It's a race 

Posted 11:28 AM by Sean
So I went out of town for the weekend, and saw none of the Saturday or Sunday losses to Tampa Bay. And now, the sky has fallen yet again, we're all doomed, season over, etc., etc.

I have nothing to say about this that I haven't said before. You can keep the faith or try hedging your bets, so that if your team doesn't win you at least get the satisfaction of saying "I told you so." If that's your style, be my guest; I understand football season begins anon. For myself, I prefer at times like these to recall the words of Samuel Adams:

If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

And in that spirit, I present to you the entire list of unbelievable, catastrophically improbable occurences that must transpire for the Angels to regain first place:

1. They have to win tonight.

Yet plus more ultra updated strength of schedule numbers 

Posted 11:53 AM by Sean
Following yesterday's games, the Angels have a 2.5-game lead on the A's. Here are the remaining "unique" games for each club, and the opponent winning percentage weighted by number of games:

LAA - Tampa Bay (6), Oakland (7), Chicago (3), Detroit (4) - .507 OWP.
OAK - Baltimore (4), Los Angeles (7), New York (3), Cleveland (3), Boston (1), Minnesota (3) - .545 OWP.

After their wraparound series with Baltimore this weekend, every single team the A's play for the rest of the year - other than Seattle and Texas, whom the Angels also play - is a current playoff contender.

Time to make that late-season surge 

Posted 3:55 PM by Sean
Through a little scenario-tweaking, I've discovered that the Kansas City Royals will be mathematically eliminated from the AL Central race if either of the following occur between now and the end of the season:

1. The Royals lose a game, OR
2. The White Sox, Twins, Indians, and Tigers win a combined two or more games against non-division opponents.

Oh, and they're also eliminated if any of those teams wins too many intra-division games, too.

And, of course, even if every single thing goes right, the best they can do is finish in a four-way tie.

Go Royals!

Escobar makes first rehab start 

Posted 10:28 AM by Sean
Kelvim Escobar threw one and a third scoreless innings Tuesday night for Salt Lake, allowing no runs on one hit, two walks, four strikeouts, and one groundout. The extra out in that list is a passed ball by Josh Paul, allowing a runner to advance to first on strike three - game log here.

Irresponsible Rumormongering 

Posted 9:48 AM by Sean
A few months ago, I mentioned the possibility of Barry Bonds finishing his career as a DH with the Angels; this morning the speculation crops up again in the Times, which references a Sacramento Bee article reporting that Giants GM Peter Magowan has said he would explore the possibility of a trade with the Angels if Bonds requested one. So, at this point, the only obstacles are:

1. Bonds has to request a trade.
2. Magowan has to agree.
3. The Angels have to trade away some presumably pretty big talent.
4. Bonds's knee has to be healthy.
5. The Angels have to find $18 million to pay him.

Okay! Can we get him in time to put him on the postseason roster?

In all seriousness, it still looks like idle speculation at this point. However, for the sake of information, the Angels do figure to clear a fair bit of money off the payroll after this season. Tim Salmon's $9.75 million will be gone, as will Paul Byrd's $5 million. Depending on how chancy the Angels want to get with their rotation, they could go with a starting five of Colon-Escobar-Lackey-Santana-Saunders, which would have a price tag of about $20 million, compared to this year's $29 million Colon-Escobar-Washburn-Lackey-Byrd quintet. Bengie Molina will be a somewhat more difficult question; he's making just $3 million in this, his walk year, but is expected to look for a substantial raise in his new contract.

Of course, the Angels are going to get dinged pretty hard in raises for Figgins, Donnelly, and Shields, but in this particular case adding an $18 million player means quite a bit less than adding $18 million to the payroll.

Ultimately, the thing that worries me the most about this would be Bonds's notorious superstar persona conflicting with a clubhouse full of guys who have spent years in a team-first mentality. I can't imagine the Angels putting up with Bonds's special leather recliners and personal big-screen TVs and whatever other nonsense he gets away with in San Francisco, and I can't imagine Bonds developing the stolid, blue-collar approach to the media the Angels take - particularly given the national spotlight that will be on him next season.

