Good morning Angels fans, how are you today? Have some links as you try and cool off.
Angels News
The Angels are top heavy. Shohei Ohtani leads the team in basically everything.
Yes that is even true after Trout’s home run yesterday.
Speaking of Troutani, they seriously have no help. At all.
Yet, somehow, they won their 3rd series in their last 4, with a win against Detroit last night. Sure, it is Detroit, but still.
Around Baseball
The MiLB union is closer to happening as potential members willing to join swells. Owners are panicking right now.
Blue Jays and Baltimore clear benches last night. Not nearly as exciting as the Angels Mariners one. Boo!
There is a new longest Home Run this season. This is making me think the old legends of 500+ foot home runs are lies…
Tatis Jr finally has his shoulder surgery. Maybe he should have stopped asking his doctors stupid questions. (Onion)
More history as an MLB debut reliever went better than anyone could have guessed. 5 innings, 2 hits, 8k. Yankees regret that trade, huh?
Another MLB debut as the Astros get better. That’s unfair.
Meanwhile, the oldest player, Pujols, is the Pujols of old again. Devil Magic.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
Wonder if it’s a move to get those 5 games out of the way: Angels’ Anthony Rendon increases activity, raising question of early return – Orange County Register (ocregister.com)
I’d activate him with 6 games left. Let him sit out the five games, and play the final game of the season.
Oooouuurrrr! Hor Deee Dorrr dee FINIDJED! Indigo no go go! Big splash ass rash, ah hate mallo man hurr dee weh no care my wife wanna go dare! So much cash he smash body to wrest no wey dee best! No track record ack ack afford Gerrit Cole anal toll! YARRRRR!
I had mentioned this about a month ago
“This is making me think the old legends of 500+ foot home runs are lies…”
Whaaaa? Old man baseball fan may have been full of shit about what went on back in his day? Unpossible.
I’m too GA to hunt it down, but there was a Youtube video on the warehouse outside Camden Yards that Griffey Jr hit with a home run and the physics reasons so few people have done it since. That spawned another science type guy who used curves and numbers to look into some old timey tales of HR distance…. a lot of them were just plain impossible unless earth was different then.
or I saw Mantle hit balls that were way out there. And what to make of Reggie Jackson’s All-Star Game homerun that hit the light standard? I don’t think they’re legends.
Perhaps it’s the bat size.
Ruth: 38 ounces
Reggie: 37 ounces
Aaron: 33 ounces
Mantle: 32 ounces
Trout: 31.5 ounces.
nope…that can’t be it. Maybe for Reggie but Mantle and Trout use very similar bats.
It’s not hard to measure how far a ball traveled to hit light standards, etc. It’s the ones where so and so hit it 600 ft onto a sidewalk, etc that are BS. An example would be the HR Napoli hit in Cleveland that almost killed a woman walking on the street outside the stadium. It did not travel 700ft…. but if Old Man Backinmah Dey saw it in 1967 it did.
The video I’m talking about made it pretty clear re specific HRs by Mantle, Ruth , etc that were said to travel several hundred feet in a specific stadium (or out of it) and the angle+exit velo needed for the ball to land where they say it did… some of them were ridiculous, like 180MPH exit velos…. numbers where you’d need an adamantium bat.
Probably, the most legit “overly long” ball is Reggie’s ASG home run at Tiger Stadium.
Mass times velocity squared, right?
That plus no accurate measurement, plus alcohol, plus a sports media culture that existed on making legends = those dudes hit some long home runs but nowhere near as long as legend has it.
So the Pujols thing doesn’t bother me so much. When you are paying a player $25m per year, that player is in the lineup day in and day out. You don’t sit him against righties and only play him against lefties. Maybe near the end of the deal that could have been considered but not during the majority.
So what is happening in St Louis is the combination of Pujols loving playing in St. Louis and them playing him in a manner that gives him the best chance to succeed. Good for him.
If they trot out the same lineup as yesterday with the exception of Thaiss as starting catcher instead of Stassi, the Angels would have a starting lineup where everybody is hitting above .200!!!
It feels like a long time since that has happened. The bar is getting pretty low.
Meanwhile, the oldest player, Pujols, is the Pujols of old again. Devil Magic.*
*Only against Left handers. Hell, the Cardinals manager doesn’t even try to play him against righties unless its a position player trying to pitch.
