The September 26th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Angels surpass 3 million in attendance, Mike Trout could start the 2012 season in Triple-A, Trumbo voted team MVP and much more...

The Story: The Angels officially surpassed 3 million in attendance for the ninth straight season.

The Monkey Says: The Angels' ability to stay in the race this long definitely helped them achieve that goal.  What I love the most about this news is that the Angels did go over 3 million, but the Dodgers did NOT.  Ha!

The Story: Mike Trout could start the 2012 season in Triple-A.

The Monkey Says: His struggles the last few weeks seem to have the Angels re-thinking their plans for Trout.  I'd still bet that he opens the year in the majors, but this story does at least start building a case for the Angels justifying him being in the minors to start 2012, which seems to be more about the Angels' outfield logjam than Trout's performance, if you ask me.

A game like this is why I hate that I care about the Angels so much.

What started out as a nice, comfortable cruise to a victory that was building my hopes of a miracle surge into the post-season with every inning, wound up turning into one of the most heart-wrenching Angel loss of the season, which is saying a lot considering the events of the last few weeks.

Athletics 6, Angels 5

It almost feels like the Angels have been trying to finish off a checklist of unexpected ways to choke.  Scott Downs' home shutout streak?  Go ahead and mark that one off.  Walden blowing his first save in over a month?  Big check right there.  Wasting surprising contributions from maligned veterans Bobby Abreu and Joel Pineiro?  Double check.  A critical error in the late innings?  Oh, never mind, that one has already been checked off, a couple of times actually.  Well, one more won't hurt.

I just hate it all so much.  But you know what I hate the most?  That the Angels still aren't out of the race yet.  Granted, they have almost impossible odds against them making the post-season, but they still aren't officially eliminated.  At this point, I'm done trying to drink the Kool-Aid and keep hope alive though.  I just want it to be over.

Seriously, I want the Red Sox to win their game tomorrow so that the Halos will be officially out of the playoff race before their game even starts because I just can't endure another night of the stress that I put upon myself by talking myself into believing they might be able to do the impossible.  Just make it stop.

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Oakland Athletics (71-87) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (86-72)

Pitching Probables: OAK – Rich Harden (4-4, 5.17 ERA)  LAA – Joel Pineiro (7-7, 5.36 ERA)

Game Info: 12:35 PM PT; TV - Fox; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Hanging around.  Hanging around.  The Angels seem to have shot themselves in the foot ten times in this last month, yet the Red Sox just can't shake them in the Wild Card race.

I think I personally have declared the Angels' season DOA at least four times since that first fateful series with Texas.  Yet here we are with the Halos perfectly poised to either finally put themselves out of their misery or put themselves right on the Red Sox heels in the race should the Angels win today and the Sox drop both games of their doubleheader.

Hanging around.  Can't get rid of them.  Kids have alligator blood.

Leader (n.) -- a person who rules, guides or inspires others; head.

Also see Hunter, Torii.

Any doubt about how bad Torii Hunter wants to be in the playoffs is now put to rest. All players say they want to win, but it is true leadership that demonstrates this when the chips are down. Hunter is a consumate leader. He speaks for the team, mentors the youth movement with grace and wisdom, and plays his biggest when he needs to. It was apparent tonight that the Angels were sleepwalking through another game until Hunter put them on his back. His on and off the field leadership has kept the faint playoff hopes alive.

Angels 4 A's 2 

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Oakland Athletics (71-86) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (85-72)

Pitching Probables: OAK – Guillermo Morosco (8-9, 3.35 ERA)  LAA – Jerome Williams (3-0, 3.22 ERA)

                                                                    Game Info: 6:05 PM PT; TV - KCOP; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Well, it was always going to be the wild card anyway right? The Angels now have to pick themselves up from last night's loss and turn the business of chasing the down the Red Sox and the Rays. Karma says that if the Sox do complete this historic collapse (and all signs point to it happening), then the Angels should be the beneficiaries. To accomplish this Jerome Williams is now the man in the middle of it all. Williams has been better than advertised since his insertion and should be enough to give the boys a shot. Which then turns the attention to the offense. This is where things get sticky...

We come here to both bury the Angels AL West hopes and lay blame for the predicament they now find themselves in. Tonight's game was a microcosm of what has been plaguing the Angels all season: lack of the big hit when needed. As a result, the Rangers are now on their way to the playoffs. The Angels...there's still a faint pulse, but this patient is on life support.

Angels 1 A's 3

Time for some Monkeying Around, with a special emphasis on keeping Angel fans' hopes alive in these desperate times; a time to talk about all the Angels-related topics that slipped through the cracks this week, as well as any other totally unrelated topic you feel like bringing up.

Here are a few topics for you to discuss amongst yourselves:

• I realize I am venturing into dangerously delusional territory here, but I am not quite ready to give up on the Angel season.  First off, why give up with six games left?  That's like the fans who start heading out to the parking lot even though there is still one out left in the ninth and their team is down by one.  I will say that the AL West is probably out of reach since the Halos wasted yesterday's Ranger loss.  The Wild Card though, is not.  All that needs to happen to force a one-game playoff is the Angels going 5-1 while the Red Sox go 2-4, which is entirely possible with how bad they are playing right now.  The Rays would need to do worse than 5-1 themselves, which is also entirely plausible.  I know none of it is likely, but I'm not giving up hope yet.
• If the Angels do miss the playoffs, 2011 will be remembered as the season the Blue Jays just couldn't stop screwing over the Angels.  First they tricked Tony Reagins into trading for Vernon Wells, then they double-crossed him by sending Mike Napoli to Texas where he has had a monster season.  Now they beat the Halos twice in extra innings down the stretch.
• By my count, the Angels have had four losses (including last night) since the trade deadline that might have been avoidable if the Angels had trusted reliever depth beyond Walden and Downs.  That may not sound like a lot, but four losses of the Angels' 21 losses in less than two months.  Had they been able to acquire someone like Mike Adams or a lesser reliever, I can't help but think one or maybe two of those losses could have been avoided.  That would have put the Angels still in contention in the AL West and in great position in the Wild Card.  So my point here is, once again, great work, Tony Reagins.
• Here is an interesting question.  Which would you rather see happen in the final week: the Rangers clinching the division BEFORE they arrive in Anaheim, making that series largely meaningless, or Texas coming to Anaheim up by three games, meaning the Angels would have to sweep them and then win a one-game playoff to advance to the post-season, which strikes me as pretty unlikely, but it means the Angels have a chance but also means that there is a high chance that the Rangers will celebrate the division title on the Angel Stadium grass?  I'll be honest, I'm not sure which one I would choose.

Or just feel free to bring up a topic of your own.  I don't really care (as long as you keep it clean) because it's Friday.