Good morning Angels fans, have links or whatever.
Angels News
The Angels won last night, in case you forgot there were games left.
Kurt Suzuki is retiring. Well, bye.
AA Trash Pandas won a playoff game. Yay~
Around Baseball
The WBC Qualifications are on, and the UK has qualified.
Back in America, Judge hit his 60th. Ugh.
Canada won’t require Vax for playoffs. Don’t make me moderate the comments I don’t wanna.
Dodgers legend Maury Wills has died. Dave Robberts wore 30 because of him.
Oh wow, a parking attendent scam at White Sox games. No one said anything for a week?
Buster Posey now owns part of the Giants. Wow.
Sinclair may be bought by all the sports leauges! MLB, NBA, and NHL working together to stop Bally from existing.
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes.
MLB.com has “look-ins” for every Judge at-bat but they seem to have three clowns yukking it up about something else entirely, ignoring the Judge PA. Weird.
Wow. ESPN has three DmFks laughing at each other’s stories, discussing the food on the “campus” and talking about guys from “their day” instead of actually telling us about the game in front of them…. shocker.
It’s like when I punish myself by tuning into the Mighty1090 on the way home from work so I can listen to Scott Kaplan’s annoying douche ass talk about restaurants, people who know him, resorts, clothing, his kids, tacos, celebrities, the weed store that sponsors them, old white people bands he went and saw, what he and the other guys on the show will be doing this weekend, what he saw on social media, how tired they all are, and tacos…. and maybe some sports.
And then, because GAH HEEE HAY MEEE if I switch to 710 he’s on that station too at the same time with George Sedano…. talking about restaurants, people who know him, resorts, clothing, his kids, tacos, celebrities, the weed store that sponsors them, old white people bands he went and saw, what he and the other guys on the show will be doing this weekend, what he saw on social media, how tired they all are, and tacos…. and maybe some sports…. plus some “Mexicaness” from the other personalities.
Fk sports.
Ohtani and Judge are both equally and completely deserving of the MVP.
But it can only go to one, and it’s gonna go to the Yankee that makes the playoffs.
Make peace with that now. Popular opinion isn’t always in step with trailblazers.
I grew up in a small town. Across the street to the west from our football field, which held all town graduation ceremonies, there was an empty lot owned by the high school that was about the size of a football field.
My friends Josh and Angel lived across the street from said lot on the north. When they were about 12 years old they decided to walk across and start charging people a few bucks per car to park there for an 8th grade graduation.
It worked surprisingly well for a while. People just handing kids in t shirts money. Until their mom looked across the street and saw what they were doing. A good old fashioned ass whipping was commenced but they had no idea who had given them what money so they got to keep it.
That’s fantastic.
While we all love baseball if there’s any sports motivation to Canada relaxing their visiting rules it is hockey followed by the NBA. But mostly hockey.
Anybody else looking forward to next year with the rule changes. I think it may actually help the Angels. I’m looking forward to stealing, ground ball hits and speed in general becoming a bigger part of the game.
While I don’t like all the shifting, making a rule to outlaw it is dumb. You want to stop the shift, learn to beat it. Every time someone is up and the third baseman slides over to the shortstop position because analytics and and the batter just continues to do the same thing I want to scream. When the whole left side of the infield is open, hit it that way even if you need to bunt!
I think the bigger base at first is a good idea to prevent injuries.
Pitch clock, probably a good idea but I never had much of a problem with the length of a game.
Only being allowed to throw to the base two times, stupid, but I can see where they want tit o go along with the pitch clock to shorten game lengths.
I’m with you on banning shifts. Not a fan of it. The game has evolved – managers and coaches figured they can position their defense a certain way depending on the hitter – it’s up to the hitter to adjust to that. I always think the really great hitters can hit despite whatever strategy the defense implements. I don’t think anyone ever thought that defensive shifts would have hurt Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle.
R.I.P. to Maury Wills. He was a very exciting player during the 60’s. One time MVP with the dodgers in ’62 stealing 100 bases. The first to do it, not even Cobb did it before him.
Me too, yup, just look at the numbers pilgrim and you too will come in with “Here come the Judge” too. The numbers are very impressive, and he is very deserving. I don’t think he needs steroids to do what he does. Plus, he can field CF-RF with the best.
Who’s ready for a existence transforming POBO!?! The Royals just fired Dayton Moore.
They look at Tampa and ask “Why can’t we?” Moore had a long career, same guy that made them winners ’13-’16.
Incoming porn ban for the organization.
Then it’s a good thing Matsui isn’t with the team any more.
Joe Maddon wrote a new book, get a signed bookplate and (possibly) a free t-shirt
emphasis mine below
No one sees baseball like Joe Maddon. He sees it through his trademark glasses and irrepressible wit. Raised in the “shot and beer” town of Hazleton, PA, and forged by 15 years in the minors, Maddon over 19 seasons in Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Anaheim has become one of the most successful, most colorful, and most quoted managers in Major League Baseball. He is a workplace culture expert, having engineered two of the most stunning turnarounds in the past quarter century: taking the Rays from the worst record in baseball one year to the World Series the next and leading the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years.
