It was Ohtani night in the twin cities. The unicorn of baseball was up against a team still technically in the race for a playoff spot. Ohtani could bury the Twins, but he would need his teammates to secure him his 14th win.
Ohtani went 5+ innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hit, striking out 7 and walking 6. Shohei got his 200th K of the season, and no hit the Twins through the first 4 and 2/3. It wasn’t the prettiest, as the walks forced him to leave the 6th with the bases loaded.
The hitters hit an bit, but had a hard time driving in a run that wasn’t a home run. Ward hot 2 home runs though, so that was nice. And Troutani did their things.
Highlighted Recap
The twins scored first in the first despite not getting a hit.
Ward hit his 20th home run of the year to tie the game up in the 2nd.
The Angels took the lead in the 3rd thanks to Mike Trout.
In the 4th, Ohtani struck out his 200th batter for the season, an amazing accomplishment.
Ward had himself a night, hitting his second home run of the game in the 6th.
Ohtani’s control wasn’t the best tonight, walking way too many batters. It hurt him again in the 6th, as he allowed his second run of the game.
After walking the bases loaded, he was pulled. It was now up to Loup to not lose it. Yeah… Loup. Phil you moron.
HOWEVER, somehow, someway, the Twins commit a NOBLETIGER (No Outs Bases Loaded, Ending with Team Incapable of Getting Easy Run) and Loup gets out of it with the lead!
Ohtani then helped his own cause by getting that run back in the 7th.
Loup and Herget bridged the gap to Tepera, who came in for the 9th to secure Ohtani’s 14th win. He did it. Angels win!
LOL @ Pujols. 1/4 billion dollars didn’t stimulate your baseball juices?
Going to post without the twitter link for ease but direct quote from Grandpa .
“To be able to do it here at Dodger Stadium, where my joy for the game came back, was pretty special.”
r/baseball thinking it’s hilarious. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out Arte, F off. Same with Pujols, like the guy is on top, we get it, why take pot shots like this? Everybody knows it sucked but it’s not like you did a flying F to help. Seems really petty, and reinforces the sometimes circulated sentiment that he’s a d-bag in many aspects of his life in my opinion.
Yeah, that quote rubbed me the wrong way.
He never seemed like he really wanted to be in Anaheim, and this just kinda confirms it.
Someone in that r/baseball thread commented that it’s a popular belief that his wife made him take the Angels offer so she could live in SoCal, and then they split after he joined the Dodgers and rediscovered his love of the game. Maybe some resentment there towards her.
Who knows. But what a waste of a decade
Luis Castillo, Mariners Agree to 5-Year, $108M Contract Extension
Albert Pujols has produced more WAR this year for $2.5 million than he did combined for $114 million in his last 4 seasons as an Angel. 🙃
YIKES
Most of us are quite amazed at that my Halo friend.
Its quite different to play for a Winner.
I love the Twitter feed of the Japanese commentators expressing a sense of wild relief that Loup didn’t blow the game for Ohtani and the team.
Baseball in Japan is revered and the fans get into the games with more energy and involvement than we do here in the US.
I remember watching Willie Davis playing in Japan in his 40’s, smoking cigarettes in the dugout, legging out singles into doubles, playing like a young kid again with no limitations.
Or watching Charlie Manuel hitting bombs for the Kintetsu Buffaloes…
Anyway, Nevin putting Loup in the game at such a critical moment was either pure genius or pure stupidity. It wouldn’t have been my call – but, it worked.
Fetishizing the Japanese fan is my absolute favorite.
So happy (not) that Pujols started hitting again after nearly 10 years of nearly total futility with us. Wondering what this says about him and our crappy organization.
Maybe we can use his example of rebirth after leaving us to dangle Rendon over to another team.
Are you really asking this and trying to attribute it to baseball organizations? Only one reasonable answer exists for why Pujols suddenly has found a supposed fountain of youth.
Aren’t they being tested? Are you really saying he started shooting up right after he left the Angels.