Instapost 

Posted 3:22 PM by Sean
Busy, busy, busy, today, so just random notes:

- I'm not crapping my drawers about Frankie giving up a grand slam to Tejada last night. Let's remember that having the bases full wasn't his fault; it very possibly wouldn't even have gotten to Tejada if Rodriguez had started the inning, so in a way those insurance runs in the top of the ninth were actually a net negative. Anyway, Frankie made one bad pitch, a fastball that stayed up in the zone, and Tejada showed why he's a damn good hitter.

- Juan Rivera, of course, had a major-league game. The hits were great, but even better were the two assists he had, throwing runners out at second. The first was Sosa's fault, and I will never, ever, as long as I live, get tired of watching dumbshit power hitters start their little home run trots only to realize halfway down the line that it ain't quite got the distance. Rivera's second assist, nailing Tejada at second, was just great play in the outfield.

- I'm in agreement with Scioscia: the biggest hit of the game was Cabrera's two-out, bases loaded hit in the top of the second. If Cabrera makes an out there the Angels have loaded the bases in the first two innings with nothing to show for it; instead, they broke through. As it was, the game "felt" like a blowout, even when the lead was only four runs, up until Tejada's ball went over the right-field fence.

At the moment, 3.5 games up in the standings, it's time to take advantage of some of the softer road games the Angels have and keep pressing forward.

My God - it's full of pixels 

Posted 10:48 AM by Sean
Tonight's Angels-Orioles game is on INHD. I'm not sure if they've got rights to any games in September, so this may be the last time this season to catch an Angels broadcast there.

Updated strength of schedule numbers 

Posted 5:16 PM by Sean
After last night's win over the Red Sox, the Angels now have nineteen "unique" games left - games against teams that Oakland doesn't play, or doesn't play as often. Oakland has twenty such games left. The remaining unique games for each:

LAA - BOS (2), TAM (6), OAK (7), CWS (3), DET (1)
OAK - BAL (1), KCR (3), LAA (7), NYY (3), CLE (3), MIN (3)

Opponent winning percentage for each:

LAA - .5162
OAK - .5173

Owies 

Posted 1:16 PM by Sean
Most of the rest of the Halosphere has already made mention of this, but here's how the Angels' hurt squad seems to be shaping up:

Dallas McPherson - probably out for the season (bone spur, hip). That's bad, but, to be honest, it's almost a relief. McPherson had shown signs of why he was considered a can't-miss prospect, but even can't-miss prospects need an adjustment period, and it's not clear that McPherson was past his. With Izturis and Figgins playing more than competently at third, and Casey Kotchman getting his legs under him offensively, losing McPherson is a bummer, but probably not crippling.

Garret Anderson - the official statements on Anderson are as bad as the bad old days when the Kremlin used to report on the health status of Soviet premiers. As far as I can tell, the line on Anderson is that there's no set date for him to return, but what's bothering him - patellar tendinitis and lower back strain - won't keep him out for long. Scioscia plans to have him back at DH "in a reasonable amount of time," and expects him to eventually return to the outfield. Given the Angels' depth, it's far more important to have Anderson's bat in the lineup than to put him in left; hopefully we'll see him in the next few games.

Kelvim Escobar - Escobar is scheduled to throw a simulated game today, then begin a rehab assignment next week, which would put him on pace to rejoin the club somewhere around Labor Day. Assuming nothing has been decided about whether he'll return to the rotation or finish the year in the bullpen, Santana should have three more starts to sway the decision one way or the other.

Before I forget (again) 

Posted 11:06 AM by Sean
Check out the Lyman Bostock Tribute Page, a fine rememberance of an Angel taken before his time.

Rear-view mirror 

Posted 10:55 AM by Sean
At this point, I'm thinking the Angels would gnaw their own legs off to be rid of the trap that is the Toronto Blue Jays. Fortunately, they are done with those hockey-loving sons of bitches until next year, unless they happen to make it into the playoffs. Which, given the fact that they play the Angels like they're easily the best team in the majors, is not out of the question. It speaks volumes that I'm actually relieved to see the Red Sox coming up.

It is now, beyond question, time for Finley to go. The Angels' patience with their free-agent signings has been pretty remarkable - not that they had much choice, given the investment - but whereas Orlando Cabrera has very slowly begun to make himself an asset, Steve Finley is simply a disaster at the plate. He's currently 6 for 44 in August (.136), hasn't had a multi-hit game since July 26, is mediocre in center, and has more or less obtained the status of automatic out. With rosters expanding in a couple of weeks, there's probably no need to release him outright, but there's simply no way left to justify his appearing in anything other than "stupid situations" - up by ten, down by twelve, pinch-runner in the fourteenth inning, etc.

