Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in angelsvenue's LiveJournal:

Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
5:35 pm	Tribe's master plan strikes again Here's every mo... Tribe's master plan strikes again Here's every morning in the Dolan households: Wake up. Grab newspaper. Open sports section. Gasp. Pull covers back over head. Curl up in fetus position. Rinse. Repeat. The contracts look like Mega Millions jackpots. And owners are handing them out like candy from a parade float. The Cubs alone have committed almost as much money in salaries over the next eight years as Larry Dolan did in buying the Indians six years ago: * $136 million for 8 years for OF Alfonso Soriano after his career year* $75 million for 5 years for 3B Aramis Ramirez* $13 million for 3 years for 31-year-old 2B Mark DeRosa and his .273 career batting average* $5.25 million for 2 years of C Henry Blanco and his career sub-.300 OBP Then there's the $31 million the Baltimore Orioles will be paying out over the next three years to former Tribe closer Danys Baez and lefty specialist Jamie Walker; the $100 million over the next six years OF Carlos Lee will receive from the Houston Astros; the $50 million over the next 5 years that the Los Angeles Angels will give Gary Matthews after his one good year; the $14 million over the next 3 years that SS Alex Gonzalez and his .255 career batting average will receive from the Reds; and the $18 million over the next four years that former Tribe mopup man Justin Speier will be spending thanks to the Angels. The Indians said they'd have more money to spend on payroll this offseason. But what they didn't say was that everybody else would have a LOT more money to spend on payroll this offseason. Labor peace in the sport has prompted teams to spend like it's Black Friday at Wal-Mart, just without the deals. Ironically, Larry Dolan received praise for helping hammer out that new contract, which put baseball's 32 teams a collective $500 million in the black. It started a couple weeks ago at the general managers' meetings when the Boston Red Sox paid $51.1 million for the rights simply to negotiate with Japanese pitching sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka and his agent Scott Boras -- kinda like paying tribute to a mob boss before actually sitting down with him. Indians president Paul Dolan said: "I guess I'm shocked by it. I'm not sure I understand the economics of such a deal. It demonstrates that we have more work to do on the economic disparity within the game." Hey, a Dolan complaining about baseball finances! On the scale of baseball shockers, that's up there with Manny Ramirez misplaying a fly ball, the Kansas City Royals losing 100 games, and the Indians bullpen blowing a save. Vegas won't even post odds on those events. But don't worry, as always the Tribe's master plan is in place. This time it comes in the form of outfielder David Dellucci. That's right, another platoon player! The Indians become Dellucci's sixth team since he entered the majors in 1997. For two of those teams -- the Baltimore Orioles (1997) and New York Yankees (2003) -- he collected less than 60 at-bats. For the others -- the Arizona Diamondbacks (1998-2003), Texas Rangers (2004-2006), Philadelphia Phillies (2006) -- he played almost exclusively against right-handed pitching. From 2002 on, Dellucci has just 165 ABs against left-handed pitching, but 1,475 ABs overall. Nearly 85 percent of the time Dellucci fills a platoon role. And in that 15 percent against lefties? 23 hits! That's a .147 batting average. Given those numbers, if Dellucci actually does become the Indians' everyday left fielder, as his agent says, then Mark Shapiro should stop getting out of bed in the morning, too. As it is, they've got another platoon player for the outfield. Dellucci can split time with Jason Michaels in left, while Shin Soo-Choo takes turns with Casey Blake in right. Or if Casey Blake actually does go play first base -- which would be like putting Ugly Betty in a beauty pageant -- then maybe Dellucci can play some right field as well. Just hopefully not against a lefty. Back to bed now, Larry and Paul. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
1:12 pm	World Series: Cardinals vs. Tigers - Game 5 FOX Broadcasting Team: Play-by-Play: Joe Buck Analysts: Tim McCarver Reporter: Chris Meyers, Ken Rosenthal Singing the national anthem is Bill Ray Cyrus. Lineups Cardinals David Eckstein SS Chris Duncan RF Albert Pujols 1B Jim Edmonds CF Scott Rolen 3B Ronnie Belliard 2B Yadier Molina C So Taguchi LF Jeff Weaver P ------------- Jeff Weaver Tigers Curtis Granderson CF Craig Monroe LF Carlos Guillen SS Magglio Ordonez RF Sean Casey 1B Ivan Rodriguez C Placido Polanco 2 Brandon Inge 3B Justin Verlander P ------------- Justin Verlander I'll update the lineups when I get them. Despite the weather, I expect a game to be played tonight, and I am praying that it is the final game of the 2006 postseason. This postseason, Jeff Weaver is 2-2 with a 2.94 ERA in his four postseason starts so