LA Angels Weekend News Crash: Image is Everything

I played high school tennis in the 90s. Back then you had two choices of who to follow. Andre Agassi was brash and known for stating “image is everything.” Meanwhile Pete Sampras was quiet, all business, and racked up more major victories than anyone who came before him.

Which brings me to this week. The Angels are long shots to make the post season but will they deplete an already thin farm system to appear to make a push or fold and wait for next year’s hand? Arte Moreno is not one to appear to rebuild.

On one hand, the Angels could be one of the deadliest teams to face down the stretch. But will it be too little to late?

Bringing Mike Trout, Anthony Rendon, and Justin Upton back to the line up won’t fix the bullpen, which clearly has not done its job.

However, the bullpen does feature a really nice arm in Raisel Iglesias. Should they look to add more arms around him or trade him for a decent prospect?

Playing around on the trade simulator, I came up with this trade netting Phillies AA catcher Rodolfo Duran. A cost controlled catcher with good defensive skills and a decent bat to pair with Stassi for the next few years would be nice.

The hottest ticket in baseball is also the hottest ticket in the memorabilia and apparel markets. As a result, Ohtani has signed an exclusive agreement with Fanatics to market his image.

One image that might be changing is that of the Angels farm. There’s no better coverage of the future of the Angels than what Turk’s Teeth provides here. There are some nice stats listed there for guys who weren’t on our radar a year ago.

But Turk’s isn’t the only one noticing. Keith Law just listed his Top 50 and Reid Detmers sits at #7. For those of you without a subscription, enjoy:

“Detmers had the best command and control in the 2020 draft class, but his ceiling was limited by his average fastball and the expectation that it wouldn’t get much better, since he was 21 and didn’t seem to offer any projection. He’s been up to 97 as a starter this year, however, with two above-average or better weapons in his slider and changeup, striking out 97 men in 54 innings (43 percent of batters faced) in Double A already. With this kind of stuff and his present command, he could be an ace.”

I always love stories of guys getting the call to the big leagues. Brandon Marsh actually missed his first call.

Around baseball, Jacob deGrom has landed on the IL. He’s long been considered the NL Cy Young favorite but does this open the door for some of his competitors?

The media is in full trade deadline watch mode. Who will be the biggest name to move? EastSPiN has a page for rumors and buzz. But the best coverage is www.mlbtraderumors.com.

Definitely not helping his image is Yermin Mercedes. On Wednesday he retired. On Thursday he said he was back. Apparently his “indefinite time” was about 24 hours. I seriously hope dude is OK.

Oh yeah, MLB isn’t the only baseball action right now. The Olympics again feature baseball. Here’s what to watch for in Tokyo. If ever there was a place to market your image, it is the Olympics.

Ian Kinsler will play in those Tokyo Olympics. It is where he will wrap up his long baseball career. This is a good read on our old nemesis turned second baseman.

Enjoy your weekend folks. Let’s get some wins and hope the Angels get some wins.

178 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago

Alex Claudio has been DFA’d

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago

The Over slot signing pool just took another hit of $220K . I guess word didn’t get out to Murphy in time that McArte will be having him eat dumpster scraps and sleep with rats .

https://twitter.com/jimcallisMLB/status/1419035560111398912

2002heaven
Super Member
3 years ago

comment image

Guest
3 years ago

https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1418678632986382339?s=20

Quick update on the Angels minor league situation. I think publicly shaming this type of behavior by Arte and the organization is the best way to improve the conditions for the players given their preoccupation with the public’s perception.

Commander_Nate
Member
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to 

I was just coming here to post this. Full story here.

Motion to never make Arte the cover photo again.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Commander_Nate

Angels minor league system under siege Day 3

Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  Commander_Nate

Image is EVERYTHING

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

The Astros. They are that group.

Sorry world.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

One word, liability.

Your way the player is a 24/7 employee, and the owner is responsible for his health and we’ll being the whole time to.

Iron your shirt without taking it off, third degree burns, owner is liable.

Suit case too heavy, hurt your back going up stairs, owner liable.

Lose a game, bust your hand on a hidden stud under the dry wall, yep, owner liable.

It’s his property, he is liable.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  eyespy

Couldn’t he get the players to sign releases ??

