LA Angels Weekend News Crash: Done Deal

Welcome to the last weekend news links of the MLB regular season, which means the last links of the Angels season.

By this time next week we’ll be talking about the post season. Here’s a look at when all the playoff action will take place.

While a World Series ring isn’t possible for the Angels, there could still be some hardware for individual players forthcoming. Ohtani is the obvious choice for MVP and there’s been some campaigning for a Gold Glove for David Fletcher. Winner for those awards will come out in November.

Many of us are old enough to remember when everything wasn’t recorded and analyzed. When a good story could be just a good story. Ohtani hitting a ball so hard it destroyed the second baseman’s glove is just that type of story. This sounds like something that would be attributed to Josh Gibson or Hank Greenberg.

While we’ve been focusing on the AL MVP race, there’s a fascinating and still undecided MVP race going on in the NL.

One of those contenders is Bryce Harper. Has he gone from over rated to under rated in recent years?

If the Angels are going to make strides towards contention in 2022 they will need to supplement the pitching staff and hit on a gamble or two. One name getting completely overlooked is a certain whiny Cy Young Award winner who will be a full 17 months post TJ surgery when camp opens next February. Just throwing it out there but he’ll be cheaper than Max and doesn’t have Kershaw’s bad back. Plus we could “steal” him away from Houston.

Pitching isn’t the only area of need. The Angels need a catcher to pair with Max Stassi and former first round pick Matt Thaiss is indeed going to be a catcher from this year forward. Keep in mind this is a kid who hit nearly .400 in college thanks to this sweet swing the Angels immediately went about changing.

After a solid come from ahead loss yesterday, the Angels have dropped 7 of their last 10 and sit at #12 in next year’s draft order. If we can lose out we’d both help Seattle possibly knock one of the YankSux out of the Wild Card and could move up to 9th.

As much as we love stats and logic around here, sometimes baseball just takes its own path. Stats and reason definitely don’t factor into Seattle’s playoff push this year.

Of course nothing this year has been more unexpected than the Giants playing at a historic level. These Giants are more than unlikely contenders, they are playing their best baseball in a century.

By now we’ve all heard about Devin Williams. Stupid, pointless, but he’s one in a long line of odd baseball injuries. Everything from tanning beds to frostbite and more have kept players out of games. In fact, a simple search shows list after list after list of whacky injuries to baseball players.

No longform reading this week. Instead, enjoy the AL West clinching game of the 1986 season. Do the math, this game is 35 years old. Still love the blue warm up jackets. Check out a youngish Joe Torre as the color guy if nothing else. I also love the old commercials and the Flashdance soundtrack during lineup introductions.

Have a great weekend, all. Please link anything I missed.

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Angels2020Champs
Legend
2 years ago

Love the weekend links and caught about 30 min of the Rangers v Angels game in ‘86 before I had to get to other stuff. I was 4 then and my son turned 4 today, we will be celebrating all weekend long at the Great Pacific Airshow!!
Appreciate the site, thank you all!!

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend

You know what I like about Devin Williams? As far as I have heard he has had no candy assed excuse and “expression of regret” over his bonehead move. He came out, didn’t fudge the facts on what he did, is obviously really bummed out about it, but at least he came at it head on without puting on a PR mirken.

El_Duderino
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Is anyone else as excited as I am to try and spoil the Mariners playoff chances?

El_Duderino
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

Meh. The schadenfreude I feel when Seattle fails to make the playoffs again is going to be much better than any feeling garnered from the Sux winning or losing.

DowningDude
Legend
2 years ago

The experts of CtPG have weighed in … I will not root for tanking. I hear you all loud and clear. Now, there is pretty much no more fun in watching the last 3 games. Thanks for that.
 😝 

Last edited 2 years ago by DowningDude
Eric_in_Portland
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  DowningDude

I’m anti-tanking. I want to win the last 3 and I want Ohtani to hit lots of HRs. Also I want Marsh to do well and Fletch to get at least 1 hit.

Christianhanson
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Don’t expect Shohei to see any pitches if Phil is behind him

h27kim
Trusted Member
2 years ago

There’s something very strange about Taylor Ward being a corner OF/IF and Thaiss being a catcher.

FungoAle
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to  h27kim

Angel organizational development program 101.

DowningDude
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

Prior to development, there’s a thing called “DRAFTING” … we’re usually not very good at it …

Evidence:
comment image

Christianhanson
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  DowningDude

Who were they celebrating getting?

El_Duderino
Trusted Member
2 years ago

Salt Lake City legend Taylor Ward.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  DowningDude

But he plays a mean centerfield (when healthy)

Guest
2 years ago

Devin Williams reminds long time Angel fans of Jim Barr. When the Angels clinched their first ever post-season appearance by beating the KCR late in 1979, Angel pitcher Jim Barr went out on the town to celebrate when an ecstatic fan came up to him with a toilet seat that had “Flush the Royals” written on it. Barr punched the sign, thinking it was made out of cardboard, but it was a real toilet seat, and Barr broke his hand and didn’t pitch in the playoffs.

Barr only had a 97 ERA+ that year, but he tossed the third most innings for the pitching-thin Halos in 1979. He would have been the ALCS Game Four starter, but with the broken hand, Fregosi was forced to let Chris Knapp start. Knapp had a 74 ERA+ that year and gave up three singles, a walk, and a sac fly to the first five Oriole batters of the third inning of Game Four before being lifted.

Fleckstein
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

“Here’s to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life’s problems.”

Simba
Trusted Member
2 years ago
Reply to  Jeff Joiner

What a great bit. Funny because so true.

AnAngelsFan
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to 

Fun story, but I don’t think it is similar to Devin Williams because of two significant differences.

  1. Barr had a reasonable expectation he wouldn’t get hurt (because he thought it was just cardboard).
  2. Barr was hitting the sign for positive reasons – celebrating with a fan.

By comparison, Devin Williams should have known punching a wall was likely to lead to an injury and he punched the wall due to the failure to control negative emotions, i.e. frustration.

In fact, many of the injuries in those articles are also easily distinguishable from Devin William’s injury based on one or both of those points.

I have no sympathy for Devin Williams. I have a lot for his teammates and fans who will be punished for his stupidity.

FungoAle
Super Member
2 years ago
Reply to 

To me what hits home the most, Kendrys Morales. His career had just taken off. 5th in MVP voting in 2009 at 26-years old and first season playing full-time. In 2010, after playing in the first 51 games to start the season, he broke his leg on home plate in a walk-of celebration. He missed all of 2011 and was shell after that. Had a couple of decent years after that but was restricted to DH duties. I’m sure we all remember that game, I sure in the hell do. That was a good club. It was the first year w/o Big Daddy Vladdy and Morales was expected to fill his shoes.

gitchogritchoffmypettis
Legend
Reply to  FungoAle

This opened the door to sign Poo Holes.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

So what you’re saying is Kendrys was drunk when he jumped on home plate?

WallyChuckChili
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to  FungoAle

What also hits home is Mike Trout walking towards 3rd base.

Cowboy26
Legend
2 years ago
Reply to 

But If Bobby Grich hadn’t committed a couple of errors in Game 1 it wouldn’t have mattered cuz The Express would have been able to pitch Game 5 for us.