit better than it is right now, but it was still bad.  The 2009 season also started out with struggle, albeit for different and much more important reasons then just losing baseball games. 

Both of those seasons saw the Angels recovering from their early struggles and going on to postseason play.  And of course the 2002 season ended with the Angels as the champions of baseball.

“Yeah, yeah,” you say, “But we are an almost entirely different team than we were in 2009, and most definitely a different team than we were in 2002.”

This is true.  It’s also true that maybe “recovering” from a bad start isn’t the right term.  It’s not like you just get over this kind of defeat and go away unchanged as a person or a ball club.  The early struggle becomes a part of who you are, a part of how you play.  I would argue that without the bad start in 2002—if the Angels had come out and been a middle of the road team, maybe gone 10-10 instead of 6-14, it might have been easier to say “well, this is just going to be another average year.

It’s so much easier to be complacent when you’re cruising around in the average lane.

It’s harder when you can objectively look at something and say “Wow, we suck. Something needs to be done.”  Because then you actually have to do things.  Things like change and grow and get better.

That—the coming out of the fire and being better for it—that’s what makes great stories.  That’s why every single sports movie starts with a team not doing well.  It’s why championship teams like the 2002 Angels speak so strongly to us, why they live in our memory for so long. Would it be fun for fans and awesome for the players if a team started out fantastic, stayed fantastic, and ended fantastic?  Of course.  But it would be just that—fun.  The reward is sweeter when the struggle has been harder.

Of course this doesn’t address the issue of what the Angels can do to change—to grow from the place they are now.  And as much as I’d like to act like I can talk with authority about what it takes to run a professional baseball team, balancing every single thing that needs to go into putting together a winning season, it would be just that—an act.  I think, if we were honest, it is for most fans.  We all have our own ideas about what would work, what reliever should come in and in what inning...I suspect it might be a little bit more difficult to make those choices if we were actually in charge (please note, I am not saying fans don’t have a right to complain about manager decisions, complain all you want).

So am I frustrated by our rough start?  Yes.  Does it depress me?  Yes.  Am I sorry it happened?  I don’t know yet.

If the Angels can pull themselves together as a team, walk out of this fire, and come out stronger and more cohesive as a team, then no.  I will not be sorry one bit for any of these losses.  If they can’t, I will be sorry...but maybe not for the losses.

As a fan I believe they will come out of it.  I can look at the group of guys on our team and honestly say that I am sure they will pull it together.  The only question in my mind is how long will it take.  I know that the response of many fans will be, “Well, it better be soon or we won’t have a chance at the post season.”  Personally, I’m not even going to worry about the post season right now.  I want to see good baseball.  I want to see a functioning, healthy team. 

Here’s what we have going for us: being in last place.  You read that right. For me, at least, there’s a freedom in being in last place.  To hit rock bottom nice and early so that you can experience the pain and struggle and that uncomfortable growth process before you’ve settled into complacency.

Let me put it this way: I’d rather having a crappy record now than a mediocre one with a crash later.

I could end this with any number of cliches - it’s always darkest before the dawn, the reward will be sweeter (oh wait, I already used that one), there’s nowhere to go but up, (insert your favorite cliche here).  But I won’t, even though they’re mostly true.  I’ll end with this instead:

The start of this season has sucked. I look forward to the rest of the season.

By Danny Farris, AngelsWin.com Contributor -

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Danny Farris and I'm a huge Angels fan. My first Angels game was when I was 5 and I witnessed JT Snow hit a bomb. I learned that not only was he a local kid, he went to the same high school that I was going to go to. Ever since that day I was absolutely hooked. And because of THAT moment (and to make an extremely long story short) I am currently sitting in the MLB Fan Cave in Manhattan representing our Halos.
The great guys at AngelsWin.com contacted me and asked if I could write a weekly blog giving you guys the highlights of the Cave and I jumped at the opportunity. I'm not only here for myself - I'm here for all of you Angels fans as well. I'd like for us to share this experience and this is a great way to do it. For those who do not know what the Fan Cave is, let me give you a quick explanation. The Cave is an event space in NYC built so that myself and the other Cave Dwellers can watch every game throughout the season. Us Dwellers went through an application process and MLB ultimately selected nine of us to watch these games and bridge the gap between baseball and pop culture. So far this season we have met members of the Padres bullpen, Marlins catcher Rob Brantly, and this weekend with the Orioles in town, Chris Davis and Darren O'Day will come in to film a skit with us. We've only been here for about two weeks and it's already been the experience of a lifetime. I never want to leave, but there are eliminations throughout the year, leading to an Ultimate Cave Dweller being crowned at the end of the year.
So throughout the season, I'm going to be sharing stories and updates from the Cave as well as voicing my opinion about the Angels. Right now I don't really want to talk about them. I know it's early, but the pain is still present. I will say that I really like Garrett Richards and I think he will do well in the starting role.
You can see all of our videos and blogs on MLBFanCave.com. 

I'd highly recommend following @MLBFanCave on Twitter. Not only do they post happenings around the Cave, but they post awesome things that baseball fans would love. You can follow me @ohshootitsdan as well. If you guys have any questions, let me know! I'd be happy to answer questions from everybody. I look forward to interacting with everybody this year!

By Danny Farris, AngelsWin.com Contributor -

Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Danny Farris and I'm a huge Angels fan. My first Angels game was when I was 5 and I witnessed JT Snow hit a bomb. I learned that not only was he a local kid, he went to the same high school that I was going to go to. Ever since that day I was absolutely hooked. And because of THAT moment (and to make an extremely long story short) I am currently sitting in the MLB Fan Cave in Manhattan representing our Halos.
The great guys at AngelsWin.com contacted me and asked if I could write a weekly blog giving you guys the highlights of the Cave and I jumped at the opportunity. I'm not only here for myself - I'm here for all of you Angels fans as well. I'd like for us to share this experience and this is a great way to do it. For those who do not know what the Fan Cave is, let me give you a quick explanation. The Cave is an event space in NYC built so that myself and the other Cave Dwellers can watch every game throughout the season. Us Dwellers went through an application process and MLB ultimately selected nine of us to watch these games and bridge the gap between baseball and pop culture. So far this season we have met members of the Padres bullpen, Marlins catcher Rob Brantly, and this weekend with the Orioles in town, Chris Davis and Darren O'Day will come in to film a skit with us. We've only been here for about two weeks and it's already been the experience of a lifetime. I never want to leave, but there are eliminations throughout the year, leading to an Ultimate Cave Dweller being crowned at the end of the year.
So throughout the season, I'm going to be sharing stories and updates from the Cave as well as voicing my opinion about the Angels. Right now I don't really want to talk about them. I know it's early, but the pain is still present. I will say that I really like Garrett Richards and I think he will do well in the starting role.
You can see all of our videos and blogs on MLBFanCave.com. 