Looks familiar 

Posted 4:38 PM by Sean
Eric DuBose, making an emergency start for Baltimore this afternoon, shut out the A's through six innings, giving up just two hits. And then, with a 5-0 lead, the Orioles brought in Jason Grimsley, who gave up a double, a homer, a bunt single, and a walk before being lifted for Steve Klein. You know, it's bad enough that I have to worry about the Angels' bullpen...

Update: Klein stops the bleeding, more or less, recording three straight outs on balls that don't leave the infield. One inherited runner scores on a groundout; Baltimore leads 5-3 in the 8th.

Update 2: Klein works a scoreless eighth and Todd Williams sets 'em down 1-2-3 in the ninth. Take notes, Halo relievers.

Pissed it away 

Posted 1:24 PM by Sean
I didn't see last night's game - it wasn't on Extra Innings - and that's probably a good thing, the price of aneurysms being what it is. Frankie's inexplicable (*coughwinterball*) recent loss of velocity and command have become something of a trend; even during Monday's win he seemed more lucky than good. Although at first I thought that Ervin Santana had little chance of retaining his rotation slot when Escobar is ready to come back, it seems the Esky-to-the-bullpen momentum is growing stronger with every free pass Rodriguez issues.

For comparison's sake:

Percival, 2002 - 56.1 IP, 25 BB, 68 K, 40 SV, 4 BS, OAVG .188
Rodriguez, 2005 - 46.1 IP, 24 BB, 64 K, 27 SV, 5 BS, OVG .170

Just to torment Rob 

Posted 5:08 PM by Sean
InDemand has started broadcasting select games in high definition - a little less than one per day. The complete schedule can be found here. Angels games on the docket include September 7 at Boston and September 28 at Oakland. Meanwhile, INHD will be showing the August 23 game at Baltimore, and possibly others.

Who knew? 

Posted 12:17 PM by Sean
The Dallas Morning News looks back on the wreck that the Rangers' season has become, and pinpoints the moment it all started to go wrong: the DFA'ing of Ryan Drese.

With showdowns in the AL West looming, management convened to discuss
Drese's downward turn. Despite protests from pitching coach Orel Hershiser, the
meeting ended with Drese designated for assignment. If he made it through
waivers, the Rangers would send him to the minors for a refresher course.

If he didn't, well, he'd be somebody else's problem. And the Rangers
would have another $1.8 million – Drese's 2006 salary – to apply to a mid-season
pitching acquisition.

Three months later and this much is obvious: Drese was the glue
that held this team together.

OK, maybe not the glue. But he was some kind of adhesive.

(What does that last line mean, anyway?)

Strength of schedule 

Posted 11:20 AM by Sean
At the moment, the Angels are in one of the tougher stretches they have left, having won the first game of a seven-game homestand versus the Blue Jays and Red Sox. Meanwhile, the A's have it comparatively easy, hosting Baltimore and Kansas City. That makes last night's win even nicer, as the Angels put down an over-.500 opponent while the A's lose to one under the break-even mark.

From here on in, the Angels and A's schedules are very similar in terms of opponent strength. After cancelling out the mutual opponents, we're looking at the following:

Angels - TOR (2), BOS (3), TAM (6), OAK (7), CWS (3), DET (1)
A's - BAL (3), KC (3), LAA (7), NYY (3), CLE (3), MIN (3)

Adjusted for the number of times uniquely played, the Angels' opponents down the stretch have a .521954 winning percentage; the A's opponents have a .516681 winning percentage. If the Angels were to lose their two-game lead over the next two days, the two clubs would be even in the standings, with the remaining opponent winning percentage being .52245 for the Angels and .51915 for the A's. That's pretty damn close.

Oopsie-daisy 

Posted 8:36 AM by Sean
So I was channel-surfing last night, looking for an old episode of Sisters, or maybe dwarf porn, when I stumbled upon a game between the Angels and Blue Jays. I bemusedly paused to see when the game had been played - perhaps it was from the sacred season of 2002 - but quickly saw that the Jays were wearing their new uniforms, the ones that look like they were designed by Pablo Picasso, John James Audubon, and a 24-year-old graphic designer after a bottle of absinthe apiece.

