Good morning Angels fans! It is a great day isn’t it? Have some links!
Angels News
Angels win again, their 3rd in a row, and second against Boston. Going for the sweep tomorrow!
It was pretty historic too, since it was only the 2nd time in modern baseball where a player had 3 leadoff homeruns in his first 8 games started in a season. And Mickey is the only one who did it legitimately, since the 2017 Astros cheated and so they (shouldn’t) count.
Mike Trout also tied Joe Dimaggio in Home Runs at 361, which is 19 squared. I would guess #400 would be around mid 2024, depending on health of course.
This game also means that the Angels rotation has pitched 15 straight shutout innings. That Ohtani was the last one to give up runs is really weird. Oh well, at least he can still hit the ball the furthest.
Around Baseball
NBC fired their A’s announcer after he said the N word on air a while back. The debate on how accidental it was (He was allegedly trying to say Negro League Museum) was weighed on and NBC parted ways with him. He has not been happy of course, and tried to reason with the public through Twitter.
A’s and Las Vegas has been a ‘will they or won’t they?’ for years now, but maybe it will be announced today? Well, the whole money situation is a bit confusing but it looks like less from LV and Nevada than Oakland would give, but also a smaller investment overall?
Maybe this explains why the A’s pitching is so bad. Sandbagging a team to move them has been done plenty of times.
The Cubs have a player hit a home run in 5 straight games for the first time in the 21st century. Maybe check to see if he is clean…
Hey remember when we all wanted Arte to get a new SS? Pretty much all the free agent shortstops last year are having a worse season than Neto, with Trea Turner even apologizing for how much he has been underperforming. Think the boos got to him?
Jose Altuve got injured again. It is not serious, at least, that is what they want us to think!
Anything I missed? Post below for upvotes!
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1661505688315760640?s=20
Raw charisma…. yet with the gentle heart of a dove.
Actually not kidding, with no jersey on he’s not as paunchy as I always thought he was….
If Rendon is active today, then I assume Soto is sent back to SLC.
Which means our backup Shortstops are Rengifo and Gio.
Per MLBTR, Brett Phillips cleared waivers and was sent outright to SLC Bees. Totally anticipated and I guess he desired to stay in Angels organization. I liked him, but I hope he doesn’t get called back for the remainder of the season because that would only happen if any of the current outfielders is injured.
I’m glad. I like Phillips.
Also in the news, major missed FA starter opportunity by ol’CheapnEvil Carlos Rodon is…. maybe likely maybe gonna throw from a mound this week…. or next week…. maybe.
He only got a six year deal, we coulda totally matched that.
I’d like to congratulate this board and just say thanks.
We had a solid discussion about the ballpark situation in Oakland without devolving into what would’ve happened in countless other places. It was informed, it was civil, it kept to baseball and our areas of expertise.
We have a great community here. And it needs to be recognized when it is great. Like today.
We’re pretty much the best ever….. accept for Cardinals fans. They’ve told me they’re the best ever ever.
Except
Accept his flaws – except when he misspells accept and except.
Perhaps he has issues with “a” and “e”, like I do with “l” and “r”. I still lespect Glitchy-Sensei.
Their, there, they’re….
Right back at you, sir. I express my utmost gratitude to you and other editors who intelligently crafted this site. The community guidelines are a definite must read before participating. I happen to view your interview with Jeff Fletcher and loved your insightful interactions with him. I am looking forward to seeing another one around All Star game.
I don’t visit other MLB teams fan site that often, but when I do, aside from noticing heightened bitchiness of their site (way more than this site), I am just more marveled with CtPG, I often wonder why they do not copy CtPG way.
Thanks. We have our moments here too but we try to fister a community feeling here.
Um. Typo?
But we hardly knew-er
For me, the worst town and worst place to see a game is San Francisco. The town itself is now an urban hell scape and there are many more of their loathsome fans there. It’s not the Chardonnay drinkers, it’s the angry young men with their Beat LA (includes the OC) chips on their shoulders that make it unpleasant and unsafe. . I much prefer the Night if the Living dead vibe in (Oakland). That’s not saying much.
That sucks. I used to love hanging out in SF and going to that beautiful ballpark.
Haven’t been there in ages and have really no desire to do so. I have a wife and son and neither LA or SF are places for families nowadays.
MiLB baseball baby.
I have fond memories of going to Candlestick on the last day of the 1982 season. We had just moved from Hollywood to SF that year. I wore my Angels cap as the Giants played the Dodgers. As you can imagine, I bonded with the Giants fans over our Dodgers dislike.
