It's about time for me to go into my finals-studying isolation, so posting here should be quite sparse for a few weeks.
Just some tidbits:
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Cactus League play started this past Friday and the Angels pulled out an exciting tie (can you sense the sarcasm?). Then followed with two less-than-exciting losses (to the Rockies and A's). I don't really care about spring training wins/losses (you figure they've gotta win sometime, right?), but the real treat was having the opportunity to see young prospects like Reckling, Chatwood, Amarista, Trumbo, Conger, etc. I'm still waiting to see Chaffee and Smith in action, so it's not so fun that yesterday's game wasn't televised and today's game got rained out.
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Victor Rojas, the newly hired Angels play-by-play announcer, explained why he decided to leave MLB Network to come to the Angels. Well, mostly it was him explaining how he got the MLBN gig in the first place and how he grew into the role. Two thoughts - first, it speaks really well of him that, although he didn't have any broadcasting experience, he dove right into the work, was amendable to adapting on the fly, and never really shied away from trying new things. Secondly, that as much as he professes to have loved his work on MLBN, Arte got him to come to Anaheim. Specifically, "...most importantly [I left] because ... Mr. Moreno (I promise I will learn to call you Arte) wanted to make a commitment to me and the family." When the announcement was made and the resultant feedback in the halosphere was positive, I kinda wondered how the Angels enticed a national broadcaster to leave a network he helped build to come to Anaheim, where the west coast bias is in full swing. All indications point to it being a great hire and for all you doubters out there, here's another instance where Arte is doing all he can to make the Angels experience a great one.
I'm looking forward to seeing Rojas in action!
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07 March 2010
04 March 2010
california cool
A portion of the Jeff Mathis interview on The Drive caught my attention.
Jeff Biggs mentioned that he was kinda upset over the comments that Lackey had made about the laid-back nature of Angels fans. I wasn't going to comment on them, mostly since I don't care what he says in a BoSux uniform, but what concerns me is the reaction from my fellow Halos fans.
I can understand that most Angels fans see Lackey as a traitor, money-grubber, or whatever, and they feel a sense of distrust and anger towards him. Personally, I'm displeased with how the situation turned out and the passive-agressive manner he's handled it. But while some fans (and Biggs) see his comment as another parting shot, I think its a valid observation. And really, I think the real offensive part is the first line in that statement.
"This is not going to play well in Orange County..."
Yes, the stereotypical Angels fan is not as crazy as RedSox fans. Yes, there are a good majority of Angels fans that remember the barren days and appreciate the AL West titles. And yes, I'd characterize the fan base in Anaheim to be more laid back than in Boston. And to that, I'd like to say "So?"
Jeff Biggs mentioned that he was kinda upset over the comments that Lackey had made about the laid-back nature of Angels fans. I wasn't going to comment on them, mostly since I don't care what he says in a BoSux uniform, but what concerns me is the reaction from my fellow Halos fans.
I can understand that most Angels fans see Lackey as a traitor, money-grubber, or whatever, and they feel a sense of distrust and anger towards him. Personally, I'm displeased with how the situation turned out and the passive-agressive manner he's handled it. But while some fans (and Biggs) see his comment as another parting shot, I think its a valid observation. And really, I think the real offensive part is the first line in that statement.
"This is not going to play well in Orange County..."
Yes, the stereotypical Angels fan is not as crazy as RedSox fans. Yes, there are a good majority of Angels fans that remember the barren days and appreciate the AL West titles. And yes, I'd characterize the fan base in Anaheim to be more laid back than in Boston. And to that, I'd like to say "So?"
02 March 2010
news, but nothing new
So remember when I said that the start of spring training would mean that news will start flowing? Well I was only partially right. It's been a flow of news with mostly eye-rolling (in)significance. I don't want angels&aimee to be about reporting/rehashing news, but just to show you the absolute derth of stuff to comment on, here's a sampling of the news since I made that horrible statement:
- Mathis won his arbitration case and said the process was "interesting." Sosh added that Mathis has more offensive ability than he's shown.