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

I’m not an attorney, but I think those “releases” get pierced in court quite often.

matthiasstephan
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  eyespy

Aren’t they dangerously close to this already? Mandated calorie consumption? Mandated training regimens? No option to transfer to another team or organization (MLB’s monopoly)? Aren’t they de facto Arte’s responsibility already?

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to 

for me, these are the key paragraphs

“Lovegrove said that the living conditions for minor leaguers show that Angels owner Arte Moreno “really doesn’t give a s— about the winning side” of running a baseball team because of its failure to develop the next generation of baseball players.”

“Cleveland redid their entire weight room, providing three meals a day. They were flying guys out,” Lovegrove said. “They were giving a lot of players, not just their top prospects, the opportunity to seriously improve themselves under the eye of the organization, and in doing so, I think they produced significantly better players than they would have had their system operated like the Angels.”

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

I JUST DON”T GET IT. If you are “cheap” then it makes sense to spend what you do on one Steve Cishek and half a Iglesias, most of it a one time purchase of a couple apartment buildings which are a good investment anyway, and try to develop 50M worth of player per year that you pay 3M for. BE CHEAP man! Invest heavily in the farm and never sign a big FA again so we can complain that you are small time and scared and don’t care about winning and won’t pull the trigger Arte! I mean shit, you already sink a fair amount of cash into these players, why not try and get a better ROI?

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago

How right can I be

Guest
3 years ago
Reply to 

Looks like this has been picked up by mainstream media. I expect the Angels will soon release a statement saying they had no idea about the conditions and are sorry. They’ll make a half-asses effort to fix it and then try to bury it.

https://twitter.com/joonlee/status/1418696117974446081?s=20

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to 

Very disturbing that MLB allows this to occur. It’ll be interesting to see if Perry really does take action, or if he’s just another puppet dancing on the end of Arte’s strings.

Guest
3 years ago

https://twitter.com/bmags94/status/1418664636572790784?s=20

If you can honestly take a look at this crap lineup and say to yourself “Yeah, we can still make the playoffs” then I’ve got some beachfront property in Kansas I’d like to sell you

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to 

Cobb will stop them and we’ll get some unearned runs

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago

And we have Mayfield….

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

there you go!

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago

I would have flipped J Up & Fletcher in the line up but other than that , theres not much else we can do to improve this turd.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to 

What do you mean. They all have Angels across their chests, What more do you crave?

Thanks Mr. Moreno

Chap24
Trusted Member
3 years ago

Gosselin batting 2nd tonight. A.K.A. “scheduled loss”

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

Never mind, saw the rest of lineup, you’re correct ……auto loss.

H.T. Ennis
Admin
Super Member
Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  H.T. Ennis

This guy is Stealing from the “Sign Everyone Fund”. Better be worth it Ky..

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  H.T. Ennis

Actually taking $100,000 out of the draft pool surplus which is now at $1,100,000. I’m curious what leverage Bush actually had as a 4 year Junior. Would he go back for another year?

Would Arte go up 4.999% over the total draft pool allocation of $9,295,900?to sign the High Schooler Albright. This would mean a 75% penalty of $350K but no draft pick forfeitures . This would allow the Angels to go up to $1,650,000 with their High School Pool Party.

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

We drafted a lot of 4YR JR, correct? Was wondering about the same thing, what does that do to their signability?

red floyd
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

Wasn’t it just one HS arm?

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  red floyd

Yep….

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

He goes to Miss State. Why would he not?

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

I’m assuming Arte would not give anything over max allocated.

Who would get that $350,000. If that is all it will be.

Fansince1971
Legend
3 years ago

NO-htani today

admkir
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

Or Walsh

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  admkir

Both are in need of an off day…..

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

But I would split their days off, not on the same day to ensure we have a strong LH bat in the line-up. Maddoning.

H.T. Ennis
Admin
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

How is this Maddoning? We don’t see another lefty until Tuesday, and we should still be in decent shape against the Twins. This is the right call imo

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  H.T. Ennis

Just believe, that if you feel compelled to sit one of the three best bats, do one and not two. Give the other dude sat off tomorrow. Earlier in the year, Joe was taking mulligans with the weak lineup he rolled out. So many times I saw fans on this site voicing displeasure with the lineup card. Just could have done this different, IMO.

Last edited 3 years ago by FungoAle
JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  H.T. Ennis

Agree.