The Angels had clinched the West a couple of days before and the Dodger win over the Giants had knocked SF out of the race the day before. So it was a real treat to see SF beat the Dodgers on that last day and eliminate LA! ha!
Wasn’t that the stadium where earthquake hit during World Series game and the broadcast was interrupted because of the quake? I think it was between Oakland and San Francisco. I was watching that broadcast and was wondering what happened.
Yes it was. Candlestick was south of SF, on the way to San Jose.
I was in middle school at home with my PawPaw the day that happened. Any reference makes me think of him. I miss him.
Random thought of the day: I often listen to opponents announcers talking about Ohtani rule where he is allowed to remain as DH even after he is replaced as pitcher in later innings. They are mostly diplomatic saying that it is good for baseball, but I am not certain if that is what they are thinking under their breath.
Today’s lineup prediction: It is a battle in my brain between what I would like the lineup to be vs what Nevin would do based on what has said yesterday. Red Sox pitcher: James Paxton, left hander.
Neto SS/Trout CF/Ohtani DH/Renfroe RF/Druly 1B/Rengifo 2B/Ward LF/Urshela 3B/Wallach C
Let’s sweep Red Sox and win season series against them. Houston lost, so inching closer to the 3rd wildcard spot, currently standing at 1 1/2 GB.
Mainstream baseball journalism is so weird. Today I see a tweet about how the Rangers are not worried about the “red hot” Astros and another tweet about how the Astros just dropped two in a row to the Brewers. If that’s red hot then, by all means, let’s see the Astros remain exactly that red hot.
I’m sure it’s just homer journalism, much like the announcers you describe being secretly jealous of Ohtani because he’s not on their team.
This squirrel in Yankee stadium has had more coverage today than 96% of the MLB teams have received in the last year…..because it happened in New York…or Boston…and maybe Philly.
https://youtu.be/jc2WlN5jsYg
Yeah. Those guys act like it’s a jaguar or something.
I heard they were afraid they catch rabies.
If it was in Arizona I might worry if it was carrying bubonic plague. It acted pretty much like all the squirrels that live outside of my apartment. I might have given it a peanut or something.
Who? The Squirrel or the Yankee fans?
Where’s Eddie? He usually eats these things.
Not since he heard they were high in cholesterol.
The Astros are about to embark on a three game series in the same Oakland ballpark people here have been talking about. That will be a three game sweep which will not only end their brief 2 game losing streak, but it will put them right back on track.
That’s the thing about Houston — when they’re bad (being shut out for two straight games) they don’t stay bad for very long.
Perhaps they will strike down upon them with great vengeance and furious anger those Asstros who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers.
I dont’ know 8-2 is pretty red hot, especially if the “red hot” tweet was made before the Astros’ second loss to the Brewers today.
They passed up the Angels this month so I realize I should curb my enthusiasm. Still, they can’t pull away to a commanding lead because the Angels have already gone 6-4 for the last ten before today.
I hope Tyler Anderson doesn’t bork things up today.
Wow, Phil must be waiting until I post my prediction, its literally 3 minutes after I posted above:
Today’s Lineup:
Ward LF
Trout CF
Ohtani DH
Renfroe RF
Druly 1B
Urshela 3B
Rengifo 2B
Wallach C
Neto SS
Let’s go Halos!
Drury*
Thanks for pointing that out. Japanese always have a problem with “l” and “r”.
Glad to see the Angels tradition of sitting a guy while he’s hot, particularly if he hit a home run in the previous game, continues.
It is like we replaced Soth with Soth.
I think Druly drank too many Truly’s….
Would Truly fix my problem with “l” and “r”? I have heard from my friends that I speak more fluently when I am under the influence.
In response to a question posed earlier today:
The post-game is now done on the field because of a few games in a row fans were chanting, “Sell the team” and it was easily heard by the TV audience. There were a couple of articles on the subject, it is not due to Arte saving money.
LOL…Classic
Technically the article said it was so BSW could save money, given that they are going bankrupt. Had nothing to do with Arte’s money.
But this logic still checks out that he would strong arm them into moving their broadcast.
I’m convinced a large part of Kuhl and Carpino’s jobs are keeping Arte away from reality and public opinion.
More likely their doing than Arte’s.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we continue to get Moore from Moore
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1661435175002316800?s=20
Going to see an A’s game next week. I figure see my last CA park before it’s gone. Any advice?
