Here Endeth the Lesson 

Posted 3:44 PM by Sean
Purgatory Online has taken hiatuses before, and I've said that I generally feel like there's not much to blog about in the offseason. Playing hot stove GM never really pushed my buttons.

This, however, is not a hiatus.

This, my friends, is The End, as in Jim Morrison's sole and bestest buddy. After three years and just north of 700 posts, I think I'm done doing this. There's no one reason why - I'm certainly going to follow the Angels' progress just as closely as I always have - but several things have made keeping Purgatory Online going either superfluous or impractical. For one thing, my life is about to take a fairly radical turn as I head to law school in the fall, a 36-year-old matriculant. This will necessitate a move, possibly to the East Coast, where I'd need to stay up until 1:00 am to watch a large proportion of games. And that Extra Innings package is going to start to look a little spendy when my income drops to zero.

For another, the Halosphere looks a lot different today than it did when I started this thing. As in, it exists. Part of the reason I started writing was out of sheer sectarian obstinacy - I got tired of looking at the blogrolls on baseball sites and seeing twenty-seven Mariners blogs (remember when the Mariners were good?) and no Angels blogs. These days, though, every one of those guys and gals on the sidebar is doing great work providing news, info, and discussion on the Angels. I'm proud to have been a part of that community, and will continue to be so as a commenter from time to time.

I'll also be maintaining the Brief History of the Halosphere, so those of you with links to it can feel free to leave them unchanged. I'll also check my email at purgatoryonline@yahoo.com from time to time, so if you have any questions feel free to drop me a line.

Over the past three years, I've had a chance to follow and write about a team that, seemingly miraculously, has turned themselves from jinx-plagued doormats to a team that no one would leave out of a discussion of playoff predictions or possible free-agent destinations. I'll never forget it. Here's to lighting up the halo a bunch more times in 2006, and every season after that.

Good night, everybody.

Things start popping 

Posted 10:46 AM by Sean
ESPN is reporting that the Red Sox have traded shortstop Edgar Renteria to the Braves for minor-league 3B prospect Andy Marte, leaving the Bostons in need of a shortstop. Previous rumors have had the Angels in discussion with the Red Sox to trade Orlando Cabrera as part of a package that would net Manny Ramirez; this may be a prelude to a blockbuster.

Noted 

Posted 9:58 AM by Sean
Dunno if any of the rest of the Halosphere has caught this - I don't remember seeing it via Bloglines, and the rest of you without an rss feed need to get one, dammit - but check out this story about Darin Erstad, a Port-A-Potty, and a near-asskicking avoided by beers and burgers.