The Pujols experience was so terrible for us on every level. Not wishing him well in his pursuit of whatever.
I’m probably just bitter and jaded, but I’d like to know how many times Pujol’s has been drug tested this year.
Turning a blind eye to a former super-star getting a little help to relive the glory days on his former team before retiring strikes me as exactly the type of thing Manfred would do.
I thought exactly the same thing.
We are all going to have to adjust to a new owner and what that means for the organization. Many of the things we associate with being an Angel fan – from the experience at the ballpark to the pxp announcers to the cost of tickets and refreshments are all decisions made by the front office. With a new owner it is all likely to change and the experience will be shaped to match new ownership’s vision.
With that said, what changes (besides the roster) would you like to see?
I’ll start with
1) removal of the rock pile and
2) a return to a real organ and organist between innings and for take me out to the ballgame.
That’s assuming a sale actually happens. It might be difficult for Arte to get the price he wants for the team. I’m sure the fall-through of the stadium deal is a huge motivating factor. If the Anaheim city council thinks a new owner will take the team out of Anaheim, they might be motivated to enter another deal with Arte.
Combine the two factors above and Arte might announce he has “reconsidered” the idea of selling and decided to instead to re-commit to building a winning team. Then we’ll get a flashy signing (extend Ohtani) followed by more of the same from the past decade+.
I think that is a fantasy but respect your thought process. For my question, presume the sale goes forward, what changes (other than roster) would you like to see?
I’m not in SoCal anymore, so stadium-based changes won’t really affect me. I’d love to have the California Angels back, but I don’t think there is a chance that would ever happen. Uniform changes back to red/navy instead of just red would also be nice.
Also, Arte keeping the team is more of a nightmare than fantasy, although the bit about the stadium is optimistic. The point is Arte saying he’s exploring selling is far different than finding a potential buyer who is willing to pay his price, so all the talk about a new owner strikes me as a bigger fantasy.
Man, I hope you’re right. That would be awesome. You could then tell us that you told us this when this all happens. Let’s go! You got this!
Not just you, but I think just about everyone is gonna find plenty to complain about with whomever the new owners are. They may “BIG SPLASH” us when they first get in here, but we are not the profit engine that the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox are. New owners will want to make money, so get ready to eventually pay more and not necessarily get more for it. It will probably be a group, so we won’t even have a specific person to lay blame squarely at the feet of and demand acts of contrition from.
Team sad sack is gonna love it…. but also hate it. It will make them mad. Which will make them sad. Which will make them mad.
A perennial winning & dominant ball club.
Sure – we all want that – but I’m talking non-roster. So maybe a commitment to building up the minor league system including reasonable housing and nutrition? Funding dedicated to scouting and international scouting etc
“…a commitment to building up the minor league system including reasonable housing and nutrition? Funding dedicated to scouting and international scouting etc…..” is all part of roster construction with the intent of gaining an advantage against your competition. So if you really cared about winning why wouldn’t you do all of that?
But really What else there?I believe the stadium experience, the uniform designs, or even the team mascot is only a small part of a successful franchise. While happy loud fans can possibly motivate their ball club, Losers focus primarily on their stadium experience . But the best experience I’ve ever had is watching a winning team play.
All the other shit is just window dressing.
Well roster construction can be done in a number of different ways depending on the philosophy of the new owner. That’s why I was looking more for specifics as to what everyone thought should be done rather than just saying “roster construction”. For example, a roster can be built via free agency if the owner is willing to spend a lot of money. That is definitely NOT my preferred way of building a competitive team. Having a long term plan – focusing on the minor leagues, coaching, player development, strength and conditioning, good conditions for the minor-league club and otherwise building a reputable organization is my preference. But those things are organizational and that is where my question was directed.
While its true that roster construction can be done in a number of different ways, Arte as well as Disney and even the Autrys before them have proven to us all that roster construction NEEDS be done in a number of different ways in order to field a consistently winning ball club.
I think all we need is a POBO. Their genius alone will solve all the roster construction problems. Every prospect will be a good prospect. Every free agent will outperform his norms and never get hurt. He will fend off the meddling owners and literally stuff socks in the mouths of the marketing department with his Khan like powers that dwarf the abilities of a mere GM, which is a completely different job.