Kind of the mantra here, isn’t it? Any player who does good/interesting/special things with a bat not in an Angel uniform has some sort of MLB approved advantage/juice/cheat/help.
Pujols can go pound sand as far as I am concerned. I don’t think he’s juicing now, but he sure did in his career. As technology progresses, the avoiders (that can afford it) seem to find ways. Bonds never failed a test either.
I think it says alot about our “crappy organization.”
I think that is the point. Pujols has been flourishing as a part-time player in St. Louis.
This is the way he should have been used the last few seasons with us…
BTW guys, Queen Elizabeth died.
Again?
British Queens do that.
Ohtani is currently at 34 HR, 90 RBI, 14 wins and 200+ Ks.
He’s likely to end up with 15 wins, 35+ HR, 95RBI and 215+ Ks.
I mean what?! I can’t believe I’m writing those stats. He is an absolute beast.
Ohtani is the MVP in my opinion. What he does no one else comes close.
Judge’s OPS+ is down to only .213… just 64 points higher than Ohtani’s. He’s gonna crack 10 WAR and win MVP. But gah the “we are seeing THE BEST SEASON ANYONE HAS EVER SEEN WITH THEIR EYES AND FACE!” bullshit is starting to get out of hand. You mean other than the two 10.5 WAR seasons Trout’s put up over the last ten years? Maybe Mookie Betts’ 10.7 in 2018?
Calm down MSM. You don’t have to rub yourself all over the Yankee THAT hard. It makes me hope he signs with the Giants or something.
Ohtani is basically the Babe Ruth of the modern era. And people argue he should be traded. What??? Maybe they can sell him to the Yankees like the Babe himself. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Irrespective of whatever 2024 holds, Ohtani needs to be an Angel in 2023. He’s irreplaceable. It would take 3 really good players, and you’d need to hit on all 3 which is highly unlikely. More likely the haul after two years would Devolve into a decent young starter, a middling position player and a bust. No thanks.
Regarding the Babe Ruth comparisons, Ruth was a way better hitter and Ohtani is a way better pitcher. Ruth never did what Shohei is doing in the same season.
There was a time when the Angels players had a swagger and would crow “we fly flags” to Ranger fans. Now we thump our chest about having two “once in a generation” players as we lose 90 games and can’t get a sniff of the playoffs.
I’d take the 2002 team and season over any Angels team and season in the last 8 years. Winning is “bigger” than any individual player’s stats.
I loved the 2002 team. But things are what they are now. What’s best now is to see if somehow that can turn 2023 into a playoff run. Keeping Ohtani is the way to do that.
if only we could start out 6-and-14 … we’d be on our way to another title.
I don’t like people calling Ohtani “the Baba Ruth” of our era.
Like Marine says below Shohei has done things Ruth never did.
His only failure this year is not playing for that east coast team.
We deeply need the 2year contract guys(Tep and Loup) to function one way or another so hopefully they can take some steps like this to get closer to their better performances.
Yes. I’m wondering if they are auditioning them for off-season trades. Tepera is now a closer, right? Ugh.
I need a good laugh. Anyone have the photo of pooholes in his undies posing in the angel’s training room?
The whole Albert slurp fest is pretty sad. It reminds me of when people, over the last ten years or so maybe longer, pay a shit ton of money to see the Rolling Stones and come back saying “that Mick Jagger, he’s still got it!” Really? Yeeeehhhh… what “it”?
I love old Stones records, like em more than the Beatles. It’s OK to admit that old men who were super cool are now just old men who were super cool once.
But hey, it’s not hurting anyone. If people want to be stoked on Albert’s last dose of what ever he started taking this Spring then why not?
The difference is that the Rolling Stones sucked for the majority of their career (pretty much everything past 1965 sucked, save for the “Some Girls” record in 1979). Pujols was a total stud for more than half of it, certainly all the Cardinals years.
SO, no, Pujols and the Stones are not comparable
The Stones were awesome through Exile, then decent dead cat bounce with Some Girls.