If you take BART, I always feel safer trying to keep my Angel’s shirt and cap out of sight. I’ve never been concerned about safety at the stadium itself, though. Be prepared for outdated bathrooms with trough urinals. There’s no doubt the A’s need a new stadium.
If I wanted to just kill a random guy an A’s game may be the perfect place, best in America maybe. Huge, abandoned, no one will find the body for a year and the critters will get at it. Hell, it probably won’t be the only body in the place. Oakland cops will assume depression alone killed him, won’t investigate further, will get another call as soon as they arrive on the scene.
The Evil. It’s there. Only Shohei’s mom can stop it.
How did you know Shohei’s mom is Jujitu double black belt?
Picture the evil from Stranger Things. There is a portal in one of the men’s bathrooms at A’s Stadium that takes you to the Upside Down.
They boil the expired Wet Market “Hot Dogs” in an abandoned bathroom trough urinal near the A’ss locker room. I won’t mention how they steam the stale hot dog buns. 👎
“You see Tweb, it’s actually amazing and environmentally wholesome. The sheer heat and friction of the mass of roaches collected under the bun warmer causes steam which warms the three month old buns. The buns never go bad, we share them with other citizens of nature, no fossil fuels are needed. This is the kind of innovation that smart Californians are making everyday that give us a better life AND hug our mother earth. Be better, um kaaaayyy. Did you know you can brew Kombucha from human feces you find on the street? Let me show you…. ”
I hope that you included nail grime as source for gaining supreme wisdom.
Penicillin and a bullet proof vest. And a gun. And a knife. And don’t go.
Really though. Bart in early, no crowded train. Bart out before the game ends. Stay on the bridge that takes you over the hobo city below it. Dress in rags.
Don’t drive? I’m coming in from Middle SF in the morning for a Wednesday day game next week.
I would not recommend driving. Take BART from SF. You get some crazies on there and I have taken off my hat to avoid attention sometimes, but it isn’t the wild west. You are probably more likely to be in a serious car accident driving than actually being attacked on BART.
The BART station exit for the Coliseum will take you straight to a bridge where you will have a chance to buy water, sunflower seeds and sometimes tickets. The station, the bridge, and the stadium are safe, but I wouldn’t go for a walk in the neighborhood.
Still safer today than it was in the 1990s
In the late 90s/early 2000s my friends would rent the warehouses near there and throw parties (what were called raves back then).
A company called HomeBase went out of business so there were a half dozen or so huge empty warehouses we could rent for dirt cheap and pretty much nobody cared what we did.
More than once we heard volleys of gunshots as we were setting up or tearing down from the parties. It was nuts.
Get yourself a HomeDepot bucket and a drum stick or two. Or a bucket of chicken with drumsticks. Don’t eat there… salmonella is a bitch.
Well whatever you do, don’t take any advice from Anthony Rendon on home team fan relations.
also —
if you feel the urge to belt out your best Elvis version of a “Viva Las Vegas” melody, just don’t.
just hum it quietly to yourself
Wow, brutal responses. I had to laugh.
I have a good friend whose family has had season tickets for years, so I would get invited to 1 Angels game a year. Good seats. We just drove up and parked and went in. Right off the freeway, super easy access. Especially because of lack of fans. We never had a problem… seemed safe to us. Indeed, I never wore my Angels apparel, just to avoid the random rowdy bozo who might mess with me. I didn’t have a problem with the food. Half the cost of the food at Giants games.
I’m sad they are moving, because this was the way I could easily see Angels games. I saw a lot of big games here over the years.
I saw the game in 2002 with the HR off of Koch.
I was there for 2 straight Division-clinching wins I think in 2004-2005? We wore our full Angels apparel back then… 25% of the people were Angels fans.
I had the best seats in my life at one game, directly behind home plate. I was on TV for 3 hours. All you can eat food with a waiter.
Too bad for the A’s fans, but we could see this coming.
When I go, I drive never had a problem and with the “lack” of crowds you can pretty much drive right up and get into the stadium very easy access. Tickets are not a problem and you can get great seats (as long as you are not worried about being far from the actual diamond) either direct from the A’s website or from stubhub. The food is typical stadium food ok for what it is. I never, ever go to the bathroom at the stadium as a previous president once said “it wouldn’t be prudent.” I hit the “can” before I go to the game and limit my beverage intake. I never wear my Angel gear have had some issues with drunk fans enough times to be weary.
The stadium is a dump and it shows. Easiest way to get there is Bart, and I’ve never had any issue riding Bart with my Angels gear. You can buy great seats via the secondary market. I saw the Angels play in April, sat in the front row behind the dugout and paid only $5 over face value. I got my tix via StubHub.