far. Since being acquired from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for Terry Evans on July 5, Weaver went 5-4 with a 5.18 ERA in 15 Cardinal starts. Good news for Cardinal fans, Weaver is due for a win as he picked up a loss in the last game. Rookie pitcher Justin Verlander will take the mound for the Detroit Tigers in Game 5. Verlander went 17-9 with a 3.63 ERA this past season. In the postseason, not so much, going 1-1 with a depressing 7.47 ERA. In an elimination game, Leyland is going with Verlander rather than their ace, Kenny Rogers. Some stats to note, Albert Pujols is 2-12, with a home run. Magglio Ordonez is 2-15, both coming off of Jeff Weaver. I'm feeling confident and optimistic about tonight's game. Let's win one tonight for Jack Buck and Darryl Kile, members of the Cardinal family who passed away in 2002. St. Louis 4, Detroit 2 Winning pitcher - Jeff Weaver (1-1) SV - Adam Wainwright (1) (Comment on this)
Friday, September 29th, 2006
7:43 am	Rafael Soriano Update M's Notebook has this about Soriano (WI '00) with it titled Soriano: "I don't want to be scared": At least Rafael Soriano can joke about the after-effects of a line drive that hit him in the head. The Mariners relief pitcher spoke to the media Wednesday for the first time since being hit Aug. 29 by a drive off the bat of Los Angeles Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero. Upon seeing how many reporters awaited him in the dugout, he quipped to a team official: "Not too much, I've got a headache already." But his ordeal has been no laughing matter for Soriano, who has resumed throwing on flat ground and hopes to play winter ball in his native Dominican Republic. Soriano remembers feeling surprised that his pitch to Guerrero drifted to the outer part of the plate rather than staying inside. He also saw the liner coming his way, but "only at the last second." He talks about wanting to make the starting rotation in 2007. Read it all. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 29th, 2006
6:35 pm	Game 126: Losing Streaks, Like Beer Bottles, Come In Sixes Final Score: Boston Red Sox 5, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim 4 Ok, so this game might have been a little important, by which I mean that half of Red Sox Nation might have been contemplating the virtues of the rope versus the poison bottle while the other half ruminated on the vagaries of the Pats secondary had the end result been anything but a W for Boston. I’m sure I wasn’t the only person counting outs by eighth inning in a manner reminiscent (i.e., accompanied by hyperventilation, heavy sweating and short bursts of prayer) of the counting of the final outs of the 2004 World Series. What started out as a contest heavily favored to Boston in the early runnings had turned to a nail bitter by the end and once again I was very thankful that we had the Papal-Bon to close things out when the going got tough. What is it about our pitching staff that inspires such close contests? I know the Angels have a lineup that’s got some scary points and they do know to score some runs, but after going up 5 – 1 in the second inning thanks to jacks by Papi, Pena and an RBI single by Coco, I was hoping for a rally monkey massacre, for heaps of shattered thunder sticks as all two Angels fans who know anything about baseball wept in despair, letting their fellow fans know that our pitching was throwing innings without par. I wanted an easy victory, because it was late, getting later and I hate West Coast field trips. Instead we had tight spots every single inning after Lester exited in the fifth (I’d complain about that, too, except it wasn’t clear yesterday morning if his back would relax enough to let him pitch): Tavarez loaded the bases in the sixth and escaped after giving up a run, making the score 5 – 4. Timlin loaded the bases in the seventh with one out before getting a strikeout and a comebacker to the mound so easily that it looked like he had just woken from a nightmare about pitching terribly against New York, shook himself to clear the cobwebs and then resumed his normal setup mastery. Foulke got two outs in the eighth, but also gave up a single to Chone Figgins, who moved to third by a stolen base and a nicely placed ground ball to first by Macier Izturis. Looking for the strikeout, Tito went to Paps, who faced down the dangerous Orland Cabrera (two doubles, a single, a walk, two runs and an RBI on the day) with heat. Remember how as a member of the Sox Cabrera would really swing through things when he missed a pitch? Turns out he still does that – especially on the strikeout pitch. I’m not going to say we’re out of the woods yet by a long shot, but it was nice to finally get a win again and just as importantly, to see Papelbon dominate batters again. Tonight we do it all over again, with Beckett versus Weaver the Younger, with his 9 and 0 record and 1.95 ERA. Last time these two faced off Beckett didn’t pitch like a retard and the Sox won in extra innings by getting to the Angels bullpen. Let’s see if we can do one better tonight and win in regulation. GO SOX!!! (Comment on this)