As I listened to Hudler and Physioc drone on, it slowly dawned on me that this was, in fact, no archived game being rebroadcast on ESPN Classic; it was, in fact, being played that very night! Stunned, I rushed to my computer and consulted the Internet, only to discover that, through some scheduling quirk, some technical loophole in the MLB rules, the Angels' season did not end when Frankie Rodriguez failed to catch Jose Molina's return throw on August 11! In fact, I learned, the Angels were actually being allowed to play games that counted in the standings, and had not been eliminated from contention!

Well. I was floored, let me just tell you. And to put the cherry on the ice cream sundae, it turns out the Angels have actually been so ungallant as to win their last four games, which must put a distinctly uncomfortable cramp in the style of anyone who may have declared it time to throw in the towel, strike the tent, fold up the camp chairs, hit the bricks, and/or start paying attention to football. I just hope that, wherever such folks may be, they can bring themselves to believe the incredible fact that the Angels made up a one-game deficit with 50 to play. Maybe they left themseleves a loophole.

In any event, the Angels won a very big game last night, finally taking a close one from the Blue Jays. It's an old baseball cliche that some teams just have your number, and the Angels needed this one to get past that mental block. With four games against the very tough Red Sox coming up, they just cannot afford to be stymied by a lesser team. The fact that Darin Erstad, poster boy for the Angels' brand of aggressive baseball, has now come through in the clutch on consecutive nights makes it all the sweeter.

Oh, and the A's blew a 2-0 lead in a comical seventh inning and lost to the Orioles, too.

Interesting bits from the papers this morning:

The L.A. Times sez that Erstad moving back to center is a possibility:

Said Manager Mike Scioscia: "To move Erstad, it would have to make the
whole lineup better. It would be a significant move. You would expect
significant results."A lot of it hinges on how Garret is. If Garret can play the
outfield, we can still get Kotchman's bat in the lineup" at designated
hitter.

To quote Keanu: whoa. Scioscia has been adamant about keeping Erstad at first, but the situation they find themselves in - Anderson injured, Finley ineffective, Kotchman showing signs of life - makes the idea seem awfully attractive. Throw in the fact that Guerrero is being intentionally walked like he was Barry Bonds or something now that Anderson is out of the lineup, and one can't help but have visions of Ersty flying around out there again. Is it possible to win Gold Gloves in two positions in the same season?

(Eating crow department - looks like all that agitating I did to see Anderson hit in front of Guerrero in the lineup was, uh, in error.

That despite the fact Seattle manager Mike Hargrove pretty much laid out the
plan after Friday night's game, when Guerrero had hit 864 feet worth of home
runs. Hargrove said he would pitch around the 2004 AL MVP without Anderson
there.
"If Anderson's not hitting behind him, sure," Hargrove said. "But
Anderson's too good a hitter to put men on in front of him."

Though I still think Molina would come through most of the time, he sure hasn't so far.)

Meanwhile, Paul Byrd becomes the latest Angels starter with injury problems, though apparently not serious ones. Byrd has been scratched from tonight's start with "back spasms," which may or may not have cleared up already. Joe Saunders has been promoted from Salt Lake to make tonight's start - which, of course, isn't on Extra Innings. Jeff Mathis has been sent back down to make room on the roster.

Stars in my eyes 

Posted 5:07 PM by Sean
Thanks to all of my fellow Halosphere members for linking to and talking up the bit of trifle I posted earlier today (yeah, I know it's marked Saturday - trust me). Between them and a mention at Baseball Think Factory, I've gotten about three times my normal traffic. If you're new to the site, welcome.

Next, an operatic cycle starring Maicer Izturis 

Posted 11:16 AM by Sean
THE RALLY
A play in one act
By Anonymous

Dramatis Personae
VLADERIAN, GARRETES, MOLINEUS - Base Ball Players
FINELAEUS - An Old Man
SCIOSCIAMMEMNON - A Manager
RALLY - An Aetherial Being

CHORUS
Here we find a stalwart group
Assembled for one purpose
Let us reveal their honest fates
And from them lessons take

A band of men, as men alone
Seek naturally salvation
Praise and honor, and perchance
An occasional standing ovation.

