AngelsSurfer

This is true because the issue with Josh is so much bigger than just the drugs. The problem is watching him play, watching him not give a shit at all, and then reading about how he doesn't in the paper. The drugs are just the icing on the cake, it's just another example of how little he cares about his career, and his support for this team. The potential for suspension was simply an opportunity for for the team to get back a little bit of the money they wasted on Hamilton, and for Josh to actually have to lose something for his lack of respect for the team. Today's ruling simply says that everything Josh has done is OK in the eyes of the league. 

Yes.  He does the coke and doesn't help the team.  And we are the bad guys.

Rosenthal is off his rocker to blame the Angels.
 
"He deserved better as a recovering addict. He deserved better as a major leaguer. He deserved better as a human being."
 
This monumental thief screws the team over again, gets away with it, and it's the team's fault?
He deserves shit.

What kind of message does this send to other players now?
That it's OK to use illegal drugs as long as you confess to the league commish that you did so?

Coconut water is absolutely vile stuff.

I think it would be a lot fairer to the Angels to have some information on the length of JH's suspension sooner rather than later, but at this point IMHO they need to proceed as if he's completely gone. And I kinda think that's what they're doing. They're not even mentioning his return, really. And given the fact that his rehab from the surgery doesn't even seem to be progressing and there's no evidence he's going to be able to help the team in any way. they might proceed the exact same way even without a suspension looming.

Venditte was pretty amazing, and what a formidable weapon that switch-pitching could be. I'd love to see him improve and land on a MLB roster somewhere.

Let's not pretend Rucinski's performance thus far is a flash in the pan.  His arsenal plays up at the major league level and he experienced considerable success in AA Arkansas last year.  He doesn't have any glaring platoon splits, he came into camp this year with a better idea of what he's doing with his change up and splitter, he's even added a bit more snap on his curve ball, which got loopy at times last season. 
 
I think if you want to talk about extended success to base decisions off of, Rucinski's showed for a full year and a half now that he can and will pitch at the top level.  He's even better now than what we're basing this off of, which is impressive. 
 
I think the organization as a whole has to be careful of falling into the same line of thinking that prohibited this team from experiencing increased success.  Super-conservative thinking on prospects and an unwillingness to change directions or promote players that deserve it handicapped this team, which is a trademark of Scioscia, who good as he may be isn't perfect.  GMJ and Kotchman over Kendrys Morales, Juan Rivera over Peter Bourjos (which meant moving Hunter away from CF), not promoting Trumbo when Morales went down, Wells over Trout who was kept in AAA until May when he was already the best player in baseball. 
 
That's a long and consistent history of being unwilling to go with fresh blood.  Thankfully that's changed recently, the Angels have been much more aggressive in challenging their prospects, but we can't let this old habits resurface.  When a player earns his shot, you give it to him. 
 
Drew Rucinski has earned that opportunity, and no one among Santiago, Heaney or Tropeano, talented as they are, has showed they should stand in his way of that. 

I think getting rid of Conger was pretty f*****g dumb. Also LAAMike---get your spelling right.
 
Given regular playing time, being a younger guy, I think Conger had the possibility of performing as well as ---if not better--- than Iannetta both offensively and defensively. Kid had his head on straight, he had some pop, he was a switch hitter! He had some things to learn but eff it give him a shot, with experience the speed and skills would come. 
 
Our lack of quality catchers has been hurting us for a while. And IMO Iannetta is not one of the elite. A strong catcher silently, but strongly, gets it done.
 
I am going to miss Conger.

You can love as many teams as you want.   Who cares what anyone thinks about your baseball preference?

I tend to agree with this. I think outpatient programs like AA and NA that acknowledge the illness AND work on personal responsibility and accountability might be better for a lot of people. If they kick drugs and don't address whatever drove them to use drugs, they'll just go on to relapse or to be addicted to something else. On the other hand there are those who go through rehab once, make a commitment to maintain sobriety and never go back.
On the other hand, a lot of drugs - be they legal or illegal- cannot be stopped cold turkey without some major physical problems because the user builds up a physical dependence. People trying to stop heavy alcohol use can end up with seizures and such. For those people, being under the direct care of a physician is important and depending on what drug is being stopped and how heavy the usage was, being in a hospital or rehab for that part of the detox might be a good idea.

I shouldn't see why a person couldn't have more than one team they like or love. Most of us have more than one friend or relative we care about, right?
 