Maddon is doing the right thing. Don’t attack him folks.

Last edited 3 years ago by JackFrost
Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Or get it over with in one day. Not like the offense is hot since the AS break.

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

Copy that, it’s not like we’re going anywhere.

Last time back in April or early May, Joe sat Trout and Fletcher together. Day off did no good. Typically, just need to play through it. Fans pay money, if your healthy, should try to work the 3.5 hr job. But this is today’s game of multi-millionaires where load management is coddled.

max
Trusted Member
max
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Didn’t they have Wednesday off, and the Wednesday and Thursday off before? /s

H.T. Ennis
Admin
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

It’s not coddling lol, it’s about optimization for future use. They’re not sitting cuz they don’t want to play.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Fansince1971

: (

Yeah, saw that. It makes for a pretty meh lineup.

However, Shohei has gone 4-24 with 14 K’s since the All-Star break and HR Derby.

It is certainly stuff like this that gives ammunition to the Anti-HR Derby crowd. Personally, I think it is more likely that Shohei is just exhausted. He has been burning the candle at both ends and all the media requests are surely not helping.

The day off is probably much needed.

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 years ago

for those wanting to know all about Brandon Marsh. You might need to know Japanese to understand it, though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mouJ9IC91Ow

nishiogawakun
Super Member
3 years ago

I think it’s awesome how the team is getting so much attention from the Japanese market just because Ohtani.

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  nishiogawakun

Would love to see Anaheim Stadium gain a huge home field advantage with some traditional fandom from Japan.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  nishiogawakun

I agree. We need more fans. Maybe the umpires won’t screw us so much if we develop a big enough international fan base.

Fleckstein
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  nishiogawakun

I lived in Japan in 2010 and Matsui’s face in an Angel hat was on billboards everywhere. I can only imagine what it is like with Ohtani now!

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Fleckstein

It is a fun experience to live in Japan.

I was there for five months in 2015.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago

Marsh’s face kinda looks like an Anime character doesn’t it ??

Eric_in_Portland
Legend
3 years ago

I find myself checking MLB transactions 4or 5 times a day, expecting to see Trout activated or Cishek DFA’d or somebody traded.

Fansince1971
Legend
3 years ago

We will know when we see his name in a lineup and not before. 🙃

H.T. Ennis
Admin
Super Member
3 years ago

Guardian-Angels, coming to your local park in 2022!

James
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  H.T. Ennis

Don’t give Arte any ideas unless it involves trades or DFA decisions if you please!

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  H.T. Ennis

I just watched a little promo on mlb.com about the Cleveland name change.

At the end they showed a logo that was a red G with wings attached.

They are already stealing our stuff !!

Check it out…. Wait till the end. That is where you see it :

Cleveland Indians change name to Guardians (mlb.com)

Last edited 3 years ago by JackFrost
admkir
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Well they’re still dians, after taking off the In and replacing it with Guar.
Am I right?

red floyd
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  admkir

They should have been the Jack & Dians.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  red floyd

A little Ditty?

red floyd
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Yep. I mean isn’t Cleveland in the heartland?

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  red floyd

That is the state Dr Jones dog is named after

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Fucking (April 2022) stupid.

Charles Sutton
Editor
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Are the wings red too? Ripping off the Red Wings will probably earn them some special hatred from the Tigers fans.

Charles Sutton
Editor
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Charles Sutton

OK. I just watched. That sucker’s basically a mirror flipped version of the Red Wings logo. Lawsuit time.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Charles Sutton

Yeah. And although the colors are not the same, it also borrows (if that is how you want to say it, but I think it is stealing!) heavily from our Disney era hat from the periwinkle days (A with wings attached).

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Charles Sutton

The wings are white but outlined in red.

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Many franchises have wings interwoven In their logo.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Really?

The Eagles have the wings on their helmets, but they are not on the city or team initials…. I think the Red Wings are simply a wheel (for Motor City) with a wing attached. I can’t think of many that have wings attached off the top of my head.

Please share.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Jack, I think I’m more interested in you sharing about the wings attached off the top of your head. Do they allow you to fly?

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Of course !

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  JackFrost

The key is, we don’t have wings on much of anything now. The Red Wings are hockey…. or boots.

