Posted 11:15 AM by Sean
Scott Schoeneweis signs for another year. It's clear he'll at least start out in the bullpen in 2003, despite his preference to be a starter. It's to be hoped that his raise - from $325,000 in 2002 to $1.425 million in 2003 - will compensate sufficiently.

I watched the Angels' season retrospective DVD the other night. It's a production of the Anaheim Angels and is distributed via the Orange County Register (and presumably the Angels' gift shop, though not their web site), and definitely has the feel of being produced by people who are actually connected with the team, as opposed to folks from Major League Baseball. It's an hour long, and thoroughly enjoyable, if not exactly penetrating. It hits the highlights - the crappy start, the 21-run explosion in Cleveland, Eckstein's home runs, GA's All-Star selection, etc. - and intercuts the chronological retelling of the season with brief profiles of most of the everyday players. Pretty much what I expected.

There are also a couple of really nice bonus features. There's several minutes' worth of Rex Hudler interviewing various players (plus Scioscia) in the locker room after they'd sewn up the wild-card spot, including the infamous interview with David Eckstein in which Eck had a gigantic glob of saliva hanging from his chin. The funniest thing about the interviews is that they all start the exact same way: Hudler saying "we're live on FOX!" In other words, "please don't say 'fuck!'"

There's also an interview with Scott Spiezio conducted as he's driving to the stadium before Game 7 of the World Series. That's pretty cool. He talks about the Game 6 comeback, how (like everyone who's ever been a baseball fan) he's always fantasized about being in Game 7, and how it's weird to realize that, no matter what, this is the last game of the season. The camera follows him in to the stadium and through the tunnels to the clubhouse (but not inside).

I haven't watched the official MLB World Series video yet, but I did put it in the DVD player to see what kind of extras it offers, and the difference is pretty clear. The Angels DVD fires right up - the first thing you see is the menu. MLB's starts with the typical copyright warning, then an anti-drug PSA (starring Derek Jeter, mind you), then some sort of MLB promo, THEN the menu. The best of the extras seems to be clips from the Game 6 comeback, but I'll give you a full rundown when I get a chance to watch the whole thing.