I'd highly recommend following @MLBFanCave on Twitter. Not only do they post happenings around the Cave, but they post awesome things that baseball fans would love. You can follow me @ohshootitsdan as well. If you guys have any questions, let me know! I'd be happy to answer questions from everybody. I look forward to interacting with everybody this year!

The Angels Can Be Good for Your Health    
  By Glen Mckee, AngelsWin.com Columnist - 
  No really, despite the horrible start - what, is this 2012 again? - the Angels can be good for you!  You just have to have a plan.  I've had a plan that I have used for a few years, but usually taper off and on.    “The Angels Push-up Plan!”  In the past it was simple: do 10 push-ups for every run the Angels score.  Easy, straightforward, and it rewards your fandom with enhanced pecs if the Angels are doing well.    This season, I've been more serious about getting into better shape so I added to the plan: 10 push-ups for every run the Angels score, and five for every run the other guys score.   Eight games into the season, I've realized something important: even at a 1:2 ratio the other team is making me do more push-ups than the Angels are. Thanks blowpen and questionable starters!  I wonder if I can somehow deduct money spent on Angels gear by claiming Mike Butcher as my trainer, because of his wonderful work with the pitching staff?   If you're into fitness at all then you know that repetitious training is not good for the long term; if I keep doing just push-ups eventually there won't be much benefit to them. So, taking a good look at how the Angels have performed so far I've come up with … “The New and Improved Angels Fitness Program!”   This complete training regimen that will have your flabby body beach-ready in a month, but only if you stick to it.  Oh, and you have to do this for every game.  No slacking!  Note that with the exception of the push-ups (in case of a high-scoring game), all of these should be done during the game when the events happen (there will be some overlap, but do them in order of occurrence).  OK, here's the program: 
* Every run the Angels score: 10 push-ups.   * Every run the other team scores: five push-ups.   * Every runner left on base (non-scoring-position): 10 four-count jumping jacks.

* Every runner left on base (scoring position): Two eight-count body builders 
(http://www.youtube.c...h?v=TxQT-wZdP28).   * Every inning an Angels starter gives up more than one run in an inning: Plank for 30 seconds    * Every time Albert Pujols screws up on the bases: 10 leg-lifts  (http://www.youtube.c...h?v=l-mPHKQFMkk)   * Every time Josh Hamilton strikes out: Run in place for 30 seconds.   * When the camera shows Mike Scioscia looking confused: Jump rope for one minute.   * The bullpen, according to your own definition, is mismanaged: 10 good morning darlings  (http://www.youtube.c...h?v=tv8drdaRWL8 go to 1:49)   * The Angels get a clutch hit with RISP: eat two raw kale leaves.   * Dino Ebel waves a runner home while standing about 10 feet from home plate: 10 arm windmills, both directions.    * You find yourself saying "Scioscia made the right move there" and are surprised by that: 20 crunches of your choice.   * The Angels take the lead and then give it up in the next half -inning: eat a can of spinach.   * The game goes longer than three hours: drink a beer, you're gonna need it (yes, I know this goes against fitness in general but you need to reward yourself a bit too).   * The Angels lose: 15 angry squats or five minutes on a speed bag.   * The Angels win: Two sets of 10 star-jumps:    * The Angels come from behind and hold on to win: find your significant other and make sweet, sweet love to him or her.  

Note: if you let this be the only time you make sweet, sweet love I am not responsible for broken relationships due to the infrequency of boot-knocking. Trust me, you'll need to do it more often than this.  Much more.   That's it, folks!  Follow this plan and you'll go from Paul Giamatti to Channing Tatum or Melissa McCarthy to Anne Hathaway by the end of the season!

The Angels Can Be Good for Your Health    
  By Glen Mckee, AngelsWin.com Columnist - 
  No really, despite the horrible start - what, is this 2012 again? - the Angels can be good for you!  You just have to have a plan.  I've had a plan that I have used for a few years, but usually taper off and on.    “The Angels Push-up Plan!”  In the past it was simple: do 10 push-ups for every run the Angels score.  Easy, straightforward, and it rewards your fandom with enhanced pecs if the Angels are doing well.    This season, I've been more serious about getting into better shape so I added to the plan: 10 push-ups for every run the Angels score, and five for every run the other guys score.   Eight games into the season, I've realized something important: even at a 1:2 ratio the other team is making me do more push-ups than the Angels are. Thanks blowpen and questionable starters!  I wonder if I can somehow deduct money spent on Angels gear by claiming Mike Butcher as my trainer, because of his wonderful work with the pitching staff?   If you're into fitness at all then you know that repetitious training is not good for the long term; if I keep doing just push-ups eventually there won't be much benefit to them. So, taking a good look at how the Angels have performed so far I've come up with … “The New and Improved Angels Fitness Program!”   This complete training regimen that will have your flabby body beach-ready in a month, but only if you stick to it.  Oh, and you have to do this for every game.  No slacking!  Note that with the exception of the push-ups (in case of a high-scoring game), all of these should be done during the game when the events happen (there will be some overlap, but do them in order of occurrence).  OK, here's the program: 
* Every run the Angels score: 10 push-ups.   * Every run the other team scores: five push-ups.   * Every runner left on base (non-scoring-position): 10 four-count jumping jacks.

* Every runner left on base (scoring position): Two eight-count body builders 
(http://www.youtube.c...h?v=TxQT-wZdP28).   * Every inning an Angels starter gives up more than one run in an inning: Plank for 30 seconds    * Every time Albert Pujols screws up on the bases: 10 leg-lifts  (http://www.youtube.c...h?v=l-mPHKQFMkk)   * Every time Josh Hamilton strikes out: Run in place for 30 seconds.   * When the camera shows Mike Scioscia looking confused: Jump rope for one minute.   * The bullpen, according to your own definition, is mismanaged: 10 good morning darlings  (http://www.youtube.c...h?v=tv8drdaRWL8 go to 1:49)   * The Angels get a clutch hit with RISP: eat two raw kale leaves.   * Dino Ebel waves a runner home while standing about 10 feet from home plate: 10 arm windmills, both directions.    * You find yourself saying "Scioscia made the right move there" and are surprised by that: 20 crunches of your choice.   * The Angels take the lead and then give it up in the next half -inning: eat a can of spinach.   * The game goes longer than three hours: drink a beer, you're gonna need it (yes, I know this goes against fitness in general but you need to reward yourself a bit too).   * The Angels lose: 15 angry squats or five minutes on a speed bag.   * The Angels win: Two sets of 10 star-jumps:    * The Angels come from behind and hold on to win: find your significant other and make sweet, sweet love to him or her.  

