The Angels have a fist full of changes to start the 2010 season.

From not only the players on the field, but also the announcers in the booth. No more Vladdy. No more Figgy. No more Oliver. No more Lackey. No more Hudd Man. And worst of all, no more Rory (God rest his soul). 

My wife and I went to the Thursday practice game against the Padres at the Big A and it took a little getting used to not seeing the old familiar faces on the field. That’s just part of baseball I guess. Once the season starts I’ll pull for the Angels no matter who’s on the field. But all of the  players and announcers that are gone all hold a special place in my memory bank. The worst part of all though was walking to the big helmets in front of the stadium and not seeing the tribute to Nick Adenhart. Life goes on and we all have to go forward but, whenever you walk in front of the Big A , always remember all the kids that lost their lives that awful night and hope and pray it never happens again.

Starting tommarow, a new season begins.  

Lets start the season 1 and 0. and stay in first place from the first day of the season to the Last. 

I know the O’s aren’t exactly world beaters but it’s a start.

I was shocked to find out the Halos where the last team in baseball this season to have a two game winning streak. That just goes to show you just how tough the first three weeks of the season have really been for the Halos.  Now the team has a three game winning streak.  With a four game series with the Yankees coming up this weekend, the Angels couldn’t have picked a better time to start playing good baseball again.

The Yankees  haven’t exactly been world beaters so far themselves. Yet they seemed to have shaken off losing three games against the Red Sox last weekend by taking two out of three from the Tigers to start the week.

It will be interesting to see who has a better series this weekend, Mark Texiera or Bobby Abreu.  It should be Texiera with the pitchers he’ll be up against. Anthony Ortega and Matt Palmer don’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of major league hitters. But then again , who knows ? 

As for Wednesdays game, it was great to see Shane Loux pitch a solid game and earn his first major league win in six years. 

Also Tori Hunter and Kendry Morales showed some power by hitting back to back home runs.

Its getting late. I got to get some sleep. I’ll go into more detail about the way the Angels are playing after Thursdays game against the Yankees.

Great win today.

Now lets go into New York and make it a four game winning streak.

ANGELS  RECORD  -   9  WINS  -   11  LOSES 

The day off tomorrow couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. What the Angels need right now is some home cooking . They need the fans to be behind them and know that they still believe in them. (HERE COMES THE CLICHÉS !!!) There are still 150 games for the Angels to right this ship. They just have to take it one game at a time. Play to the best of their abilities, and let the chips fall where they may. I still believe with the talent the Halos have, this team will be in the playoffs at the end of the season. 

So tomorrow, relax and enjoy the beautiful California weather. 

Come Tuesday, it’s back to work ! The Tigers are in town. 

GO GET EM ANGELS !!!!!!   

WE STILL BELIEVE !!!!!!!!!

HALO  RECORD  -  4  WINS –  8  LOSES . 

As a fan, I watch the game and for a moment forget that Nick is gone. Then it comes back. I can only begin to imagine what is going on in the minds of the Angel players. Yet , no matter what their thinking, they must play on. 

The emotions really came out on Sunday against the Boston Red Sox. 

When do you see four members of the same team ( two players a coach and a manager) get kicked out of the same game without a fight taking place? The league should really look into the thought process of the umpires and ask them, why they didn’t take into account what has happened to the Halos during the week and at least give them the benefit of the doubt before kicking so many people out from the same team ? 

At least the League decided  to suspend Boston pitcher Josh  Beckett  for 6 games.   It only comes out to one start for the pitcher , but at least it shows the league feels Beckett was wrong for throwing so close to Abreu’s head.

The Angels lost the first game of the series against Seattle tonight 3 to 2. 

Shane Loux did a great job starting the game that would have been Adenhart’s spot in the rotation. 

 

The fact the Angels are having trouble scoring runs right now doesn’t seem so important as it did a week ago. The important thing is the players are back to playing baseball. I’m sure that’s something Nick really would have wanted.

ANGEL  RECORD  3  WINS  -  4 LOSES 

My plan was to write about what a great pitching performance last night by Nick Adenhart. That It was too bad that the bullpen and the Angel defense let him down.  That’s what I should be writing about. But there is an old saying that goes ” When you tell god your plans for life , he laughs at you “. 

