RenoHalo

I'll take the BB, but I like guys who can rake to swing the bat...

Holland's rushing and over throwing, gotta jump his ass here...

Blantonfield don't have a chance tonight if he can't get the outside corner

Hmm, you'd think maybe one of our pitchers might wanna make Andrus move his feet a bit...Dude looks awfully comfy in the box against the Halos

**** you dickhead!!! hahahaha!!!! I hate you Kinsler

Kent Blantonfield

Too religious to be prodigious.

Too much of a 'Thumper' to be a.........thumper? That was horrible....I'm truly sorry.

Yeah, this story still makes me wanna vomit...I guess it's sorta fresh again now that Sybil Santana is gonzo...I guess all I see now is Howard for Miggy....hurling...

It's funny, my daughter is such a huge Mike Trout fan, that every time Harper makes the highlight reel she gets furious! I'm glad he's off to this start, let him get all the attention, while Mike just keeps getting hotter and hotter this last week or so.....

If you followed Bryce at all on his route to the big leagues you'd know exactly why he has been called a douche.

Exactly. I am from Vegas originally, still have many friends involved in youth and HS baseball down there, and I've been hearing stories about what a little prick Bryce is since he was 11 or 12.

That is unbelievable! I think that is my Uncle Gerald reincarnated...

I just realized something. I've been an Angels fan for over three decades and will always be an Angels fan, through thick and thin, but it just struck me that I don't like this team and haven't really liked it for a few years now. It isn't the win-loss record, it is the composition of players, the attitude, the fire and soul. This team just doesn't have and hasn't had it for a few years.

 

Sure, there are players I really like; Lucho has been a godsend, and it is hard to dislike Aybar, or Weaver and Trout. And I can't say that I "hate" any single player. But what I'm talking about is the team as a whole. 2002 was eminently lovable because it was comprised of long-time homegrown players and well-selected veterans that gave it the chemistry that brought us a World Series. Even the 2004-09 teams--none of which made it back to the World Series--had a certain charm, from the Shields/F-Rod bullpen to the plucky energy of Chone Figgins to the free swinging chaos of Vlad Guerrero. But this team? It seems lifeless, soulless, undisciplined, and mercenary.

 

I hope this changes, that they somehow find the magic and gel as a team. But it is hard to see it right now, and it is hard to like this team.

Dude, thanks for typing what I've been feeling for a while now too. I thought the fact that I just couldn't get excited about them anymore was due to my advancing age, but you nailed it. They just seem like a bunch of guys wearing the uniform that I have loved for 35 years, with zero connection to my idea of the Angels. Perfect example is tonight, after dropping two hundred bucks on the MLB Extra Inn package (like I do every year), here I sit watching 'Boston Psycho Russian Teenager' coverage, with no interest in watching the game...That would have never happened even 2 years ago.

Let's put it this way, after this weekend, Torii might start getting some HOF love....

I'll elaborate, pitching is a huge deficiency on this team, but it is just one of many issues they are facing right now. If you look at the hitting stats, there are some surprisingly decent #'s in the every day lineup for a team that is 4-10:

• Pujols, Trout, Trumbo, and Jimenez are hitting .280 or above
• Those same players all are above .340 in OBP
• These four all have an OPS north of .800

That is approximately half of the regular lineup performing at or above their projected #'s so far through this brutal stretch, but yet the team is 21st in runs scored in MLB. There is a huge hole in lineup continuity, exasperated by their continuing propensity to not deliver in 'clutch situations', a problem that has been getting worse over the last two seasons. The atrocious numbers with RISP so far was also a big problem for long stretches last year, particularly early on. Great offensive teams (like we were supposed to have) more often than not score the run from 3rd with 0 outs on the next PA, a conclusion that is anything but foregone with the Angels. There have been way too many bad AB's immediately following a leadoff 2B or 1st and 3rd situation with less than 2 outs so far this season. Also, where are the power numbers? Pujols is tied with Bourjos for the team lead with 2 HR? This lineup was supposed to have the potential of 4 guys with 30+ HR this year, and yet they just went through a 5 game stretch without a single longball. This on the heels of last year's 8 or 9 game HR drought. If the team can start converting their scoring opportunities on a more consistent basis, it might (might) allow the pitchers to relax and 'get in their game' (in the Scioscia parlance), and perhaps begin to go deeper in games. 