Note: if you let this be the only time you make sweet, sweet love I am not responsible for broken relationships due to the infrequency of boot-knocking. Trust me, you'll need to do it more often than this.  Much more.   That's it, folks!  Follow this plan and you'll go from Paul Giamatti to Channing Tatum or Melissa McCarthy to Anne Hathaway by the end of the season!

The Boys Are Back In Town!      
By Geoff Stoddart, Director of Social Media   “The Jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite song The nights are gettin' warmer it won’t be long Won’t be long ‘til summer comes Now that the boys are here again   The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town!!! The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town!!!”   You’re like a modern day Paul Revere.   You throw the top down on your convertible roll your windows down all the way and/or slide back your sunroof.  You hit play on your CD player and drive through Southern California with this Thin Lizzy song blasting through your crackling speakers.  Just as Paul Revere announced that, “the British are coming,” you’re telling the world, “The boys are back in town!  Angels baseball is back!”    It’s time to “play ball!”  And it’s time to gather up Angels fans from around the southland to celebrate baseball’s glorious return!   You are cordially invited to join your fellow Halo fans on Tuesday April 9th at the OC Sports Grill for the Angels Home Opener Pregame and Watch Party!  If you've got tickets to the game, stop in for some in-bar tailgating!  If you don’t have tickets, come in and watch the action on one of the 50 HDTVs or 3 thirteen foot projector screens!  Join us starting at 5pm and take advantage of specials on food and drinks:  $3 tequila shots, $4 margaritas, $4 imperial imports and 2 tacos for $3!  We’ll also be auctioning off Angels items throughout the evening!   “The boys are back in town!  Angels baseball is back!”  Let’s celebrate!   RSVP HERE

By Gregory Bird, AngelsWin.com Staff Writer - 
During Spring Training this year and during Jered Weaver’s first start against Cincinnati there has been some concern about the ability of our Ace to continue being one. Can he survive his diminishing velocity on his fastball as he ages? The basic fear is ‘will we still have an ace that can strike people out or not? Or without Weaver pitching like an ace will we be able to win the World Series this year?’ There are some real concerns here but I suspect we have nothing to fear because Weaver has continued to evolve as pitcher learning other tools to succeed on the mound. 