[Enter VLADERIAN, GARRETES, MOLINEUS, and FINELAEUS, carrying bats]

VLADERIAN
In this late hour, our enemies
Would seem to have things well in hand
Two tallies up, upon us they close
With fire and nasty breaking stuff

'Twould seem that only the supernatural
Could deliverance secure us
But soft! An alabaster invitation
Recalls me to my purpose!
[he swings, as a crack of thunder is heard. As the thunderclap subsides, a ghostly moaning is heard off-stage]

GARRETES
But what is this? Does memory mock
Or have I heard this sound before?
Upon the tip of my mind it sits
There will be an answer! There must!

Though all the spectral choir howl
I will not shirk to bring them here
I name them not, only summon by
Immolation of this pearly sphere!

[GARRETES swings; another crack of thunder is heard, and the ghostly moan grows louder]

MOLINEUS
This ghostly being that strives for form
I pray is beneficial
For a baneful touch I certainly know
I could ne'er hope to outrun

But brothers! O! I think I know
The source of yon commotion
Let me advance its incarnation
Despite my locomotion!

[MOLINEUS swings; yet a third crack of thunder is heard. The moaning grows still louder as RALLY, dressed in flowing multicolored robes, enters and moves to center stage]

RALLY
Blessings to them who summon me!
I, once a thought, a whisper, a dream
Upon the winds; thy skill and thy heart
Have given me form. Command my might!

FINELAEUS
YOU DIE! YOU DIE NOW!
[he beats RALLY to death with a bat]

RALLY
Wha'hoppen? [*dies*]

VLADERIAN, GARRETES, MOLINEUS
Boooooo.

SCIOSCIAMMEMNON
Aye, Finelaeus, perchance linksmanship is in thy future
A mere score or so such bodies and I swear
It will be; test me not, or you will find the proof is in the putting.

CHORUS
Alas, poor Rally! Gone too soon
Now slain upon the well-trimm'd field
Learn from us, ye mighty and wise
Lest unto Lethe thy seasons yield

EXEUNT OMNES

On to Seattle! 

Posted 2:15 PM by Sean
You know, watching games via MLB's Gameday (or CBS's Sportsline, which I'm slowly coming to prefer) can be pretty nerve-wracking. You're squinting at a screen, waiting interminable seconds for the red circle, or the green circle or the loved/dreaded blue circle to appear in the oh-so-crisp, oh-so-irrelevant perfectly rectangular strike zone they've drawn next to the batter-doppelganger. It's much more nerve-wracking than actually watching a game; there's no rhythm to it, just instantaneous relief or pain. It's not baseball, in any meaningful sense of the word. And so I covet with nuclear intensity the Slingbox, a device that supposedly allows you to access your home cable programming and/or programs stored on your DVR from any broadband-connected PC on the planet.

But that's neither here nor there. The point is, I didn't see yesterday afternoon's game-ending play live; just a notation that Frankie Rodriguez had made an error allowing the runner to score from third. Since the ball hadn't been put into play, I assumed it was a wild pitch. Not particularly caring to see the highlights, I blew off SportsCenter last night, and only this morning read the accounts of how Rodriguez, disgusted by not getting a borderline strike call, flubbed the throw back to him by Jose Molina. I don't believe I've ever seen a game end that way at the professional level before; I may never have seen a run score that way at the professional level before. So I hit the Angels web site to watch for myself.

And then?

And then, I laughed. My. Ass. Off.

Because, come on, that's funny. Some kid gets all pissy about a strike call and pulls a little drama queen number on the mound, and forgets the most fundamental thing of all in the middle of a tight, important series. It's as if Kendall had fallen for the hidden-ball trick. Funny. And so I laughed.

Do I want to see it again? No, of course not. But neither do I have any intention of letting myself turn into the kind of person who lets a game on August 11 send him into despair. Baseball isn't life, folks, and if you're getting your philosphy from your clothes you need serious help. It's a great, great game, and sometimes you need to be able to appreciate when goofy shit goes down in a game, even when it goes against you.