StubHub fees are pretty brutal though… This is not the sellers but StubHub themselves making a killing on us the buyer.
I always set the filter to show prices with fees included. Doesn’t solve the problem of the fees, but it is a much better way to shop.
So who do you guys think is to blame for the A’ss to Vegas fiasco? The plans for the park next to Jack London Square looked pretty sweet. Did the city or the team screw up the negotiations?
IMHO it was the city, the city council has never wanted to keep sports franchises in the city. Why, flat out lack of revenue. Why would a franchise in the 21st century even consider wanting to play in a cesspool? High unemployment, crime, gangs, lack of policing, etc. Is Vegas a better option? I do not know, but there does not really seem to be a better option currently available except Salt Lake City in the western states. Portland has crime issues, Spokane not enough population. Can Texas handle another team in San Antonio or Austin or even between the two?
Oakland has seen the Warriors and Raiders both hit the brick, so that in itself is a telling tale, and no one seems to want in the city either.
I have always liked the city of Oakland, but that place just plain sucks now and it seems to love it’s problems with no intention of actually fixing them. Why would any huge business invest there?
I know I mentioned this in previous post that if it was not for late Mr. Hiroshi Yamauchi of Nintendo and late Republican Washington Senator Slade Gorton, we would not have had Mariners who still reside in Seattle. Another example is Seattle Supersonics, who became Oklahoma Thunders. Same thing with Portland Trailblazers who would have obviously been moved if it were not for late Paul Allen. I often thought Phil Knight has financial base to attract a MLB team to Portland, but I don’t think he is a baseball guy.
Portland doesn’t seem like a baseball market nor does it have a lot of corporate money outside of Nike (which is probably all the corporate money it needs, but Nike is far more about basketball).
Baseball is establishment. Portland is anti-establishment.
I do residential and some business lending and multiple business investors have stopped lending in Portland due to the lack of police presence. Phil Knight wouldn’t have to worry about that, probably, but very few rich people like to plunk their own cash down on big projects. And anybody wanting to develop around the ballpark will have major issues.
Portland strikes me as the kind of place baseball would arrive in and it would go about as well as it has in Miami. Just blah meh.
The dream is alive in Portland, it’s where young people go to retire 😄
https://youtu.be/9H9Oy6Hdkg8
So. Golden.
I used to love Portland. It was on my short list of places to move to when my wife and I start empty nesting. We went there last year for a wedding and spent 4 days in downtown. Not once did I see one single police officer…in 4 days! Homelessness, crime, and graffiti are rampant. The inmates are truly running the asylum up there.
Another fine Democrat run city
It is unfortunate that I read Portland area viewership of MLB games has always been #1 amongst cities which do not have a MLB team. It is also of note that they kicked out a triple A team (affiliate of SF Giants, if I remember correctly) of their civic stadium and placed major league soccer team called Timbers. I always thought it was weird that liberal cities like Portland hate baseball and love soccer (or just tolerate soccer).
By the way, Hillsboro, a town that includes computer giant Intel, and neighbor of Nike headquarter in Beaverton, has a single A team called Hillsboro Hops. They do serve delicious microbrew there.
Baseball = old school America
Soccer = European
I learned in World History class in Japan that Pilgrims came to America to escape England’s oppression. It makes no sense.
If they forced the Pilgrims to watch soccer that would be oppression enough.
Ask any youngster in Portland and they’ll tell you they are the ones oppressed.
“Fk you daaaaad!”
I’ve said it before, I don’t hate the A’s. I rooted for em when I lived up in the E Bay. I have loved having a rival who we are so evenly matched record wise with historically, where every game seems to be a deathlock. The best part being that they are a rival who is far less hateable than the Mariners, Red Sux, Yanks etc. Having our traditional division rival be a fairly likable team/fanbase allows MY fandom to not be mixed with bitter hate for “them”. Oakland isn’t New York or Hollywood. The A’s history is cool. Elephant. Nice. Could live without the drum guys, but if that’s as bad as the fans get, OK.
The A’s started looking for a new home when I lived up there IN THE LATE 1990s. Many of their explored options looked good. Jack London, Howard Terminal, San Jose, that spot on the East side of Lake Meritt. But if you look at the Bay Area as a woman that the A’s were trying to woo it was just too damn hard. It wasn’t just expensive, it wasn’t that there were constant obstacles from seemingly dozens of interest groups. It was that there was no indication that the expenses and obstacles would ever end. The A’s realized that they would always be asked for just a couple hundred million more dollars…. and more low income housing…. and a free park…. and a community center…. and what ever other political footballs could be shoved into their hands.