Nick Adenhart was 22 years old when he died. 

His dream in life was to become a Major League pitcher. 

For six innings he was the best pitcher in baseball. His dream came true.

How many of us can say our dreams for our lives came true ?  At 22 years old !

A lot of people are asking right now what can be learned from this tragedy ?   There is no lesson equal to what was paid last night. The lesson that I want to learn is how Nick Adenhart lived. 

Nick was blessed with a great arm and a love for Baseball. He had to get Tommy John surgery that dropped him from a first round top prospect to a 14th round shot in the dark pick by the Angels. Nick didn’t let his setbacks take away his dreams. 

When I saw Nick pitch last season he looked like a 12 year old pitching out there. The A’s scored run after run off of him and shook his confidence. Yet he never gave up. 

This year he looked like a man on a mission. When he came out last night.  He was like a new man. It didn’t matter that he didn’t get the win. He wasn’t overmatched. It was the A’s that where over matched . Nick was a confident , mature , intelligent , dominant Major League   pitcher.  HE BELONGED !!!

Nicks father flew out from Massachusetts to see his son pitch his first game of the season. Just like I’m sure he saw him pitch his first game of his life. 

I’m sure he was just as proud of his son , from his first pitch……. to his last .

Nicks friend Jon Wilhite survived the crash. Please remember him and all the families in your preyers.

Coutney Stewart  ,  Henry Pearson  ,  and  Nick Adenhart  God bless you and 

REST IN PEACE . 

HALO RECORD  -  1  WIN  1 LOSS

Joe Saunders goes 7 and 2/3 innings of shut out ball. Then Arredondo , Sheilds , and Fuentes each keep the shut out going for a nice 3 to 0 victory against the Oakland A’s. How did you like the pointing to the sky after the last out of the game by Fuentes. Just like the closer the Halos had last year. What was his name again ? (HOW QUICKLY WE FORGET !!!!!!).

It was great to see Kendrick hit a home run tonight. No one on the Angels team needs to have a quick start to forget last season more then Howie .

I was a little concerned to see that Dustin Moseley was starting tomorrow. That is until I saw the   starting pitching for the A’s. Trevor Cahill.  After Tuesdays game the next two starters for the A’s are Dana Eveland and Brett Anderson.  I can tell you this right now, there is no way the A’s will have a pitcher complete a game during this series. It’s not because the A’s starters aren’t good enough. It’s because there is a real strong possibility that the A’s starters might be staying up way past their curfews !  My goodness, the A’s starting pitching looks more like an audition for High School Musical . I take that back, they look too young to be High School Seniors. 

Now is the time for the Angels to strike and go for the sweep. Before the A’s starters voices start cracking and they begin to grow facial hair !!!

JAST ANOTHER HALO VICTORY

ANGEL RECORD   1  WIN  -  0 LOSES  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NATIONAL LEAGUE….

WEST – You got to go with the Dodgers. Once they got Manny back into the fold, the race became for second.  No team in the NL WEST can score with the Dodgers as long as Manny is in the line up.

CENTRAL- The way things stand now, you got a go with the Cubs with Houston a strong second. The Brewers just don’t have the pitching to compete right now. St Louis I just don’t see them making a run this year either.

EAST –  The Mets first with a close second between the Phillies and Atlanta. The Mets have really improved where they needed to improve, relief pitching. It will make a difference. Look out for Atlanta. They have a real good mix of young players and good veterans in the line up. If their closer doesn’t lose too many games for them , they are going to make a big impact this year.

AMERICAN LEAGUE….

EAST- You got a go with the Yankees. They always could score runs, but now with the starting pitching they have, their going to be way above .500. I see the Rays second with the Sox in third.  Tampa has the Red Sox number. That along with the Yankees putting pressure on them, the Sox will find themselves in the same spot as the Yankees last year. Out of the playoffs. 

CENTRAL-  This is a tough call.  I’m gonna have to go with the Twins. Any one in the division    can make a run this year and it wouldn’t be a surprise. The Twins always find a way to compete no matter what line up they throw out there. 

WEST-  I’m really going to go out on a limb this year and go with the Angels to take the Division. I know , I know, thats crazy talk but I really think they can pull it off.