I love the Angels best, but there have been a bunch of players I've liked - both Angels and players from other teams -  who have been traded or signed deals elsewhere. I'm not going to stop liking them just because they're now wearing a different color jersey. As someone else said on this thread, good baseball is good baseball.

Maybe all the time off wouldn't be good for him. He stills deserves a big suspension. He doesn't get to get out of punishment because people worry about him. That's not fair to the other guys abiding by the rules

They mentioned he had relapsed with alcohol as well, and that was not said to be a one time thing. That's why I was thinking rehab. Addiction counseling might work too, though.

Admitting to something you know you will be caught doing is not the basis for any leniency. It all sounds noble and responsible except for the fact all it was is not denying breaking his contract with MLB to not relapse. Essentially a public relations move after the fact.
Hopefully the decision is based on the rules and guidelines rather than trying to make a feel good story out of this for Hamilton.

interesting. "f that", always a convincing position. it could be said, pretty accurately so, that hamilton did "own it" by coming forward about his relapse before failing a test. contrary to what many have said, it actually would have been very easy for him to pass a drug test for cocaine.
 
the touchy-feely-whaddaya going to do part is just you and your anger, because really that's not what people are saying when they say it's more than just a guy choosing to use. people who get angry at drug addicts are angry at something else more personal. sometimes it's directed at drug abusers in our own lives who've frustrated us, but mostly it's just anger at the perception that someone has more than us, but it's undeserved or unappreciated by them, that if we had all those opportunities we would value them more. those who get angry, tend to feel that they've been slighted in their own life.
 
my comments are going to offend you intellectually and you'll dismiss them without consideration. the reason why is because, contrary to what you think, you're not "thinking" about the situation. you're "feeling" about the situation. 

The game where Pee Wee Reese stood up for Jackie Robinson.

I don't think there was a coverup or a conspiracy but I do think something about it is not what it seems. If Hamilton was really having severe chest pain that was radiating to his shoulder and arm and interfering with breathing, he really SHOULD have been in the ER. Nobody plays around with that sort of thing. Even if he wasn't using at the time - cocaine can cause permanent damage to the heart, so his past use could have had long-term effects, unfortunately.
 
I can't see the Angels trainers or Scioscia letting him continue to play with that sort of pain - they would have packed him in an ambulance immediately the second he said he had chest pain and trouble breathing, because that's too serious to just write off to his shoulder injury. I also can't see Hamilton being brainless enough to ignore major heart attack warning signs. So I think it was something that may have been embellished.

Cocaine can make the heart race, cause irregular heartbeats, increase blood pressure, and give users heart attacks. So it absolutely could cause chest pain. 

Yep, we were thinking exactly the same thing.  If the chest pain and breathing problems were real, the Angels' medical staff should have prevented him from taking the field.

Perhaps...because he honestly doesn't give a damn. What's it to him if he goes on the DL? He gets paid and he doesn't have to worry about playing and getting booed. Perhaps also because many of those injuries are exaggerated. If he was really feeling severe chest pain radiating to his armpit and had so much pain that he was having trouble breathing, the guy should have been in the ER getting checked for a heart attack or a collapsed lung, not playing baseball (and yes, I know he said right side, not left, but it's not out of the question that heart pain can appear in the central or right side of the chest).
That's an incredibly cynical POV and I know it, but Hamilton doesn't seem to be invested in the game in the same way the other players are. He doesn't seem to be sitting there fighting to get back or worrying about his place in the lineup the way other injured players are doing.

Yup, that's what I thought too. He was just telling them something they were going to find out on their own anyway.

Cocaine can make the heart race, cause irregular heartbeats, increase blood pressure, and give users heart attacks. So it absolutely could cause chest pain. 

Cocaine can make the heart race, cause irregular heartbeats, increase blood pressure, and give users heart attacks. So it absolutely could cause chest pain. 

Perhaps...because he honestly doesn't give a damn. What's it to him if he goes on the DL? He gets paid and he doesn't have to worry about playing and getting booed. Perhaps also because many of those injuries are exaggerated. If he was really feeling severe chest pain radiating to his armpit and had so much pain that he was having trouble breathing, the guy should have been in the ER getting checked for a heart attack or a collapsed lung, not playing baseball (and yes, I know he said right side, not left, but it's not out of the question that heart pain can appear in the central or right side of the chest).
That's an incredibly cynical POV and I know it, but Hamilton doesn't seem to be invested in the game in the same way the other players are. He doesn't seem to be sitting there fighting to get back or worrying about his place in the lineup the way other injured players are doing.