AngelsSurfer

Oh FFS. That possibly could have brought in the tying run.

Any chance they can put him on the DL so they can bring up Perez, keep Butera and give Ianetta time to figure out what's going on?

ITA. Don't really want to support a player who has made homophobic remarks.

ITA. Perhaps one of the differences between Street and someone like, say, Frieri, is that when he creates a jam -- and that doesn't happen particularly often -- he's generally able to salvage it eventually. He's able to calmly stay in there and work until he does what he needs to do. Yesterday he was not on and they won by the saving grace of Mike Trout, but Street's record overall shows that he's able to get the job done.

Ironic, innit, that looking back, it seems as though the consensus has been that Wilson's issues are largely mental (overthinking) and not physical. Thus far this season he's doing better overall than he did last year...and yet, he has a physical issue. He just defies logic sometimes.

Considering I've lived on four continents, not particularly. But SoCal is a hell of a lot nicer than Texas in all ways.

Seconding this.

The fact that someone would voluntarily want to live or work in Texas over Southern California baffles me, unless they're in Austin, but different strokes for different folks.

Considering that Scioscia was one of the people in the Angels organization who always gave him a fair shake, gave him the benefit of the doubt in the ALDS and has made supportive comments about him this spring, Hamilton's repsonse here is particularly miserable. He really is a jerk.

I'm disabled so I'm going to jump in here. One thing to remember about the FMLA is that it only offers protection for twelve weeks. That's it. After twelve weeks, your employer can fire you, and that often happens to people who have cancer, chronic illness or something else that can't be magically resolved within that time frame. Technically if they fire you for illness you have recourse under the ADA because you cannot legally be fired for being disabled, but it's hard to figure it out. Some companies cover certain things, but generally your medical bills are your responsibility either out of pocket or through your health insurance; not your employer's. The only exception I know with that is if you're out because of an injury or condition you incurred on the job, in which case it's workman's comp. Under California law, if you're out on a workman's comp claim the employer's paying your medical expenses, and they're usually required to give you your job back and make any modifications the doctor recommends whenever you are ready to return. The ADA requires employers to make reasonable accomodation; not to accommodate anyone with any disease for any reason. The ADA can protect addicts who have been rehabilitated, but current drug users, whether they are casual users or addicts? Absolutely not. You can't just do drugs, take off for rehab and get off the hook. They actually take a hard line against that and they make it clear that the disease of addiction does not trump the Drug-Free Workplace Act or any regulations on drug use that the employer has. It's come up in numerous cases, where someone has used drugs (thus breaking company policy), gone for rehab and then returned and invoked ADA protection to avoid any disciplinary measures or termination, and the courts have consistently ruled against them. http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/ada/ch4.htm

That's awful. I wouldn't wish Parkinson's on anyone. Good luck to him. As said above, at least the silver lining is that he will have resources and access to some good medical care, but it's terrible that he's in a position to need them.

At least *someone* is standing up for the Angels.

Could be the lighting, but his eyes look a little red and puffy, and I doubt he's been crying over this deal... And yeah, punching that stupid grin off his face is the first thing that comes to mind.

In all seriousness, is there a way to remove the numbers and letters and get something else added there instead? Those numbers are sewn on, not printed. Those jerseys are $$$ and the Angels have already wasted enough money on Hamilton. No need to waste Angel fans' money along with that. I wonder if one contacted the Angels management they'd actually consider exchanging it, or if they could pull the numbers off and add new ones to the jersey at the team store. Considering how fully they've tried to excise all mentions of Hamilton from the stadium they'd probably prefer not to have fans walking around with his jersey anyhow.

If one really wanted to make an effort, I suppose one could always develop an odd affinity for Coca-Cola apparel whenever the Rangers come to town...hey, it's even Angels red.

Well...in thinking about this more, yes, I can see where everyone is coming from. And what this author says in the last paragraph or so? Okay, that perhaps could have been expressed better. Or not at all. I would never wish harm on a person and I sincerely hope that Hamilton never comes to a bad end due to his drug habit. However...he's right that the stakes are high for any addict.

Perhaps there's a method to the madness with all this. Hypothetically: There's no guarantee at all that the current Rangers manager will coddle Hamilton or deal with him the way Ron Washington did. Ten to one, his performance won't be anywhere what it was when he was at his peak, regardless. There might be more phantom injuries. Judging from his press conference today he's going to continue acting like a dick. Rangers fans were burned by him before, and from the responses today, Hamilton has an uphill battle in gaining their support. And because he's single and back in the same state as his drug suppliers, and he's now being tested for alcohol in addition to drugs, he inevitably falls off the wagon again, fails a drug test and gets suspended for a long time. ...But it's no longer in the Angels' lap, and they're no longer the ones who will be seen as unsympathetic beasts for failing to coddle the addict and let him do whatever he wants. And they can no longer be blamed for anything Hamilton does. No doubt that Moreno just wanted Hamilton to get the **** off the team, but he might have made this deal with the suspicion that Hamilton will not be able to maintain sobriety and performance level for several more years and will end up getting suspended - which will mean that the Angels win because they'll be off the hook for his salary AND won't be seen as the villains again.

Cowgill is good defensively, and if Cron keeps hitting the way he has been in the last few games, there should be no question about keeping him. Grant Green should stay up, too. Navarro seems to be the most expendable for the moment, and Joyce just doesn't seem to be working out. I'd send Joyce down if possible and try to trade him if not, if he is still showing the same numbers next month.

I think a lot of Angels fans voted on that poll to try to convince the Rangers to take him back, actually...that was said here. The response on the Rangers' Facebook page right now is not 90% warm and fuzzy. Of course the folks commenting on Facebook are a very small part of the fan base, but they don't seem happy.

And now people are going to be calling Dipoto a meanie again, but he's right. Hamilton's entire run with the Angels has been a fiasco. Best that it's over. It burns that Hamilton has been able to behave like such a complete asshole without being held accountable for anything, but it's also clear that the players' union was going to do whatever they could to protect him, regardless of what he did. Anything the Angels asked of Hamilton was going to be a fight. The Angels recouped a little bit of money they wouldn't have gotten back if they releaed him outright, and now it's someone else's problem. It doesn't sound as though Rangers fans are at all happy to have him back. Assuming he ever gets himself in gear and plays again, it's going to be interesting to see where he's booed more, at home or at Angels Stadium.

That did, however, make this amusing video possible...

Calhoun's been doing great.

That was pretty much the thought, from what the article said. It was mentioned that a DH could mean increased salaries for some players (with the idea that some clubs pay the DH more) and also might help talented older players stay in the game, if they can still hit well. I think that interleague play really is showing how confusing it is to have two sets of rules, and that the DH is going to happen in the NL eventually. I can't think that too many pitchers would put up a fuss about not being in the batting lineup anymore.

I agree. It's just a black hole in the lineup and it puts the pitchers at risk. Even more so when you have the interleague games where AL pitchers who generally *never* do this suddenly find themselves having to bat. I much prefer DH. I was reading something during spring training that posited that the idea of bring the designated hitter is something that is being tossed around MLB right now, and that it is actually something the MLBPA might see favorably. I hope something comes of it. http://m.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/birdland/union-chief-debate-over-dh-in-the-nl-intensifies/article_e067bd20-8242-5fad-8bfd-22a78d36a189.html?mobile_touch=true