All joking aside, the only team that really scares me is the Texas Rangers. If they can get some kind of pitching this year they are going to be a tough team to out score. Although the A’s have improved this year their pitching is just too young to compete with the Halos. ( I HOPE !!! )

Good luck Angels !!!!  

Put last year behind you and start winning some games.  

GO HALOS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It’s great to be back and it’s even better for baseball to be back.

My next blog will be about the up coming season and my predictions for the rest of major league  baseball. (HINT- I’M PICKING THE ANGELS TO GO AND WIN THE WORLD SERIES).

Tonight I want to talk about the Angels who have left from last season for greener pastures.

Notably Garrett Anderson , Frankie Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira.

First Mark Teixeira.

First off , It was a shame to see Tex not sign with the Angels.  But everyone knew that the chances of getting Tex back where slim to none. As a Halo fan it hurt to see him put on that Yankee hat and put on the pin stripes. But it would have killed my baseball soul if Tex would have signed with the Red Sox. It would have been like losing all your life savings to Bernard Madoff and then finding out your wife left you for him and legally is entitled to the 65 Billion that the man has hidden away !!!

So Mark Teixeira, thank you for not signing with the Red Sox. You are a great great player. I can’t speak for the rest of Halo Nation but as for myself, I will never boo you when you come to Anaheim. You will get booed . Without mercy I’m sure.  But with the extra 20 plus Mill in your wallet, I bet you’ll be able to afford some really nice ear plugs .

Garrett Anderson…

As for Garrett Anderson. GA should still be waring an Angel uniform. The Angels could not pick up the 14 million dollar option on the last year of GA’s contract. With a chance to sign teixeira still in play that money was too much to give out without having an answer about Tex. But once Tex went to the Yankees the Angels should have offered GA at least the same money they ended up signing Abreu with. Anderson has a good chance at getting 3000 hits and going to the Hall of Fame. It would have been so great to see Anderson in an Angel uniform getting his 3000TH hit or standing in Cooperstown and seeing his plaque unveiled with a big A on his hat and it not standing for the Atlanta Braves. 

Anderson to some Angel fans will always be thought of as the player that didn’t hustle. A player that didn’t dive for balls the way Daren Erstad did. To me GA will always be the player that got the winning RBI in the seventh game of the 2002 world series. The player that always made getting 100 RBIs and hitting 300 look easy. That was his problem. he never got dirty. Because most of the time he was in the right place at the right time. When it is all said and done, GA could have hustled more then he did. But in the years to come, Halo fans will be talking about this player or that player and what a great year he had . Then you will compare stats with some of the Angels of the past. Guess what, Garrett Anderson will be at the top of almost every list. Not bad for a man who never hustled.

Frankie Rodriguez (aka K ROD ).

What can you say about this man. 

How can you call yourself an Angel Fan and not remember how Frankie came on to the seen.  A TWENTY YEAR OLD MAN CHILD.

I remember the first time I saw him. It was against the Oakland A’s. My first reaction when I saw his first pitch was OH MY GOD !!! I pointed to the sky with both my hands and said “THANK YOU GOD, THE HALOS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES”. Not only did the Angels go to the World Series , they won it !!!!  The Angels won the World series !!!  IN MY LIFETIME !!!

Watch the 2002 World Series DVD again.  K ROD was the last piece of the puzzle .  No K ROD, no 2002 CHAMPIONSHIP. It’s that simple. 

I’ll be the first one to admit, for every save Frankie had last year, I lost 10 minutes of my life. Frankie thought it wasn’t a save until he had bases loaded and the tying run on third with a three and o count. But he got the save… 62 times.

This year when Frankie”s getting save after save for the New York Mets, Your going to say to      yourself ” How come his saves are so much easier for the Mets then they were for the Halos”?   I’ll tell you why, your heart won’t be hanging on every pitch. All you’ll see is the save. Thats when you’ll realize what a great pitcher K ROD really is. 

Garrett Anderson and Francisco (K ROD) Rodriguez…. Thank you both for your many years of playing great baseball for my Angels. And for your contributions for the Halos only World Series. With the crop of new Angels players coming up along with the veterans on the team, I truly believe the Angels have the talent to win the World Series this year as well. But GA and K Rod and Spiezio and King Fish and Erstad and Bengi and Washburn and Percy and Lackey  etc…. You will always be the first !!!