Friday, August 18th, 2006
11:39 am	Enemy Intel Report Having briefly been the Wild Card lead in the middle of this past week, the Twins now find themselves 2.5 games out after the White Sox stunned the Tigers by sweeping them. We'll see if the Twins can manage to regain their form this week. Minnesota Twins Off Day (Mon) 3 games vs. Cleveland (Tue-Thu) 3 games vs. Chicago White Sox (Fri-Sun) Detroit Tigers 3 games @ Boston (Mon-Wed) 4 games vs. Texas (Thu-Sun) Chicago White Sox 4 games vs. Kansas City (Mon-Thu) 3 games @ Minnesota (Fri-Sun) New York Yankees 1 game vs. Los Angeles Angels (Mon) 3 games vs. Baltimore (Tue-Thu) 4 games @ Boston (Fri-Sun) Boston Red Sox 3 games vs. Detroit (Mon-Wed) Off Day (Thu) 4 games vs. New York Yankees (Fri-Sun) What a week; pretty much make-it or break-it for the Red Sox, who battle the Tigers and Yankees. The Yankees series will include a 5th game on Monday, but what a brutal stretch for the Sox. This will also be a test for the Tigers, who have lost 5 straight games against the Twins and White Sox. Can they rebound, or will the Red Sox give the White Sox and Twins hope of catching the once-surging Tigers? For the Twins, it's essential to take 2-of-3 from the Indians and White Sox both. Anything less is likely to push them further away from the Wild Card lead. (Comment on this)
Friday, August 11th, 2006
10:58 am	Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim This is a giant batting helmet outside of Angel Stadium in Anaheim. The team changed it's name from Anaheim Angels to Los Angeles Angels and the city of Anaheim has taken the team ownership to court to have the name changed back. The truth is that none of us really care. (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
6:00 pm	Myths and legends - the 2006 AL East race The Boston Red Sox are currently in first place in the American League's Eastern division, with a record of 63-41. They have a 1-game lead over the 61-41 New York Yankees. This one game lead is the source of a couple of attitudes, found mostly, though certainly not exclusively, among Yankee fans. The attitudes are contradictory, almost mutually exclusive, though frequently simultaneously held and expressed. And they're both wrong. 1) Wow! Those plucky underdog Yankees have been decimated by injuries and struggles, and they're only 1 game out! The Yankees have had 2 significant long-term injuries this year. Gary Sheffield and Hidecki Matsui have each missed about 2 1/2 months so far, and they're good hitters. Robinson Cano has missed about 1 month. (Carl Pavano's been out the entire season, but shame on anyone who expected anything from him before the season started.) How have those "plucky, underdog" Yankees survived? Well, they've got former or current All Stars at catcher, SS, 1B, 3B and CF, they've got two in the starting rotation and 1 in the bullpen. Does anyone think that might help? Those "plucky underdog" Yankees, the ones that are so devastated by injury, are still running the highest payroll in baseball out there every night. As the following table shows, the Yankees started the season with a payroll that was $74,000,000 (about 62%!) higher than the 2nd highest payroll in baseball. If you remove from their payroll the salaries of Matsui (~$13M), Sheffield (~$11M), Pavano (~$8M) and Cano (~$400K), they've still got far and away the highest payroll in the game. 2006 Major League Salary by team (top 5) TeamPayroll New York Yankees$194,663,079 Yankees without injured players$165,263,079 Boston Red Sox$120,099,824 Los Angeles Angels$103,472,000 Chicago White Sox$102,750,667 New York Mets$101,084,963 Surely that $165 million payroll that they're playing with - before taking on Abreu's salary - shouldn't leave them as "plucky underdogs!" They've still got 5 players (Johnson, Mussina, Giambi, Rodriguez and Jeter) who are making more money than anyone who's disabled, and three more (Damon, Posada and Rivera) who are making $10M+. No other team in baseball is spending as much on their roster as the Yankees are on those 8 players. Not that money translates directly into wins, but is it really surprising that they're still having a pretty good season? 2) The Red Sox have really blown it, because they haven't taken advantage of the Yankees struggles and injuries! They should be 8-9 games up now! What a missed opportunity! The Yankees, despite their "struggles and injuries," are currently 61-41. That's a .598 winning percentage, which, if maintained for a 162 game season, would result in 97 wins. The Red Sox are currently 63-41, 1 game ahead of New York. In order to be 8 games ahead of New York, they'd need to have a record of 70-34, for a winning percentage of .673, a 109 win pace. There have been 64 teams in baseball history finish with a .673 or better winning percentage, out of 2505 team-seasons. To say that the Red Sox, who've had significant injury problems of their own (60% of their opening day starting rotation has been on the DL), have wasted some "opportunity" because they aren't currently one of them is just nonsense. To just be 4 games up, they'd have to be on a 103 win pace. That they aren't is not an indictment of their performance - given their own "struggles and injuries," the 98 win pace that they're on is quite an achievement... The fact is this - the Red Sox have the 2nd best record in baseball. The lead is one game because of the way the Yankees have performed, not because of anything that the Red Sox have failed to do. (Comment on this)
