This is a very educational week in the world of Angel Tweets.  Not only do we get to learn a bit more about everyone's favorite super prospect, but we get treated to the creation of a brand new word.  Heck, even Chevy Clarke catches a little bit of the learning bug himself... sort of.

Mike Trout loves him some country music - @Trouty20 Country music on the way to the lake ! @cpettit815

• Well, there it is, the first real weakness in Trout's make-up.  C'mon, Mike, your from New Jersey.  What are you doing listening to country music?

CJ Cron's career as a software developer takes an unpleasant turn - @CCron24 Just saw my app idea has already been created. Unreal #upset

• Poor CJ.  I hope his knee turns out to be OK since he no longer has a fallback career as an app developer to rely on.

Trevor Bell had a rough morning - @TrevBe22 I woke up pissed this morning because Rosie Huntington wasn't really next to me. Damn dreams!!!!!!

• Imagine how much more pissed he is going to be when he realizes he is living in Utah.

Victor Rojas insults Oakland and coins a new term at the same time - @VictorRojas29 Coliseum in Oakland #dumptacular RT @SamuelGorski Least favorite ballpark Victor?

• "Dumptacular."  Well done, Victor.  Well done.

...and finally, we end things with the world's worst Twittering athlete, Chevez "Chevy" Clarke.

@OfficialChevy I need to read more

• Yes, Chevy, you do.  In fact, I think you should spend all your free time reading instead of twittering.  Maybe try that for a few months and you'll come back to Twitter and suddenly find yourself capable of composing something resembling a cogent thought.

@OfficialChevy Where have I been

• Just when I think Chevy can't get any more helpess...

Early last week I was given the opportunity to interview a Mr. Torii Hunter, you may know him as the right fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I met with Torii in Anaheim while he was making a promotional appearance for the Pepsi Max company, promoting the Pepsi Max Field of Dreams, which allows you to vote for your favorite player of all time at each position, which enters a ballot each time a vote has been logged. The winners will receive a grand prize which is, well I'll let you find out for yourself by visiting the website here, let's just say that it's a doozy of a prize.

Before we get to the interview I'd like to thank both Dave and Chuck from Angelswin.com, Dave for helping out with the interview and Chuck for allowing us to use their video recording of the interview, which you can see jsu after the jump. To clear up any confusion (since the voices are hard to tell apart), this was a 2-on-1 interview conducted by both Monkeywithahalo.com and Angelswin.com (A.W), with the transcript following the video.

The August 10th, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Richards officially gets the call, Scioscia getting Manager of the Year buzz, the Angels are ready for Mark Trumbo to take on a bigger role in the lineup and much more...

The Story: The Angels made it official that they will call up prospect Garrett Richards to start today's game.

The Monkey Says: This confirms what Keith Law tweeted Monday night and I must reiterate how much I agree with this decisions and how glad I am tht thy are leaving the door open to him sticking in the rotation if he impresses.  Some folks have expressed concern about having him make his debut in "big, scary" New York City, but I tend to think that is overblown.  If a guy is too weak mentally to handle that big stage, he probably isn't ever going to succeed anyway.  To make room for Richards, the team has optioned Horacio Ramirez back to the minors.

The Story: Mike Scioscia deserves credit for keeping the Angels in contention despite their punchless lineup.

The Monkey Says: You know, I hadn't really thought about it until now, but Scioscia has a great shot at the award, especially if Cleveland goes into a tailspin and finishes the season under .500.

Did that really just happen?  Did I really see what I think I just saw?  Do you even know which highly improbable occurrence during the course of the Angels' win over the Yankees I am even referring to?

Angels 6, Yankees 4

Perhaps I am talking about Jeff Mathis jumping into the wayback machine to relive his 2009 ALCS performance by coming up with a bases loaded ground-rule double?

Or maybe I am referring to Bobby Abreu, mired in an epic slump, hitting a home run?