How do people buy into things like Albert recently? I had plenty of respect for him during his Angels years as an RBI guy that could get hits when needed. Even if his average was low etc. The numbers he is putting up now years later are video gamesque. Please people.
Pujols still sucks film at eleven.
Because you need a charitable feel sorry for you rec from me.
Someday you’ll make a right prediction without 20 yrs of stat data, just not today!
💪 💪 💪 💪
Ward hitting .351 since August 23. That’s encouraging for next year.
I traded him from my fantasy team right around that date for McCullers, so I want the credit for his revival.
I think we live with him as the starting RF next year but damn, got to fix LF. Either by trade or free agency. Angels have zero internal options.
Wow.
Maybe we should convince Albert to hold off retirement and come back to us for 1 more season, in case Walsh isn’t ok, so he can go for 715?
kidding please don’t ban me
Albert’s gonna be in the playoffs
Plus if he hits any HR’s in the PO’s that just pads his career total even more. That’s the real reason behind all the poison arrows, meanwhile we’re headed towards a 90+ loss season (worst since the 2019 season).
That’s not improvement or getting any better last time I checked, sorry CTPG Pollyanna’s. Yet another former Arte employee who failed up after leaving……..AMAZING HOW THAT JUST KEEPS HAPPENING!!!
“I don’t mean to scare you, but we’ve come to a dangerous place.”
That threw me for a Loup.
Nice grit by Ohtani. Loup……alright, alright, alright….
Go Halos!!
Angels Win!
Taylor Ward’s homers were more impressive than the guy up in the Chavez Latrine.
They were clean 🙂
Exactly, no asterisks on Taylor’s
Ummm, not quite. Don’t get me wrong, I am very happy for the game Ward had, but did you see 699 by Albert? That was an absolute BOMB.
Don’t @ me, bro.
don’t “@” ???
😂
Wow… never looked it up but it makes sense:
Don’t @ Me (Don’t At Me)
Expression: Similar to “No offence” or “Not for Nothing”, “Don’t @ me” literally means don’t mention my name in a tweet, comment, etc., but is usually used in pretext of something predicted by the presenter to be offensive to a social audience of a specific type.
Origins: In our internet culture of 2017, saying things that don’t align with popular opinion traditionally result in a lot of comments directed back to the original poster, usually accomplished by the commenter typing @<name> of original poster.
Youtuber: “Don’t @ me, but green people really do look…green” – Probably offensive to people who’d rather be called “Jade”.
Source: Urban Dictionary.
If you’re gonna internet, you gotta be able to search this stuff and learn.
No way, Wards bombs were launched in less than optimal weather.
The first Ward HR was indeed launched. But it was still not as far as 699.
700 now and a 2 bomb night.
for Ward? Cool!
Ward might have hit 700 steps on his fit bit.
And the big blast was off Heaney……Everyone hits Homers off Heaney. Not impressive.
Aw hell, why pick nits. Hitting 700 HR is pretty cool even if Albert was the poop in the corner for us for like seven years. He can be a hero to some… we have seen the real Albert for years.
too bad Ohtani’s 14th win, 200th K won’t be the big story tonight
It will here.
What big story, Mariners losing? Eat it Jerry!
Baltimore is not quite out of it yet… Only 3 games. Things could start to get tight for the Mariners if they lose another game or two…
Jerry’s kids are tighter than a balloon knot right now…..looks like a classic Seattle Choke Job. 😃 Warms my ❤️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️🪠🪠🪠
Some Hessian made a clean catch of siete cientos. No scrum to speak of. Damn – one section over from where I was gonna buy my ticket tonight. $80 for a $1M to $2M payday? That was better odds than a lottery.
Of course, had I attended, Pujols would have gone 0-fer. Bonds did that to me at Doyer stadium back when he was real close to the record. 3 nights in a row at the Latrine Circus.
I hope he has body guards exiting the stadium.
To protect him from reps from the HOF who want to offer him a sweet game used bat and some Charleston Chews.
Yeah, sure. I’ll take a game used bat and a signed photo instead of $1 million dollars, lol.
😂