joeybaseball

I've been a good fan since the team was born in 1961. There were some bad teams, but hey, we had a team, so ANYTHING they did was worth having the team, win or lose. Not a lot of expectations til 1980, when the lost 95 games after winning the division the year before. That was dissapointing. But THIS year is beyond belief, with the embarrassing play (7 HR"S in a game, all with nobdy on and we lose, 9th inning blunders lately with Seattle, 5 starters in the lineup who can't hit .200, 14 game losing streak to erase a hot start, followed by the manager getting a mohawk (?) to "loosen" the guys up- what am I missing, I know there was more embarrassment than that... This is definitely the most dissappointing and embarrassing season in the history of Angels baseball. I keep looking for where and how long ago this curse started- can't pinpoint it, there's been so much unbelievable junk and bad luck go on with team, its unbelievable. I just keep telling myself they got hot and won it all in 2002, they can do it again someday. WE need an excorcist.

I'd like thinking that Arty has the same kind of reasoning and philosophy that all of us fans do. So many here make perfect sense with the correct logical solutions how to get out of this merry-go-round of mediocrity. But Arty has proven over the years that his mindset isn't anywhere near the logic of us fans. Our mindset is to come up with solutions how to turn the Angels into a successful organization. No, his mindset is, "how do I make the most money again this year?" The 2 mindsets rarely criss-cross or come in contact with each other, except by mistake. Who here really believes he thinks something different? Seriously! I'm baffled why no one answers that, or believes he feels different. As long as he has a splash or 2 in the can, has Ohtani and/or Trout bringing in the fans, why should he change his values? Its obviously not for us. We have 2 different philosophies trying to determine how to proceed.

T I like the blue caps- I like it a lot. Wouldn't mind another color other than red on the uniform. I know, a lot of folks here love the red only..

Summer of '62. Our family had moved from New York a couple of years earlier, so we were former Yankee fans. I was 11 years old. I remember it was a Sunday- my dad, older brother and brother-in-law decided at the last minute to go see the Yankees play the Angels back when the Angels played there. I was thrilled to go. Elston Howard was the Yankee hero, hitting 2 HR's as the Yankees beat the as the Yankees won 6-2. After the game we went and stood with a small crowd outside the exit that the Yankees would come out ofYogi coming out first, suddenly swamped by everyone, while walking pretty fast and laughing with a smile, and Whitey Ford squatting down next to him, looking up at him, saying in a loud high voice," Yogi, can I have your autograph, please, c'mon Yogi, please..." I also remember I saw The Mick and many other Yankees come by. Pretty awesome memory for a little kid like me at the time.

Hard for some to remember or realize that (He of the 530 foot homer)Dave Kingman played about 10 games in the middle of the season for the Angels in 1977. He hit 2 hR's in one of those games. I guess his .194 avg didn't sit well with the team, so he was traded away. Hit 48 HR's for the Cubs 2 years later.

It seems Theo Epstein just may be a free of his duties with the Cubs as soon as this winter. https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/cubs-president-theo-epstein-to-discuss-future-with-team-no-extension-expected-per-report/ When the 2 sides meet as planned, there's the possible outcome of either him playing out his contract through next season, or opting out this winter. I get that we have a president of the team who's been in place for awhile. I get that its a big if, but we can dream a bit of the possibilities, eh?

Ernie Banks

Hallelujah!

So whats the scoop on his signing, is there an update? I suppose they haven't planned on having him on the 60 man squad, since it looks like he hasn't signed.

333 greginpsca 328 Junkballer 323 Capital_Dave 317 Slegnaac 316 Taylor 315 AO 302 joeybaseball 299 AD&B 295 JAHV76

This stands out to me IMHO. Eppler wants to keep his job, and if he (or even along with Arte) saw Ausmus as the wrong guy going forward, and not what he thought Ausmus could be, getting a shiny new respected manager with savvy and experience would become an obvious choice.

Mr. Shockley started a business with Morris Nettles selling date books to hermits

Wow- hey is that the first time Dan Osinski has been named on Angelswin? What a memory you have. Good pitcher from some bad ancient Angels teams...

