.jpg&w=244&h=193&zc=1 "Mike Trout and the sophomore slump that wasn't")
Game Recap 8/18/12 -- It's All Over -- Angels 8 Rays 10
I'm not sure I can properly process all that happened tonight. I can say one thing for sure, the Angels are not making the playoffs this year. What on paper was supposed to be a World Series contender will instead be remembered as the signature disappointment of the season. With the splashy spending spree of the offseason now turning into a sour aftertaste of the realization that the Angels are more likely to finish with their heads just above water than in the promised land of the October baseball. No one represents the misfirings of the season more than CJ Wilson. All of a sudden that contract is looking like a giant albratross and the Angels like a dead team walking.
Angels 8 Rays 10
Game Notes
-- Things started off so promising tonight. First the celebration of the 2002 championship team brought electricity and excitement to the field and seemed to inspire the current team as they blew out to an 8-0 lead. But then it went south in a hurry.
-- As I'm typing this Maicer Itzuris grounded out with the typing runs in scoring position and Mike Trout on deck. Nothing epitomizes the season more than that thought. Rather than taking a pitch or two, Macier weakly grounds out. DFA him right now.
-- I can't really blow Kevin Jepsen up to badly about giving up the eventual winning runs. Yes he finally lost his edge and gave up the big hit but wouldn't be nice to not be in this position of having to be perfect every freaking night?
-- Where the hell was this Fernando Rodney when he was with the Angels? Wouldn't this Fernando slot in nicely to the Halo Bullpen? I'm going to lose my mind just thinking about it.
Halo A Hole
There is so much I want to say about CJ Wilson. How could you blow an 8 run lead with your teams playoff hopes in the balance? Where was all that #pma bulls**t when you were serving up hit after hit en route to a 7 run inning? How am I going to deal with another four years of your inability to win the big game? Why are Ranger fans laughing at us?
The best thing that happened is also the worst thing that happened to me last night. I bought the rest of the season of MLB.tv for my Roku after the Angels had a little lead just to see how well it worked. Well, not that well (which could be the speed of my internets connection) and I couldn't watch the game because of my location. Dammit, I kind of had the faint hope that being more than 50 miles away from Angels Stadium might get me in.
So, the good part was that I didn't have to see The Collapse. Or The Latest Collapse, or however you want to word it. The Gameday view was horrifying enough. I'm glad I didn't have the audio on, too. Looks like I picked the wrong season to stop sniffing glue.
yup.....when does Scioscia take any blame for underachieving clubs? He is a sort of a scared cow and hasn't won anything since Maddon left-which is about the time the Rays began winning.
@jr halo I disagree. If the pitchers can't get motivated on the basis of their GIANT FREAKING PAYCHECKS alone, there is nothing a manager can do. It's too bad contracts can't be made conditional to some extent. The concept of the contract requires three elements: offer, acceptance and consideration (pay). The promisee's consideration shouldn't just be, "I'm going to drag my ass out there and throw some crap up at to the plate and take home my paycheck." Some of these pitchers don't look like they are making enough effort to be holding up their end of the deal.
I know, it's not possible to tell and these guys are pros who are always making their best effort and you can't take away their paycheck and blah, blah, blah. I'm just frustrated and something about this team, that has nothing to do with the manager, doesn't seem right.
The past few years I looked at the roster and didn't see a true leader like the boys had in 02. There was nobody to will them out of a funk. Not to diminish what Torii has brought. He is a true pro and leaves it all out there, but I don't think he has the grittiness to go out there and say "we ain't F%$#n' losing today". I think in 02 guys like Erstad, Percy and even the way Eck carried himself provided that. This year, as opposed to years past, I do see that character in guys like Trout and Trumbo, but they are likely just to young and new to force it out of others.Weaver definitley has it once every 5 days. I don't think AP does. The person who is supposed to be able to find it when nobody else can is the manager. Have you ever seen that side of Mike? It was def theere when he was playing, but is it there now? I can't say because it doesn't show on TV and I am not in the clubhouse, but my guess is that it left him sometime around '95
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@jr halo Trout will be that iron backbone they need someday, and soon I'll bet. For now I have to wonder why there isn't more Pujols influence. I take it he's not been known for that, rather leading by example, but that might be the problem; he can't pull himself completely out of his funk so how can he help pull the team up? Just a bad season all around.
