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Los Angeles Dodgers (37-46) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (42-41)

Pitching Probables: LAD -- Clayton Kershaw (8-3, 2.93 ERA)  LAA – Jered Weaver (9-4, 1.97 ERA) 

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

I can't remember when I was this excited for a regular season game. I am jacked to see what these two guys throw at us tonight. I have been blasting AC/DC and Metallica all morning getting pysched up for this game. I am wearing my Angel's Jersey, Hat and my glove while I type this out. I am that excited for this game.

(too much?)

Yeah, I think we all need to calm down a bit. When I woke up this morning and checked my Twitter feed, even Peter Gammons commented on the pitching match-up. Buster Olney made mention of it. This in and of itself is a historic occassion, since I wasn't sure those guys knew they played baseball out here on the west coast. But it is a good duel and should be a low scoring, edge of your seat kind of game. The real question is which offense can scratch a run or two across. Let's just hope it doesn't get decided by a bogus blown call by the umps this time.

There wasn't an aspect of tonight's game that the Angels didn't excel at sucking at. They couldn't hit, field, throw or run the bases with any real conviction or ability tonight and let the Dodgers jump all over them. The pitching was lousy and the decision making was even worse. If I were in attendance I would have asked for my money back. Let's just call it one of for the scrap heap and move on.

Angels 0 Dodgers 5

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Los Angeles Dodgers (36-46) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (42-40)

Pitching Probables: LAD -- Hiroki Kuroda (5-9, 3.10 ERA )  LAA – Tyler Chatwood (5-4, 3.64 ERA) 

Game Info: 7:10 PM PT; TV - FS-West; Radio - KLAA 830 AM

The schedule gods have seen fit to give us an exact reply of last weekend's series, right down to the pitching matchups. But what a difference a week can make in the fates of these two clubs. The Angels are within a game of first place and are currently riding a 7 of 8 winning streak. The Dodgers meanwhile have become that nation's new favorite soap opera. I half expect the boys in blue to walk off the field at some point when they realize they might not get paid this week.

Ah how I wonder where these two have been the past few years, surely the players we're seeing this season aren't the same players we've been watching their whole careers. There were some flashes of what could be with Aybar and Kendrick back in 2009. Before that season they proved to be good players with the potential to be stars, but after their rather pedestrian 2010 many of us jumped the gun and wondered how we could get replace these two with real performers. Well, those real performers have finally shown their true colors, but will their talent last? Is this just another flash of what could be just like 2009? Could an extension for either (or both) of these players be in order?


 

Surely an extension must be in order for this man! Such shenanigans cannot be so easily replaced.

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:

• Good news.  The good news is that I scored an interview with ESPN's Dan Shulman in lieu of the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast of the Dodgers-Angels game.  I'll have that posted as our preview on Sunday, so stay tuned.
• Bad news.  OK, bad for you, good for me.  Production is going to be a bit light next week, my wife and daughter are finally joining me in Seattle this weekend and we are moving into our house then as well.  Needless to say, I'm going to be busy with that, so don't expect the usual stream of content for at least the first few days of next week.
• Apparently Charlie Sheen used steroids when he was filming Major League, that is if we can take a degenerate, junkie, compulsive liar at his word.  My question though is why?  Does anybody care if Sheen was throwing 85 instead of 78 in a movie?  Did it enhance the film in any way?  Tim Robbins in Bull Durham had one of the worst throwing motions anyone has ever seen and it is still considered one of the best baseball movies ever.  Sorry, Charlie, but that is not winning.
• I don't know if you've been watching the new show Wilfred, but it is pretty good.  However, whenever I watch it, I can't help but wonder what my own dog would sound like if he were anthropomorphic.  He's a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, so I suppose he'd have a Welsh accent, but he is also pretty grumpy, so I think there'd be a touch of Ed Asner in there too.
• I'm man enough to admit when I am wrong.  I though I was dead on when I predicted Mike Trout would be promoted to Salt Lake after the Double-A All-Star break, but I guess I misread the tea leaves.  Trout played for Arkansas last night, so I guess whatever credibility I had just went out the window... until I predict his promotion again at the Triple-A All-Star break.

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.

The July 1st, 2011 edition of daily news for the LA Angels including Scott Kazmir works out for the Rangers, Angels get sued for racism, Rich Thompson uses Twitter for more than most and much more...

The Story: Scott Kazmir had a workout for the Rangers yesterday.

The Monkey Says: PLEASE sign him.  Pretty please!  With sugar on top?

The Story: Former radio host David Smith is suing the Angels for racism.

The Monkey Says: There are plenty of bad allegations in there, but seeing how the Angels have a Latino owner and a black GM, I find it hard to believe that the organization would promote the kind of culture the lawsuit claims they have.  I'd be shocked if this guy is anything more than a disgruntled employee looking to make a fast buck.

When I couldn't sleep the other night, I started trolling through of my Google Analytics reports, specifically, the keyword referrals this blog has gotten.  There were a lot of what you would expect (the first 50 or so results were some permutation of "Jeff Mathis can't hit" or "Angels offense sucks", but as I got into the depths of the report, I found some that were downright hilarious.

Here are the ten most "interesting" keyword results I found from the last few months.  I know I do some satirical pieces now and then, but I promise you these are all 100% real.  That reminds me, if any of you are responsible for these searches, I both applaud you and am slighlty worried about your mental health.

1. "Is Jeff Mathis a homosexual"-  Wow, I know give Mathis a hard time, but take it easy people.
2. "Arte Moreno and murder in Anaheim stadium"-  This last off-season was bad, but murder?  I think someone is taking things a little to personally.
3. "I hate Carl Crawford"-  Not gonna lie, I'm pretty proud of this one.
4. "Juan Rivera lazy"-  Why did someone need to Google this?  Just watch him play and that should pretty much tell you all you need to know.
5. "Vernon Wells big splash"-  Ouch, that one hurts.
6. "Did Joe Maddon get fat"-  Maddon might be a Scioscia protege, but not to the point that he's emulating Mike's body type.
7. "Garrett Wilson and death penalty"-  WHAT?!?!?!  Hey, people, if you don't like my writing, just leave a snarky comment, the death penalty seems like a bit much, no?  Seriously though, I actually plugged this search in myself and some douche with the same name as me killed his infant child.  Way to ruin it for everyone, other Garrett.
8. "Is it a good idea not to drop Kendrys Morales?"-  No, that is not a good idea.  In fact, there might not be much worse ideas out there when it comes to fantasy baseball.
9. "John Lackey cheats on his wife"-  That's just not very nice.
10. "Scott Kazmir don't worry guys"-  Google FAIL!  There is no way I ever wrote anything about Kazmir that involved the sentiment of "don't worry."