Over the past three years Weaver has been the unquestioned number 1 in the Angels’ rotation. 2011 was Weaver’s best year by ERA+. ERA+ is a stat that our front office really likes. It takes a pitcher's ERA, adjusts it for park factors, and compares it to the league average. He had a 156 ERA+ in 2011 and anything over a 100 (league average) is good.
2010 was Weaver’s best year by FIP. FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching, is a stat that measures what it is believed the pitcher can control and converts it to an expected ERA, assuming they had league average defense backing them up. FIP assumes that a pitcher has no control of how his fielders play the ball behind him and therefore no control of what happens to balls hitters put into play. The things a pitcher can control are called “The Three True Outcomes” and they are: walks, strikeouts, and home runs.
The difference between Weaver from 2010-2012 and when he first entered the league is easy to see. He cut down his walk percentage from around 7.3% to 6.1%. He cut down his home runs per 9 innings from 1.05 to around .9. He also increased his use of his curveball (2010) and introduced his no-seam fastball (2010) and his cut fastball (2011) to keep hitters more off-balance. All of these changes coincide with a dramatic reduction in his Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) to below or well below league average. Basically this means fewer balls hit by batters in the field of play end up as hits.
The bad news that causes people to question Weaver is twofold: Weaver’s Fastball velocity has dropped from 90.1 to 88 or 87 and his strikeout percentage has dropped from 25.8% (2010) to 19.2% (2012.) With these lower speeds and lower strikeout rates can Weaver continue his success or will he wilt? Will it happen in 2013, when we need him to stabilize our perceived weak rotation? Can he sustain his previous success as he ages?
The more I dug into his numbers the more I learned about how he pitches and how he is continuing to evolve as a pitcher. Weaver has succeeded in three different ways in his career and I want to first talk about how he’s done it to see if he can continue.
When Weaver’s first came up to the big leagues in 2006/2007 he was relying primarily on his 4-seam fastball and his deception to strikeout hitters. His cross firing delivery made hitters uncomfortable and made his fastball seem faster than it was. This allowed for more infield fly-balls (automatic outs) and more strikeouts (21.4% in 2006 and 20.4% in 2008.) He struggled with runners getting on base due to his higher walk rate during this time, which would often come back and bite him. His BABIP was fairly normal in the league. How well he performed was related to his defense and how lucky he was when he allowed the Homerun, which he was prone to as an extreme fly-ball pitcher.
As an important note, being a fly-ball pitcher is not always a bad thing, as many people tend to believe today. Often we hear ground-ball pitchers being praised as the best and this is due to the rise in the value of “the Three True Outcomes” in baseball. The reasons analysts value ground-ball pitchers more now is because it is hard for a pitcher who gets more ground-balls to give up many homeruns (the worst of the three outcomes.) A fly-ball pitcher is obviously more apt to give up HRs because he has more chances to do so. What is often not realized is that when we compare ground-balls to fly-balls we find “fly-balls that aren’t home runs have a mere .167 batting average compared to ground-balls that have a .236 batting average.” If a pitcher can consistently keep the balls in the yard or runners off base than he can do well giving up fly-balls.
Now, sometime in 2009 Weaver came to believe that allowing batters to put the ball in play was not a terrible thing. Around that time he was convinced he needed to get deeper in the game and not worry as much about striking hitters out. He began his journey of getting early count outs, limiting base runners, and pitching deeper into games, but can we measure this?
First, Weaver began to change his pitching repertoire. He began using his no-seam fastball and increased his curveball use from 8.6% in 2009 to 13% in 2010. His curveball use has since leveled off at around 10.6%. His curveball creates a different look for him and it is a good pitch for him to confuse the hitters timing since it clocks in around 70 MPH, or 17-20 MPH slower than his fastball. His no-seam sinker also helps to reduce line-drives and gives him another look to the hitters. These also could serve to create more weak contact by hitters and easier outs.
Second, his walk percentage dropped in the 2010 season from 7.5% to 6% and remained at 6.1% in 2012. He wanted to pitch to more contact in 2009 but as he continued to walk hitters he found it detrimental to the tune of a 3.75 ERA that year. He seems to have worked to reduce his walks the following year. The only thing this seems to coincide with is his introduction of the sinker and increased use of his curveball, as mentioned earlier. Not sure if that helped him with control but the fact remains he did limit his free passes which really helped to turn it around for him.
Finally, Weaver pitched more innings. In 2008 he pitched only 176.2 innings. He increased that in 2009 to 211 but his success didn’t really start until he reduced his walk rate in both 2010 and 2011 where he pitched 220+ innings a year. He got deeper in games and became more of a workhorse by keeping the bases clearer.
This leads us to Weaver’s second style of pitching which was to remain a fly-ball pitcher but reduce both solid contact and runners on base. With fewer runners on base when someone hit a homerun, he could limit the damages. Also, they wouldn’t be able to square up his curveball or sinker and hit as many line-drives off him. 
We can see this in his reduced line-drive percentage in 2010. This is important for a pitcher because hitters have a batting average around .600 on line-drives. We know there are two things that help to prevent line-drives: “1) good sinking pitches and; 2) throwing hard.” Weaver’s good velocity in 2010 and his introduction of his no-seam sinker and curveball resulted in an immediate LD% drop of 3%, but it wasn’t a sustainable drop. The reason it wasn’t sustainable could’ve been due to Weaver’s drop in velocity in 2011 because “faster pitches in general seem to lead to a lower LD%” and slower pitches do not. 
This leads us to how Weaver adjusted to these changes last year. He seems to have begun to reinvent himself a third time via the influence of pitchers on his team. 
Near the end of Scott Shields’ career, in 2009/2010, he began to teach Weaver his no-seam sinking fastball. As we already mentioned, Weaver worked hard to learn it and brought it into games in 2010. This helped Weaver to reduce his reliance on his 4-seam fastball. In 2009 Weaver threw the 4-seamer 47.4% of the time. In 2010 he threw the 4-seamer 38.2% and the no-seamer 17.4%. Last year Weaver increased his no-seam fastball even more to a 24.6% clip and decreased his 4-seam use to only 28.3%.
Sometime between August 2010 and the start of the 2011 season Weaver began to learn Dan Haren’s cut fastball. As Weaver’s fastball velocity was dropping in 2011 he began to add the cutter into his repertory of pitches 6% of the time. Weaver used his 4-seam FB even less in 2011, only 30.5% of the time, to allow for his increased use of his other two fastballs. 
With Weaver losing more velocity on his fastball last year he decided to transition away from being an extreme fly-ball pitcher. With his increased cutter use (9.0%) and the increased use of his sinker (24.6%) he has reduced his overall fly-ball percentage to 42.8% from his career average of around 48%. This is still well above the league average last year of 33.9% but it is a significant move down for Weaver. Also his GB/FB rate went up considerably from an averaging around .7 to .84 in 2012. This means more ground-balls as compared to fly-balls. This again is still well below the league average of 1.33 but a significant change for Weaver. 
With all this movement on his fastball he is no longer relying on the 4-seam fastball and the strikeout to get hitters out and his K% has dropped accordingly back to 19.2%. While still respectable it is only slightly above the league average of 18.7%. But while reducing strikeouts he has also dramatically increased his double play percentage from his career norm of around 5% to last year’s 11% rate (league average.)
With all these changes Weaver’s BABIP has remained well below the league average and this has really been his advantage. This started in 2009 and 2010 when Weaver still had his hard fastball with deception. As his velocity decreases Weaver is trying to maintain that lower BABIP with ball movement. In an article on FanGraphs about pitcher’s BABIP this quote appeared after a description about pitch types and their effect on BABIP, “It seems movement is a lot more important than speed when it comes to fastballs and BABIP.”
Weaver is challenging the accepted norms of the sabermetric world. Back when the idea of “The Three True Outcomes” was postulated there was still more to be learned. These lessons come from the outliers. Weaver is one of those outliers. He continues to succeed where he should not be able to. He has, what many would consider, an unsustainably low BABIP with a declining strikeout rate. This should be the obvious sign that he will regress to the mean, but he has not done so. 
Weaver is showing us all that there is a lot more that pitchers can control than just walks, strikeouts, and home runs. Recently a lot of work is being done to validate a fourth true outcome, infield fly-balls. Other work, like the article linked to here that I’ve quoted from, have shown that there are correlations between the outcome and how a pitcher chooses to pitch. 
Weaver has chosen to give up the holy grail of strikeouts and simply work on what he can. He has reduced walks and increased weak contact through movement and changing speeds. He utilizes the tools he has, develops more as needed, and does all he can to limit his opponents BABIP (although he probably sees it as limiting their batting average.) 
With Weaver’s ability to evolve and learn I believe that he can continue his success as the ace of the Angels’ staff. Could things go wrong? Sure. But will they? Not likely. This is because Weaver will adjust to them. That is what great players do. The league adjusts to them and they adjust to the league. Weaver will make it work, no matter what the velocity. 

Buy your Los Angeles Angels Tickets here! View the full article

Join hosts Adam Dodge and Geoff Stoddart as they welcome in AngelsWin.com Founder and Executive Editor, Chuck Richter.
Tonight the gang discussed their thoughts on the Angels Opening Day extra innings win over the Reds. What should we take away from the victory?  Are the Halos on their way to a 162-0 season?
They also went out on the limb to make their 2013 fearless predictions. Is Mike Trout going to sweep through all of the offensive categories or do the guys see other people rising up to lead the way?  
Listen in and find out below!

Listen to internet radio with AngelsWin on Blog Talk Radio View the full article

The Boys Are Back In Town!      
By Geoff Stoddart, Director of Social Media   “The Jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite song The nights are gettin' warmer it won’t be long Won’t be long ‘til summer comes Now that the boys are here again   The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town!!! The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town!!!”   You’re like a modern day Paul Revere.   You throw the top down on your convertible roll your windows down all the way and/or slide back your sunroof.  You hit play on your CD player and drive through Southern California with this Thin Lizzy song blasting through your crackling speakers.  Just as Paul Revere announced that, “the British are coming,” you’re telling the world, “The boys are back in town!  Angels baseball is back!”    It’s time to “play ball!”  And it’s time to gather up Angels fans from around the southland to celebrate baseball’s glorious return!   You are cordially invited to join your fellow Halo fans on Tuesday April 9th at the OC Sports Grill for the Angels Home Opener Pregame and Watch Party!  If you've got tickets to the game, stop in for some in-bar tailgating!  If you don’t have tickets, come in and watch the action on one of the 50 HDTVs or 3 thirteen foot projector screens!  Join us starting at 5pm and take advantage of specials on food and drinks:  $3 tequila shots, $4 margaritas, $4 imperial imports and 2 tacos for $3!  We’ll also be auctioning off Angels items throughout the evening!   “The boys are back in town!  Angels baseball is back!”  Let’s celebrate!   RSVP HERE