All this headache for the city of OAKLAND. Not Nashville. Austin. Charlotte. Oakland’s fat bloated broke ass. The ass was gonna keep getting fatter and the hand was gonna stay out before, during and after the stadium complex got built. In a city that isn’t getting better, it’s getting to be Baltimore West.
It doesn’t matter which site the A’s settled on. They spent 100M failing to get Howard Terminal locked down. Look how fast and easy things are working in Nevada, even if they have to pay more than initially expected. THAT is why they are leaving California. They were gonna spend billions to be locked tight to Oakland and California’s govt long term and they realized that was a bad plan even if the E Bay is a large market.
As a team I have always thought they deserve to see what their methods produce when they spend some money and don’t play in a toilet bowl. Sure, their owners are pricks who threw a decades long tantrum and suppressed payroll trying to get a new stadium. Owners are pricks. They own businesses and want to make money. This is a fact. a fact that cities have to work with if they want sports teams. Oakland seemed to treat the A’s more like the A’s should be desperate to stay there and get bled…. and they weren’t. The actual site didn’t change any of that, the A’s met a girl who was actually nice to them and that was the end of that.
I fear the next stadium deal with the Angels (if it ever happens) will face the same long line of bullshit. With the exact same political-financial-socilal activists-environmental activists-NIMBY-Other? nightmare you detailed. It will be impeded at every turn and likey won’t happen…if it ever does, it will be the 2030’s before we see it happen, if we’re lucky. Probably not counting the 5 years to complete….trAdition Angels. trAdition California.
There’s a good chance the Angels move in the next decade or so I’d imagine. People seem to think it’s awesome to make things as difficult as possible for the rich assholes who own the stuff we like…. trouble is they own the stuff we like, and they can rent a lot of moving trucks. Teams are adjusting. They aren’t looking to build 50,000 seat stadiums anymore. Being the #2 team in a huge market isn’t that hard to match financially with the interwebs, etc. and cable revenue tanking.
There seemed to be a lot of Schadenfreude around the collapse of Arte’s land deal with Anaheim but to me it looked like the odds of the Angels staying there post Big A just got really thin.
But hey. Fk Arte right? Go go San Antonio Angels!
Completely agree with this take. The city council of Anaheim LOVES to drive all out all the business that brings them revenue. Its completely asinine. They have been feuding with Disney over their hotel expansion plans for years now.
I don’t like Arte either, but shutting down an ‘LA Live’ sized real estate development project just to spite one guy makes no sense. The city council is full of smooth brains.
As I ponder today’s starting lineup, I am going to throw in another blockbuster of scenario for explosion of angry responses. Not knowing whether Arte has any business connection with Mexico or firm relationship with wealthy Mexican families, but what if Arte with MLB approval sell Angels to move the team to a city in Mexico.
MLB in bed with the Drug Cartels of Mexico………………….go ahead, I’m listening…like the Doyers aren’t already. 😀
Yu Darvish would tend to agree with you; he hated pitching in Mexico City giving up 3 home runs in thin air stadium.
Yeah, the Angels will need to build on the existing site or it will be another CA bureaucratic storm that leaves the team in limbo for a decade and makes moving look a lot more attractive.
I have a sneaky feeling Arte changed his mind about selling the team because he feels there’s a deal to be made on the lot. I hope I’m right.
I think you’re right too… but I also think that many politicians will be skittish about looking soft on a deal with him and will thus give him the “We don’t want to look like we want this, we could just build a parking structure, some “cheap” apartments and a community art center dedicated to gay dolphins there and we’d be happy. Or the Angels can maybe stay.” City of Oakland treatment.
We all know Arte. That’s not gonna go well, and he’s not gonna let that drag on for thirty years either.
If he does he’ll be 107.
Arte.
Buzzie Bavasi’s failure to extend Nolan Ryan’s contract.
Doug Decinces swinging at the first pitch.
Failed to commit to Steven Strausburg.
The bottom line is that the neither the city of Oakland or Alameda County have the money to help keep the A’s here, the County is still paying off the bonds for the improvements (I use that term lightly) made to the stadium when Big Al conned them into moving back here after moving to L.A..
All three new stadiums that have been built here and the bay area have used little to no public money. If the A’s really want to stay in town they can if the owner is willing to pony up, look Las Vegas is putting up less money to move the A’s there, then the city of Oakland has been considering paying.