Though I don’t even know if that’s the logo they are going with. That looks very “idea board” at this point. I’d wait till after they put out their new uniforms, etc to shit myself about this completely unimportant detail in my life.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago

Well, if it is only an idea it is odd that they included it in an official MLB promo video (posted on mlb.com) for which they even paid Tom Hanks to do the narration.

That appears to be pretty official to me.

And why do you always overstate and exaggerate the position of others? Nobody is “shitting” themselves over this, including me.

I simply don’t like it.

Last edited 3 years ago by JackFrost
gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  JackFrost

Who knows? It could be. I mean, look at the Rays. Their shit looks like the owners wife designed it with MS Word. But the wing thing looks like maybe a sleeve patch? Teams generally don’t use that much flat depth on logos, at least not MLB teams. It’s busy too. If they use a “wing G” on their hats, etc it will probably change. Maybe they’ll use that C? But yeah, who knows? After the Toronto Raptors had the dribblin Dino for years all bets are off.

I’m just glad they didn’t go with The Cleveland Rocks…. TM…. face palm. And really, I don’t care that much at all. Other than Spiders there just weren’t that many good names avail that didn’t offend someone. Guardians? Sounds like a condom company. Fine with me.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago

You didn’t like the dribbling dino ? I thought that was cool.

It was not the best logo ever but it was certainly original.

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago

My problem with The Guardians, is : yeah, you named it for the guardian statues, but in reality, who the f$&k is going to invade Cleveland to where you would need a guardian? Unless they are there to keep people from leaving there.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Guardians of Traffic, that is what they watch over, we talking about traffic

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Hell’s Angels

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago

Yes, I know.

I don’t care. It is still a stupid name.

And I don’t like the fact that their “Guardians” is actually similar to our “Angels” and on top of that they ripped off our Angel wings attached to the team letters.

Check out the logo on the upper right in this box :

comment image?w=619

max
Trusted Member
max
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Lefty grip on a two-steamer

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  max

Why you gots tah bring up baseball in dis? Why?

h27kim
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  H.T. Ennis

Discounts for turtles, or ppl dressed up as ninjas (turtles optional)?

Last edited 3 years ago by h27kim
eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago

I figured it out. Arte, being the savy sign making businessman that he is, convinced the owners of the Clevelanders pick their new name.

They only have to change the front of everything associated with the old name now.

DMAGZ13
Trusted Member
3 years ago

This team is so far out of it, they need to take advantage of the early deals. Heaney had a great start which means he will be bad the next time. Trade him before he’s terrible again. Maybe throw Bundy in the same deal and find a couple young relievers. There is no sense waiting for Rendon and Trout to come back and be “deadly.” They’re going to take a couple weeks to even get going, so it’s still a month out until they’re featuring the lineup everyday. So that’s what, with 40 games to go and a 7-8 game deficit? That’s like the best case scenario. More likely is being 10 games out with 40 left, then get your “deadly” lineup going for a couple weeks and finish the season 6 games out, 84-78. Perry will say that “losing Mike and Anthony was the difference, next year will be different” and sell is that BS.

Last edited 3 years ago by DMAGZ13
FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  DMAGZ13

As a 1st year GM, I’m guessing Perry will be passive and conservative than to appear like he is playing for next year. Hope I am wrong.

FIREBIRD81
Member
3 years ago

Does this team really need a rebuild? I don’t really think so. They need some relief help and I’d like to see a couple of better starting pitchers. But, in all honesty, they aren’t far at all from being a solid contender for several years to come. We aren’t in a sell situation. We are in a trade if it makes sense or hold til the off-season situation.

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  FIREBIRD81

The team needed a rebuild after the 2015 season. It didn’t happen, and we’ve been in the suckage zone since.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago

Yes, way back then. Now our offence is too good for a rebuild, and most of the staff is trash, rock meet hard place.

Some major improvement is needed in the pen, and just that may only get us to the playoffs.

One major problem is we have nothing to replace any starter on the MLB roster from down on the dust bowl of our farm system. We may have good players down there, but none yet ready to make the jump to the biggs.

Until we can afford to have a player to be down, day to day, for an undisclosed period of time, we can never really compete for anything but best per caps.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  eyespy

We don’t need a “rebuild” but we do need to “revamp” our pitching staff.

