Connie Mack-attack, etc.

What a laugher. Once upon a time, when baseball was better and America was stronger, men wore suits. Even big-league managers. There is something truly amiss when basketball coaches play the man better than baseball managers. Basketball is a hectic and flippant sport; the coaches ought to wear warm-up suits to the game. Baseball is dignified and conservative. Yet, it’s baseball that has traditionally seen its skippers pal around with their own players by wearing the same clothes they do, only some of them look half-ridiculous. (Tommy Lasorda?)

As a self-professed baseball “purist,” I suppose I should honor the tradition of my betters. However, I cannot help but be impressed by the image of a tall slender Connie Mack showing up the country in his well-pinched attire. How would it strike us to see the “Tall Tactician” roaming today’s dugouts? I say Francona should thumb his nose at MLB and emulate one of the early heroes of the game.

Also, Mr. Smith has more on Santana. As usual, he mixes solid points with an uppity style. It makes for annoying reading. There’s no way out. What did the conniver say? “If you give me six sentences written by the most innocent of men, I will find something in them with which to hang him." Whatever Santana does now, we will find something with which to malign him. Right? That’s it, right Stephen? Whenever Stoneman, Scioscia, Santana, Stalin, etc. get it right, it’s proof of purchase. But when they oops it, there must possibly be some other factor, some context, some brain dysfunction on the part of the critic to explain the situation. Life cuts both ways. Asking for performance in the midst of a pennant race (do we still have those in these days of the “wild card”?) is not necessarily illustrative of a quest for “instant gratification.” Rather, it’s acknowledgment that life is short, unforgiving, and fleeting and if we are spending any time at all spilling emotion over a boy’s game, we dare not wait too long.

Our own W&E chimed in on Smith's post concerning former outfielder turned reliever Warner Madrigal.

the baseball diaries

Critics to Ervin Santana: YOU SUCK!!!

Let's break down this debacle: 2 walks, 4 hits, 5 earned runs, 1 out recorded, before the string was pulled on this chump.

Thankfully we have Suga'Shane Moseley, ready and more than willing to take this spot in the rotation. As for Santana, if he sees anything other than garbage time action I will be thoroughly upset. He has shown that he loses his head at the slightest sign of trouble and is a Ramon Ortiz proselyte.

Moseley pitched with surety, accuracy, and skill, to put down all batters in his 5 1/3 innings. The Angels bats were restored with this pick up and fought hard to tie the game. They got one in the 3rd off Hoagie's error, two back in the 4th as Gary Matthews Juiced a homer followed by Morales' golf-shot homer. The comeback continued with Cab Fare's rbi single, scoring Mathis, and G to the Iz-A's sac fly that scored Cabbie. Did you see the look on Jeff Weaver's face as he was taken out of the game? Classic. The Mariners deserve him.

In the 7th the Angels took the lead when Vlad doubled in Mathis (he had a good night at 2 for 3, 2 runs, and a walk) but gave it back on Ichiro's rbi single.

The Angels won it on the Cuban's double to score GM Juicer and Vlad stroking a single, driving in More-Alice and Reggie and the Full Effect. Mice Hair had a nice hit also, which drove in Cab Fare, but on the same hit, Vlad was meat at the plate. Angels win 10-6 in awesome come back fashion!

Yo Stephen Smith, are you still in love with Santana? I bet you are...

Today at 1:35 pm, Weave it to Beaver faces Felix "El Gato" Hernandez in what should prove to be an awesome match up. Will the Angels sweep 'em in Seattle? Well, I for one can't wait to find out!

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the baseball diaries

His Lackness was awesome last night!!!

His second complete game shutout vs. the Mariners.

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the baseball diaries

Give this man a standing O!!!

For as much crap as we give Sit'n Sleep, he really came through last night. 10 rbi's vs the Yank! Wow! That's an Angels record for most rbi's in a game besides the fact that the Angels scored 18 runs, the most ever vs NY. That was truly amazing. Lambo pitched well, though the five runs given up was not good. I think that should have been called an error on Gary Matthews Juicer though. Kenny Howdrick also lit it up with an rbi and 3 runs scored as did Mice Hair scoring 4 times from 3 hits and a walk. I'm impressed and frankly shocked that the Angels put such a beat down on anything the Yank threw at them, literally.

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the baseball diaries

"My life's deteriorating at a quarter to eight, because i wrote myself a letter and I mailed it too late..."

10-4 GOOD BUDDE!!!

