Last Friday the Angels played their first home game of the year. In addition to the always great pomp and circumstance of Opening Day, this was the first collective meeting of Angels fans since Ohtani departed for bluer pastures.
There were a notable amount of boos when Ohtani was featured in the pregame video montage. And I saw a few modified Ohtani jerseys but none topped the one in the picture above. Hats off to @SimonelliStiches for creating it.
Anthony Rendon also received a very mixed reaction. It was hard to tell if it was more cheering or boos. As he’s played hard while on the field, I won’t boo him. Coincidence or not, that reception was followed by a great series.
The loudest boos rained down upon Arte Moreno. Arte and wife Carol appeared in the montage for a handful of seconds but elicited long and passionate boos. And the Man in the High Castle was actually there to hear it.
Thin skinned Arte who has long been shielded from the real feelings of fans is no longer in the video montage. I wonder if this booing was a surprise or not. After all, despite multiple polls that show he’s despised and the overwhelming emoji reaction to news it wasn’t selling, his cronies described the fans who want Arte to sell as a “vocal minority.”
He’s been insulated for so long I wonder if he can even identify reality at this point. But if it is possible, I hope my boo added to those of 40,000 of my fellow ticket holders, brings him closer to it.
Speaking of Ohtani, his gambling scandal gets worse but might soon get better. Now the Department of Justice is saying interpreter Ippei stole $16 million from the superstar. That number was astonishing until more details came out.
https://twitter.com/laura_nelson/status/1778483095626227718
There’s always been one thing sticking in my mind: where were the accountants? This kind of answers it.
That still doesn’t explain how the millions made its way to the account.
One line from the complaint stands really stands out. “Technically I did steal from him.” Hmmm. That’s a great piece from SI.
Ippei is working out a plea deal with the Feds and will be going on a long vacation.
Our highlight of the week? Reid Detmers absolutely dealing against Boston.
Up next, another weekend series against Boston. Detmers takes the mound tonight and hopefully continues his great start.
The crew at CtPG is finally doing a meetup! Join us on Saturday the 27th for baseball and fun.
The Angels don’t have a ton of notable prospects, but which minor league affiliate is the most stacked?
Unbelievably this week marked 15 years since the death of Nick Adenhart, Courtney Stewart, and Henry Pearson. I think we’ll all remember where we were when we got that horrible news. Reading about Nick’s parents following the tragedy still hits home.
I’ll also never forget being in the ballpark for the first game back; a Friday against Boston. Here’s news coverage from that game.
15 years. It goes quickly. Be thankful for every moment of joy we’ve had over those 15 years because they didn’t get them.
Of course my greatest joy is my family and little dude hits the field tomorrow after a thrilling 12-12 tie against the Angels on Wednesday. Most of the Angels are kids I helped coach last Fall and the feeling of community around youth baseball is awesome. Parents rooting for kids on the other team is sports at its best. Have fun, get dirty, and remember it is just a game.
Link what I missed and enjoy your weekend.
Today’s Lineups
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/angels-vs-red-sox/2024/04/14/746975/preview
Good to see Rengifo back in the lineup. Not playing him when he’s your 4th best hitter and hitting better than those behind him by a large amount borders on insanity for me. And it is apparent that Hicks was told by Washington that he was going to play every day which is why he signed with us. Moniak and Adell are only going to see limited playing time assuming everyone is healthy.
Why in the world would he make that promise. Blocking our young OFs should not be a goal during a season where we’re not trying to win.
I agree, but I believe that is what happened.
One of the frustrating things about this organization is that they appear to have no plan. Most of the posters on this site, including me, agree with your statement. I’m not sure that Perry and Washington are committed to it though in the same way. It seems pretty clear they are not committed to playing Moniak and Adell as much as they can, and Wash is definitely playing to win from his perspective.
I thought yesterday was the best game the team has played so far. They were playing against a good team and facing a good starting pitcher. The hitters did a great job of putting the ball in play instead of trying to hit HRs. And you’ll notice they only struck out 6 times. Detmers “pitched” a great game actually thinking about what he was doing. The defense and base running was solid. It was a very strong team effort. No single hitter stood out. Everyone contributed. Those are the kinds of games we did not win in the past.
