It was the worst of times, it was the worster of times. As the Angels struggle even more, they face the Dodgers again in LA.
Detmers vs Anderson, a guy who threw a no hitter vs a pitcher who has an actually good season this year. Not that this game was wholly Detmers’ fault. Sure, he went only 3 and 2/3 innings, giving up 4 runs on two home runs and 4 hits while striking out 6 and walking 3. However, he could have gotten a quality start and it wouldn’t have changed jack.
The offense was horrific. Like, worse than yesterday, somehow. It took until 1 out in the 9th for a single hit, and that was an Ohtani triple. The Angels were this close to being no hit.
Highlighted Recap
Detmers got rocked in the first, allowing a 3 run home run.
Trout robbed a home run in the first to keep the deficit at only 3 and not 6.
Detmers allowed a solo shot in the 3rd, yeesh.
The Angels did squat, actually getting no hit through 8, and were 2 outs away from utter embarrassment when Ohtani hit a triple.
Duffy hit a single to get the first Angels run of the series.
But that was it, as the Angels failed to do anything else, and lose yet again. They face the Mariners next for the first time this season.
https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/image/C5603AQFSMctnIMnzPw/profile-displayphoto-shrink_200_200/0/1517662368328?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=v8Saugqm_ilOS52tagdJHBhrOkR4-kwYVe4foP4hEjA
Tim McIIvaine……..only pic of him available unless he does something illegal
The only satisfying thing was watching Ohtani silence all the shit bag Dodger fans with his triple, after they booed him coming to the plate (on Japanese Heritage night at Dodger stadium)
Why would anyone boo Ohtani? He’s literally the nicest most respectful player in the sport
Mike Trout gets booed as well. The Dodgers have to buy their impact players, we develop them (Yes, Ohtani considered an Angel product).
Trout gets booed everywhere he plays on the road, maybe except Philly.
I was at the game last night. It feels like there is something seriously wrong with this team. It started on the first play of the game when Ward got thrown out by a country mile attempting to get to 2B on the error. He seemed to jog into 2b with no sense of urgency. The body language of this team seems to indicate their hearts are not in it. Maybe its the long string of losses, who knows. But it seems to go much deeper than that. We will probably never know.
It was the worsyest of times.
I did something I haven’t done before, which is watching almost the entire game on fast forward. You can guess at what point I pressed fast forward. Watched the whole thing in 30 minutes.
During that, I realized I felt a little sad, because I enjoy baseball and am thankful to be able to watch games when they are on (I don’t live in Southern Cal), and here I was just fast forwarding when I have a chance to watch one. But I’ve lost interest after all the losing. It isn’t entertaining to watch this team lose anymore. If only Arte would read those last two sentences, because theoretically that is what should concern him the most… people not buying his product. Oh well.
On a side note, good job by Anderson, the guy did well, opponent or not.
Trust me, if the team keeps sucking it will cost him money, and right now is when he needs money. So if 200+K or so people feel like you he’s gonna be concerned.
Hopefully his reaction to that will be to sell the team.
How can I fast forward my work day?
I remember watching our Halos opening day ceremony and thinking to myself that both the production and cast of goobers that trotted out left a lot to be desired. The majority of the front office staff let’s just say did not inspire confidence that they were the sharpest folks in the industry. I remember contrasting that with the Cardinals opening day ceremony and staff and thinking that they would crush us in an “operations off”.
As a former player I didn’t and probably still don’t really think any of that shit matters once the ball is pitched but I’ll be damm maybe it does? I would argue that we have a: more on paper talent than the cards this year and b: players who have had better seasons than them this year but look at the difference in records. Obviously the Cards are one of the gold standards for success but the culture and organizational health thing is probably real.
I mean Even with the Doyers you have 4 key pieces of their offense ( Muncy, Bellinger, JT all hitting near or under .200, Freeman with no power) who have all pretty significantly underperformed and yet, there they are 15 games over .500. Maybe culture is king?
