The Angels had a successful (19-11) and healthy Spring Training record, further lifting hopes of their fans. Then they start the season by flopping to a division rival.
next up: A 4 game series in Houston vs the “lowly” Astros, who’ve just taken a series vs the Yankees. Last year, btw, the Astros took the season series vs the Angels 10-9.
It’s early, and silly to say it’s a must win situation, but still…
Well, that’s not exactly what I had in mind when I called for more offense in the STL/CIN series. Back-to-back homers by Bruce and Frazier in the bottom of the first!
Yeah, but I was hoping the newly minted $17.5 million dollar a year man would hold it down. Rough outing for Bailey. He needs to pitch like an ace.
The baseball season is 162 games.
3 games is an incredibly small sample and means practically nothing.
That’s what I would tell Angels fans.
Hey! Offense! Now 7-6 Cards in the 8th. Go Redleggers!
I just made it out of the bathroom in time to see his home run last year. I think the sports networks are going to be falling over themselves to sign him when he retires. He was hilarious at the fan feet this year. Also, the time he took a header off the mound against the Brewers a couple of seasons ago was funnier than his trip around the bases. At least it was after we found out he was ok; the first thing I thought when he went down was “J. R. Richard.”
Some fan calling in to the Wednesday night postgame show asked how many games it took the M’s to score 26 runs last year. I never did hear the answer - had to turn it off and go to bed before the hosts could look it up.
Heh. One of the things that drove M’s fans nuts during the Lou Piniella years was the way Lou would say, after a string of early-season losses, “Well, it’s early in the season …” Like, what, a win or loss in April doesn’t count for as much as a win or loss in September?
But yeah, I agree in principle. The M’s have won on Opening Day for the last 7-8 years, and look how they’ve ended up those years.
Seattle only got two runs tonight against the A’s. Maybe it’s just the Angels.
It does not say a lot for the Blue Jays that they split their opening series and I am absolutely thrilled. Winning 2 of 4 in Tampa Bay is a huge accomplishment for this squad.
Watched Red Sox shortstop, Xander Bogaerts last night. 3 singles, one to left, one to right and one hit up the middle. At 21, he looks like he’s been playing in the majors for 10 years. Great pitch recognition, keeps his hands back and rarely swings at a bad pitch. In the field, although he won’t remind anyone of Ozzie Smith, his decision making is quite impressive. In interviews, he always says the right thing, but seems genuine, not rehearsed.
Reminds me of… oh yeah, he wears #2, in honor of his favorite player growing up. Yep, that #2, Jeter. If Xander can stay healthy for 15 years, he’ll have a great career. And with his size and arm, I think he’ll end up as a corner outfielder as his power develops – particularly if the Sox infield prospects (Betts, Marrero and Cecchini) sustain their performances.
Best Sox prospect I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen Lynn, Rice, Boggs and Garciaparra come up.
Did you see Hanley?
Hanley was a great talent, and I saw him play in Portland with the Sox AA affiliate. His last year in the Sox system, he actually regressed, and when they brought him up at the end of the 2005 season, instead of taking pre-game exercises seriously, all he wanted to do was hang out around the batting cage with Ortiz and Manny. His poor attitude hadn’t improved (he had been suspended earlier in his mlb career) so the Sox felt that a successful career was not a sure thing, in a tough market like Boston.
It’s not always a question of talent with a young player, it’s how well they can deal with expectations and the pressure that comes with it.
Bogaerts may not attain the power that Ramirez has shown, but he plays under control and is extremely comfortable within his own skin. Nomar, Lynn, Rice, Ellsbury were never at home in Boston and resented the very intense media that you get in Boston or NY or Philly. Although great talents with a lot of production, you saw the same flaws in their games, 5 years in, that you saw when they were rookies. Bogaerts reminds me of Jeter in that you have a good sense, that he’ll extract every ounce of his talent over the course of his career. Dustin Pedroia belongs with those two as well, btw, but I’d say Bogaerts has a higher ceiling that Pedroia, and that’s saying a lot.
Speaking of Dustin Pedroia… he’ll be receiving his second World Series ring, before today’s game:
Rice spent his whole career here, and Ellsbury went go NY, so “can’t stand the pressure” rings hollow.
I didn’t say “can’t stand the pressure,” my exact words were “dealing with the pressure.” Neither dealt with it well. When playing, Rice was considered one of the surliest players in the clubhouse. He was a great talent, and a margin HOFer, but he was a stubborn cuss. And I wonder if he’d been even a better player if he didn’t spend his entire career feeling embattled. Ellsbury would have been much better playing in San Diego or Seattle, although a much poorer player. They can stand the pressure, but at a cost.
What does this even mean?
How do you know Ellsbury would have been much better (or a poorer player, or both??) in Seattle? How is Rice being a stubborn cuss good or bad in terms of how he helped his team win? Dustin Pedroia is a bit of an ass, too, and Roger Clemens was no saint.
We don’t personally know these people and we’ve no idea how the different “pressures” of different markets affects their performance.
I think it’s kind of touching, actually. It’s genuinely never occurred to me that I should care more about whether Cliff Lee would be better off personally if he were still in Seattle or Texas. I just want him to strike people out.
We have jobs. Most of us had more than 1 job in our lives. In some of those jobs we’ve been more comfortable than in other jobs. In those jobs where we have felt most comfortable, we do better at utilizing our given talents.
If you don’t understand that, then there’s no room for discussion, because that is MY take on the world.
The Red Sox never really made an attempt to keep Ellsbury, which is telling since that’s the weakness at leadoff this year, is the primary issue in regards to their chances at repeating. When he was injured for the season a couple of years ago, he rehabbed in Arizona to avoid the media. Everyone else rehabs in Boston.
Rice shoved an old sportswriter in the clubhouse and as he hit his mid-30s stubbornly refused to experiment with different types of eyewear, thus shortening his career. Pedroia deals with pressure pretty well, cuss or not. He doesn’t shove around septuagenarians when they ask him why he went 0 for 5. Ortiz actually thrives on all the attention. I doubt he’d have his career if Minnesota had offered him arbitration back in 2002.
So you don’t mind all the BS with players bitching about the media intrusions even though it’s the same media that indirectly enables them to be very rich men? Sports is supposed to be entertainment, and multi-millionaires complaining and asking to be left alone is not entertaining to me. Interesting to hear you don’t mind it.
Are you talking about Bill Crowley, or is this another example of Jim Rice’s terrible brutality I haven’t heard?
I don’t understand what you mean about minding all the BS. I’m on their side of that argument, probably, but I’m not sure what you’re referring to specifically.