The Boys Are Back In Town!      
By Geoff Stoddart, Director of Social Media   “The Jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite song The nights are gettin' warmer it won’t be long Won’t be long ‘til summer comes Now that the boys are here again   The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town!!! The boys are back in town, the boys are back in town!!!”   You’re like a modern day Paul Revere.   You throw the top down on your convertible roll your windows down all the way and/or slide back your sunroof.  You hit play on your CD player and drive through Southern California with this Thin Lizzy song blasting through your crackling speakers.  Just as Paul Revere announced that, “the British are coming,” you’re telling the world, “The boys are back in town!  Angels baseball is back!”    It’s time to “play ball!”  And it’s time to gather up Angels fans from around the southland to celebrate baseball’s glorious return!   You are cordially invited to join your fellow Halo fans on Tuesday April 9th at the OC Sports Grill for the Angels Home Opener Pregame and Watch Party!  If you've got tickets to the game, stop in for some in-bar tailgating!  If you don’t have tickets, come in and watch the action on one of the 50 HDTVs or 3 thirteen foot projector screens!  Join us starting at 5pm and take advantage of specials on food and drinks:  $3 tequila shots, $4 margaritas, $4 imperial imports and 2 tacos for $3!  We’ll also be auctioning off Angels items throughout the evening!   “The boys are back in town!  Angels baseball is back!”  Let’s celebrate!   RSVP HERE

If you could make one move as the Angels GM, what would it be? Would you start planning a budget to sign Verlander or Kershaw? Would you make a big trade at the deadline? Would you micro-manage the lineup, like in the movie "Moneyball"? Would you start teaching all of your pitchers to throw the knuckle ball to try and produce the next R. A. Dickey?
As much as fans may want to the be the GM, the inner workings of a Major League front office are known to only a very few people in the world. And, most of the time, when a GM speaks, the message is very guarded, and often filtered by the media.
But, at the 2013 AngelsWin.com Spring Training Fanfest the fans were given a very rare treat--the opportunity to ask their questions directly to Jerry Dipoto, the General Manager for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. In a very candid, humorous, honest, and direct interview, Mr. Dipoto delved into all of the above issues and many more. 
Mr. Dipoto did not shy away from the tough questions from the fans and gave insights into the man who has come to be known on the internet as "JeDi". Talking with over 200 fans at the event, Mr. Dipoto answered the questions that the fans wanted answered and then stayed to sign autographs and take pictures with all who were present.
In what was the highlight to an incredible evening, the Board of Directors want to thank everyone involved from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and especially Mr. Jerry Dipoto, for taking the time to interact with  the fans. It was truly an incredible opportunity for everyone to learn and be entertained by one of the game's best GM's.
Click below to watch Jerry Dipoto talk with the fans at the 2013 AngelsWin.com Spring Training Fanfest.

View the full article

By Rob Goldman - AngelsWin.com Staff Writer

In eight seasons with the Angels Nolan Ryan had helped lead the team from obscurity to serious contention. And he had conducted himself with the utmost class, professionalism and dignity. The fans, press and ownership loved him unconditionally, so even though Ryan was without a contract heading into the 1979 off-season, there was little speculation that the ace would not be back with the Angels in 1980. Ryan would have been content to play out the rest of his career in Anaheim, which he proved by purchasing a new home in nearby Villa Park, California.
But GM Buzzie Bavasi ruined all that in the off season by not dealing with Ryan’s agent and making some disparaging remarks about Ryan to the press, the worse of which was his off hand suggestion that Ryan could easily be replaced by a couple of 8-7 pitchers. That was the final straw for Ryan. He put a “for sale” sign in front of his new Villa Park house, and told his agent Dick Moss to file for free agency.  Later that winter after he signed a contract with the Houston Astros for 1 million a year for three years, Ryan took out a full-page ad in the Orange County Register thanking Angels fans for their support and kindness. 
Many in the Angels organization wondered how the Angels organization could have ever let this happen. How could owner Gene Autry lose his star player, a once in a lifetime pitcher and someone he admired and admired? 
The Times Ross Newhan later admitted it was the franchises, “Biggest Mistake” 
“Gene had put a lot of faith in the people in the people he had working for him,” recalls Newhan. Should he have stepped in? Probably, because Nolan was one of his favorites and maybe he should have told Buzzie, ‘Lets not lose him. Go to any length that is reasonable.’ It was unfortunate. Up to that point he was probably the biggest attraction in Angels history.”
It’s easy for an Angels fan to look back and wonder, “What if…?”  In both 1982 and ’86, the Angels came within one game of winning the pennant. Would Ryan’s arm have made the difference? Nobody knows for sure, but obviously his presence would have been huge.
Don Baylor was among the many Angels saddened to see Ryan leave. 
“I remember Bavasi saying, ‘We can get two players to go 8-7 and we wouldn't miss Nolan Ryan."
“Well, we missed him. We missed him a lot. It took us a long time to get back to the playoffs. 
“Every time he pitched, 5,000-10,000 or more fans came to the ball game to watch him and that adds up,” Baylor adds. “The people he drew when he pitched would have taken care of his salary right here in Anaheim.”
Bavasi admits that if he had to do it over again, he would have dealt with Ryan directly and not through his agent. He still maintains however, that contracts negotiations should be based on record, pure and simple. Ryan won 138 games for the Angels and lost 121. On a team with a competent offense, his win total would have been significantly higher.
Eventually the Ryan’s came to see the move was for the best.
“He didn't want to leave,” recalls Ruth Ryan,” but it became a matter of principle. He really wanted to be with an organization he felt appreciated him. It was unfortunate but Buzzie was doing his job, and I don’t know if he handled things the right way or the wrong way. But once it happened, it happened. You just have to look ahead. You don’t look back.”
Ryan himself is characteristically gracious and to the point.
“I don’t have any hard feelings or animosity towards anyone,” he says, “because I’m a believer everything works out for the best and it did for me.”
Ryan pitched 14 more seasons, recording three more no hitters and 157 victories. Autry tried in vain to get Ryan back when he became a free agent in 1988, but Ryan opted to stay in Texas, mainly because he didn't want to uproot his family again. He entered the Hall of Fame in 1999 with kind words for Autry, the Angels organization and it’s fans.
© Rob Goldman, Once They Were Angels, 2006, 2013

View the full article

By Ellen Bell - AngelsWin.com Staff Writer
Spring Training is a time of renewal and recommitment to your team. It’s the one time of the year when all baseball fans have the luxury of believing that this could be their year. In those precious, optimistic weeks of March, before a single pitch has been thrown on Opening Day, anything is possible. 

