Torridd

Not in this case. Buzzsaws generally don't take 11 innings to win a game and they tend to win easily.

There seems to be contention if the Royals steamrolled us or not, based on their momentum. KC did what they had to do, but we didn't. If we hit, they lose. That's how I feel. I want to know how many people feel they'll beat the Orioles. I think they have no chance, but I admit I thought they had no chance against us.

He's not a cleanup hitter, just someone who happened to be in that spot,

I give them a lot of credit. They weren't scared. Imagine if they could actually hit.

I just consider a buzzsaw more of an offensive team. Yes, they played with vigor and energy, but with all that they had to scrape for runs. The Angels basically let them keep up in the race with them until they tripped. That's why I don't blame the bullpen. How long can you feasibly hold a club from scoring?

It was a mixture of KC's defense and the Angels' offense. KC's offense in the first two games did not warrant two wins.

I don't agree either. I really thought we were going to beat KC in 4 though. Could the Angels have been mentally prepared to play Oakland and then had to switch gears? I know that's not professional, but it happens.

Why do you say mentally/emotionally he's not there? What do you feel he should do? How should he act?

I really disagree. KC played extremely well, but not to the point of us being swept, certainly not losing consecutive extra inning games at home. The Royals' offense wasn't potent at all. I feel the Angels played down to them.

Well, I like him and I still think he can help the team. I just wish there was something definitive to say this is what his problem is.

Do you think we perform the same against the A's? Do you think the Angels took KC for granted at all?

I do think it's time he stops letting that first pitch by.

Where would he play? We're really stacked throughout the entire lineup.

I think most of the club stays. We get another starter and tweak the bullpen and bench. This team won 98 games with Hamilton playing 89 games and Calhoun and Richards missing a lot of time. What's wrong with giving the crux of the team another go-round? They're not old.

And how do you find these guys? There's no market for "clutch" players. I hope with experience we do a lot better. The Royals probably won't even be in the playoffs next year.

This is the answer for our guys. If you look back at the records for the most recent playoff runs, we took our lumps early and got better as we went along. Unfortunately, we don't have the 2002 "offense" which ran with their opportunity, but that was a one-of-a-kind team, not taking away form our current guys. Since I'm the optimistic sort, I hope that Hamilton is healthy next year and Trout will be better. Ultimately, all of the main guys in the lineup will be back so we'll just have to start from scratch. We've already won the division singlehandedly so they should be well prepared for that. And I give a lot of credit to KC who seemingly could do no wrong against us although we definitely should have won game 1.

They had to be on the roster, barring bad health. They didn't perform well but they weren't the only ones. Like Pujols said, it was a team effort.

I also liked the attempt. Just because something doesn't work doesn't mean it shouldn't be tried.

I love your enthusiasm, whatever happens.

I agree that this is not Scioscia's fault. And certaainly not Dipoto's. The hitters aren't doing their jobs, albeit Ventura was a monster yesterday. Ultiimately, KC is getting all the breaks so the Angels will have to pull a rabbit out of their hat.

So you don't believe in resilience? Some players/some teams/some people give up quicker than others. That's life. In a short series, it's possible that a young team with little playoff experience may crack under the strain.

But ultimately they won the game. I wonder how well they come back after a loss, if they do at all.

...but do they know how to lose? Up to now, it's been peaches and cream for our young heroes, but can they take a bloody nose? You don't know how a young team will respond to some adversity. Obviously, we need to win this game to give us a good chance of survival, but it would also be good to see if these guys can take a punch.

"I agree." End quote

Baylor gets a free pass. These guys know how to hit. They let Vargas off the hook yesterday. Most of the blame goes to tthe hitters with a little going to Scioscia for the Calhoun bunt.