If our position players are healthy we are more than good enough there, we’re great…. If we add one stud starter, another really good starter and a couple of good bullpen pieces we should be in good shape. But a careful rebuilding of the bullpen could be called for, say, if you keep Raisel and decide you don’t want to stick with Mayers… I would not be opposed to adding C-Rod and keeping Raisel and then burning the rest.

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

2022 we need more of a “Home Upgrade” new paint, new flooring. The carpet has been destroyed buy the pitching, soiled with vomitus, bunch of 1’s and 2’s taken on it, relief pitchers constantly relieving themselves.

Offense is solid. We have 3 or 4 starters Sho, Sandoval, Suarez, Griff ?, Detmers ? if ready, C Rodriguez ? if ready, free agents…fixable without rebuild.

Bullpen redo and depth throughout is what’s needed. Is Perry the right contractor to get the home owner “Arte” onboard and fix it? Getting a new pitching coach “interior designer” is a must.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

Lmao.

“relief pitchers constantly relieving themselves.”

This gives new meaning to the term “Relief Pitcher.”

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago

And a rebuild was needed after 2010, before the 2015 rebuild…..if done correctly in 2010, maybe not needed in 2015.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

Actually the rebuild should have commenced on January 21, 2011. Unfortunately Arte decided to go backwards instead.

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Wells trade? That deal might one of the darkest moments in Angels history. The Wells Linchpin of Doom.

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

Vernone. King of the infield pop up.

DMAGZ13
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

The good news is that a rebuild was needed in 2011,so say it went well… they would’ve needed a new rebuild right about now anyways, so we’re back on track.

h27kim
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FIREBIRD81

It’s not likely that we’ll make it this year, barring collapse by both Houston and Oakland–not impossible, but improbable. A bunch of pieces that the team has won’t be available beyond this season anyways. So why not cut losses for the season, cash in the pieces without long term value for whatever we can get, and plan for 2022, at the very least?

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

The Dodgers have closer issues?  😅 

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

I’m loving it!

Two blown saves in two nights for Kenley Jansen !!

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Jansen really got f-d last night but very good game for the Giants! Yeah baybee.

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Phillies are in on Rasiel and with another year of Jansen meltdown .your right, Dodgers will be interested.
Plus their rivals the Giants are in need as well. Maybe the pitcher you called out and a catcher. Giants are floating Joey Bart out there.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  FungoAle

Dude, if we got Joey Bart for Raisel… then resigned Raisel…. that would be mass macho.

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/07/cleveland-indians-decide-on-new-team-name.html
So now the Cleveland Indians are going to re-brand themselves as The Cleveland Guardians. Yeeesh. I’ll still be calling them The Indians, including when and after the “Woke Police” knock on my door to lecture and berate me.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Yeah, agree. That name might be okay if they called themselves “The Guardians of the Galaxy” and had a little mascot “Baby Groot” who danced on top of the dugout.

But seriously, I think I will still call them the Indians. And I am someone who is aware of and sympathetic to the crimes committed against the Native populations, including the historical genocide of and land robbing from Native Americans in this country.

h27kim
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

Woulda been funny with a raccoon, too, except Trash Pandas got there first.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

MLB screwed it up again. This was such a no brainer :Cleveland Fire.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oUZzI0-a9I

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  steelgolf

What a stupid name for a baseball team.

That said, I’m sure the marketing gurus will find a way to sell a lot of crap.

James
Trusted Member
3 years ago

I figured it would be the Cleveland Inclusives but it was not to be. Surprise!

Guest
Newbie
3 years ago

This was my reaction at first as well, but when I read the article about the name change, I learned about the imposing Guardians statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge right outside of Progressive Field and now think it is a fitting name for the club.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to 

The Guardians of Traffic baseball club of Cleveland. They could have done better than just try to just do things.

James
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Call em the WOPO

Fleckstein
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

I was really hoping they’d go old school as the Spiders

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  Fleckstein

Me too…. University of Richmond may have been a small obstacle, believe it or not. Our law suite culture is at that point.

tommyshalo
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

comment image

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Guardians is a little strange to me but when I read the article, it explained the meaning, seems okay.. I liked the other names in the running with Spiders being tops.

I’m struggling to understand the issue with the name “Indians.” They hopefully won’t screw around with the Blackhawks. No.1 hockey jersey IMHO with the beautiful Indian head dress. Many collegiate teams adopt names from the community or region heritage. I don’t see how it is the R-word.