That’s exactly why I buy my ticket to AngelsWin.com's Fanfest each year. It’s not only a chance to reconnect and share baseball optimism with online fan friends. It’s also a weekend of events and experiences that remind me of why I became a Angels fan in the first place.
At the 8th annual Fanfest Dinner on Saturday night, the ever expanding group of AngelsWin faithful gathered to see Tim Salmon. He spent an hour sharing stories and answering questions from grown adults who seemed more like giddy kids who were meeting their childhood hero.
Salmon didn’t come to boast about his many accomplishments or to bask in the glow of fan appreciation. He simply came to share his gratitude for a blessed career and to  honor the people and players who have helped him along the way. And then Big Tim Salmon, all-time Angel Great, left to watch his son perform in a school play, which simply confirms that he is the perfect man after all. 
Speaker after speaker spoke with humble eloquence of what Angels baseball means to them. General Manager Jerry Dipoto shared his belief that, even though statistical analysis is important, players are human beings and much more than numbers on a sabermetrics stat sheet. Broadcaster Victor Rojas spoke with reverence and respect for the game he has grown up with, and demonstrated the value of giving back with his #LTBU campaign for the Miracle League of Orange County. 
But the highlight for me every year is the Sunday morning, State of the Team Talk with Tim Mead, VP of Communications. If Angels Baseball is the gospel, Tim Mead is its preacher. Every year he speaks from the heart, sharing his personal convictions and memories of a team that he has served for more than 30 years. 
Honesty. Credibility. Character.
These are rare words in the world of professional sports today. When they appear, they shine like the Halo after a victory. 
#AWFanfest13 reminded me of why I’m an Angels fan. 
What happens on the field makes me a fan for the day. But it’s the franchise, the people and the players whose character I admire, that make me an Angels fan for life. 

View the full article

By Ellen Bell - AngelsWin.com Staff Writer
Spring Training is a time of renewal and recommitment to your team. It’s the one time of the year when all baseball fans have the luxury of believing that this could be their year. In those precious, optimistic weeks of March, before a single pitch has been thrown on Opening Day, anything is possible. 

That’s exactly why I buy my ticket to AngelsWin.com's Fanfest each year. It’s not only a chance to reconnect and share baseball optimism with online fan friends. It’s also a weekend of events and experiences that remind me of why I became a Angels fan in the first place.
At the 8th annual Fanfest Dinner on Saturday night, the ever expanding group of AngelsWin faithful gathered to see Tim Salmon. He spent an hour sharing stories and answering questions from grown adults who seemed more like giddy kids who were meeting their childhood hero.
Salmon didn’t come to boast about his many accomplishments or to bask in the glow of fan appreciation. He simply came to share his gratitude for a blessed career and to  honor the people and players who have helped him along the way. And then Big Tim Salmon, all-time Angel Great, left to watch his son perform in a school play, which simply confirms that he is the perfect man after all. 
Speaker after speaker spoke with humble eloquence of what Angels baseball means to them. General Manager Jerry Dipoto shared his belief that, even though statistical analysis is important, players are human beings and much more than numbers on a sabermetrics stat sheet. Broadcaster Victor Rojas spoke with reverence and respect for the game he has grown up with, and demonstrated the value of giving back with his #LTBU campaign for the Miracle League of Orange County. 
But the highlight for me every year is the Sunday morning, State of the Team Talk with Tim Mead, VP of Communications. If Angels Baseball is the gospel, Tim Mead is its preacher. Every year he speaks from the heart, sharing his personal convictions and memories of a team that he has served for more than 30 years. 
Honesty. Credibility. Character.
These are rare words in the world of professional sports today. When they appear, they shine like the Halo after a victory. 
#AWFanfest13 reminded me of why I’m an Angels fan. 
What happens on the field makes me a fan for the day. But it’s the franchise, the people and the players whose character I admire, that make me an Angels fan for life. 

View the full article

By Brian Waller,  AngelsWin.com Columnist --    This is the time of year all baseball fans look forward to. The weather is warming up, spring training games have started and each of us, no matter which team we support, have at least a glimmer of hope that this could be the season our favorite ballclub makes the post season. As fans look forward to the upcoming season, managers and coaches sift through dozens and dozens of players to put together their opening-day 25-man roster. So many different aspects go in to building a contending ballclub; the rotation, offense, bench, bullpen, minor league systems, etc. With so much information to follow from each team it may get a little overwhelming for the common fan. Fortunately, the MLB Network has an annual series called “30 Clubs / 30 Days”, the one stop shop for baseball fans wanting to scope out the competition or learn more about their team going into the season.   AngelsWin.com was provided an opportunity to discuss the upcoming 2013 season with MLB Network analyst Eric Byrnes. Many of you will remember Byrnes from his playing days with the Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Seattle Mariners. Byrnes has hung up the cleats for a position on MLB Network where he shares his baseball expertise and experience with viewers around the country.   Waller: First and foremost, on behalf of AngelsWin.com I just wanted to thank you for your time today, I know you have been roaming all over the Cactus League for the 30 Clubs / 30 Days feature on the MLB Network.   Byrnes: It’s my pleasure Brian. It has been a little crazy with visiting each club in the Cactus League; I have so many ERA’s, WHIPS, and WAR stats floating around in my head its crazy. It’s been enjoyable though catching up with the teams.   Waller: Now, jumping right into it, what are your thoughts on the moves the Angels made this past offseason, was it enough to shift the balance in the AL West?   Byrnes: You know, there is a lot of talent in the AL West. The A’s are for real and aren’t going anywhere. The Rangers still have the talent to compete and win the division so they are in the mix as well. The Angels definitely improved their offense. The addition of Hamilton gives them, in my opinion, potentially the best offense in baseball however; their rotation took a hit in the offseason and has some question marks.   Waller: Speaking of the A’s, do you feel they have improved going into 2013?   Byrnes: Actually yeah. The A’s have great depth and I really think they will again compete in 2013.    Waller: You bring up the rotation; can you give me your thoughts on the additions the Angels made to their pitching staff in the offseason?   Byrnes: Tommy Hanson, Joe Blanton and Vargas will be interesting to watch this season.  Blanton will eat innings and give the Angels anywhere from 190-200 innings. Vargas will eat up some innings as well; it will be interesting to see how he pitches this season away from Safeco Field. Hanson will be a wild card in my opinion. If he can stay healthy he is capable of putting up solid numbers. I think if two out of three of those pitchers perform well then it will result in a successful season for the Angels. On the other hand, if two out of those three pitchers falter for the Angels it will hurt their chances in the AL West.   The addition of Madsen and Burnett should really help the bullpen out; the Angels blew quite a few saves last season and I don’t think that happens again this year. The improved bullpen is definitely a positive going into the season.   Waller: What are your thoughts on Mike Trout; will there be a drop off from 2012?   Byrnes: Mike Trout is a special player. There may be a drop off because the numbers he put up last year were just crazy. I think he will have another really good season. Again, this Angels offense has the potential to be the best in baseball. They will be a fun team to watch this season.   Waller: Many fans remember you from your playing days. You played with the A’s for six seasons and faced the Angels numerous times through the years; can you share some of your experiences facing the Halos?   Byrnes: You know it’s funny; the Big A is a great place to play baseball. The fans are tremendous and get really into the games. In my opinion Angel Stadium can be as noisy as Fenway Park or Yankee Stadium. I always enjoyed playing in Anaheim because I grew up in the area. It would be great to have family and friends from the area come to the game to watch me play. It was also great to play against Troy Glaus who I played with at UCLA. We would catch up on the field and then go grab a bite and a few drinks after the game. I have a lot of good memories playing at the Big A.   Waller: Who was the toughest Angels pitcher you faced?   Byrnes: Oh man, no doubt about it…K-Rod. Frankie Rodriguez was always tough to hit. He had a good fastball and a hard, heavy curve ball. It was always tough facing him; his stuff was just plain nasty.   Waller: its common knowledge that good natured “ribbing” or jokes are played amongst players during the course of the season; thinking back to your playing days, what would you say was the best prank you were involved in?   Byrnes: Wow, good question. There are always the typical pranks like “hot foot” and stuff like that but I think the best happened when I played with the A’s. I won’t use the player’s name but there was a time we got a guy pretty good with an Icy/Hot type burning cream. In the past people have put it in someone’s jock strap but this time the cream was put in someone’s suit for the plane ride home. Needless to say, it was a long trip back home for the prank victim. No harm was done and we all had a good laugh out of it. Gags and pranks like that really help break up the monotony of traveling and the long season and help build team chemistry.    Waller: Eric, I know you are getting ready to cover another Cactus League team  for 30 Clubs / 30 Days, on behalf of AngelsWin.com I wanted to thank you for your time today. We really appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us on the upcoming season.   Byrnes: No problem at all Brian, it was my pleasure. It will be a fun season and the Angels are going to be an exciting team to watch. I plan on following AngelsWin.com on Twitter and maybe catching up down the road.   Waller: Sounds great Eric thanks again.   30 Clubs / 30 days will roll into Tempe, Arizona THIS COMING FRIDAY (March 1st). The content covering the Halos will air on MLB Tonight Live at 10:00 p.m. Eastern / 7 p.m. Pacific.