How awesome was that?! Ryan Budde, a bloke we used to watch at Rancho just two years ago, get his first Major League rbi as a walk-off winner vs. the Yank! Incredible. It was a rough game however, with the Angels taking a 3-1 lead in the 2nd. They gave it away unfortunately with Posada's 4th inning rbi ground out and gA-Rod's 6th inning two-run shot. The Angels fought back in 7th to regain the lead on some clever hitting by Kenny Howdrick, Reggie and the full effect, Fignuts, and Cab Fare. Which was given right back in the next frame as Justin's Pyre was looming large. Knotted up at 6-6 in the 10th, Ryan Budde cranked a double to right-center with one out and Howdrick crossed the plate to win it!!

It's official: Cousin Oliver is the Angels best reliever. Scary stuff.

Most of this game took place as I was on the phone (while behind the wheel and then on my couch) with my brother Ted. He is a Yank fan who lives in New Jersey. I was impressed at his knowledge of Angel-ball (style and tactics), how he knew what the Angels would do to try to win the game. I think since the Angels have owned the Yank from the beginning of the Torre era, and especially after the 2002 playoff upset, many NY fear and loath the Angels, but can't help trying to figure them out. Fruitlessly. He also said A-Rod lacks character and looks like he wears pink lip gloss in most interviews. I agree.

Tonight the fight continues with this awesome battle: Lambo vs. Mussina. One for the ages!

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"I got a knock on the door, I got a nail on the floor, I got a nail in my head, but it don't hurt me no more." -- Electronic

the baseball diaries

"There is a wind, that blows in the northern sky, holdin’ me back, no matter how hard I try..."

These have been some crazy days!!

After sweeping the twinkies, the Angels went to Canada for visit to the Blue Jays. Well, unfortunately, they ran into some great pitching from Roy Halladay and made some ugly fielding mistakes that contributed to their 4-1 loss. After scoring in the 1st, Barry Saunders did his best to keep the Angels in it, but errors by Gaybar and Mathis lead to runs that could not be overcome. Well, at least tonight we'll see Suga'Shane vs. Marcum and hopefully a win, to continue the Angels "hotness" of late.

Let's face it, the Angels are playing some exciting baseball right now but have a tough stretch ahead. Two more games (including tonight's) in Canada, then three at Fenway, back home for three with the Yank, three with Toronto, and three with Seattle. No days off. This can define the rest of the season and shape their playoff picture if they don't crumble. Tense but worth the excitement!!!

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"If I had the sense, I'd leave here tomorrow. I wouldn't even bother To say goodbye." -- Electronic

Future Cranks?

I must say that http://www.futureangels.com/ is a splendid website and the man who runs the website, Stephen Smith, is to be thanked and commended for the very fine service he provides all Angels fans with his devoted and comprehensive coverage of the Angels’ minor league farm system. In addition to his hard work, he provides his website free of charge and demonstrates a solid knowledge of baseball and baseball history, especially as concerns the Halos.

And he is quite right that there are those fans who cannot refrain from criticizing Angels’ management for every little thing, even in the midst of the best run the franchise has had in its history. He points out, rightly, that many raise loud protests who cannot possibly know all the details of front office tactics and behind-the-scenes goings-on. In particular, Scioscia and Stoneman frequently come in for harsh criticism from many fans who quite possibly do not know what they are talking about. However, there are those who do know what they are talking about, and in any case, I think Smith might swing too far the other way. He doesn’t seem to be able to brook any criticism at all, and shows a rather testy and defensive tone at times. I sometimes get the impression from reading his blog, that so far from not deserving much of the criticism received, someone like Stoneman actually doesn’t err at all.

Smith decided to stoop and resort to name-calling recently. Overwhelming his detractors by well-placed Wikipedia citations, he has blanketed all comers with the heady title of, “Crank.” I exercised my liberty of commenting on his blog. I might comment again and may even give the link to this post in my comments. Yes, perhaps we can attract some readers?

My comment had referred to his misspelling of ad nauseam. It was surely a petty criticism, but so is labeling those whom you do not know cranks for simply failing to agree with you all of the time:

Mr. Smith:

Your website is wonderful and helpful. Please accept my sincere thanks for a well-constructed and very informative effort. I do want to say that you may be unfairly labeling those who see things differently than you. You have in fact resorted to petty name-calling and in this spirit, I must not resist from pointing out that you betray your own lack of learning by your utterly predictable misspelling of ad nauseam. Please be more careful about telling others that they “can not be turned,” lest you forget about the beam in your own eye. Again, many thanks for a stellar website.

JD

http://futureangels.mlblogs.com/futureangels/2007/08/cranks_and_kran.html

the baseball diaries

I certainly hope that yesterday was not the day that baseball died...





