tomsred

They are probably both the wrong players for the system that this organization runs.

Admittedly, Mathis pounced on bad pitches well and called pitches solidly. 

If only he could throw the ball to 2B with any success, and hit just well enough to at least be over say a .650 OPS.  

Yep, pouncing was his specialty, and he made some nice throws - to Bourjos.

Is this kind of like bragging about how someone bought a 1979 Yugo for $100?  Just want to understand the purpose of this thread.

Will any Halos even make the all star team this season?

 

Trumbo or Trout perhaps?

One player from each team at a minimum makes it.

Concentrate on the "life imitates art" part of the original post, folks.

Okay, I'm staring at it.  Does it move around or something, or does a rally monkey pop out of it?  LOL

pujols and hamilton were supposed to carry the offense, and instead are 8 easy outs a game and they have become a black hole in the middle of the lineup.  the rest of the lineup is filled with a lot of over aggressive hitters who make early count outs and never walk which gives the opposing teams starting pitcher the ability to 9 innings practically every game.  its just a disaster.

Kind of makes you want to sit them both for a couple of weeks, and play two kids.

The problem was not last night, it was the losses in the first two Houston games.

It's funny that he is never at fault when the players don't produce.

So what's the point in having a manager again?

To absorb punishment from fans when things go wrong.  Much easier to pin the problems on one guy who can easily be replaced than trying to figure out and agree on the myriad number of other problems.  And many of those problems are not easy fixes.

Most fan reactions are too high or too low, they way overreact.  They jump on the bandwagon when things go right with a player, and when things go wrong they run the issue into the ground.  To use Mathis as an example, I don't think he was as bad as many made it sound on here.  He is what he is, a poor hitter with good but not great defensive skills, had good communication with the pitchers, worked hard, and had above average athletic skills.  His poor hitting got magnified by the extra base hits that Napoli accumulated.  Once a player's poor skills are exposed, the fans go over board to ridicule the player in general.  Mathis wasn't the first, and won't be the last.  This year's edition - Hamilton.

Fans, in general, are impatient and not really supportive of many players.  Part of it is the salaries they make compared to the general population. There really isn't much empathy when players struggle in almost any organization. 

That's also partly why some fans have a problem with Scioscia, he's even keel and doesn't overreact either way - to the good side or bad.  Fans go overboard both ways, but mostly on the bad side of things.

Hamilton 2-5, 1 HR.

Post your predictions here for season game #38, 5/13/13 vs. Kansas City.  Game time is 7:05 pm PST.  Winners from today's game #37 (5/12/13)  vs Chicago White Sox are shown below.  The Predictions Scoreboard has been updated, and posted here and in the Pinned thread above.

4 Points, 3 Points, 2 Points

None

1 Point

JAHV76  (Trout 1 single)

Ray McKigney  (Trout 1 single)

Jellybean  (Trout 1 SB)

HeavenlyHalos  (Trout 1 single)

notalpujols  (Wilson 3 ER's)

GoodTimesGoneBad  (Wilson 3 ER's)

2002_halos_II  (Wilson 3 ER's)

2013 PREDICTION GAME

SCOREBOARD

[Year to Date Through 5/12/13 - Season Game 37]

1.   JAHV76.....32 (7)

2.   Redondo.....31 (8)

3.   Ray McKigney.....29 (7)

4.   AngelsAndRamsFan.....29 (5)

5.   The Angels.....28 (6)

6.   Mark68.....28 (5) - April 2013 Player of the Month

7.   HeavenlyHalos.....26 (4)

8.   Jeff M.....24 (5)

9.   TCB.....23 (4)

10. SoCalSportsFan.....23 (3)

11. Angels N Skins.....22 (6)

12. paws*.....22 (4)

13. notalpujols.....21 (4)

14. Jellybean.....21 (2)

15. 2002_halos_II.....19 (2)

16. GoodTimesGoneBad.....18 (3)

17. katrinab.....18 (2)

18. AZMike.....18 (1)

19. Jeff S......17 (2)  2012 Champion aka as "Soto Speaks"

20. BatsnBeer.....15 (2)

21. Troutipoo27.....15 (1)

22. Angels_Baseball.....14 (2)

23. Torridd.....14 (2)

24. tdawg87.....13 (2)

25. True Grich.....12 (3)

26. Ochocinco!.....12 (2)

27. tomsred**.....12 (1) - 2010 Champion

28. nando714.....11 (2)

29. Peyton.....11 (2)

30. SoWhat.....11 (1)

31. Lawrence.....10 (3)

32. ZachMartin1994.....10

33. Pbonetheman.....9 (1)

34. Jammer36.....8 (1)

35. Jimmag.....8 (1)

36. HaloFromVegas.....8

37. Kenny.....7 (2)

38. Tank.....6 (1)

39. m0nkey.....6 - "2011 Champion"

40. bigfish27.....5 (1)

41. scooby10672.....5 (1)

42. George.....5

43. hk47.....4 (1)

44. EDinTUSTIN.....4

45. Geoff Stoddart.....4

46. ispy45.....4

47. stemyn.....4

48. The Dude.....4

49. GalericX.....3 (1)

50. nate.....3 (1)

51. poker1.....3 (1)

52. StephenGlansberg.....3 (1)

53. Jim.....3

54. Primitive.....3

55. Eric.....2

56. LBHalos17.....2

57. open_speed.....2

58. Waller.....2

59. Agalloch.....1

60. Angel Dog and Beer.....1

61. CaliAngel.....1

62. Cory.....1

63. Dochalo.....1

64. ELEVEN.....1

65. Eric Notti.....1

66. ettin.....1

67. ineedanap.....1

68. Kody Mac.....1

69. RallyTime.....1

70. STLCardinalsFan.....1

71. TrumBomb.....1

Following each player is the year to date points total, along with the total of 3 and/or 4 points wins shown in parenthesis.