As for whose fault these past couple of games have been...geez, hindsight is pretty good around the Halosphere lately. Shields comes in and blows a game in the seventh, and I read all about how that's supposed to be Donnelly's inning. Donnelly comes in the very next day and blows a game in the seventh, and I read all about how Donnelly has no business in a tight game. I keep expecting to see a "free Steve Solis" banner somewhere. The fact of the matter is the guys who get the blame for this are the guys who were throwing the ball (and failing to catch it). There's no Weapon X out there that Scioscia is failing to deploy; he's playing the cards he's been dealt. If they blow it, it's on them. Donnelly and Shields and Rodriguez have been around long enough to know that, and long enough to be given the benefit of the doubt over a couple of crappy performances.

Keep the faith, gang.

Ugh 

Posted 2:14 PM by Sean
Okay, not so much with the Garret Anderson, then. Apparently, GA was held out with patellar tendonitis, which was unfortunate because of his previously-noted affinity for Barry Zito's pitching.

Three costly mistakes in the field, all capably explained by the ESPN crew: DaVanon's throw to third, allowing an insurance run to go to second (eventually to score), Finley and Guerrero's impromptu soccer game that turned a double into a triple, and Cabrera's mush-handing of a fairly routine grounder. Put them all in the same inning plus a wild pitch, and the A's get three runs and the ballgame.

Today the Angels are up against noted Thalidomide casualty Joe Blanton, who looks like Corky's understudy from "Life Goes On." Seriously, between him and Kielty, the A's have got to be the most physically repellant club since the Nixon/Blauser Braves of the early '90's.

Tomorrow, the club gets Washburn back.

Braced and ready 

Posted 5:47 PM by Sean
Last night's A's-whippin' was nice, but let's not kid ourselves - there's a lot more work to be done. I seem to recall taking the first game of the last series, only to lose the next two.

Tonight, the Angels will need Santana to keep his cool, not get freaked out by Bobby Kielty's ugly mug, and keep the ball down, down, down. Meanwhile, the offense will have to build around Garret Anderson and his lifetime .352/.393/.556 line against Zito. I'd guess this might be a DH start for Molina with Kotchman coming off the bench against a righty.

Suggested lineup:
Figgins, 2b
Cabrera, ss
Anderson, lf
Guerrero, rf
B. Molina, dh
DaVanon, cf
Erstad, 1b
J. Molina, c
Izturis, 3b

Realistically, though, Scioscia will probably go Erstad-Guerrero-Anderson in 3-4-5, which isn't that bad.

He has given us...His shoe! 

Posted 10:21 AM by Sean
ARTHUR:
Hail Messiah!
BRIAN:
I'm not the Messiah!
ARTHUR:
I say You are, Lord, and I should know. I've followed a few.

-- Monty Python's Life of Brian

Chronicles of the Lads has it dead-on when he notes that Casey Kotchman's two walks on Sunday were nearly as gratifying as his two home runs. If it had been possible to reach through the television and throttle Rex Hudler and Steve Physioc, both of whom were acting as if Kotchman's recent power surge could be the cure to the Angels' hitting woes, the Angels would currently be looking for new broadcasters. One of the reasons Kotchman's had so little success at the big-league level is that he's been putting pressure on himself to make an immediate impact in that area. The last thing he needs now is to be hailed as the much-prophesied DH that will lead the Angels to the promised land; if everyone expects him to clobber the ball every single time there's a danger he'll fall right back into the same old trap.

Tonight, of course, the Angels start a three-game series with the co-division-leading green team up in Oakland. Tonight's game may actually be the most intriguing pitching matchup of the series. John Lackey looks like he's finally pitching up to his potential this year, having a breakout season made all the more remarkable by the fact that it's not his damn walk year. Rich Harden is a nice power pitcher in the Bartolo Colon "stronger as he goes along" mold who has more or less dominated the Angels in his two starts against them this year. Kotchman will almost certainly get a start - probably at DH, though possibly at first if Erstad needs another day off.

We hardly knew ye. As in, "not at all." 

Posted 5:05 PM by Sean
Rob emails to tell me of a heretofore unknown but long-defunct Angels blog, Halos Hardball, now encased in the amber of the Internet. Running from January 27, 2003 to April 7, 2003, it was actually the second Angels blog ever, at least as far as I know. I have dutifully updated the Brief History of the Halosphere.