Like his teams, Maddon defies convention. He is part strategist, part philosopher, part sports psychologist, and part motivational coach. In THE BOOK OF JOE, Maddon gives readers unique insights into the game, including the tension between art and data, the changing role of managers as front offices gain power, why the honeymoon with the Cubs did not last, and what it’s like to manage the modern player, including stars such as Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Yu Darvish, and Kris Bryant.
Oh. So this (and golf) is what he was doing instead of, you know, psychobullshiting and stratamagnificating an incredible out of the box never been thought of before plaid neon blazer and mohawk wearing championshit turn around.
He’s got so much zazz. If only we’d had him as a manager the way we were all begging for…. oh wait. We did. He should have written a book called People Who Ride a Good Boss To Success and How To Look Zany Doing It.
You know who the real victim is here? Paul Goldschmidt.
Holy crap, have any of you guys seen his stat line? He’s having a monster year too and I pretty much never hear the man’s name.
PS – Just be “a man” and accept it. Judge is the legit MVP this year and Ohtani gets the little statue that says Also Very Valuable on it and that’s OK. You can try to Lyle Spencer your way to squinting Shohei into the award because “hidden obvious facts” but why not skip being a pathetic homer about it and just live in reality? I wish he wasn’t a Yankee, but Judge seems to be a good dude and he’s pretty much locked this up short of a huge surge in both pitching and hitting from our boy.
Yes it’s Judge for me.
But I’d beg to differ Goldy is a victim. He’s been doing this his whole career (just a click below Troutian) and has got nowhere near the publicity of east coast players.
FINALLY GOLDY IS THE NL MVP – well deserved and long overdue.
Maybe he should be talked much more about here but it’s a lot more than he ever had.
I don’t mean here…. I mean, he’s not an Angel. I just mean on all the stuff I watch online. I knew Nolan was doing great this year… and I knew Goldy was doing well too… but I didn’t realize he was THAT good. He may crack 8 WAR at 1B.
Great to read about Rocket City’s success. Now I can start worrying about Joyce and Torres.
I know that our farm will be considered meh by “experts” until it is filled with former Yankees prospects who will then bust like Justus Shefield, but I just don’t see how anyone who is paying attention can look at the guys we have down there now and look back at say 2-3 years ago and what we were “excited” about then and think those two farms should share the same rank according to “expert” sites.
Did Patty really call Suzuki an “One of the all-time greats” last night? Suzuki is a nice guy, and a decent player, but nothing close to an all-time great. Some day maybe the Angels will be afford a real play-by-play person, and not a homer pimp.
Your right Kurt is good, not great but after Stassi’s recent performance capped off by that triple play last night maybe the wrong guy is retiring
For some reason bad catchers can have long careers and just because of that, they’re considered “all-time greats”.
The fact that Mathis lasted as long as he did is a testament to that.
It’s also post 2000…. everything is “all time great” and “phenomenal” and “heroic” and “an existential threat” and blah blah blah when really it’s all just kinda fine.
Mathis lasted as long as he did because he worked well with pitchers.
Here’s a nice old Sam Miller article on the subject.
https://legacy.baseballprospectus.com/article_legacy.php?articleid=21746
Not to doubt the pitchers’ feelings towards Mathis, but does anyone really come out and celebrate another player leaving the team?
“Hooray! That black hole in the lineup who couldn’t hit .150 is finally gone!” And this is not just specific to Mathis, but to other offensively-challenged players in general
If I ever fulfill my dream of owning a bar, i’m naming it Pitchers Lament.
His college career was stellar. Johnny Bench Award as best catcher, and had the big hit to win a Natty for CSUF.
Not the best but he put together 16 yrs as a MLB Catcher, was an AllStar, and won a WS.
That’s a really good career.
No argument there, but Suzuki doesn’t need the HaloHype machine man trying to make him into the 2nd coming of Johnny Bench 🙂
But how’s his CERA?
That, and how good is he at catching runners trying to steal first base?
[looking for the Mathis throws to first GIF but can’t find it]
One more reason why that idiot needs to go far away!
I think it was Gubi who said it.
NO! ER ANGRY AT PAT! MUZ BEE PAT! LIFE TOO GOO! NEED ENERME!
Last season, when people were asking how will anyone ever beat Shohei for MVP if he consistently does the 2-way thing well.
Well, Aaron Judge’s season is the answer. After hitting 60th and potentially getting the TC, there’s no more doubt in my mind he wil get MVP this season.
I do hope Shohei punctuates this season by ending with 15 wins, 40 HRs, 100 RBIs sub 2.50 ERA, and 200 Ks.
I still think 13 wins is worth more than 25 HR’s. Imagine if Judge was an Angel and Ohtani was a Yankee. I think Ohtani would then win the MVP, and the Yankees would have a better record while the Angels would have an even worse record.
Yeah. All Judge did was hit 25 more home runs.