Last edited 3 years ago by FungoAle
steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

The “activists” are always looking for their next target.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Please steel, take politics outside

hockey_duckie
Member
3 years ago
Reply to  eyespy

And here we are with Cleveland’s new moniker.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

My understanding is the Blackhawks name is safe

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  eyespy

Good. Next thing we might hear is the US Army attack helicopters Apache and Comanche will be renamed as Jill and Joe.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Yes, while “Redskins” is clearly derogatory, “Indians” seems rather neutral to me…

h27kim
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Maybe if they replaced Chief Wahoo with a Chakra and wore saffron, green, and white uniforms?

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  h27kim

Or a motorcycle

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Or hundreds of other companies, big and small, with an Indian themed name/logos.

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  h27kim

Do you remember the Braves mascot with the teepee in the LF stands? Chief Noc-A-Homa! He would come out and dance to stir up a rally or dance when the Braves hit a home run. Good stuff and fan enjoyment. The guy who represented the chief for over 15 years was a member of the Odawa Tribe.

Last edited 3 years ago by FungoAle
gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  FungoAle

It’s funny, I always thought that they were called the Indians because the North Ohio area is where the US Army met it’s greatest defeat at the hands of a Native American force. I thought they were “Indians” cause the NA people in that area were bad ass. Guess that wasn’t it though.

Commander_Nate
Member
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

One of my friends pointed out that Cleveland Rocks was right there for the taking. Way to miss out on the ’90s nostalgia train, Cleveland!

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Commander_Nate

Yep, so many less confusing choices

And they pick one that only Cindy of makes sense when flim flamed

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Commander_Nate

Too dangerous. The pro crack cocaine community would complain !!!

Guest
Newbie
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

If offended atheists band together and make a loud noise, maybe the Angels will have to change their name as well.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to 

Shhhhh. Don’t give them any ideas!

Senator_John_Blutarsky
Legend
Reply to  Commander_Nate

Kansas City had a long relationship with the minor league team in Wilmington Delaware. I believe the team is now affiliated with the Nats.

The Wilmington Blue Rocks.

The Blue Rocks have three mascots. One is Rocky Bluewinkle, a blue moose. Another is Mr. Celery, a stalk of celery that comes out to “Song 2” by Blur when Wilmington scores a run, and dances and tosses stalks of celery into the crowd whenever a Blue Rocks player scores a run. Finally, there is Rubble, a giant blue rock.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago

That Celery dude sounds very cool to be honest.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

I would think that the Activists would protest the Celery unless it was organic.

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Yep, the Celery has to be certified that it was sourced from a “conflict free community garden”.

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

X100 ^^^^^^

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Florida area does have a lot of Indian history to draw upon but does Cleveland?

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Ohio River Valley has a long Indian history

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

Gotcha ya. Same as Milwaukee when the Braves were names as the mascot. There are tribes along the northern border states.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Uh the Braves came from Boston originally.

Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Twebur

This was probably the most infamous Battle during the ORV Indian wars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tippecanoe

People do not realize the original territory of many of these native American tribes and the extent of relocation and adaptation they undertook as the west was expanded.

So essentially darn near every City’s sport team could be named after a famous tribe with the possible exception of the L.A. teams. The Morongos Gabrielinos or the Chumash don’t sound all that intimidating.

Charles Sutton
Editor
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

In that general neighborhood, the Miami Indians together with the Potawatomies inflicted a worst defeat on the US military than the Little Big Horn.

Charles Sutton
Editor
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Charles Sutton

It was called St. Clair’s defeat. Out of about a thousand men only 24 escaped unharmed. The Shawnees and Delawares were in on it as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Clair%27s_defeat

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Unwilling to do away with the Chief Wahoo logo, long ago, definitely speed up the change. Could have used the other logos and kept the name. It wasn’t a noble Indian, was derogatory and cartoonish….unlike the Blackhawks and Seminoles.

tommyshalo
Trusted Member
3 years ago

Another Ippei Report comes out.
The Angels PR Dept. might have restricted him a little bit after the previous one since the majority of this one was already been made public by other outlets, but anyway translated here.