I’ll say it again. It’s all about Baseball Organization. Angels org is made up of marketing idiots like Kuhl and Carpino overseen by a guy who knows billboards but not baseball.
Cards, Dodgers and the successful teams have true Baseball Organizations with a President of Baseball Operations to whom the GM reports. They oversee all aspects of baseball including scouting, strength and conditioning, analytics etc. Marketing is kept completely separate.
Until/unless the Angels do this, they are doomed for failure. And we are the fools who believe the same approach each year will provide different results.
I’m starting to see the correlations with my own playing experience. I played at Oregon State just before we turned into a college baseball power but the attention to detail and standard was being formed then and has now grown exponentially with an increase in talent level and a clear blue print for success.
This is becoming the glaring flaw with the Halos that no amount of talent may be able to overcome. Where’s the blue print? What’s the “Angel Way”? Short of cleaning house It’s like we need a management consulting firm to come in and overhaul everything from the ground up organizationally.
Great insight. I really appreciate I your sharing your Oregon State experiences.
Yeah pretty much this
I can tell you first hand, sometimes just hiring that guru in whatever field is just a check mark for management. It has to be bought into and practiced. Ex extreme ownership by jocks willink.
Win games = True Baseball Organization.
Don’t Win = Not so true Baseball Organization.
Not entirely correct. My position has not changed on this during winning streaks over the last 7 years. I see the Org as fundamentally flawed and broken. Players can still play baseball though so there will be won games. The lack of consistency, the prevalence of injuries, the poor and mistreated minor league system, the lack of player development, the overspending on players like Rendon – those things are Organization based in my opinion.
Win less that 50% of your games and make the playoffs 1 time in the last 10 years = Not so true Baseball Organization
Everything stays the same. Team makes the playoffs a few times = real Baseball Org.
In 3rd place 10.5 games back.
The next 5 in Seattle is make or break.
If Angels go 0-5 or 1-4 the season’s over. It likely already is..
Indeed- A Tale of Two Cities traveling right now from London to Paris by train for the day and woke up to see Ohtani at least break it up.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
Awesome.
Also, speaking of Colon….I think he’s looking to pitch again. Maybe we can sign him.
You’re right, it could be worse
Look how thin he was there. Of course people probably look at pictures of me then and now and say similar things…
“Angels avoid getting no hit by the Dodgers, lose 4-1 anyway”
But they didn’t avoid getting swept….
It was only a two game series?
As I alluded to in the game thread, this was clearly not a Maddon issue. Not sure whose issue it is (probably multiple system failure) but Maddon was made the fall guy unfairly.
As I’ve said, most GMs know that the old manager isn’t the issue, and the new manager will probably not be magic. The point of firing a manager is to let the players, who can’t be fired, know that they just cost a man his job with their crap play.
It’s what a gritty FO full of Ersty would do.
Thank you, perfectly stated. Maddon wasn’t fired because Perry thought he was the issue. Wake up folks.
&ct=g
True Grit!
Yep. Maddon was the issue.
Well when you replace him with a guy who pretty much learned managing 101 from him, not much is going to change.
Bingo! Not gonna know if it was him until you clear house. Judging by the lineup shuffle every other game he is still using the Maddon Way to manage.
Yeah I can’t believe they said they are sticking with him for the rest of the season. I hope they change their mind. But maybe they have their eyes on an existing manager whose contract is up at the end of the year or who they want to woo away.
Another tongue in cheek comment everyone took seriously.
😂
Very cheeky. Very tonguey.
All day everyday bby
I thought Pujols was the issue?
I think some of the members on this site are the issue.
Scioscia was the issue, remember? Getting rid of him fixed everything.
I know how you feel, it happens to me here all the time.
