Oh, Petey.  You let us all down today.  The Angels were so very close to a fantastic sweep of the mighty Yankees but you had to go and drop the ball, literally.

Yankees 6, Angels 5

What really blows my mind about Bourjos' incredibly ill-timed error is why it even happened in the first place.  I'm sure the sun was a factor, but it was plain to see that Bourjos dropped the ball because he took his eye off it at the last second so he could try and get the throw in as soon as possible.  What was the big hurry?  The ball was hit to the warning track, so the runner at third was going to score easily even if he made the throw of his life.  Just brutal.

In his defense, if he makes the catch, the game is still tied and the blowpen probably would've gagged the game away in extras, but I guess we'll never know.

As hard as that loss was to swallow, it really isn't the end of the world.  Going into this series, I think we all would've been glad for the Angels to win two of three and that is still what they left with.  A sweep obviously would've been great, but this wasn't a series anyone was counting on the Angels actually making up ground on Texas.  However, the last two Angel losses have been laid squarely on the shoulders of the fielders.  With so little margin for error (pun not intended), the Angels just can't afford anymore losses like this.

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New York Yankees (87-57) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (80-65)

Pitching Probables: NYY – Freddy Garcia (11-7, 3.50 ERA)  LAA – Ervin Santana (11-10, 3.18 ERA)

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

Considering that today is the 10th annniversary of 9-11, it seems in appropriate to spend any time analyzing a baseball game, especially since that game is against the New York Yankees.  Enjoy the day and the game as you see fit and condolences to any of you who had your life touched in anyway by the events that took place ten years ago today.

I have a confession to make. I have not always been the most faithful of Angels fans. All season I have been a bit skeptical about their chances to make the playoffs, let alone be a legit World Series contender. But after tonight I officially believe!! Tonight's win over the Yankees was a statement victory by a team hitting on all cylinders. The Halos put all their strengths out on display and have to be considered the team that nobody wants to see in the playoffs. Think about it, when the Angels win the West (no ifs anymore for me, no sir), they would face the Yanks. Do you think Girardi wants to go to war against Weaver and Haren after what we has seen the last two nights? Not to mention Santana in his new guise as dominant pitcher #3. That's right, mark it down. The Halos are on their way!!

Angels 6 Yankees O 

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New York Yankees (87-56) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim  (79-65)

Pitching Probables: NYY CC Sabathia (19-7, 2.97 ERA)  LAA – Dan Haren (14-8, 3.20 ERA)

Game Info: 6:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

So I left the house yesterday morning and forget to set the DVR for last night's game so I missed out on Jered Weaver's apparent handcuffing of the Yankee line-up, so I am hoping to catch thte sequel tonight starring Dan Haren. Standing in for Bartolo Colon as the villian of our movie is another massive human being, CC Sabathia. Part two of this trilogy has a bigger, badder bad guy of course, since Sabathia is still in the Cy Young discussion. But our hero has all the supporting case he needs since it will feature the young starlet that is Mike Trout. Grab your popcorn and snowcaps and settle in for this thriller.

Merely a week ago Torii Hunter announced his "plans" on possibly retiring after the 2012 season. For once it's good to see a baseball player, let alone a Halo, want to end their career on their own terms. Nobody wants to see Torii Hunter play through a nosedive a-la Vladimir Guerrero, but it is possible he could have a few more seasons left in him? To Torii Hunter it's a possiblility, but could the numbers be there to back up a stretch of a couple more seasons? 

 

Could a return to Minnesota be in the cards for Torii Hunter?

Time for Free For All Friday, 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 saw an interesting discussion on Twitter started by our friends at AngelsWin.com.  The question was, given the recent news about MLB wanting to move the Astros to the AL West, which team we Angel fans would prefer join the division.  This is a tough choice for me because you have to think about it both long-term and short-term.  Obviously, getting the Astros just makes the division easier for the Halos for the next few years whereas getting the Diamondbacks or even the Rockies would make it harder.  The three are probably all on the same level in terms of being long-term threats, at least in my mind.  What concerns me about Houston though is that it means more travel and more early games for the Angels.  I'm sure the Rangers would love to have a regional rival, but it inconveniences every other team in the division.  The Diamondbacks would be better for the Angels since Phoenix is relatively close, but I think Colorado would be a compromise everyone could live with and still possibly even be a rival for Texas.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I've spent a lot of time in Colorado and I know folks there don't care too much for Texans, though I don't know if it goes both ways.  In any event, it sounds like the Angels could be getting company in the AL West very soon... assuming the evening out of the leagues doesn't include the elimination of the current divisional structure.
• With the Red Sox hitting the skids in the last week or two, I have noticed a few folks wondering if the Halos might actually still have a shot at the wild card.  In a word, no.  Let's be real here, the Angels are seven games out of the wild card and have 19 games to play.  In a best case scenario, the Angels go 15-4 to finish with 93 wins.  That means the Red Sox would have to go 7-12 for the Halos to win the wild card outright.  That isn't totally out of the question since the BoSox do play nothing but AL East foes the rest of the way, but I have a hard time believing they would be so good all season long only to fall apart now.  Plus, the Angels probably aren't going 15-4, and if they do, they'll probably win the AL West.  Believe me, I'm totally in favor of the Red Sox losing a lot, but I doubt it will result in the Angels making the post-season instead of them.
• Jerome Williams is quickly becoming a cult hero amongst Angel fans and I want to jump on the bandwagon too, but I just don't think I'm going to be able to buy in until I see how he does against a team that can actually hit.  Thus far he has faced a terrible Baltimore team and twice gone up against Seattle, the worst offense in baseball.  Not exactly great litmus tests.  What really sucks though is that Jerome isn't likely to be tested any harder the rest of the season since he is on schedule to face a lousy Oakland lineup twice and Toronto once.  Now, the Jays can really hit, so that will be the best challenge he will face, but I don't know if that will be enough for the Angel front office to pencil him into a rotation spot for 2012 if he is able to keep the Toronto lineup in check.
• I watch a lot of MLB.tv now and one of the annoying parts about an otherwise awesome product is that they repeat the same ads over and over again.  I've already made fun of the laughable Umpire Camp ad in this space before, but the one other ad that really confuses me is the one for Revlon.  How is the people who watch baseball on their computer the target demographic for womens' cosmetics? I may be a tech geek in my day job, but I do have a marketing degree from an Ivy League university, so I think I have at least a little bit of an idea about marketing and for the life of me I can't figure out why Revlon would waste their money on MLB.tv ads.  I feel like that is the equivalent of running an ad for motor oil during an episode of The View.

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.

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New York Yankees (87-55) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim  (78-65)

Pitching Probables: NYY Bartolo Colon (8-9, 3.72 ERA)  LAA – Jered Weaver (16-7, 2.49 ERA)

Game Info: 7:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

And here come the Damn Yankees. Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the fray after a day off, the best team in the AL shows up to rain on our happy little AL West parade. To add to the fun, Gargantua himself, Bartolo Colon, heads to the mound to try to throw his weight around against the Halos. Colon has been struggling a bit, but then again so has Jered Weaver. This isn't time for a tired arm Jered, the playoffs are at stake!!