I want the A’s to stay here since it is my only chance to see the Angels play on a regular basis, but if I lived in Oakland I sure as hell would not want my tax money to go to help Mr. Fischer build his new stadium, he has done nothing to help improve the team or the fan experience, except to pocket any money has as received from the league. Oakland has too many other problems where that money can be better spent.
To make it extremely oversimple, if Oakland had no money, which they don’t, they could have been proactive as a municipality. Got no money? OK. Give the A’s a chunk of land for free and get out of their way as much as possible, have them pay to build a stadium, and let them keep as much money as you can from that new stadium once it’s built.
Oakland has no money to spend. Totally get that. But Oakland wanted the A’s to fund a bunch of stuff Oakland wants. On top of that Oakland was gonna throw up a bunch of stink constantly about EVERY detail of this thing.
I know it’s WAY more complex than this, but if Oakland had just said “Hey, take that port terminal we are letting sit vacant and build a stadium there. You will probably need to spend 1.2 billion on it. You can earn that back over the first ten years.” the A’s would probably not be moving.
That was basically the proposal a few years ago. The A’s offered to pay off the stadium bonds, saving the City about $100 million and give them some cash. In exchange the City would deed the lot to the A’s who would build a new stadium on their dime and develop the area, creating year round property and sales tax revenue along with some needed homes and office and retail space.
A very fair deal all around IMO. Yes the A’s would’ve gotten the lot under value, but they’d have added long term value and created a lot of jobs; first in construction and then in commerce.
I’m willing to bet that piece of land looks the same in 10 years as it does the day the A’s leave.
They will store electric cars there as they wait for distribution and declare it is saving the planet. Between that and the .25 we will be paying per grocery bag at that point the world will be pretty much fixed.
Well, store electric cars and drug zombies. World saved.
The city, and the optics that the politicians were trying to create is what screwed up the deal. Now they will have an empty ballpark that is outdated AND the Howard Terminal project will disappear into another 2 decades of blight and homelessness.
Oakland’s position seemed to be to try to look like they didn’t want the A’s, but would let the A’s stay if the A’s made it worth their while, but then get super pissed off and rally around “local roots” and hum Wade In The Water together as soon as the A’s said no thanks.
It’ll work too. Oakland’s city govt is for the people. You can tell by the way Oakland has become a great place to live since the 90s. Do their people realize how much a city gov has to SUCK to manage NOT to prosper at least a little with the tech boom all around it and Berkley right there?
Being totally clueless to politics of Oakland and Northern California in general,
how did San Francisco Giants managed to build what is now Oracle Park despite San Francisco being model Democrats city? Do you think Oakland being so close to San Francisco also contributed to this debacle?
SF in general has way more money. Giants got cheap land and then built the stadium but the business environment in SF means they could make back money invested fairly fast. The city of SF didn’t give them a big pile of money.
I looked up and discovered the stadium was built with no public fund. But, City of San Francisco provided three benefits: 1) $10M in tax abatement, 2) $80M for upgrades to the local infrastructure (including a connection to the Muni Metro) and 3) the 12.5 acre land for which Giants are paying $1.2M annually. There has to be some baseball people in SF government.
A big tangle that SF didn’t have that current California stadium deals now face is that sports owners and the city both want to make “A Village” out of the whole thing to maximize revenue. Stores, houses, parks…. and all the virtue choking that comes with it.
In SF (and Vegas) the teams are getting by with just building a stadium on 1/3 the acreage needed to create “a development”.
Needless to say, it makes sense that Arte and City of Anaheim are facing controversy, to put it mildly, in terms of rebuilding the stadium and the area that surrounds it. (A light bulb just lit in my head.)
Just a cheap price on the land and some tax breaks for when the stadium was finished, otherwise no taxpayer money was spent. I believe the Giants have paid off the debt on the stadium if I remember correctly. They are sitting pretty cost wise, own the stadium, except for the shanks, redsux, cubs and dodgers there should be no team that can outspend the Giants.
SF is hurting the office space vacancy in SF is really high I think I have heard 60% vacant, some buildings have no tenants and they are trying to figure out what to do with the real estate, either convert it to housing or knock down the building and build space for smaller shops.
I lived in Sacramento at the time. There was a big push by SF’s leaders to get a marquee development on those 12 acres. So they made a sweetheart deal on the land in exchange for the Giants building the ballpark on their own dime.
Very much what Oakland could have done with the A’s.