That settles it then. I vote Gitcho for POBO
I will gently cup you all in my hands and protect you from the new owners’ need to market the team, make money and pay players with that money. You can all sleep easy, your brows gently stroked by the assurance that I won’t make any decisions based on what’s good for the team’s actual financial health and will only make decisions based on what makes it look like all I care about is winning…. and grit…. and titties, a little bit that.
What are you going to do when Moreno doesn’t sell and stays owning the Angels?
I know what you’re worried about. Have no fear, i will still gently cup if called upon.
Sometimes, they actually work and don’t use trash cans.
The 2021 Giants didn’t spend a massive amount of money, however they did go old and injury prone. THE VETOING TRADE GUY always goes cheap and ineffective or ridiculous (Thor Syndergaard).
Return of good players to fill out roster after Trout and Ohtani, if he stays.
Didn’t scroll down. Let Minasian go and bring in someone who knows what they’re doing. Rebuild front office and scouting department. Develop minor leagues, including providing the players a decent infrastructure.
I will actually answer your question then.
Stadium changes: Bring Pepsi back. Get new seats and angle them better towards home plate. Remove the yellow line in RF. Please get better food options.
Branding: Anaheim Angels. California would work but that can’t be done unless Manfred changes the rules.
I like all of these – particularly the angle of the seats.
That would cut down on capacity. That ain’t happening.
Reddit has a fun thread in ability to use anaheim. Having grown up outside of anaheim and Orange County, but still loving the angels, it’s california all the way. I don’t think it’s against the rules too. $$ talks! New owners will have it
MLB could stop it. It’s not 1966, and the Angels aren’t the only AL team in California (Yes, I know the A’s are leveraging Las Vegas for a better deal, but for the time being they are in CA). So much as that moniker is beloved, and I still have my satin jacket from 1978 with the giant red/gold CA map on the back, I doubt it happens.
Maybe I am not getting it, but what difference does a NAME make to a team?
Will Ohtani do even more amazing things just because we wish/fantasize about him being “amped” to have “Anaheim” on the front of his jersey?
Does Rendon become an Iron Man with “California” on his chest for road games?
I would very much enjoy a live organist, especially if he busted out some modern hits during pauses in the game, etc… I think having a live guy following the game and providing a live “soundtrack” as it moves along could really add a little fun to things.
I’d be fine with that as long as its accompanied by a magic flute and an electric violin.
Get rid of that stupid f***ing Train song.
Get rid of the totally spent Rally Monkey.
Get rid of the “f*** you dad! We’re not the Dodgers!” red uniforms.
Get rid of most of the “real” fans.
Get rid of most of the food at the stadium.
Get rid of limp d*** recollections of team 2002 and the all time “greatness” of guys like Salmon and Erstad. While you’re at it, f*** all the warm fuzzies surrounding “our asshole” Jared Weaver, weird ex-girlfriend longing for Nolan Ryan, etc. Build actual history, actual all time greats like Trout, and stop celebrating what would be a slump buster for “real” teams like the A’s, much less the Yankees.
Kill anyone involved with 1 877 Kars 4 Kids.
Move the team out of the OC to a place where real human beings live.
Add hot Korean women who do a bunch of flips and stuff and then fire a strike to the catcher for the first pitch. They are awesome. I don’t care about some old man who founded the first dog park in Irvine, or Casey Kotchman. We don’t need to see him throw out the first pitch.
Bring back the giant hot dog BBQ thing that was at the entrance to the stadium.
Allow people into the park’s lower level for BP.
Allow tailgating.
My son and I went to a Yankee game last week. He hadn’t been for quite awhile. He saw the 20th anniversary logo about the
World Series and had a good chuckle. “Is that a joke or something”
But what about the Rally Penis? We should keep that right?
Yes. Moar Rally Penis
It was the Rally DILDO! Get it right!
Had a talk with AngelsChamps about the Rally Monkey yesterday.
For us it sucks and is completely played out. For our young kids, who are about the same age, it is awesome and fun and keeps them wanting to stay at the ballpark.
Baseball is a family game and it gets stale really quickly for young ones. If a dancing monkey keeps the littles from the “I want to go home” crap, I’ll take it.
In a few years when my son outgrows it, I’ll hate it again.
Switch to the Rally Alligator.
The Rally-gator