End of an era 

Posted 8:41 AM by Sean
The Cardinals' radio broadcast is leaving KMOX after more than 50 years. One of the few things you've been able to count on for that long has been finding the Cards at 1120 AM as long as you're within a few hundred miles of St. Louis; in some ways, this is more of a shock than the Red Sox winning the World Series.

Noted 

Posted 4:28 PM by Sean
Bengie Molina, as a DH (2005): .563/.571/.813 (16 AB). Bengie is in his walk year, and one of the more interesting questions of the postseason will be to what extent he will accept offers from teams that primarily want him to DH, with a little catching thrown in.

Meanwhile, with various folks atwitter about how well moving Orlando Cabrera to the two slot in the lineup appears to be working over the last few days, the following bears keeping in mind:

Cabrera, batting second (2005): .214/.333/.286 (28 AB)
Cabrera, batting eighth (2005): .292/.327/.385 (96 AB)

Cabrera's not better batting second, he's better lately:

Cabrera, 2005: .248/.303/.348
Cabrera, July 2005: .280/.333/.320
Cabrera, August 2005: .286/.444/.429

However, moving him up in the lineup does accomplish the eminently sensible aim of moving Guerrero to the cleanup spot in the order. I've blogged about this before; Guerrero's combination of hitting for average and hitting for power make the number three spot a bad place for him to hit, since that spot sees more than it's share of two-out, nobody on situations in the first inning. The end result - lots of solo homers, lots of wasted base hits. The number four hitter, meanwhile, either comes up with men on base in the first or leads off the second - both good situations to see #27 at the plate. Now if they'd only ship Cabrera to the eight slot and bat Anderson third, so that he can benefit from being protected by Guerrero (who needs less protection because he's such a good bad-ball hitter), we'd be cooking with gas.

Anderson milestone update 

Posted 3:36 PM by Sean
Garret Anderson now stands just two extra-base hits away from Tim Salmon's all-time mark:

XBH
Salmon - 643
Anderson - 641

After this, he'll not break another Angels record (that I know of) until next year, when he stands to eclipse Brian Downing's games played number:

Games
Downing - 1661
Salmon - 1596
Anderson - 1580 (including today's game)

Also of note is the fact that Anderson is two homers away from moving into second place on the Angels' career homers list:

HR
Salmon - 290
Downing - 222
Anderson - 220

Washburn to DL 

Posted 9:48 AM by Sean
Jarrod Washburn has been placed on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 25. This isn't a particularly big deal, it seems - he'll miss one additional start, but appears to be progressing well enough.

Chris Bootcheck will make Washburn's start on Saturday against the Devil Rays. Bootcheck, of course, looked pretty decent against the Yankees in his most recent start; let's hope that carries over against less storied opponents.

Thus far, no announcement has been forthcoming about who will take Washburn's roster spot for the next few days. Jake Woods would seem the obvious possibility, depressing as that might be for those of us who would prefer not to see him again just yet after last Saturday's upchuck of a performance.

Update: nope, it's Kotchman. Kotch's line at Salt Lake this year is .289/.372/.441, though his abysmal start means that he's actually performed better than that lately.

Ever fallen in love with a blog post you shouldn't have fallen in love with? 

Posted 1:37 PM by Sean
I've just spent a bunch of time researching a post that isn't close to done yet, so, in the interest of posting something today, here are the first couple of paragraphs:

I've rarely seen a team more in need of a day off than the Angels after their
second consecutive extra-innings loss on Sunday, and last night's 10-1 pasting
of Baltimore seems to confirm that they made the most of their time off.
Guerrero in particular was much more his old self at the plate, both in terms of
belting a pair of homers and in just plain making better contact.

Additionally, as Rob notes, the blowout gave most of the bullpen another
night off, which hopefully will wash away any lingering effects of the
disastrous 18-inning
loss to Toronto Thursday. Starting tonight, we should have a recharged and
ready Donnelly, Shields, Peralta, and Rodriguez, which still figures to be as
solid a core as exists in this game right now.

After which the post veered into entirely different territory, about which more tomorrow...

At this rate... 

Posted 3:31 PM by Sean
The Mariners' Ryan Franklin has tested positive for steroids. Maybe the Angels' best strategy is to just wait until all the other teams are unable to field nine players due to suspensions.