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

During the HR Derby, probably the altitude brought extra fatigue to Shohei. I myself was to busy not to drop the balls as a catcher.I was told to hold the glove low by Jason Brown since his balls were a bit high.
When Shohei was tied at 22 and had a good swing, Shohei and me thought we won so I stood up only to find that we didn’t lol.

After being knocked out, everyone was just caring about the next day’s start. Especially the two guys Aaron Judge and Matt Olson who were close by in the locker room.

During the HR Derby and AS game, there were a lot of autograph requests from other players.Juan Soto asked for a signed ball with Soto’s name in it. When Shohei went up to Vlad Jr to congratulate him for getting the AS MVP, Vlad Jr. responded “Let’s play extraordinary for the rest of the season.”

Besides the active players, David Ortiz, Ken Griffy Jr., Pedro Martinez came up to us. Shohei seemed excited to be able to meet these legends.

It was our first time to board a private jet taking us to Denver from Seatle. Shohei seemed to enjoy the experience. The accomodation and meals were also very luxurious. Everything was great(by Ippei).We had a steak with our agent too.

Shohei wore the coordination sent from HUGO BOSS during the red carpet show and somehow I was also sent some to wear besides him.

Finally, we(Angels) are contending for a playoff berth so we have to play hard to stay competent while waiting for Trout and other main members to come back. I just hope Shohei can stay healthy throughout the year. Personally, I would love to see him hit Maris’s 62, but we have to go one by one and I will always be there to support him.

original source
https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2021/07/20/kiji/20210720s00001007161000c.html

Last edited 3 years ago by tommyshalo
JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

Why would they be “restricting” him? I don’t see anything at all objectionable about what he wrote and shared with the public. Do you?

tommyshalo
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

The Albert thing in the previous one might have been something that the team doesn’t appreciate.
Or maybe they wanted to conceal the fact that it was indeed pizza and chicken that supplies the power to some of the best hitters in the league.

Last edited 3 years ago by tommyshalo
Cowboy26
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

Interesting that Ippei attends meetings with Shohei’s agent. You would think that they would have Agent Reps that don’t need translation.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Cowboy26

Shohei seems to be a little to out going, and might not know how to convey stop/no in a meaningful manner. Ippe is the stop gap in those situations so Ohtani doesn’t get too strung out, or not get properly compensated.

If I’m not mistaken. The Angels pay Ohtani to hire Ippe. This way the Angels have no real say on what is going on. Ippe is Shohie’s paid handler/manager/life coach. He belongs in the meetings, he is a big part of Team ShohTime.

2pints
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

blows my mind that Ohtani had never been on a private jet before

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  2pints

I Japan that would never happen. They still catch trains to most games, if not all.

Here, Arte. Nuff said

Twebur
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

Note to minor league baseball………
It was our first time to board a private jet taking us to Denver from Seatle. Shohei seemed to enjoy the experience. The accomodation and meals were also very luxurious. Everything was great(by Ippei).We had a steak with our agent too.”

Guest
3 years ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

Thanks for taking the time to post these! They’re very insightful and cool to get a behind-the-scenes look at Shotani from Ippei’s POV

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago

I expect Yermin Mercedes to be traded, if not at the deadline, then during the off-season. I think that is why he did the U turn and came back.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Funny, but La Russa claims that they have a very good relationship, so maybe that is not what it is all about….

steelgolf
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  JackFrost

I wouldn’t believe a word coming out of LaRussa’s mouth. I would also think that after a taste of life and travel with the big club, he probably isn’t happy about being back in the minors.

JackFrost
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  steelgolf

Good point on La Russa. He probably isn’t the most trustworthy guy.

Last edited 3 years ago by JackFrost
Mia
Legend
Mia
3 years ago

I thought the Opening Ceremonies were…boring?

Probably a product of being scaled back due to COVID, but I expected more from Japan.

tommyshalo
Trusted Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Mia

Too much a political mess to do anything interesting…
Just hope it ends safely.

FungoAle
Legend
3 years ago
Reply to  tommyshalo

Big fan of the Olympics, part of my family room for 3-weeks but this year is a big zero for me. Should have delayed. Organizers are committing suicide over the setbacks due to the pandemic. NBC stood to lose too much money so they pressed to move the show forward. It’s tragic.

eyespy
Super Member
3 years ago
Reply to  Mia

They should have been canceled, so it was greatly toned down to respect the citizens ‘ almost wishes.