Today’s Lineup
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/angels-vs-red-sox/2024/04/13/746979/preview
We should at least know something about Criswell’s tendencies?
Its DEFINITELY time for Arte to go
https://www.latimes.com/sports/angels/story/2024-04-10/rod-carew-angels-arte-moreno
We’re doing pretty good for playing with half a team but I’m not sure it’s sustainable. we have a -3 run differential and two of our starting pitchers are responsible for 5 of the 7 wins. You have Anderson, Fulmer, Estevez, and Moore with 0.00 ERAs, Detmers at 1.05 and Cimber at 1.35. No one else is under 6.00. You have 4 guys essentially hitting .300, Adell at .267, and everyone else at approximately .200 or below. There is a very large disparity currently between the haves and have nots.
It is early? At this stage, a bad outing or two explodes the ERA. Others (like Rendon, if one can believe it) has hit much better lately (0 for 24 to start the seaston, but now a total of 11 for 49 – which isn’t great but a big improvement).
Agreed, it’s just that there is not really a spectrum, it’s all or nothing right now and obviously what the good performers are doing is likely not sustainable so we’ll need the other guys to pick it up. And it seems, at least so far, that the other 3 starting pitchers have not had even one good start out of 8. There is certainly plenty to be hopeful about right now though.
I know it’s early. But all this talk about Wash changing the culture, really appears to have some truth. Team does look different for whatever reasons. Still might only win 70’ish games, but it might be on a different course to get there, something to build on going forward. Pitching philosophy looks noticeably different, but that’s not going to change the fact we need (more/better) arms. Looks like Enright has the Right stuff.
Also thinking that PTP’s pitching philosophy (whatever that is/was) is changing. Which is good, but I also think Wise was forcing the old ways onto them that was set by PTP……for many years, with little success. So the blame is on PTP more than Wise. Not including the fact that Wise should have been replaced several years ago…again, blame Perry.
Free Barry E!
My theory on Adell is that Perry is actively trying to trade him and thinks, if Jo plays, his numbers will get worse as will his trade value.
Just don’t let the facts (how well he is playing when in there) affect your narrative.
I wouldn’t mind seeing him play even for a week straight just to see. Especially with how poorly many others are performing right now.
Angels are favorites by a run and a half tonight. Really? I didn’t think that was possible over almost anyone except the Marlins and As.
Maybe Reid’s getting some respect now. It sure as hell can’t be because of Hicks.
Well, at least we can get back to talking about guys on our team.
Big stage for Reid. Friday night at Fenway.
Who are or who were. 😂
How about guys who are and guys we wish weren’t.
Guys on team
There’s Mike.
and then there’s ……. how long do we have?
we have some kids…..
geez, it’s Friday afternoon and no one told me there’d be a quiz 🤔
There’s the guy that doesn’t care, the kids that got called up to fast, the pitchers forced to start because Arte didn’t add depth.
But hey! Taylor Ward and that O’Hoppe fellow!
I don’t think there’s an accountant in the world…a real accountant…who would take the word of an interpreter that there are “no tax issues”. So, no, it doesn’t answer where the accountants were.
Hicks starting over Moniak and Adell once again.
Make it stop. Enough of this guy lol
Adell is hitting more than 100 point higher than 4 players in todays line up, and 62 points higher than another. What do you have to lose?
The dude had two hits last game, he should be playing. Geez.
https://youtu.be/U11bGxlmnVk?si=FQ_K9HmQx3Th1Klr
This click bait might have something to do with it.
https://www.si.com/mlb/angels/news/ron-washington-unhappy-with-jo-adell-for-embarrassing-base-running-blunder-that-cost-angels
But the fact that he had a HR and another hit with a stolen base is irrelevant so we march out our .160 and below guys. Sorry, doesn’t wash Wash.
That’s gonna lower his WAR a bit
If Wash is already unhappy, it’s going to be a long year for him (Wash).
Wash & Sosh are apparently cut from the same old school cloth.
And that’s a good thing!!
