California Cajun

Let me say after participating on the MLB board with him for 15 years AnaheimBob is a solid baseball man and has been an Angel fan since 1965 (if I remember correctly). He does , however, dislike Scioscia as a manager. I hope we can keep on speaking our minds here.

I don’t think Upton prefers other clubs over the Angels, so I think they can sign and get that LF albatross off their backs once and for all.

I wonder if the Angels give the job to Dino Ebel, who has been bench coach several years. I don’t think Eppler would but maybe Arte.

BubbleA$$ for Appier. Worked once, if only to move Moo.

I think Scioscia’s Dodger connections have helped him. The Angels had a checkered past and the FOX Dodgers quit operating like the 1940s-1980’s Dodgers with 6 WS championships. Scioscia installs Dodger baseball and bloop! WS championship. Over the years the Angels evolved into a team that can’t do that kind of thing with an Albert Pujols batting 4th. And now the injuries. I don’t recall the Red Sox having a manager with local ties, so firing one might not upset the community as much. Theo Epstein and Dombrowski have brought better players to the team and the duds they bring in are risks management is willing to take. Fans will pay through the roof to go to a game. So the Red Sox managerial job is one where the manager knows from the outset his days are numbered, more so than for other teams.

I think after the Vernon Wells-Josh Hamilton fiascos, Arte lost heart, and retreated to his yacht. He had the Angels run on the cheap and gave up on the stadium negotiations.

What you’re saying is that the Angels have worn themselves into a rut and they need to get themselves out of it. That’s what I’m saying too.

Farrell inherited a mess from Bobby Valentine, and then was the trade with the Dodgers, after which he won a World Series. I have no idea if his extramarital affair, subsequent divorce, and remarriage affected his work in the dugout. I don’t know what impact the arrival of Dombrowski might have had. I thought Detroit let him go a few years ago when he gave up on the season and traded away Price. Maybe he wants his own man as Red Sox manager. Frankly, I think Price and Sale let the Red Sox down late in the season and postseason (Price largely due to injury) and not Farrell and don’t think he should have been fired. I kind of think that if we can get a well-oiled machine here in 2019 Scioscia couldn’t do as much with it as an EXCELLENT manager closer in age to the players.

An Eppler-Girardi team makes since. But it can’t happen until at least 2019 because Scioscia won’t walk away from his contract. Scioscia gets the most out of his players. But I think nearly 20 years with one team is excessive. The game changes and you have to be able to change with it. I don’t talk about it much but I also wonder if the years and broken dreams have sapped Arte as an owner. i think the Angels will be better next year with luck on the injuries, but pressing on with the old guard, Albert’s quest for 3,000 hits, etc will pull the team performance down. Will Arte do what it takes to get left field nailed down offensively and defensively?

Flash! Big Papi fines Albert for not running out a ground ball...

The Angels went on the cheap after Josh did his relapse thing, so I’m not sure the hitting coach bears full responsibility for the team’s hitting problems. They played hard, just weren’t as good as other teams that outplayed them.

Frankly I think Upton is being paid about what he’s worth, so I’d hate to re-sign him without the ability to enhance the team otherwise.

I think Upton staying with the Angels is so mutually beneficial that both parties should just continue without a buyout.

I admit having a desire for baseball but no desire for metrics, which likely makes me a less knowledgeable fan. What I can't get past is that if you can't run reasonably well on the bases, you can't play. That is, hit a double and not be able get to second base without taking a big risk. What I'm also concerned about is 2018 being put on hold until Albert gets 3,000 hits. Are Albert's shortcomings offset by a surprising HR or RBI total in terms of the team as a whole reaching its potential? I don't see it. The last few years I've seen instances where the offense has piled up runs one night then lose a close game the next.

How much money does the Cleveland ownership have? We need baseball knowledge as much as money.

That's my biggest concern as well. It does get confusing when the pitchers are outperforming the position players. I really can't picture the best Angels team that can be assembled in a short time frame.

Will the Angels spend for pitching given the fragile nature of pitchers?

Let's win these remaining games!

There's no quit in the Angels. They get kicked in the shorts after painful losses and come right back fighting the next day. This grind has to be grueling to not get rewarded more often in this wild card race. You wonder if the players that are back in 2018 aren't mentally tougher.

They're that good

I wonder when the Angels will decide that you can't bat someone in the middle of your lineup that can't reach base on routine base hits. That's like having a batter without legs.

Watching parts of the Chargers and Rams games the featured event was the commercials. Do cold weather cities get more home games during Summer Break? I know that's when we went, when there was no school the next day.

BTW

He will:

Contact Ripley's Believe It Or Not.