Don't believe me?  Just watch this video. (By the way, thanks for disabling video embedding MLBAM, you are also jerks, but we knew this already)

I mean, just ridiculous, especially since the Halos were the home team and should've been more accustomed to fielding flyballs in the midday California sun.  The jerky, jerky sun.

OK, maybe the Angels lineup reverting back into Hatcher-era productivity didn't help.  Nor did C.J. Wilson failing to follow his own Twitter hashtag of #throwstrikes.  But really, it was all the sun's fault because the stupid, dumb, stupid sun made the Angels drop so many easy outs.  Outs that they can't afford to give away.

BUt you know what?  Albert Pujols hit another home run, so this game was a wash.

White Sox 6, Angels 1

Game Notes

• I don't know if Pujols homering two days in a row actually means anything since he hasn't really done anything else good in the two games, but at least there is a bit more hope of him snapping out of his funk.
• You know who is not in a funk?  Mark Trumbo.  He is the opposite of funky.  While Chris Sale was baffling the rest of the Angels lineup, not like that's hard, the Trumbomber quietly collected four hits, three off of Sale, and even added a stolen base for good measure.  He is going to come back to earth before long, but with how locked in he is right now, I don't think it is going to be a long fall back down to where he will settle in.  Oh, and having him hit fourth in the lineup looks pretty nice, if you ask me.
• We might have to stop making fun of Vernon Wells for awhile.  Not only is he kind of starting to hit, but he was the only outfielder who actually got the ball today, highlighted by that spectacular leaping catch to steal a home run.

 Halo A-Hole

Just look at the sun.  What a big fat Jerky McJerkface.

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Chicago White Sox (17-21) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (17-21)

Pitching Probables: CWS – Chris Sale (3-2, 3.08 ERA)  LAA – C.J. Wilson (4-3, 3.42 ERA)

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

Yesterday, Mike Scioscia used the same exact lineup in consecutive games for the first time all season.  Even though it nearly knocked the Earth off its axis, it did produce one of the Halos' best offensive outputs of the season.

Does Scioscia dare to go back to the well for the third time?

Could he possibly be so bold?

Does he even realize that he used the same lineup twice in the first place?

I'm going to go with: No, no and yes.

Yeah, sorry folks, as much as I would like to see Scioscia maintain some continuity, it just isn't going to happen.  And, yes, I do realize that I just tacitly endorsed putting Vernon Wells in the lineup.  Actually, Wells will likely play today no matter what because a lefty is on the mound, whcih given Scioscia's tendencies this season means Kendrys Morales will almost certainly sit, probably in favor of Peter Bourjos, so it isn't all bad.

Plus, with it being a day game after a night game, Bobby Wilson will likely get the day off too.  Oh, well.  It was nice while it lasted.  Two gloooooooorious games.

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The Story: Jerry Dipoto hopes the firing of Mickey Hatcher can "spark" the Angel offense.

The Monkey Says: There is nothing that swapping out hitting coaches is going to do other than shake up clubhouse chemistry that is going to provide a "spark."  More than anything, letting Hatcher go shows fans that the team is trying to fix things and will no longer tolerate the questionable approaches Angel players have been taking to the plate and the poor results that have followed under the last few years of Hatcher's tenure.  Hatcher's replacement, Jim Eppard, isn't going to change any of that overnight, but he isn't going to make things worse either.

The Story: Mike Scioscia defended the job Mickey Hatcher did during his years as Angels hitting coach.

The Monkey Says: Well of course he did, he has been on his staff since he was hired, so Scioscia obviously thinks Mickey was doing something right.  One thing Scioscia made perfectly clear in his statements is that he was not the one who made this decision but that he was accepting of it, though not particularly happy about it.

The Story: Details on the charges against Torii Hunter's son claim he was involved in a scheme girls were drugged in order to coerce them into sexual activity.

The Monkey Says: This is just ugly and it makes me sad and angry on multiple levels to even link to it.

The Story: Sign the petition to stop the Angels from playing "Build Me Up, Buttercup" during the seventh inning stretch.

The Monkey Says: The Angels have a lot bigger problems to worry about right now, but, yeah, that song is really annoying and the lyrics aren't exactly positive if you listen to them closely.  It needs to go.

The Story: The firing of Mickey Hatcher is an example of the politician's fallacy.

The Monkey Says: That is an interesting way of framing it and I totally agree with it since it is a fancy way of saying what I've been saying, this is doing something just for show that certainly isn't going to make things worse.

The Story: New hitting coach Jim Eppard has the advantage of being familiar with many of the Angels young hitters.