Converting ohtani jerseys to trout is just about the dumbest / cringiest thing a fan can do.
I never bought an Ohtani jersey for myself. Bought my son a couple knowing he’d outgrow them.
Just didn’t think Ohtani would be here all that long.
At a certain point, grown a$$ men shouldn’t wear jerseys with other men’s names on their back anyway. Call me strange.
I just roll with a team tee shirt or whatever.
why?
yeah every one knows the best conversion is to keep the O in front and go with O’Hoppe. It’s easier to convert the 7 to a 4 also.
Today’s Lineups
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/angels-vs-red-sox/2024/04/12/746978/preview
I started to say we’re either slow leaners or we don’t care when I saw the line up because it has 5 guys in it hitting .205 or lower, but then I looked and realized that other than Jo Adell (who really should be playing) there isn’t anyone else to play who’s any better. You can live with a couple of guys like that for a while but not 5. It’s only been a dozen games but it’s brutal. 4 of them are .160 or under.
Ippei. Ohtani. Conspiracy. Dumb ass bookie. Dodgers. Arte. Angels. FBI. MLB. AI.
I’m all out of fucks to give.
Unfortunately it’s not a joke. But it is. 😀😀
I’m sorry, I gave at the office.
It’s a very complicated case. A lot of ins, a lot of outs. a lot of what have you’s.
The silver lining of Ohtani jumping to the Doyers… This is no longer our s**tshow.
Not our monkeys, not our circus.
Unfortunately the Circus was in Anaheim when the monkeys broke out of their cages so eventually the Evilness of Angels baseball will be blamed for the whole f’n thing
“Yes, but that’s all bulls—,” the bookmaker replied. “Obviously you didn’t steal from him. I understand it’s a cover job I totally get it.”
This is the line that stands out to me – particularly when thinking back on Ohtani’s original statements on the matter and the amount in question.
Also – in other texts the bookmaker implied familiarity with Ohtani stating he would just go up to him while Ohtani was walking his dog and find out where Ippei is.
I’m not saying or implying anything other than there is more to this story than Ippei simply stealing that much cash and betting nearly $200 million.
As many have pointed out, banks just don’t do this. Taking out $5,000 in cash requires IDs and reporting. Something just isn’t lining up.
Here’s the new conundrum nobody can answer:
Ippei lost $40 million
Ippei stole $16 million
Where did the other $24 million come from?
Probably still owed to the bookie.
Which is probably why the shit started hitting the fan for Ippei. He was getting major heat from bookie guy and started massively ramping up his theft to cover the losses for which he was only able to get to $16M.
TMZ said his plan for the $24M was to sell pencils and apples on the corner of Katella and Harbor. Ippei planned to also offload furniture, kitchenware and clothing from Ohtani’s apartment during the holidays.
He also started a dog walking business in his spare time.
The size the numbers are so enormous. It just leaves me scratching my head, and then I added the original versions that were made public. It just leaves me feeling that there is a lot more to the story that we don’t know.
Another conundrum nobody can answer: The F’ing trail of paper, texts, emails, phone calls, Bank statements, Bank data on all of the transfers, etc…it’s an enormous amount of activity to settle those numbers.
FOR THE OVER $$200 MILLION IN BETS!!???
I saw $50,000 here, $100,000 there, then $500,000, some $1,000.000 over months and months.……that is a long way from the $200+ million wagered, in a very F’ing short amount of time.
Text from book 1:
Hey, Eppei, you are betting a lot. Let’s just settle at every $50,000,000,
up or down. Sound good? Have a nice weekend😀
Going out on a limb, at no point in the history of this planet, has this arrangement ever taken place, anywhere…..it’s so ridiculous. I’m waiting to hear it’s a typo with the amounts bet.
Your point is exactly right. It just doesn’t happen like this. The numbers are so huge. We definitely do not have all the information. I’m willing to accept that Ohtani was not. What stretches? My imagination is that he was unaware that his money was being used for bedding, and for paying the bookie.