How do you sum up an evening with Mr. Angel? As the first ofour guest speakers, Tim Salmon got the party rolling at the 2013 AngelsWin.comSpring Training Fanfest as our first of many guests in the evening.

The AngelsWin.com Board of Directors started off the talkwith a few questions that they had prepared for the Kingfish. Emceed by ChuckRichter, the founder of AngelsWin.com, he asked how Tim's relationship withMike Scioscia has evolved from being a player on the team to an analyst in thebroadcast booth. In one of the most interesting and challenging questions, Chuck asked him which outfield was the best onein which he played; Anderson/Edmonds/Salmon or Anderson/Erstad/Salmon. Thecomparison between the two made Tim think quite a bit, andled to an interesting comparison of the style of play between Edmonds and Erstad.  

Click below to listen watch part 1 of the AngelsWin.com 2013Spring Training Fanfest talk with Tim Salmon.

Tim Salmon 2013 AngelsWin Spring Training Fanfest Part 1 from AngelsWin.com on Vimeo.

After finishing up with the Board of Directors questions,Tim then opened up the questions to the audience. And, as he put it, he “didn’tdrive all the way out [there] for nothing.” He answered questions about whatholes he has seen in Mike Trout’s swing to which was his favorite stadium tovisit as a player.


Tim was very gracious with the fans, answering questions forover a half hour, posing for photographs with fans, and signing autographs.Fans could not have gotten a better experience with the 2002 World Series Hero!He spoke for so long that we had to divide the interview in half in order tofit it all on the internet!

Click below to listen to part 2 of the AngelsWin.com 2013Spring Training Fanfest talk with Tim Salmon. It’s an interview that any Angelsfan won’t want to miss.

Tim Salmon 2013 AngelsWin Spring Training Fanfest Part 2 from AngelsWin.com on Vimeo.
View the full article

Behind the two-hit pitching of journeyman right-hander Nelson Figueroa, Puerto Rico defeated Team USA, 4-3, on Friday night at Marlins Park, knocking the Americans -- the only team replete with Major Leaguers -- out of the World Baseball Classic.
View the full article

Sabermetrics!  The new lens with which many view the game of baseball!  
So ummm … what is it?  What are all these new stats and measurements that GMs and commentators are using to evaluate the players we love (and hate)?  Does it sometimes seem like you need to be a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out?  Well, it feels that way to us too sometimes.  So we decided to bring in Robert Cunningham, AngelsWin.com member and real life rocket scientist, to help us make sense of this stuff.  
Join host Geoff Stoddart and AngelsWin.com founder Chuck Richter as they talk with Robert about how pitching stats like WHIP, FIP and xFIP apply to the the Angels staff.  Do the changes that Jerry Dipoto made to our starting rotation during the offseason make sense?  Is the marine layer actually going to be our friend this year?

Listen to internet radio with AngelsWin on Blog Talk Radio View the full article

Tonight on the AngelsWin.com Internet Podcast, hosts Adam Dodge and Geoff Stoddart welcome AngelsWin.com Founder, Chuck Richter, and Director of Marketing, Brian Ilten. Tonight's topics of discussion included …

* Angels horrible Spring Training start. Something the fans should worry about? * Mike Trout's new contract. Was he jobbed, or was it a good move by the team? * Update on the new website  * Update on the Spring Training Fanfest
We also took your questions from Twitter this evening and answered them. 
Tune in below! 


Listen to internet radio with AngelsWin on Blog Talk Radio View the full article

Love it. And without the evil aftertaste! 

By Gregory Bird - AngelsWin.com Columnist 
 
Welcome to the new Inside The Numbers Feature. I'm Greg and I'll be taking over this AngelsWin.com feature for the 2013 season. I hope to provide the same high quality analysis that AngelsWin.com is known for. My articles will be focused on the current Angels roster through the lens of sabermetrics. I also hope to give insight into how the Angels' front office might be thinking when they make their decisions. I'm sorry, up front, that I may sound like a JeDi apologist (to be fair I really like his moves so far.) But what I really want to do is to dig a little deeper and understand better the game and team we all love. I don't claim to be an expert but I do want to spark intelligent, thoughtful conversation based on the facts of the game.
 