The Monkey Says: That may or may not prove to be a good thing, the same goes for Scioscia saying Eppard brings a lot of the same things to the table as Hatcher.  What will ultimately determine Eppard's future with the Halos is whether or not he is in line with Dipoto's philosophy of controlling counts.  Given the type of hitters the Angels have been producing the last decade, Eppard is really going to have to prove himself in that area, though he can only do so much with the types of players that were presented for him to work with.

The Story: Albert Pujols and the White Sox Adam Dunn plan to talk about slumps while Dunn is in town for this short series.

The Monkey Says: This is a great idea.  Dunn had a disastrous season after signing with the Pale Hose last season but he is bouncing back this year.  If anyone can help lend Pujols some perspective it is Dunn.  That felt really weird to type.

The Story: A fond remembrance of the fun loving Mickey Hatcher.

The Monkey Says: If there is one way losing Hatcher will hurt, it will be in the "fun" factor.  One thing I have felt about the Halos the last few years is that they seem to be having about as much fun as a gay, Jewish black guy at a Klan rally.  Imagine how little fun they'll be having without Mickey around.  Then again, winning does tend to make things a lot more fun, so they could always try doing that.

The Story: Fangraphs ranks the Angels radio broadcasting team as the 27th best.

The Monkey Says: I'd argue against that but, well, you know, Jose Mota and all.

The Story: A look at who could be on the trading block for the Angels if they don't turn things around by the trade deadline.

The Monkey Says: Don't hate on me, it is just a hypothetical.

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Chicago White Sox (17-20) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (16-21)

Pitching Probables: CHI – Gavin Floyd (3-3, 2.53 ERA)  LAA – Jerome Williams (3-1, 4.19 ERA)

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

Yesterday was an interesting day for the Angels, to say the least.   After the Angels put a solid, all-around, team effort into beating the Oakland A's, the Angels' hitting coach of 13 years was released and replaced.  Triple-A Salt Lake hitting coach, Jim Eppard, has now joined the coaching staff in Anaheim as the Halo's brand new hitting coach. Since the Angels are about moving forward, I will too.

The baseball world has turned their eyes to the struggling Angels once again. This time, however, all eyes are on Eppard and how he will affect the Angels' offense.  It wouldn't be realistic to think that one man can simply come in and make the line up the most destructive line up in baseball, over night. But what I am hoping to see is a pair of fresh eyes analyzing and adjusting the hitter's issues. Welcome aboard, Eppard. 

The Angels have another odd, two-game series ahead of them and they are two games they could use. As the Angels inch closer and closer to a .500 record, every single game counts. 

We saw hot bats from Mike Trout and Albert Pujols last night. Alberto Callaspo is even making contributions to the Angels' offense. 

The bullpen is looking decent right now and pitchers are getting the job done. Run support helps from time to time. 

The White Sox are coming off of a tough loss to the Detroit Tigers after giving up a 6-0 lead in the late innings. The Halos are facing a team with a very similar record, but are also facing a touch pitcher in Gavin Floyd. Floyd's last outing consisted of 7 2/3 scoreless innings and has put on incredible performances in his last few starts. 

The struggling Angels offense faces a tough match up with Floyd on the hill tonight, but as long as the defense prevents the Sox from scoring runs, it is (once again) up to the offense to win the Angels this ballgame. 

Can't win without runs, after all.

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Just look at these moves he has made since taking over:

• Signing Albert Pujols to a ginormous contract
• Signing C.J. Wilson away from the Rangers
• Releasing Bobby Abreu
• Calling up Mike Trout
• Firing Mickey Hatcher

These are either well thought out orchestrations of a very smart baseball executive, or so it would seem. 

Now, here are snippets of conversations we've all had with a friend:

• "You know what would be so awesome, I know they'll never do it, but the Angels should totally sign Albert Pujols."
• "Dude, I hate the Rangers.  You know what would really burn them, signing C.J. Wilson.  Plus, it would make our starting pitching unstoppable!"
• "God, Bobby Abreu is so freaking useless and he's acting like a prima donna too.  We should just cut his ass."
• "This team is so horrible.  Why don't they just call up Mike Trout?  He's killing it in AAA.  Call him up and he'll fix everything."
• "Auuughgughg!  Why don't they just fire Mickey Hatcher already?!!?!! Rabble! Rabble!! Rabble!!! Rabble!!!!!"

Now, tell me how they are different?

Whether or not any of those five decisions prove to be smart remains to be seen.  But what they have already proven is that they are WILDLY popular with Angels fans.  That may or may not be a good thing.  Call me skeptical, but there is a reason that professional sports teams aren't run according to the wants and wishes of the unwashed masses.