People forget, when that deal was made that was a crap part of the city. That deal got done when I lived in Oakland and we were kind of surprised the team was cool with moving from Candlestick (a crap spot) to another crap spot.
Yep. I was spending most of my weekends in SF at the time and there was genuine, accurate concern that area was quickly turning into blight.
There was also a lot of concern the Giants were going to move to San Jose.
Between those two concerns, a deal was struck.
The only proposal that was viable was the first one: the A’s pay off the City’s stadium debt, build a new stadium on their own dime, and develop the surrounding area with housing, retail, offices, and parks.
The City got so caught up in infighting and virtue signaling that it never went anywhere.
Once the City screwed that up, I knew it was a matter of time.
Now the City will continue to pay for stadium bonds for the Raiders and upkeep in the Warriors old place while not having enough money to function in other areas. Meanwhile that area will remain undeveloped for decades.
Injured and now ice cold, Marsh is reverting to the mean—
“Brandon Marsh is starting in center field Wednesday after missing two games with shoulder inflammation. He’s batting eighth against the Diamondbacks. Marsh has cooled off considerably of late; he’s hitting just .133/.316/.156 during May.”
Phillies fans must be out of their mind when they saw how O’Hoppe performed before the injury and now Moniak having amazing last few weeks. I really liked Marsh but hated many strike outs he had after a hot start last year.
At least they had Thor, right? No?
I think Phillis front office people were envious of Syndergaard’s beautiful long blond hair; I see he is no longer in Philadelphia. I bet Thor wants to come back to Anaheim.
There has been a lot of mention of Trout’s home run number 361 last night tying DiMaggio’s career HR total, but not a single whiff of his home run last night putting Trout just one home run behind Reggie Jackson for fourth place on the AL West’s All-Time Home Run Leaderboard. Grrr!
Additionally:
Trout is now two home runs away from tying McGwire for the number three spot!
He is just eleven home runs away from tying Juan Gonzalez as the player with the second most home runs in AL West history!
And finally, Michael Nelson Trout is just 56 home runs away from tying Ken Griffey, Jr. as the player with the most home runs ever hit in the AL West!
I have wondered what pitch Griffin Canning throws with this grip. I’ve never seen this grip before. I was guessing it was his way of throwing a change-up, but I found an article from The Atlantic that says it is a “spike curveball.” The article says you can throw it harder than a traditional curve, it has more vertical break and more spin.
I would have guessed change-up….
Cool photo.
See where the seems are? The two “loose” fingers let the pitch fall out of the hand and the two fingers tight on the seem create spin, but less spin, from the wrist action when he lets it go. So it is a “change up” curve ball because he can throw it as “hard” as his fastball but it will dive a lot and be off speed.
See where his glove is? That’s because a hitter will know what’s coming if he sees that pinky sticking up and has time to react. I actually tried to learn this pitch 1000 years ago, it is better for guys who don’t have huge hands, but if you don’t throw it right it becomes a batting practice fastball. I had to learn a sweepy knuckle curve instead.
https://twitter.com/JeffFletcherOCR/status/1661186935983943681?s=20
So what is up with the chopping thing? I have wondered that myself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJWJE0x7T4Q
Conspiracy theorist in me has me suspect that the Angels bullpen catcher actually came up with the celebration, not necessarily from Shohei’s homer. It is just that when you intimate Shohei has something to do with anything Angels do, it will generate more attention, ala click bait, and eventually financial gain for Angels/Bally’s Sports West. It is like that Kabuto thing. It was totally Ippei’s idea, and I don’t think it was Shohei at all, but you now see it was Shohei’s.
I would not be surprised if Bally’s Sports West announces that Erica Weston’s wardrobes and accessories are all designed by Shohei in their desperate efforts to make more money. 😆
ERICA: A fashion line by Shohei’s mom.
This seems like a no brainer. I don’t feel like production value has changed at all, and I think I even prefer seeing the guys down on the field during pre-game. What a weird thing to spend extra money on if you didn’t have to.
Cheap ass Arte and his bankrupt Balls
Bally’s has nothing to do with Arte though, right? I’m assuming this was sarcasm.
I can still hate Arte for it right?
Request approved. Enjoy.
Well technically, I think Arte still owns 30% of BSW ( and Im not certain how that relationship would be affected by a Chapter 11 proceeding) but I thought that Chasm of Sar was wide and Deep enough.
I can’t find anything online about him having any ownership stake in BSW, but that doesn’t mean its not true.
