Kampy

I want to time travel back to 5 minutes ago when our starting pitchers had the 3rd lowest ERA in the majors

OK, I take back what I've been saying about Wardy being too tentative and needing to lay out for some diving catches more often. That sliding catch into the wall was NICE and I hope it gives him confidence to keep doing it. Knock on wood that he doesn't get hurt

anybody else catch the dude behind the postgame booth holding up the big "ARTE IS FARTY" sign? Carpino probably gonna ban fans from being on camera to protect his beloved boss

I love when Gubie predicts the future. "Shohei's really struggling against Bassitt, so I expect him to be first pitch swinging right here to get himself a hit and get goin." Boom. Wayne calls it normal– if it had been Patrick O'Neal in the booth with him, he'd be like "Oh my god, Gubie, how did you know?!?!" And I gotta give Perry some love for getting Urshela and O'Hoppe on the roster... these dudes sure look like keepers so far

3 errors on the Jays already. Bichette's bad throw... Vlad Jr foot... what was the 3rd?

I like seeing flashes of the old Fletch that could always put the ball in play no matter what pitch comes at him

that's cool... wasn't sure, the way he was saying "Cousin Tony!" sounded kinda tongue-in-cheek. I'm still getting used to Wayne so still hard to read when he's kidding or not. But I really like him so far. I like that he admitted to driving over 100 mph on the way to So Cal from AZ. Relatable!

I wonder if that 1B ump really is Wayne Randazzo's cousin

I've been saying since Ohtani signed the 1 yr 30M deal (without going to arbitration) that my gut tells me if the Angels make the playoffs this fall and show some fight, and Sho gets a taste of meaningful, do-or-die games (like he got in WBC) then he'd be willing to re-sign with the Angels at a team-friendly "discount" even while other teams offer more $. Again, that's just my gut feeling, which is probably naive and over-optimistic... but everything I know about the guy says to me that he's not driven by money. He's almost like a celibate monk, singularly devoted to baseball, and the process of becoming the best baseball player ever (not the highest paid, though he surely will be). One thing is for sure... I need to brace myself for the endless assault of speculation over the next few months. It seems like every single outlet of national and local news, every sports site, every baseball podcast, YouTube, etc is cranking out daily content guessing how much $ he'll sign for, and/or which team will be be paying him. I'm already over-saturated, and it's only just begun...

O'Hoppe may be new but he's already droppin a "LIGHT THAT BABY UP" during interviews... Love this kid! Ohtani notches a W, Halos start the season winning 2 series on the road... All is well... (except our bullpen) It's been a pleasure chattin' w/ y'all in this live game thread for the first time... a much more pleasant experience than the Reddit threads. I'll be back

I like Ward but think he let 2 balls drop that should have been caught if he'd gotten a better read or was faster to the ball. Seems to me like ever since he got hurt last year in RF going into the wall, he's just been a tiny bit tentative and scared of getting hurt again in the OF. and maybe he's a more natural RF than LF...?

Hmmm.... France was sitting on that curve, totally expecting it. And kinda wish Wardy had laid out for that ball... seemed get-able to me

Good job Matt Moore... bring out tha Glitch!

Speedsters on 2nd and 3rd with no outs.... GOTTA get at least one of em home

Kampy here... Halo fan since the late 1970s when I was a little kid growing up a stone's throw from the Big A. My first year at Olive Little League tee-ball, I swung so hard I missed the ball and was embarrassed, and coach said: "Stop trying to be Reggie Jackson. Try to be Rod Carew." and explained what that meant. This was right after the Twins traded Carew to the Angels, and Rod Carew became my first sports hero (along with Pat Haden) and I still wear #29 Angels jerseys because of him. The best hitter ever. I'm still bitter they didn't bring him back for '86, and think that decision cursed us in the ALCS that year, and the 15+ year playoff drought that followed. Spent a chunk of my life in the midwest (KC) and even worked a couple summers at Royals Stadium, but stayed a loyal Angel fan. After college, moved back to CA where my first job was working at the Big A as a graphic / signage designer in the merchandising marketing dept, during Disney's renovation of the Big A. (The "Clutch & Scoop" era! lol) I was there in 2002 when we finally broke the curse and got our chip. My #1 favorite sports moment, and always will be... until Mizzou wins a national championship. Compared to most Angel fans, I hold a couple very unpopular opinions, so might as well air them out here in my first post: Despite my born-and-raised-in-OC roots and fondness for the city of Anaheim, "Los Angeles Angels" is the correct / best name for the team. Arte Moreno is NOT evil incarnate. Do I think he's a good owner? No. Do I wish he'd sell the team? Yes. But it's hard to deny that his first decade~ish of ownership coincided with the only sustained run of success the franchise has ever had, and almost all our division titles. I think Arte's early success with expensive FAs like Vlad, Bartolo, Torii went to his head and made him think he knew as much as his GMs and led to Pujols, Hamilton, CJW, Upton, etc's franchise-crippling contracts. I suspect that Arte cares and wants to win, but he sucks at it. I wish he and Carpino would just step into the background and let others run the organization... it just feels like that would clear out a lot of the bad mojo that's been festering for the past decade. But Arte and Carpino have been working together for over 40 years, way before he bought the Angels, so Arte will never ever let go of Carpino as long as he's owner. One more thing I want to add... I believe the most under-appreciated and unknown aspect of the Angels is their rich history in Los Angeles, and I'm not just talking about the fascinating story of the Autry-O'Malley rivalry that spawned MLB's first expansion franchise. Autry's expansion team adopted the name, logos, colors, and even a few players from the team that ruled L.A. baseball for 60+ years before O'Malley bought them and immediately banished them to Tacoma to make room for his Dodgers... the Los Angeles Angels that started professional sports in Los Angeles way back in 1892, were founding members of the Pacific Coast League in 1902, and were L.A.'s favorite sports team for over half a century, dominating the PCL before affiliating with the Cubs. It's crazy to me that this part of the Angels' heritage... the 70 years leading up to 1961, is NEVER talked about. Someone should really write a book and/or make a documentary about this early history and the weird circumstances that led to Gene Autry starting the franchise... if anybody reading this has the resources to finance such a project, I've got my pitch ready for presentation! GO HALOS! –Kampy