Doesn't Pujols have another 10 years of contract with the Angels after his playing days are over? Like as an exec or in management? If thats true, I think he may retire sooner than his playing years suppose to go, and start his 10 year after-playing-days position offered by the Angels- therefore I would vote for A, since thats the closest to this scenario, with, but the understanding that he would then start his new position.

So I'm curious. Correct me if I'm wrong, but It appears the Angels signed 29 of 40 2017 draft picks. How does this signage compare to the rest of the MLB teams this year? Is this a high percentage of signees, low, middle of the pack? Any place to find this info?

I remember watching an Angels game way back when and he played all 9 positions. There was also a game where he stole second base, and then stole back first base. The catcher didn't know what to do about that, or where to throw. If I recall correctly (maybe I don't, but), the umps talked, and realized there was no rule against it, so the play stood. I wonder if they ever created a rule against that. Anyways, i liked him when he played for the Angels, he was always smiling and laughing then.

Thank you Jeff! Its nice to get a first hand take on our guys thats fresh from a local writer.

Jered is worth more to the club than just stats.His presence on the team gives others a winning-never-give-up attitude that can be infectious. He's a warrior. His second half had many better games than the first, when his fastball ticked up a notch. How could it be bad to give him an incentive -laid contract?

Maybe this is old news, but I found an old video of a 1972 Angel-Brewers ballgame.Dick Enberg is the announcer, great to hear him doing an Angel game again (as he was their play by play announcer in the 70's). Also interesting to hear him talk about how Brewer first baseman George Scott coined the term "dinger", after others started using his first term for home runs, which was "taters". Also found an old 1972 Angel-Yankee game. Great watch if you're interested. Hope its kosher to use the url below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzC1_lJfLJ0&index=80&list=PLtcoppO4mc8v_n-D3EzDSsjJMWz2EoCCr

The Angels have little history of being sellers, holding on to pieces even when the teams were bad. With the way the FO unfortunately makes decisions that fly in the face of baseball logic, I'd be very surprised if they did anything much that would give us reason to call them "sellers" this summer.

I have to agree with California Cajun, fifty years of watching and listening, you've seen it all. Heck, if I watched them in the early seventies with Orlando Ramirez at short (who?), Lou Clinton in right (who?), Jim Spencer at first, Paul Schaal at third, yada yada,--bad team. Maybe worse line-up than today, even without Trout. Yeah, i still watch the games when I'm home, listening to our commentators is entertaining in itself if you're losing. Its a lifestyle. I'm a boring guy...

Its always frustrating to see a report on Angelswin about another player from Cuba declaring free agency. We would never sign him so whats the point? Sorry, just frustrating...

Ya know, it seems like its today's media that keeps bringing up the "trade Trout" mantra. Probably for a couple reasons: 1) To get a rise out of the readers, and 2) get the best player in baseball off of our team in California, that they don't wanna pay attention to, for various reasons we already recognize. Put him on an East coast team and they would love to make a fuss about him like they do Bryce Harper. Wouldn't you think that, if Trout were in the same situation on a Yankee team that was bad, EVERYONE would be screaming and pounding the Yanks to build a team around him, no matter what, rather than trading him. The media of the 1950's, 60's, or 70's would have been crucified by Cub fans, and the Cubs, if they were pushing for the Cubs to trade Ernie Banks (who played on some bad Cub teams that never saw the post season). Hard to imagine "Mr Cub" being the legend he is, if he was traded to the 1964 Washington Senators- or even, God forbid, the 1965 LA Angels. Plus, Cub fans would have disowned the team for trading away their legend. It would have been a black day for baseball. Point being, "trade Trout" talk is sad to hear- can we just keep and watch and have some joy watching the greatest player to ever be developed by the Angels, no matter what? I'm sure Ernie Banks would agree...

Unfortunately, with our team's policy of ignoring these international players who are ready to sign with an MLB club, it seems pointless to even point out that another player is available.

So there may be hope yet. I will be elated if during one year, they sign more than one notable international prospect or player.