- Matsui arrived in camp. The waiting Japanese media rejoiced that they didn't need to take video/pictures of his locker anymore.
- Kaz was sick with a sore throat and fever and was sent home for a day.
- Guns aren't allowed in the clubhouse.
- Rain washed out some workouts last weekend.
- Shields and Jepsen have been taking the slow track in workouts. Rodney has also been held back due to his shins.
- Matsui's Japanese media throng is a circus and they have an unsatiable need for Matsui news
- Torii is fine after offseason surgery.
- Rodney came to the Angels to try to win a championship, not to close.
- Abreu is gonna hit second in the lineup.
- Sosh says that BWood's defense is more important than his offensive production, in terms of keeping playing time. He also compared him to Glaus
- Saunders is looking forward to golfing with Smoltz next offseason.
- Naps is trying out a new, bigger glove to improve his defense and hopefully earn more playing time.
- More stuff about the lack of an ace in the rotation. And more stuff on why that doesn't really matter.
- Ervin is working towards more consistancy.
- Kendry switched agents (from the Hendricks brothers to Boras) after he discovered that $300K was taken from his bank account without his permission, allegedly by a (now former) employee of the Hendricks brothers.
- Q was surprised and pleased to be back with the Angels.
- The Angels had photo day.
- The latin players miss Vlad and his mom's food.
- Willits is once again organizing a toy drive for players' and coaches' children and a local school/shelter.
- Saunders is trying to get back to where he was in 2008.
- Kendry's still not in camp because of some immigration snafu.
- Rumors that the Angels signed Erstad were disproved.
- Kendry finally arrived in camp.
yawn.
I love that spring training is all about anticipation and optimism for the new season, but really, I'm becoming quite impatient. Baseball, please!
If you haven't already, check out the pictures from Tempe. It makes me envy those at spring training even more, especially when I'm sitting in class learning how a solid becomes a liquid.
- Mathis won his arbitration case and said the process was "interesting." Sosh added that Mathis has more offensive ability than he's shown.
- Matsui arrived in camp. The waiting Japanese media rejoiced that they didn't need to take video/pictures of his locker anymore.
- Kaz was sick with a sore throat and fever and was sent home for a day.
- Guns aren't allowed in the clubhouse.
- Rain washed out some workouts last weekend.
- Shields and Jepsen have been taking the slow track in workouts. Rodney has also been held back due to his shins.
- Matsui's Japanese media throng is a circus and they have an unsatiable need for Matsui news
- Torii is fine after offseason surgery.
- Rodney came to the Angels to try to win a championship, not to close.
- Abreu is gonna hit second in the lineup.
- Sosh says that BWood's defense is more important than his offensive production, in terms of keeping playing time. He also compared him to Glaus
- Saunders is looking forward to golfing with Smoltz next offseason.
- Naps is trying out a new, bigger glove to improve his defense and hopefully earn more playing time.
- More stuff about the lack of an ace in the rotation. And more stuff on why that doesn't really matter.
- Ervin is working towards more consistancy.
- Kendry switched agents (from the Hendricks brothers to Boras) after he discovered that $300K was taken from his bank account without his permission, allegedly by a (now former) employee of the Hendricks brothers.
- Q was surprised and pleased to be back with the Angels.
- The Angels had photo day.
- The latin players miss Vlad and his mom's food.
- Willits is once again organizing a toy drive for players' and coaches' children and a local school/shelter.
- Saunders is trying to get back to where he was in 2008.
- Kendry's still not in camp because of some immigration snafu.
- Rumors that the Angels signed Erstad were disproved.
- Kendry finally arrived in camp.
yawn.
I love that spring training is all about anticipation and optimism for the new season, but really, I'm becoming quite impatient. Baseball, please!
If you haven't already, check out the pictures from Tempe. It makes me envy those at spring training even more, especially when I'm sitting in class learning how a solid becomes a liquid.