For all the guff I gave pujols atleast he stayed healthy enough to look threatening in the batters box to the opposing team and on some occasions was our enforcer when things got rowdy. Rendon is somehow looking worse than the pujols contract because he can’t even be healthy enough to do any of those things. And when he is healthy he just has a IDGAF attitude. I’m salty.
I love that he doesn’t give a f*** because it tells every sadsack loser who needs to see someone give a f*** for them to go ahead and f*** right off.
Rendon’s the Dude. The Dude abides. Everyone else can cope and seethe.
Rendon blows. Not because he looks like he DGAF. He just sucks. Numbers don’t lie
Rendon sucks
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Splat.
Still can’t hit for shit.
Please vent the same gas and complain the same complaints below.
One game left in the Gauntlet of Horrors. We’ll have to see if WarTrouToniDonWalsh ever start hitting again or if the owner keeps using his magic potions and feminine wiles to keep the bats silent.
I honestly wouldn’t care if I woke up tomorrow and learned that they traded Trout and Ohtani. Not because I don’t love watching these guys play, but because I’m just so over the way this organization has managed these players. We have all the talent in the world, and yet it doesn’t matter, because it’s a systemic problem that flows down from the ownership, to the front office, to the field.
It’s a culture of failure.
I’ve historically been an Arte Moreno fan. I’ve had some amazing personal encounters with him that I’ll be forever grateful for. But as great of a person as he can be on an individual level, maybe he isn’t the best MLB owner. It might be time to hang it up, take the massive profits he’ll gain from selling the franchise and let some real baseball people have a shot at unlocking the tremendous talent this team possesses.
If they do decide at some point to trade Trout or Ohtani or both, I don’t want Perry making those trades.
Ummmm. That incredible talent you’re so sad about, they are the problem the last few weeks. They may be incredible, but right now they are incredibly shitty.
Big picture I still have faith in Trout n Friends, but right now I think it’s pretty weak sauce to keep blaming Squid and Wade for what’s happening when we have these Giants Of The Game who are actually eunuchs.
Also, while I still love him to death, f**k the “When oh when will Mikey make the playoffs?” crying. How about when he stops either being hurt or playing like a bitch after August 1st? Sure, he can’t do it alone, but people act like the man has always been there with a 2.000 OPS the last few weeks of the season when he hasn’t.
So sure, trade these guys if you can, but let’s not make martyrs out of them.
I still say the Angels get that last Wild Card as long as everyone doesn’t turn out to be hurt.
I’m not trying to make excuses for Trout and Ohtani’s lack of leadership or performance. I’m just pointing out that I think it’s a symptom of a larger systemic issue.
This franchise does not know how to create a culture of excellence. And it’s not for a lack of talent, that’s for sure. Other organizations manage to do much more with much less.
It’s a leadership problem. It has to be. How else do you explain it?
I tend to agree. While the Angels have shallow depth, the Angels much better front line players than half the teams in the AL. The lack of a culture of excellence is real. Angels teams do not have much of an identity.I really would like to see Moreno sell the team but at a minimum, blow out the entire front office.
It’s not just you. The over all theme seems to be “It’s the manager, it’s the other manager, it’s the general manager, it’s the owner, it’s a mystical sense of winning culture, It’s Thor and not Rodon, it’s Rendon’s contract, it’s the lower half of the line up. If we don’t fix this we are wasting Trout and Ohtani. Weep. Moan.”
Right now the main problem IS Trout and Ohtani. With Rendon, Walsh and Ward (sort of) in the back seat of the clown car. If those guys do their f***ing job everyone’s tone changes a lot.
Well, everyone but the Doomers who would comment “It’s only one title, and Arte’s still owner.” if we manage to win someday.
I’d add Stassi and Fletcher to list too. Bottom line is that the core position players the organization has invested in (many who have played entire careers as Angels) are not performing. And most of these guys are site favorites that people were perfectly happy with as being the starter in their respective position.
Mariners probably gonna come out smoking hot. Heads gonna roll soon.
LOL