on vlad and vengence

Just a short thought:

I think it is absolutely ridiculous for Halo fans and media to criticize Vlad for showing some emotion and focus in burning the Angels.

First of all, let's not write revisionist history. We know that Vlad looked like a shell of himself last year. We know that mostly everyone doubted he could regain his former glory. And we know that the FO didn't want to give Vlad a multi-year deal (and most Halo fans agreed). Vlad wanted more than what the FO was willing to give and so both sides moved on. By the time Vlad realized that a multi-year deal wasn't going to happen, the Halos had moved on and signed Matsui. Timing just wasn't there. Vlad did NOT turn his back on the Angels and he did NOT bad-mouth the organization (a la Lackey).

Sure, Vlad might have taken the lack of free-agent offers to motivate him and get in shape during the offseason. A good player uses whatever they can to motivate them to constantly strive to be better. And that kind of disappointment is a great motivator. And the prospect of displaying his talents to the Halos (and others) may be pushing him.

But you know, there's also the fact that Texas and the Halos are in the same division. That they're rivals. That this series is actually important, despite what Michael Young says. I'm sure any good athlete tries to step up their game when playing a rival. I'm sure if it was Torii, or Bobby that hit 3HR and got 8RBI in this series, we'd be lauding their ability to perform in the big games.

The point I'm trying to make is that yes, Vlad is looking motivated and doing so well this series. But has anyone thought it might not be because he's looking for revenge, but because this is a big series between two big division rivals?

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I'm gathering my thoughts for a later post on Kaz and the state of the infield. So hopefully by tomorrow my disappointment and discouraged state will have dissippated, and I'll have a clearly thought-out post.