Monday, July 31st, 2006
9:57 pm	Angelic Fireworks! Orlando Cabrera and Bartolo Colon Light the ... Regular readers here at Burkean Reflections may have read my "Inaugural Post," in which I mentioned that I might occasionally take a break of political blogging to write on my beloved Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Today seems like as good a day as any to make good on that suggestion. I took a break from work and blogging last night to catch the Angels-Mariners game, broadcast live from Seattle. It was one of the best games I've seen in a while, which is a strong statement as the Angels on Wednesday came off of their best comeback all season in their 14-6 July 4th win over the Mariners at Safeco Field. In last night's game, Bartolo Colon gained his first win of the season in a dominating, 9-inning shut-out performance. Colon's return to the lineup should bolster a starting rotation that has been electrified with the breakout pitching of Jered Weaver. Also spectacular was Orlando Cabrera's fifth inning home run, which extended his consecutive hit streak to 62 games. Bill Shaiken at the Los Angeles Times has the story: The first half has been a lost half for the Angels, too many weeks looking up at too many teams from the bottom of the American League West. But the Angels might have the last laugh. After Bartolo Colon completed their first sweep of the season Wednesday by pitching his first shutout in four years, a 4-0 victory over Seattle, the Angels flew to Oakland for a four-game series. If the Angels win them all, they could share first place with the Athletics at the All-Star break, even after spotting their rivals half the season." We know how to finish divisions," pitcher John Lackey said. "We've done it the last couple times. Letting us stay in it this long might be a problem for them in the end." Robb Quinlan hit a three-run home run and Orlando Cabrera a solo shot as the Angels finished the sweep of the Mariners. Colon, who won 21 games and the Cy Young Award last season, won for the first time this season. The Angels have won five consecutive games, a season high, cutting three games from their deficit in five days. They're four games under .500 and in last place, trailing the A's by four, Texas by 2 1/2 and Seattle by one. But, with Colon and Jered Weaver back in the rotation and Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar pitching well, the Angels have a potentially dominant starting five. And, with five players not named Vladimir Guerrero or Garret Anderson hitting home runs in this series, they have a hint of offensive depth. "What gives us optimism, really, is the way we're getting contributions from everybody in the lineup," Manager Mike Scioscia said. That helps, of course, but the most significant performance Wednesday was delivered by Colon. In his fourth start since returning from the disabled list, he showed he can win even if his never regains his premium fastball. "Not having the fastball is an adjustment for me," Colon said through an interpreter. After the shoulder surgery he suffered in October, the fastballs that used to buzz in at 95-97 mph now come in at 89-93 mph. But Colon buried the Mariners under an avalanche of sinking fastballs, using movement and precision to more than make up for the loss of velocity." It was moving all over the place," catcher Mike Napoli said. "He can be effective not pumping it up at 95." Colon gave up four hits, none after the fourth inning. He made 91 pitches, striking out two and walking none. He felt good, not only because of the shutout but because of a pregame phone call with his father, who he said is fighting a minor illness. In the conversation, he said, his father calmed him. Colon pitched two complete games last year, but he said he did not recall his last shutout. That's understandable, since he pitched the shutout for a team that no longer exists, the Montreal Expos.Angels fans are obviously hoping that the sweep of Seattle marks the turn-around point for the Angels' season. Tonight the Halos start a four-game road trip at the Oakland Athletics, a series that could shake up the standings in the American League West. For more Angels baseball, check out this cool blog, "The Halo Herald." (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 29th, 2006