So, why did JeDi let Torii go and sign Hamilton to a 5 year deal? This question has been kicked around this offseason. It is a fair question. Much of the analysis I've read says that Josh isn't really an upgrade over Torii and that the only possible reason could be age. The articles tend to include, as support, the sabermetric stat of WAR (Wins Above Replacement.) They'll say, Well Hunter produced a 5.3 WAR in 2012 while Hamilton only produced a 4.4 WAR (according to FanGraphs.) This means that at best they were equal but that most likely Josh won't be as good for the Halos in 2013 as Torii was in 2012.
 
Don't get me wrong here, WAR is an excellent stat and very useful, BUT it isn't the end all and be all of sabermetrics. We cannot reduce performance to one number. One reason is our current lack of understanding of defensive metrics, a key component. WAR seems best used to help start an intelligent conversation, not to end one. 
 
WAR is often misunderstood. It is a comprehensive counting stat that combines the value of: a player's defense (using either UZR/150 or Defensive Runs Saved,) a player's bases running, and a player's hitting. Their performance is then adjusted for their fielding position and finally distilled to how many wins they added to their team. The generally accepted formula is 10 runs equals approximately 1 win.
 
The problem with comparing Hamilton and Hunter's WAR in 2012 lies in the defensive positions they played throughout the year. Hunter played 134 games in Right Field, an easier defensive position, where he excelled in saving 13 runs according to UZR/150. Hamilton played 95 games in Center Field and cost his team -26.3 runs according to UZR/150. He also played 86 games in Left and Right Field combined where he basically broke even with -0.1 UZR/150. 
 
Defensive stats are the least accurate and understood at this time and are best looked at over three seasons to improve accuracy. Over the past three years Hamilton has a positive 8.5 UZR/150 in Left Field and a positive 6 UZR/150 in Right Field. Additionally, Torii's last year in Center Field was less than stellar as he posted a -6.4 UZR/150 in 98 games in 2010. So, for the purpose of comparing these two players last year I propose it is best to leave defense out of it for now. I am going to just look at their offensive production. I assume Josh in Right Field is going to be almost as good as Hunter in Right, not absolutely but close enough.
 
Much of what I'm going to be talking about includes references to a baseball statistical field known as linear weights. No, this has nothing to do with chemistry nor how heavy something is. It is a system developed to replace the basic stats we've grown up using (BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS) with a set of statistics that better represent the value of each action on the diamond. Every possible action has a weight or approximate run value it adds to an inning. The idea was conceived by trusting if we accurately value each possible offensive event than we can get the correct value of an individual player's offensive contributions.
 
You may wonder why linear weights are needed. The reason is really rather simple. In slugging percentage, a homerun is 4 times as valuable as a single. In on base percentage a walk is as valuable as a homerun. In batting average a single is the same as a triple and walks don't matter. It has become obvious that none of this is true. 
 
Sabermetricians embarked to find out the actual value of each baseball event and found out some very interesting things. First, the value of events change slightly year to year based on the overall environment of the game. Second, there are some basic relationships that are fairly constant like: a HR adds about 1.4 runs to an inning, a single about .47 runs, an unintentional walk adds .32 runs, a strikeout subtracts -.29, a groundout subtracts -.27, a stolen base adds .25 runs, and a caught stealing subtracts -.50 runs. There are more events and numbers but this gives you an idea of how linear weights work and how differing events are relatively important to each other. 
 
My first comparison between Hunter and Hamilton has nothing to do with linear weights, it is simply who possess the most power? To determine this let's look at a stat called ISO or isolated power. It is derived by simply subtracting batting average from slugging percentage. This removes singles and lets us know who is likely to produce more extra base hits. Hunter's ISO last year was .139, the average for 2012 was .151. Hamilton's ISO was .292. Hamilton was more than twice as likely last year to have his hit go for extra bases. This isn't a big surprise but it is significant. Because of his power Josh is more of a run producer than Torii and this is my first reason to like this Hamilton guy.
 
Next let's look at a stat called wOBA. Weighted On-Base Average (wOBA) is a good measure of a player's offensive value. Weighted On-Base Average attempts to package a player's entire offensive output into one statistic using a form of the run values in linear weights.  It takes these run values and converts them into a familiar usage to all baseball fans, that of OBP. When looking at wOBA values an average hitter is around 0.340 or so, a great hitter is 0.400 or higher, and a poor hitter would be under 0.300. 
 
Last year Hunter had a wOBA of .356. He was well above the league average of .315. Hamilton, in 2012, had a wOBA of .387. He was 72 points higher than the league and still considerably higher than Torii. Talking in terms of OBP a 31 point improvement is significant to a player or team. Josh was also only 13 points shy of hitting the threshold of having an all-time great year. He finished the season ranked 10th overall in terms of wOBA among qualifying hitters. But you may be asking but how much of this is related to his hitting in Arlington? Let's dig some more.
 
How many more runs could Hamilton produce for us in 2013 than Hunter did in 2012? What about our park, it isn't hitter friendly, how will Hamilton compare here? Here are two stats that will help us solve these problems. They are Weighted Runs Created (wRC) and Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+.) Weighted Runs Created is a counting stat based off of wOBA that gives us the raw number of runs a player created in a season. Weighted Runs Created Plus measures a player against league average (100) and tells us how much better or worse they were in terms of percentages than the league. wRC+ is also league and park adjusted so we can compare players accurately apart from their seasons or environment. Remember wRC+ is a percentage comparison so a few points different can be significant unlike wRC and other counting stats (i.e. HR, RBIs, or even WAR.) 
 
Let's dig into these numbers. Hunter created 86 runs in 2012 and Hamilton created 109 runs according to wRC. That means the 31 point difference in wOBA amounted to 23 more runs being created, a significant amount. If 10 runs equal a win then it is about 2.3 more wins in Hamilton's offensive output than in Torii's. 
 
But how did their parks affect them? In 2012, Torii posted a 130 wRC+; he was 30% better than the average major leaguer after adjusting for Angel Stadium and the AL. Josh posted a 140 wRC+; he was 40% better than the average major leaguer and was tied for 13th overall among qualified hitters. This means Josh was 10% better than Torii once we adjust for the parks they hit in. This isn't a lot but once we start looking at elite hitters it very hard to find a 10% improvement over someone who is already very good. 
 
Why do I think JeDi choose this Hamilton guy over Torii? First, he is a more powerful hitter who can do more damage in the lineup. Second, he provides more offensive value than Torii did last year and still delivers top notch defense. Third, he'll most likely create more runs for the team, even hitting in our park. Fourth, he is younger and while Torii is aging well nobody knows how his next two years will turn out. Look at the first year of Abreu as an Angel compared to his final two years. 
 
While it may or may not work out like JeDi envisions I think it is always wiser to let go of a player one year to early than one year too late. For this I think our GM made a difficult but smart decision. I think this Hamilton guy will be more valuable to us in 2013 than Torii was in 2012. That's all I need to know to be happy with the decision.