Justin

I knew DiMaggio's streak ended on July 17 (as that is my birthday) but I Googled it to be reminded what team it came against. The Guardians, of course. "On July 17, 1941, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio fails to get a hit against the Cleveland Guardians (then known as the Cleveland Indians), which brings his historic 56-game hitting streak to an end. The record run had captivated the country for two months."

This really freaking sucks, Scott, and I'm sorry you have to deal with it. It's just shitty. There is no other word for it. I lost my brother to leukemia three years ago next month; he was 39. The reason I mention this is to tell you two things, one you know and one you may not. First, you will never stop missing her. That doesn't go away. But eventually your first thought of her will stop being Man, I miss my sister and will become instead Man, I was lucky to have her as my sister.

It's not baseball. I would rather have ties.

DiMaggio, by far. Williams had several 0-fer games - including five in a row at one point - during his .406 season. DiMaggio, by definition, did not have a single 0-fer during his streak. I cannot imagine what it must have been like to watch, especially those games where he did not get a hit until the final at bat. Hell, I was really excited by Fletcher's 26-game streak last season. Imagine if Trout or Ohtani had a streak reach the 30s or (gulp) 40s. My God.

On offense, his 2021 OPS+ was the worst of his career by quite a bit. On defense, his fielding percentage was the second-lowest of his career in a full season. He was by no means bad, but he was not close to stellar. I, too, loved watching him on defense for a few years in Anaheim, but those days are gone. He was not the answer for Angels SS in 2022.

Are you the least bit surprised?

"If everything goes well"

A one-game playoff for the third wild card spot would be awesome. Or at least better than the last 7 seasons, I guess.

And Ohtani DH in interleague games.

I forgot about Trout.

Why isn't Ohtani in that collage?

My love for Angels baseball has not diminished but I don't take it nearly as seriously as I did even 10 years ago. Part of that is getting older and being able to put things in perspective, and part of that is the team's inability to acquire quality pitching. It was fun to watch Ohtani's starts last season, but before that, when was the last time you actually looked forward to watching an Angels starter? (For me, it was Richards in 2014.) Until the Angels have a rotation that makes me say "These guys could legitimately win an ALDS in October," it's hard for me to get excited about the team.

Can it be worse than baseball on Facebook? (Probably.)

The only difference will be between guys getting “buy a garage full of Porsches” rich or “buy a Porsche dealership” rich. That might be the dumbest sentence I have ever read in a sports column. And I grew up reading Bill Plaschke.

I suppose I could see myself one day no longer caring about baseball, like has happened to me with basketball. But I cannot see any scenario in which I would ever say "Well, I still love baseball and Ohtani is taking the mound tonight, but I'm gonna boycott so my voice will be heard."

Of games that won't be played?

Was literally my first thought: 'So, the Angels don't have to start yet another season in that shithole ballpark? Cool.'

Manfred told us how much he cares about the sport when he called the World Series trophy "a piece of metal." Cancelling some games in March and April probably means nothing to him.

I feel the same way about a team that doesn't win its division. But I have learned over the years that this is a minority opinion.

I did not enjoy that.

It's one of those things where sports just don't mean as much to me as they used to, for myriad reasons. So, although I probably wanted Cole more than I wanted any other player, I was not nearly as disappointed when the Angels failed to sign him as I was when, say, Teixeira signed with the Yankees.

I was going to offer you my Shawn Wooten Quakes bobblehead.... but now that I see they are going for 100 bucks on eBay, I have other plans for it.

When I saw the title, I thought this was going to much more depressing thread. I won't even write what I was thinking. I would give the nod to Trout, fully acknowledging my bias. However that swing of Griffey's was the most beautiful thing. I don't see how it would be possible to be a fan of baseball and not love it.

It will be like signing a big name free agent.