LAA Road Tripper

Didn’t like Valbuena’s reaction there. Seems to me there should be a culture that whenever a third strike hits the ground, you’re running to 1st regardless. To just concede, especially with Trout at 2nd is lazy. You lose nothing by running.

Like clockwork

Bedrosian again. Not a fan.

Wow. That’s his 0-2 pitch?

Flattest fastball in the game. Just no movement at all.

Makes sense. The point I was trying to make is that Stanton really does hold all of the cards - or at least most of them - in this scenario.

Interesting that it hasn’t been confirmed that Stanton has waived his no-trade clause yet. If what some have reported is true that he had his heart set on the Dodgers, it would make sense that he and his agent work back channels along with the Marlins to see if Miami, now that all the cards are on the table, could get a better deal with LAD.

So my father-in-law, big Dodger fan from when they first arrived from Brooklyn - saw them a bunch at the Coliseum, had season tickets in the 70s, etc. - passed away in late September. My wife told me I should root for them in the World Series to honor him. He was a great guy but.... I just can't. Seems to me, if the Dodgers really cared about him they would have won one of multiple LCSs they tanked in over the last 10 years. That's what I'm going with for my justification.

Albert Pujols was a great player. I think it would be just great to watch his Hall of Fame acceptance speech in the summer of 2023 with Cardinal Nation.

Runs Scored 800 - Chuck 779- CALZONE 777 - Geoff 775 - dochalo 769 - Troll Daddy 767 - halomatt 758 - Angelsjunky 733 - Angels#1Fan 719 - tdawg 706 - Mark68 12 - eaterfan 748- Slappy 801 - Ettin 721 - Tank 735 - LAA Road Tripper Runs Allowed 779- CALZONE 753 - Angels#1Fan 727 - Geoff 701 - tdawg 699 - Angelsjunky 690 - Chuck 690 - dochalo 680 - halomatt 690 - Mark68 12 - eaterfan 672 - Slappy 675 - Ettin 685 - Tank 682 - LAA Road Tripper Run Differential +110 - Chuck +87 - halomatt +85 - dochalo +59 - Angelsjunky +50 - Geoff +18 - tdawg -0 - CALZONE +16 - Mark68 0 - eaterfan -20 - Angels#1Fan +76 Slappy +126 - Ettin +36 - Tank + 53 - LAA Road Tripper

I think what this article fails to acknowledge is that there are really very few "bad" ballparks left in baseball. Take Oakland and Tampa Bay out of the mix and every one of them are generally pretty good, some admittedly better than others, which far exceeds the multi-purpose world of the 70s and 80s. I could express my opinion in greater detail of why we as a society are so negative but I've gotta run. I have to finish my Top 10 Ugliest Miss America winners list.

Very impressive attendance at the Cubs' parade on Friday. An amazing sea of humanity. Having said that, can local officials really estimate the crowd size at 5 million and do it with a straight face? That's some serious pom pom shaking by local officials. Let's break this down. Chicago has a population of 2.7 million and the metro area has about 9.5 million people. Local schools were off but it was still a work day. Among that number, there are elderly, a high percentage of non-sports fans, White Sox fans and probably a ton of Cubs fans scared off by the hoard and content to watch the proceedings on TV. Sure, the number could be augmented by out-of-towners but I'm having a hard time buying that the parade had almost double the city's population and more than half the number of people that live in the metro area.

Wow, this is going to be good. I have no idea what to expect. Nothing would surprise me. The most that I can be sure of is that we'll see some unusual stuff tonight.

I remember attending Game 2 of that series. That was only the 14th year of the league championship series and no team to that point had ever blown a 2-0 lead. Some folks in the crowd actually ran on to the field after the final out. Seemed to me a bad omen at the time and indeed it came back to bite us.

I was at all four home games but I wish I could say I kept the faith halfway through Game 6. I did not. At 5-0, I walked the concourse and moped. Not proud of it. But after Spezio did his magic my pulse re-emerged. And the events of the bottom of the eighth empowered me to achieve my peak vertical jump back out on the concourse a good 19 years after my last competitive basketball game. That was enjoyable.

A little late to the game on this but Fred Lynn was the 1982 ALCS MVP in their loss to Milwaukee. Not that it really matters. I would have rather had Cecil Cooper win the award and the Angels win the series. Still hurts but it's only been 34 years. I need to give it some time.

63rd win. That means the Angels remain the only AL team never to lose 100 games in a season. That and a Trout MVP are all I had left on the table in this season for a while now. If Mike can lengthen the WAR, runs, OBP and OPS gaps, maybe that mitigates the crappy Angels' year in the voters' minds. Maybe.

Or the reason you lost money in Vegas.

Pretty good run. The Angels went, what 8, 10 days without a pitcher having a UCL tear. That's a good week.

I'm really enjoying this Shoemaker. I'd be disappointed to see him leave in a trade and I don't think it's the best course of action. If he keeps this up - certainly no guarantee - he's exactly the kind of starter the Angels need in the next 2-3 seasons (i.e cost controlled, relatively young, etc.) Nice to see some postivity with this franchise for a change.

Two run lead, two outs in the 9th with the bases empty. Didn't walk him. Good enough for me.

Let's see if the bullpen can hold the lead. (I kid. Or do I?)

Can anyone ever remember a position player pitching in a tied or competitive MLB game? It's rare enough in blowouts. I'd guess that it's probably occurred but I can't recall this ever happening.

In 2014 the question was "Are the Angels as good as their record?" I think the same question applies this year under a slightly different circumstances.

Getting a little tired of Pujols' head shaking after obvious called strikes. Just because you used to be Albert Pujols doesn't make a pitch thrown in the zone a ball.