If they continue to play like this, it will probably force Moreno's hand, and we will lose the best manager the team has ever had, and that makes me sad. Lifetime, I am not intending to dismiss the pitching issues, but I think that is just a part of this mess, albeit a huge one. Shit begets shit, and these guys are barely clicking on one cylinder right now. As professionals, one would have to hope that their pride will kick in at some point, and maybe they will start having more intelligent AB's in crucial situations, working the counts into their favor, and squaring it up when they get that 3-1 pitch. Or maybe, they are just horseshit....**** it, who wants pie?

I can't. Name the players. Scioscia likes to be aggressive at the plate and on the bases but he hasn't really had teams that were primarily that "style" of hitter. This team has a good mix of speed and power. The offense is really pretty well rounded and Scioscia's biggest successes have been with that kind of mix. The problem is not the position players not fitting with Scioscia's style. The real problem starts and stops with pitching. 

No it doesn't.

Just saw that....You gotta believe the man.

I would take him back at this point

Me too. When I read the thread title, I was hoping it was about him being our new # 2 SP....

Yep, I do admit it gets out of hand from time to time, but still within reasonableness normally.   But that one week even for me was overdone.

I love your fervor AO, and the fact that you are willing to type what a lot of us are feeling when this team has us fuming. I'm a big 43 year old baby regarding the Angels to this day, same as I was in 1978, so I feel ya man. I gotta ask though, is 'reasonableness' really an English word?

I don't think everybody from the 2002 team would make good managers.  Salmon and Anderson seem too passive/diplomatic to be good managers, maybe good hitting coaches.  Erstad and Percivil seem like future major league managers to me though, or at the very least coaches.

Man, I love this idea. Get Percy's ass in here now! No MILB experience needed, he's been coaching HS for a while. I know that's apples n oranges in the terms of levels of play, but he no doubt has his head already wrapped around the instruction aspect. Add that to his 14 years dealing with big leaguers, I say he can hit the ground running (and squinting).

I love it.  Now they know who they are and come out of the wood work.  I didn't mention a single name...not one.

 

Too many members of this forum post venom when the team is losing (e.g., fire Scioscia, fire Butcher, etc) and awful things were said about Jerome Williams last season.  Those posters certainly thought they were absolutely justified. 

 

I never said I was superior; I merely observed how interesting it is when they vomit out criticism and then never show their faces when they are proven wrong when the team performs well.  If you want to bash me because you think I'm "such a good fan" then go ahead.  It's a message board.  I'll try to live it down.

Hey man, I apologize for snapping on you last night. That was very unbecoming of me, and I'm embarrassed for losing it. We're all fans here, and that was uncalled for.

Too bad the failos who were here for the first week are not any longer.  It's amazing how many of them only login and post to complain when we lose and yet do absolutely nothing to further any baseball conversation when we win.  I used to read and post on the old board and I see the same names here consistently posting; however, it's the same old story with the whiners: they show up only when we lose.

 

As a supporter of the team, win or lose, I see this as a turn-around since taking this series was a necessity.  Pujols is back to his norms, Trout is heating up again and smiling, Hamilton is starting to rake, and our bull pen is getting it's head out of it's arse...credit goes to Butcher if you are willing to fire him when things don't go well.  All in all, it's a good thing this is happening just ten days into the season vs. all month long like last year.  I might be eating crow if we don't win another series for a while, but I'm betting we are a competitive team at this point.

Are you ****ing kidding me Pollyanna? Listen bud, I'm not gonna question your fandom, but I've been living and dying with this ****ing team since 1978, so don't get on your high-horse calling out everyone here who calls their favorite team out when they suck. And boy did they suck, really really suck up until last ****ing night when they had a miracle walk-of win at home against.......THE ASTROS!!!!! Yeah, I'm sure you knew it all along dude...all of us were just wantonly gesticulating for nothing. Let's give it a couple weeks before you claim fanhood supremacy.

Jesus, as negative as I was on this thread, I still actually had hope...

WTF is he looking for....

Here's a question, where are the effing HR's??? Remember last year's HR drought? What a fkng awesome start to April...hey Angels, thanks for allowing me to face the gauntlet of douchebag A's fans that are ubiquitous here..

Remember 2003 and 2006?