Or was it his second home run of the game that was so improbably seeing how it came against the great and mighty Mariano Rivera?

No, no, it has to be Jordan Walden finishing the game and escaping what appeared to be a blown save in the making by picking off Curtis Granderson with the old "fake to third, go to first" move, right?

Honestly, the whole game was just so improbable, that I'm not even sure what it was that I was referring to to begin with.

@

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (63-52) @ New York Yankees (69-44)

Pitching Probables: LAA – Dan Haren (12-6, 2.81 ERA)  NYY – A.J. Burnett (8-9, 4.54 ERA)

Game Info: 4:05 PM PT; TV - Fox Sports West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

Alright, Angel fans, it is time to dispense with the cupcake opponents and see if the Angels can really go toe-to-toe against the best the American League has to offer.  OK, the Yankees aren't quite the best, but they are awfully close and still more than qualify as the kind of top flight competition that the Halos are going to have to face if they make the playoffs.

I've said all along that I think the Angels can do some damage in the post-season if they catch teams at the right time, given how good their rotation is.  The "right time" included having the offense riding a hot streak, so suffice it to say that this is not the "right time."  But that only makes this all the more worthwhile of a test.  Can the Angels really go into Yankee Stadium and trade haymakers with the big bad Bronx Bombers on the strength of their starting pitching alone?  Can the bats spring to life now that the occassion calls for it?  Does this Halo roster really have the talent necessary to be a contender?

I don't know those answers and, frankly, I don't think the Angel players know those answers either, but after this series, we should know all too well, whether we like the answers or not.

Happy belated birthday, Mike Trout!

Normally, I don't bother with celebrating the birthdays of any of the Angels, much less those of their prospects, but in this case I am making a special exception because, well, Mike Trout is just so darn special.

What makes him and his birthday special?  It is only his 20th, despite what his amazing athleticism and uncommon level of maturity might suggest.

A lot of youngsters might have had their head messed with after getting a few weeks worth of their first taste of the big leagues.  Getting so tantalizingly close to realizing their lifelong dream can often cause a top prospect to lose focus upon returning to the minors as they feel like they are "above" that level now and thus don't really need to try.  That could have been a particularly big issue for Trout since he was somewhat unexpectedly sent back down a level that he had already mastered.

But rather than act like a cocky and petulant teenager, Trout instead showed why he is so highly thought of by committing himself to the game back in Arkansas, where he has been better than ever.  It is only eight games, but certainly doesn't seem like a kid lacking in motivation, not with his .333/.444/.533 slash line since rejoining the Travelers.  Not too bad for a guy that literally just turned 20.  Not too bad at all.

That's it for this week, check back in next week to see what happens to our future hero.  Same Trout Time.  Same Trout Channel... err, blog.

With the Angels seemingly headed back into the offensive doldrums, there has been a renewed focus on Mike Scioscia's, ummm... interesting lineup decisions.  Scioscia can talk in cliches and platitudes all he wants about trusting his veterans and knowing that they need to come around, but sooner or later, he has to realize that he is part of the problem.

The most frustrating part about this whole topic is that it really shouldn't take much convincing, not to anyone capable of understanding even the most basic of baseball stats.  Alas, Scioscia does not seem to be one of those people, how else do you explain the following numbers, which are the Angels' production in OPS by lineup spot and where it ranks in the MLB and AL:

#1 = .714 OPS, 16th in MLB, 7th in AL

#2 = .701 OPS, 14th in MLB, 8th in AL

#3 = .747 OPS, 22nd in MLB, 11th in AL

#4 = .707 OPS, 25th in MLB, 11th in AL

#5 = .631 OPS, 28th in MLB, 14th in AL

#6 = .738 OPS, 15th in MLB, 6th in AL

#7 = .764 OPS, 3rd in MLB, 2nd in AL

#8 = .682 OPS, 14th in MLB, 7th in AL

#9 = .541 OPS, 16th in MLB, 14th in AL