On a happier note, this man was awesome last night:

I mean, he not only belted his 14th homer, but made a spectacular catch, running back and leaping high over the center field wall to rob Coco Crispies of a homer. Strong defense and some awesome offence backed up by solid pitching from Barry Saunders lead the Angels to a 10-4 rout of the Red Sux. Monday night, the Angels got clutch hitting from Mice Hair to win that contest 4-2 on yet another great outing from Weave it to Beaver.

This is awesome to see because the Angels usually crumble vs. Boston. Tonight is the series finale with Suga'Shane Moseley facing a Jester, or something...

Meet me at the Regal Beagle...

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Thoughts on the Mega-Rich and not so Mega-Rich

A friend who is a former co-worker and who now works for PIMCO, sends me Mr. Bill Gross’ Investment Outlook column each month when it is published, for which I am grateful. Gross is not only a brilliant money manager, but a very good and evidently well-read writer. My friend sent me August’s column called, “Enough is Enough” last week. I frequently email him back my fragmented and poorly developed thoughts and we might even have a short e-discussion about it, if he’s in a polite enough mood to hear me out. My email message to him (slightly edited) follows:

I just read this. I’m not sure what to make of this one. Is he serious when he is arguing for higher taxes through the lips of ex-CEO Bob Crandall? Or was he just using that quote to set up a tidy rhetorical finish? If Gross is truly suggesting we ought to raise taxes on the “mega-rich” in order to equalize incomes, I must disagree. Maybe he’s not saying that?

I do agree that these folks he speaks of are greedy and even wasteful with their money, but Gross does not provide the answer to his own question: when is enough, enough? So, I’m led to think that we ought to just bear up and take care of our own and not worry about the “rich.” Besides, it becomes more difficult to make out when I remember that Gross is one among the rich that according to Fitzgerald “are different from you and me.” So whose perspective is he pretending to take?

But then, his article seems to imply near the end that the market itself is taking steps to draw in the excesses. Whatever the case, no matter how absurd the market gets, and it gets pretty absurd, I still say it’s got nothing on the government. Leave them out!

So, why am I posting this here? Well, besides the fact that nobody else is posting, and if they were, nobody else is reading this anyway, FED Chairman Ben Bernanke is a big baseball fan and in recalling this salient fact, Gross’ colleague, Andrew Balls, reminds us in his article for the The Times of London that Bernanke might need to embrace Lefty Gomez’ dictum that “I would rather be lucky than good.” If the “truly rich” were good, would Gross argue that they should undergo greater oppression at the hands of the State? Because of course, many of the folks in our modern economy who we are tempted to suggest are over-compensated for their contributions to society are simply “lucky” as the term is used in today’s parlance, including many of the very art-buying, yacht-selling other-people’s-money mangers that Gross has an eye toward in his article.

Now, Gross is grossly rich himself, and it would be impossible to know his motivation in any case, but I might suggest that much of our hand-wringing over the supposed “mega-rich” who might possibly have more than enough, however that is determined, stems from society’s perception that many of these folks are just lucky, and that’s just not fair. It would at least help to explain why many are so caught up on equality for equality’s sake. And so envy rears its ugly head and we feel as if we must make good on the perceived inequity. If these are rich, it is by happy accident. And since the State does society’s perceiving for it, the specter of increasing already progressive tax rates becomes the second head. The mega-rich don’t see it this way (what of Gross?). They are good at what they do. They have played by the rules, risked other people’s money and created wealth by sheer skill and reason. If they are rich, it is their reward. And so a third head of unthinking arrogance.

Who is guilty of the greater folly here? Who is more to blame for creating the monster? If some say it is luck, others say it is self-determination. The saying goes, “Give a man luck and throw him into the sea,” but of course, we know luck has nothing to do with it. God Himself sent Jonah’s whale, and if some are rich while others less rich or even poor, it is God Who sets them in their place. This doesn’t deny the secondary means which God uses to His purposes. Rather, it illustrates that some men’s greed and other men’s envy are rooted in the same denial of Divine Providence. Men will not believe. And the man who does not must either count his neighbor a fool or a fraud for being poorer or richer than he.

The work is done but the spirit remains

Just as much as Wales has returned to Green again, so have I returned to blogging again. How long could it last? I may be a simple cog in the wheel of Progress spoken for by 21st century corporatist America, but I will not be held completely silent. In the quiet corner where God has placed me, I resume my cries.