#Shortporch. 😎
Yeah…. that was my preferred straw to grasp at till f***ing data and facts got in my way and showed me with a sweet sweet chart and everything how few of his HR were “short porch”. Out of those 60 very few were cheap. Even fewer to RF in the YankBox.
SHort porch or not, he’ll still be my homerun king. #steroids
Considering Angel Stadium plays a higher park factor, are Trout and Ohtani home runs considered “cheapies” too?
I’m guessing sarcasm but maybe but a wink or something at the end to make it more obvious?
😊
Ohtani is going to be 2nd or 3rd in the Cy Young award and a top 5 hitter in the AL but will finish 2nd in the MvP award.
On the other hand, if you remove Bonds’ steroid years, Judge is going to have a top 3 all-time hitting performance since integration.
If Ohtani finishes with enough innings to qualify for a sub 2.50 ERA, 15 wins and 200 Ks, I think there’s a legit shot he wins the Cy Young – as consolation for losing MVP.
Nope.
Winning CY for hitting. That’d be a new one, but not (too) unreasonable in this case
Sort of like Gold Gloves for players who couldn’t catch a beachball tossed to them from 3 feet away, but who hit .325
Why would it be a fluke? Ohtani’s been a much better pitcher this year than a hitter.
In 2022:
149 OPS+
164 ERA+
In 2021:
157 OPS+
142 ERA+
Not against Verlander’s 17 wins and sub-2.00 ERA at the age of 39, he won’t.
That guy drinks baby blood.
Shohei and Verlander have logged similar innings (148 to 157), yet Shohei has more strikeouts (196 to 163) and a better FIP (2.44 to 2.64). The stat where Verlander has Shohei clearly beat is in WHIP (0.83 to 1.04).
If we look past Verlander’s stellar record, it’s a very close call between the two. Truly, it’s pretty close between Verlander, Shohei, Dylan Cease, and Alek Manoah.
These last few starts can make all the difference.
And wins are a bogus stat. How many wins has the blowpen cost Shohei?
It’s been a while since anyone had to cry about Wins being a bogus stat in the cy young race. I’d say 2009 Greinke, 2011 Hernandez etc kinda put a stop to that.
That’s a great question. Without looking, I bet every loss can be attributed to the blowpen, Velasquez’s offense, or Adell’s defense. Actually I’m wrong, it’s all Arte’s fault.
Single-Season Leaders & Records for WAR Position Players | Baseball-Reference.com Judge is tied for 71st best season by WAR.
Yup. It’s a really really good season. “SEASON FOR THE AGES!!!!” I’m not so sure. I am sure he’s better than Ohtani this year unless something changes in the next two weeks. What will also change is that #71. The difference between 71 and 55-58 is 0.3 WAR.
Shortchanges the guy that could legit hit 74 then too.
It’s amazing how many times Mike Trout is on that list.
All the times are Trout times. It’s also amazing how many time Mantle is on that list after he was “washed up”.
You missed the “since integration” part of my post. And also the all-time hitting performance, which is different than position player WAR because hitting doesn’t include defense.
Still not seeing him 3rd.
Here you go: Major League Leaderboards » 2022 » Batters » Dashboard | FanGraphs Baseball
I sorted by wRC+ rather than wOBA, as I think outperforming your peers is a better method for judging how great a hitting performance is when comparing across seasons. Excluding, Bonds, he is 3rd behind 1957 Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle.
I can see it there! If you take out steroids, he’s having the best season ever… Makes me think a little but on first thought I think I’d I’d still vote for Ohtani. 13 wins beats 25 home runs in my book.
How can those two links be so different?
I think you’re probably right and Judge gets the MVP.
He’s having a great season.
However, in my mind it’s clear that Ohtani is a far more “valuable” player than Judge.
With the pitching and base running and hitting tools that Ohtani brings to the game, he can positively affect a game in more ways that Judge.
If I could choose just one of the two players to create the base for my team, I’d pick Ohtani over Judge – hands down….
judge is having a “great season” … the man is un-f-ing-conscious. it’s a take-your-breath-away season. Hope I don’t squint too much – we just need Shohei to go on a 20HR binge (batting) and a 20K binge (pitching) in these next few weeks and for Judge to fall off a cliff and the Yanks to be eliminated.
Burial grounds, bad fan juju and stuff will keep this from happening, though.
I’ve said this before. I *WANT* Ohtani to get MVP. I will not be upset if Judge gets it.
Ohtani didn’t win MVP because SadSack Heaven. Remember when he was washed up and should stop pitching? I do. We shot our bad ju ju all over Ohtani and now he is the not quite MVP.
Though now that Arte is leaving maybe his mom will let him sign an extension here? Then he can collapse and we can hate the new owner for causing all his health and performance issues while burning with envy because the Rangers are back baby.
While he didnt do much as an angel … Kurt Suzuki’s kind efforts to help Jon Wilhite after the Adenhart tragedy will never be forgotten.
Random, but super weird to be watching the new show Reboot (Hulu) with Keegan-Michael Key and then logging on here to see him as the image for the post.