* Not eligible to win prizes  (conflict of interest)

**Administrator, not eligible to win.

Somebody finally got fired.

Was Simers their source?

If Simers was so good, why doesn't he write about North Korea or Iran?   Somebody please sign him up for the political page and take him off our hands.

Sad how this works, we sign big name free agents and they under perform.  We don't sign big name free agents, and we're cheap and don't want to win.  A losing destiny awaits either way.

I'm surprised at Wells' success in NY, given that teams' mysticism over having to win every year and the extra pressure that goes with it.  I knew he was underachieving here in Anaheim, but I'm curious why he says he struggled so much here...

Maybe because the fans wouldn't get off his back?  All they wanted to do is focus on his enormous contract, and shout and post insults.  I'm not saying it wasn't warranted, but sometimes all baseball fans take things a little too far.  When fans have to pay a good sum of money to go to any MLB game, they think they have a sense of entitlement to always get the best results.  Unfortunately bad things happen.  In NY his contract isn't an issue, and they were desperate for help to start this year.  I'm glad for him, he seems to be a really nice person. 

I'm a season ticket holder, and haven't sold any of my tickets.  I either go (most of the time) or give them to family or friends.  I would obviously like to see them win, but it's great entertainment either way.  And what's not to like about being outside in So Cal in this weather in the evening, it's pretty nice at the ballpark.  The only negative is over the top drunken fans.

When you are in fourth place in your division fans magnify the mistakes.  Seems like more fans want to feel bad than good.

Richards 1.0 IP, 0 ER's.

Post your predictions here for season game #37, 5/12/13 vs. Chicago White Sox.  Game time is 5:00 pm PST.  Winners from earlier today for season game #36 vs. Chicago White Sox are shown below.  The Predictions Scoreboard will be updated tomorrow evening, 5/12/13.

4 Points

notalpujols  (Trout 2-4, 1 HR)

3 Points

nando714  (Trout 2-4, 1 single)

katrinab  (Callaspo 1-3, 1 single)

BatsnBeer  (Trumbo 1-4, 1 single)

AngelsAndRamsFan  (Pujols 1-4, 1 single)

2 Points

None

1 Point

Jeff M  (Callaspo 1 single)

GoodTimesGoneBad  (Pujols 1 single)

AZMike  (Trout 2-4)

Jammer36  (Hamilton 1-4)

Jellybean  (Hamilton 1-4)

Jeff S.  (Trout 1 HR)

SoCalSportsFan  (Trumbo 1 single)

The Dude  (Pujols 1-4)

Kendrick 1-4, 1 run

I protest the 1-4 kendrick, single. I was the first to predict and the others that got it right clearly are intimidated by my potential.

April was clearly the month of the six inning starter; May belongs to Kendrick 1-4.  It's like the stock market, you have to know when to buy in and when to get out that's important.

Actually, the pitcher doesn't need to throw a pitch if an out is recorded. If a pitcher came into a game and picks off a runner on base before throwing a pitch, he can be replaced whether it was the last out of the inning or not.

On this Angels team that could have definitely happened.

After the first,he looked good for a few innings and then he started looking like CJ. Couldn't (or wouldn't) throw a strike. Weird. Don't know what happens between innings with some of these guys.

He choked, I think he wanted to get through 5 innings and rack up a win.  The closer he got the more outside his game he got.  Also it doesn't take long for ML hitters to figure out tendencies on pitchers who are struggling.  I don't know what the organization sees in this guy, he should be at AAA.

I think chemistry matters most in two areas:  Between the pitchers and the catchers, and between all of the infielders (and, to a lesser extent the outfielders) because they work side by side on defense throughout the game.  Other than that, I don't think chemistry matters that much.  The dugouts, clubhouses, bullpens, and charter airplanes are large enough for players to join whichever clique they feel most comfortable in.

 

However long it takes for leaders to develop, doesn't it strike you as bizarre that no player on this team of 25 took cues from Hunter and is able to emulate him in some way?  I find that especially troubling with Pujols and Hamilton here.  I suppose Hamilton could grow into a leader over time, but why is Pujols seemingly a zero in this role?

 

As a group, I think the biggest failure of Moreno, Reagins, and Scioscia was not dealing with the catcher dilemma years ago.  This was during the era when Scioscia had too much power and wouldn't let Mathis slip away.  I think Conger would be much better today (and he isn't that bad) if the Angels hadn't bounced him around so much.  Our younger relievers have had a difficult enough job as is without the constant juggling of catchers the last few years.

Hunter had a rare personality, I'm not sure anyone on this team could emulate him.  Eventually Trumbo and Trout could be leaders, but that might take a few years.

I agree with you on the catching, not enough emphasis there, but really good catchers that were available via trade or free agency have been rare the past few years.  I think DiPoto missed the boat on the pen construction.  He tried to build a house with a hand saw instead of an electric saw.  Maybe Madsen will bail him out, but I don't expect that he will contribute much right away.

Hamilton and Pujols pray enough for all of us, but the problem is they aren't using the right prayer. I prefer this one:

 

 

Our Trout who art in center (and sometimes left),

hallowed be thy name.

Thy MVP will come.

Thy wheels get it done

on the road as it is in Anaheim.

Give us this day our daily win,

and forgive us our LOBs,

as we forgive those who pitch around you,

and lead us not into poor situational hitting,

but deliver us from losing.

For thine is the franchise,

and the leadoff spark, and the future World Series glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen.

Nice!