TW Hit List - Willie Mays

"They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it." – Willie Mays

As Mr. Bonds chases his record-tying 755th home run (he’s stuck at 754 as of this writing), his Godfather, Willie Mays, checks in as our latest Hit List entry. Williams professes that it was a virtual toss-up for who should come next on the Hit List, Mays or Aaron. Their career numbers are close enough to be the same, excepting Mays’ stolen bases. Williams mentions that Mays had an electric effect on the game that Aaron may have lacked. He quips, “Aaron had a flair for consistency, while Mays had a consistent flair.” Mays certainly seemed to have the flair for the dramatic. He frequently came up big in the Fall Classic and he owned the All-Star Game. He almost invented the basket catch, or at least single-handedly brought it into prominence.

Concerning the numbers, it is true that Mays and Aaron are difficult to distinguish. What makes Aaron obviously stand out is his significantly higher totals for RBIs, runs and home-runs. However, when adjusted for at-bats, there is almost no difference, and in fact, Mays finished with an OPS of .944, beating Aaron’s .932. As it was, Mays finished with 660 HR’s, 1,903 RBIs, and a .302 batting average. He was MVP twice, led the league in OPS five times, and was named The Sporting News Player of the Decade for the 1960’s. Like Angels fans’ beloved Vladimir Guerrero, he was a hard, free swinger who would flail away at some very bad pitches, but then who produced hits on pitches few else could make contact with. Besides his hitting, he won eleven consecutive Gold Gloves. He is well-known for his famous “Catch”, but sportswriter Arnold Hano said this about the throw the followed, “But the throw! What an astonishing throw to make all other throws ever before it, even the four Mays himself had made during fielding practice, appear the flings of teenage girls. This was the throw of a giant, the throw of a howitzer made human."

The game is for the fans, and Mays put on the show. Williams suggests he was the Michael Jordan of 1950’s and 1960’s baseball. So, perhaps Mays should be accorded higher honors than Aaron. However, Aaron was a model of consistency and is not one of baseball’s enduring virtues its nature to reward those few who separate themselves from the rest by meeting this great game’s daily demands with extraordinary excellence? I suppose baseball again mirrors life. People are different and there is room in this world for differences in opinion and taste, within reasonable limits. Within a framework of accepted decency, we can appreciate the artist and the businessman. So it is with our great game. While Aaron modeled sustained excellence, Mays played with “controlled abandon”, and they loved him for it.

One of the more noted baseball announcer lines originated in reference to Willie Mays. Hall of Fame sportswriter Bob Stevens described a triple hit by Mays in the 1959 Midsummer Classic by saying, “The only man who could have caught that ball, hit it.”

"No record book reflects this kind of concentration, determination, perseverance or ability. As a player, Willie Mays could never be captured by mere statistics."--Harry Jupiter

the baseball diaries *in game report*

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Vlad Guerrero has broken his home run slump by cranking two shots off French Canadian Chad Gaudin!!
Ok, I know, he's not French Canadian, but if you must pronounce a name that looks like "GOW-DIN" as "GOH-DAN" I say he's French Canadian.

As of the bottom of the 6th, it's 4-2 Angels!

How about this new nickname for Sit'N Sleep: Ghost Dog.
To give this context, Hud says that Chili Davis gave him the name "Young Dog" when GA came up, but Alex said, "Yeah, more like Ghost Dog because you can't tell if he's there..."

Go Halos!!

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the baseball diaries

"Took a plane across the world, got in a car.
When I reached my destination, I hadn't gone far..."


And you all thought I went away, tail tucked between my legs. HA! It takes more than a massive slump to keep me from this. An act of God perhaps, but slumps be damned!

Yes, we all know that the Angels enjoyed an awesome June then ran headlong into a drag of a July. They went 12-12, barely salvaging a .500 record by sweeping le Tigre (scoring double digits in each game!) and splitting the first two games in Seattle to close out the month. Over the last six games though, the Angels have showed some major pop(!) not to mention some awesome pitching in Escobar and Lackness. 20 game winners both? I certainly hope so!!

In last night's game Gary Matthews Juicer responded to rants and, temporarily, quieted the critics as he blasted two homers, doubled twice, and logged 3 ribeyes. Mice Hair and Cab Fare also homered in a game that saw His Lackness shut down Seattle's offense in a complete game shutout! Angels won 8-0!!!!

Tonight should be another thriller as Weave it to Beaver faces Felix Hernandez.

As we embark on a new month, the dog days of summer if you will, I have confidence in the Angels finding their way through stretches of games that will bring tough opposition and seeing themselves through into the playoffs. I won't have it any other way.

"...pull it all down and start again, from the top to the bottom and then,

I'll have faith or, I prefer, to think that things couldn't turn out worse..." -- Depeche Mode