4:50 pm	Hidden Base Trick Inflames A's-Angels Rivalry Thursday night Frank Thomas socked a walk-off home run to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 7-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. This type of drama has been typical in recent years for these American League West adversaries. However, the Big Hurt’s blast was not the only development to infuriate the Angels on Thursday. The Halos were livid when Oakland pulled the hidden base trick during Orlando Cabrera’s at-bats. The Angels shortstop singled in the 5th and 7th innings to extend his streak of reaching base to 63 consecutive games. The streak is the longest in major league baseball since 1960, passing a 58-game stretch by Barry Bonds in 2003. Statistics on such streaks are incomplete before 1960, but the Elias Sports Bureau has Boston’s Ted Williams with the major league record at 84 straight games in 1949. Some may wonder how a record can be affirmed when statistics from that era are acknowledged to be incomplete. An Elias representative admitted, “Look, we’re praying that we don’t find some nobody who had more than 84. If we throw the name ‘Ted Williams’ out there, no one really questions it.” Since Cabrera doubled off Detroit’s Jeremy Bonderman on April 25, no opponent has managed to keep him off the bases for an entire game. However, the A’s devised a strategy to do just that. They put their plan into practice Thursday night whenever first base was unoccupied during a Cabrera at-bat. Oakland removed first base from the ground and hid it from Cabrera’s view, reasoning that he can’t reach base if he can’t find it. The strategy seemed to work. Cabrera’s two hits came when first base was occupied, so the A’s could not remove it without the runner noticing. He was retired on the other three occasions. In the first inning, Angels manager Mike Scioscia screamed to the umpires that A’s first baseman Dan Johnson had stashed first base under his uniform. When questioned by the crew, the ridiculously bulging Johnson responded, “Noooo... I’m not hiding first base. I’m just… on steroids! Better test me after the game!” The A’s gamesmanship was particularly brazen during Cabrera’s third inning at-bat. Oakland legend Rickey Henderson slid head-first into first base before pulling it out of the ground. Henderson held the base aloft while proclaiming, “I am the greatest base-stealer of all time!” Henderson then dashed off the field while announcing, “Rickey’s gonna take this bag to Cooperstown!” Amazingly, none of the umpires saw any of this. The Angels had suspected that their division rivals might use devious tactics to halt Cabrera’s streak. The Halos kept a watchful eye on Oakland catcher Jason Kendall, who had charged the mound against Los Angeles pitcher John Lackey in an earlier matchup this season. A crafty old catcher himself, Scioscia warned Cabrera that Kendall might try to tie his shoes together while he stood in the batter’s box. With the Angels distracted by Kendall, the A’s apparently felt that they could easily pull off the shenanigans at first base. Tonight the angry Angels will be particularly aware of the activities at first base. First base coach Alfredo Griffin will be on high alert, so the hidden base trick may not be available to the A’s. All-Star Oakland pitcher Barry Zito will have his hands full as he tries to stop Orlando Cabrera’s streak. Unlike the show on Fox, this version of “The O.C.” is not ready for a summer hiatus. (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 27th, 2006
10:47 am	Apparently the World Soccer Clamjamfrey is Over I seem to have ... Apparently the World Soccer Clamjamfrey is Over I seem to have missed it. I had more snarkey asides saved up for it but I am reliably informed that it has been over for quite a while now and that some team in Europe won it. My Reliable Informant is open-mouthed in astonishment that anyone could be so cloistered in 2006 as to miss an event of such World Significance. Nevertheless, it is so. Although I in my turn cannot fathom the depth of ignorance exhibited by my Reliable Informant as to the status of the race for the American League, Western Divisional title. Personally, I attribute it to R.I.'s parochial upbringing outwith North America where the glories of the National Pastime are hardly known. And so long as we're mentioning the National Pastime, a few comments: 1. Could someone please teach Ervin Santana some control. 2. There are other ways of scoring runs than swinging for the centerfield seats every time. Remember how you* did it in 2002? Bunts, walks, base-stealing, sacrifices, line drives. [*"you" = the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim just up the road from San Diego.] 3. Barry Bonds is on the front page of the sports section. Again. Probably deservedly so. But could someone explain to me why the NFL gets a free pass on the steroids thing? Look at the size of those guys. All from three squares and plenty of exercize? + + + + + + + + + + + + I had a few more pontifications in mind this morning. But it is now noon on Friday and there is nothing in the house for dinner that doesn't contain meat. So off to the market. And if I still remember what at the moment seems so important, I will belabor you with it later this afternoon. (Comment on this)