What a difference a week makes. Last Weekend Links the team looked cooked and I focused on the minor leagues so you guys and gals wouldn’t be even more depressed. This week, nothing but roses.
The team started winning last Friday and hasn’t stopped for a week straight. The offense is simply killing it right now.
I wasn’t a math major in college, but 54 runs over 7 games is an average of a lot per game. And, yes, they hung on for that 7th win.
Even Sam Blum is in a good mood.
Not only can the Angels get back to .500 tonight, they should/could end the weekend at .500 if they take 2 out of 3 from the struggling Miami Marlins. Oddly enough, the Angels have a notable advantage in the starting pitchers both tonight and tomorrow. If feel like Sandy Alcantara is too bad to have an ERA that starts with a 7 but he does so let’s hope we can keep it that way.
But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Let’s enjoy the week that was.
How about a sweep of the vaunted LA Deferrals in Chavez Ravine? Yeah, that happened. And I loved it. While there were a ton of highlights to link from that series the sweep decider was a home run by Travis d’Arnaud that simply kicked the Dodgers squarely in the nads. They had just tied the game and felt like momentum was on their side, then Travis went yard and sealed the sweep.
Fresh off vanquishing the defending world champs, the team headed to my old stomping grounds in Sacramento. I spent many an evening at this ballpark and wish I could’ve joined my best friend and his dad at the game on Tuesday night. Time at the ballpark with loved ones is priceless. Alas, they sat up close and saw Yoan Moncada absolutely kill a ball.
What really stands out to me is how quickly Moncada can rotate his shoulders. If he was a fighter, that rotation would create tremendous power. Obviously the same holds for baseball.
I could probably post about a dozen highlights of the week this week. I think the best individual play was Logan O’Hoppe’s absolute moonshot on Wednesday night. Having been to this ballpark several times, I can honestly say I’ve never seen a ball hit anywhere near where this one went.
Not to diminish that bomb, but I think the Highlight of the Week has to go to Taylor Ward’s go ahead grand slam yesterday. Pulling the team from a 3 run deficit to a 1 run lead was crucial in winning the game and keeping the streak going.
You want to talk about a guy who is playing lights out, that is Taylor Ward. He’s a streaky hitter and he’s on one heck of a hot streak.
Really, this column could go on for ages about how much fun the last week has been. But, let’s move on a bit.
When will Mike Trout join the fun? He spoke to reporters on Tuesday and said he’s feeling good. Hopefully this time that is the case.
I’m going to disagree with the main site here. It lists George Klassen as the team’s most pleasant prospect surprise. I think we all expected Klassen to be legit. Walbert Urena’s last few weeks, however, have been far better than expected.
From around baseball:
Boston fans continue to prove they are the biggest assholes on the planet.
Wrigley Field is awesome and looks to be getting the 2027 MLB All Star Game.
LA Olympic heads are optimistic MLB players will be allowed to suit up for the 2028 Games.
Dodger Stadium will be the host for baseball games in the LA Games. No better way to introduce foreigners to the real Los Angeles than a Dodger Dog and insane traffic getting back to the hotel. But, yeah, I’m definitely going to catch some Olympic baseball…and boxing…and hopefully some track and field.
Enjoy your weekend and link what I missed. This Monday we honor the men and women who paid the ultimate price so we can sit in safety and freedom and chat about a meaningless child’s game played by grown men. I wish we’d honor them more often by focusing on our commonalities rather than our differences and pushing the extreme voices that currently get all the air time back to the fringes where they belong. And I’ll get off my soapbox now.