I think the paper trail is mostly texts between bookie guy and Ippei. There would only be bank transfers to the extent Ippei went over his “credit limit” with bookie guy, who thought Ohtani was his client because Ippei was probably saying he’s putting down bets on Ohtani’s behalf (who speaks no English). There’s no other explanation for the massive credit limit otherwise. Bookie guy would have no clue whether Ippei was feeding him BS. It’s an illegal operation so it’s not like bookie can “vet” the situation/arrangement with other people. I have a suspicion Ohtani may have even met the guy because of Ippei, with both sides not knowing wtf was really going on since they can’t communicate.
Your point is a flyover observation.
I’m questioning the amount of activity it takes to settle the almost $300 million in bets (per the Doc) in only a few years.
It’s would take 10‘s of thousands of transactions and communications to facilitate this amount of money. Unless, maybe Crypto currency was involved, and maybe that’s the missing part of this.
It’s a math equation, only so much time in a day to do all this.
the only thing we can be certain of, in 20 years ohtani and ippei will be photographed on a super yacht together, laughing while holding champaign.
That is so great and probably true.
Lol secret lovers hence Ippei willing to take the fall and spend a decade in fed prison where he can be someone else’s lover for a while.
Sounds like an Ippei-spiracy. A CON-spiracy
Have you considered that just maybe the scam artist was scamming both sides? You’d be surprised what one can accomplish when ALL communications filter through them.
I understand that and I think it’s a solid point. All I’m saying is that I don’t think we know the whole story. Banks just don’t act like this. There are so many federal regulations that apply. There are many many layers to the story. The version that is being put forward now is too simplistic in my estimation given the quantity of money involved.
If I may speak for you ‘71..
It’s fucking Bullshit. There is something else going on. And I openly admit I’m way too stupid to know what that is.
Do you, believe in the Due….theory.
Red Sux’s were swept at home by the O’s this week. No chance they’ll be a little pissed and take it out on us.😀😀
I 100% believe in due theory, especially in baseball. For a few days the ball lands just foul, for a few days it lands just fair. A guy just misses a pitch for a foul vs. a guy punches it into right for a hit.
Lots of luck and bounces in baseball.
The Angels had so much bad luck while Ohtani was here, they should be due for a season with good luck.
And apparently the Red Sox were due to forget how to field. Maybe we are due. Maybe it is our year. Just maybe.
Happy Detmers Day to all that celebrate !!!
Aces stop losing streaks, so I fully expect a W today.
Well, Tanner Houck is pitching like the Ace of the Red Sox ; he has two starts, is 2-0, with 12 scoreless innings… Looks like he’ll be breaking the Boston losing streak then.
If 2 starts makes an Ace, then ours is Tyler Anderson?
Was it already linked recently that Trout is expecting kid #2? Congrats to Mike, Jess & Beckham.
Lana did a few months back. Apparently boy #2, due in the summer, name possibility Hunter Ian Trout to go along with Beckham Aaron Trout.
Maybe Harold Robert Trout…HR Trout.
As long as it isn’t Oliver Ulysses Trout!
Wait a second …………
Ya, I know…silly huh.
Frederick Alvin Trout
PHillip Adolphus Trout
Sadly, the Doyers are reporting they signed both of the little fellas to a deferred (till 2084) lifetime $999 million contracts. Doyer steal from us again.
Francis Albert Trout
*homage to NJ’s famous singer
or he could honor another ex-teammate
Brian Eldrick Trout
I’m not sure I get this one. Can somebody translate?
Yes, I proposed that name. In addition to going along with BAT, it is also a nod to Mike’s good friend Torii Hunter.
Our future center and left fielders.
“It’s just a game.”
https://youtu.be/1xWTNiznnrc?t=119
Confession: I’ve never watched this movie.
You should…it’s great!!
Ooops, sorry to step on your comment. Haha
It’s OK. An airplane movie at best. I’d rather rewatch Moneyball for the 4th or 5th time than ‘Curve’ for a 2nd time.
Lucky you, don’t waste your time if you are looking for a baseball movie.
Watched the Phenom with Paul Giamatti and Ethan Hawke before the season. Loosely based on Rick Ankiel. Thought it was great.
Never saw that movie….going to find it. Looks good.