Just wait until Arte starts strapping Go Pro cameras to dogs to further lower production costs.
I would pay to see that!
The A’s should have “possum cams”. See the game, see the inner workings of a crumbling sports complex, see baby possums. Baby possums are friggin adorable.
This YouTube Channel would make bank.
The Foundation Building Materials’ keystone of the game for the Angels tonight is “Flower Duet” by Leo Delibes.
This is the most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard. And it perfectly pairs with the mood in AngelLand with the Halos’ beautiful defense, pitching, and timely hitting lately that has propelled the club to two series victories over teams that look just as good as the Angels have been so far this season, meaning that perhaps the Angels have shifted into a higher gear and are in the process of elevating themselves from a mediocre team into a good team.
Oh that the dream these two songbirds weave would never end.
https://youtu.be/C1ZL5AxmK_A
Beautiful voice! If you do not mind, I am going to recycle the phrase, April showers bring May flowers. It dawned on me that April showers signified tears of many Angels fans shed last month. I am glad that at least my tear contained smelly but organic fertilizer.
Dead may flowers also make good fertilizer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avrv8t_nEI0
Crooked Vultures make fine pets.
Another good thing about the new pace of play rules is that in years prior, I would have to go to bed and miss the last two or three innings of west coast Angel games, but now I can finish watching almost all west coast Angel games before bed time.
Amazing that MLB actually got something right. Really like the pace of play rules.
Except the Ghost Runner.
Cannot stand the ghost runner but the union was for it and the majority of interviewees in a east coast biased network article about the rules like it.
If I can have things the way they are now, ghost runner included, as apposed to the way they were I am in. Compromise is the spice of strife.
I like the new pace and it may have helped retain new baseball fans who were generated after March’s exciting WBC tournament. But, I also heard that there are at least 3 MLB pitchers who went on IL because of emergence of anxiety disorder associated with the new rule. I don’t know how much of tweaking MLB can institute to avoid additional casualties, but MLB will continue to monitor and fine tune in my opinion.
It is also interesting how different teams attempt to exploit this pitch clock rule. From Willson Contreras keeping one foot outside of the batter’s box to interfere with pitcher’s commencement of wind up motion to Shohei asking questions to plate umpire in regard to what constitutes start of motion when he was given violation for “quick pitching”. I noted that umpires are generally tolerant when there is some problem with Pitch Com device. So, I predict increased incidents where pitchers use fake malfunction of their device when they need to take a breather. Watch Asstros and Red Sux for this maneuver in near future.
Nice.
I love being home between 9 and 10 when I go to a midweek game. I have about a 20 minute drive once I leave the ballpark.
I just read that 4 of 5 Milwaukee’s starting pitchers are on IL and signed Julio Teheran for immediate help. Perhaps this 6 man rotation at least for the first half of the season is actually working out to minimize stress and thereby avoiding long term injury for our rotation of Ohtani/Sandoval/Detmers/Barria/Canning/Anderson.
After Angels winning 2023 World Series crown, we might point out the 6 man rotation as one of the contributing factors for the accomplishment and other MLB teams would consider altering construction of their pitching rotation. Yes, emotion of grandeur lingers this morning from last night’s victory against Red Sux. Or is it just delusional hyperbole?
Doc Cerrano: My diagnosis is DHS (Delusional Hyperbole Syndrome) with a Recency Bias accelerant.
Where do I send a check to? Do you take Yen?
I see the benefit of staying with the six-man rotation, but I also see a benefit in going with a five-man and putting Anderson in Barria’s abandoned longman role so that he can let it fly and find his good stuff.
Once he does, a return to a six-man rotation would be fine. Gotta keep this injury-prone team healthy.
I remember Shohei was OK with the idea of shortening the rotation to 5 man last year because he wanted to qualify for end of season consideration of pitchers awards (I think it is 162 innings). So there is a general idea for Angels to go with the current format and down size to 5 man sometime in the second half. And either Anderson or Barria will go to bullpen in my estimation.
…..of course after Roger Lodge, in pre-game, keep repeating that Trout was batting .1XX with runners in scoring position I guess Mike decided to make sure he got a hit AND drove the runner in.
He broke the code. Never cite stats on the pre-game unless they are pro team and meaningless.
Keeeeeeeeep rollin’ Angels!
Go Halos!!
Seeing the Red Sux would be awesome!!
ummmmm….
I forgot to mention, before the series started I realized that the only way for the Angels to finish the series with a better record than the Red Sox is to sweep them.
Time to get out the broom!