It almost doesn't even matter to me if these five decisions were smart at this point.  What matters to me is how he came to these decisions.  It is entirely plausible that he came to all of these conclusions on his own after careful consideration and research on what the best move for the team's future success should be.  If that is the case, and it probably is, then great.  But if it isn't and Dipoto is really just making moves to appease the angry mob, then maybe we shouldn't be so excited about his "genius" moves.

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The Story: Mickey Hatcher's firing is a sign that Mike Scioscia's grip on the franchise has loosened.

The Monkey Says: Dipoto's comments make it pretty clear that he, possibly prompted by Arte Moreno, was behind this decision.  This could be a good thing because Scioscia does seems to have become too stuck in his ways and this potentially forces some new ways of thinking on him.  What remains to be seen is if Scioscia will be receptive to the new ideas.

The Story: Mike Scioscia has no intention of removing Albert Pujols from the three-hole.

The Monkey Says: Like I said, stuck in his ways.  Not dropping Albert even one or two spots in the order just reeks of "old school" managing.  Contrary to what Scioscia said, the team is NOT better off with Pujols batting third while he tries to figure things out.  The Halos actually have been getting production from the top two spots in the order lately, but that is being largely wasted because Pujols has been so bad.  In the long run, the Angels need him to be the linchpin of their batting order, but until he starts hitting that way again, the offense would likely improve with him batting lower in the lineup.

The Story: A look at how Mark Trumbo has improved this season.

The Monkey Says: I was definitely a skeptic of Trumbo after last season, but he is almost a totally different hitter this season.  His newfound plate discipline has transformed him into a legitimate star slugger.  His .390 BABIP is ridiculously unsustainable, so he will come back to earth before long, but even then he will still be putting up better numbers than anyon could've hoped for coming into this season.

The Story: An encouraging look at what Albert Pujols' numbers would look like if he started his previous seasons like he has in 2012.

The Monkey Says: Those wouldn't be the numbers that the Angels paid $240 million for, but they are still pretty dang good.  Now all we need is for Albert to flip a switch and turn back into The Machine overnight.  Easy, right?

The Story: The Angels are on a record pace for being shutout in a season.

The Monkey Says: Aaaaaaaand back to the depressing statistical trends.

The Story: Torii Hunter's situation sheds light on the little-used restricted list option.

The Monkey Says: It really is wonderfully progressive for MLB to offer the restricted list for such situations, freeing players up to tend to personal and family matters when they are truly needed.

The Story: Ryan Langerhans and John Hester are valuing what might be their short time in the big leagues.

The Monkey Says: This is a lovely fluff piece, but what I like about it is that the Angels actually have veterans in the minor leagues that they can call upon.  One thing that always drove me nuts about Tony Reagins is that he almost never brought in older players with big league experience to serve as insurance policies in the minors, often resulting in the Angels having to call up prospects or non-prospects who were completely overmatched.  I think we all still have nightmares over the abbreviated Paul McAnulty era.

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But seriously, this was actually a very encouraging effort from the Angels in that they didn't simply rollover after getting blanked by the A's on Monday.  Granted, it wasn't like they lit the world on fire, but a win is a win and this squad at least showed they still have some life in them.  Now they just need a spark to really get them going.  Maybe the post-game firing of Mickey Hatcher will do just that.

Angels 4, Athletics 0

Game Notes

• What a monstrous game Mike Trout had.  He put on display every single one of his tools.  He smashed a homer, stole a base, scored from first on a double and ran down several flyballs in the gap.  We all knew how good Trout would be someday, but even the most optimistic amongst us can't have imagined he'd be this good so quickly.
• Hooray!  Albert Pujols had three hits and two RBIs.  Whatever you do, don't look at how softly he hit those balls for his three hits, it would detract from this very artificial feelgood moment.
• I love the way Scioscia used Scott Downs and Ernesto Frieri tonight.  It wasn't quite a save situation, but it may as well have been.  I doubt Scioscia is forward thinking enough to officially declare those two co-closers who will be interchanged based on matchups like they were tonight, but if that is how he effectively uses them, I am all for it.

Halo Hero

The good Santana is back!  This is the great thing about having four pitchers who can throw like an ace.  The best cure for a bad offense is having an ace pitcher step up to shutdown the opposition and thus take the pressure off the lineup to perform.  Considering the torturous five-start stretch in which the Halos didn't score any runs for him, it was rather magnanimous of Santana to help them out like he did tonight.

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For some, this is cause for celebration, but not for me, though I do think it was time for him to go.  This team's offense has gotten too bad and too many batters are struggling for any hitting coach of any repute to keep his job, even if his duties don't have much to do with said struggles.  This move is all about someone having to pay for the Angels' painfully slow start.

What it most definitely isn't is some sort of power play by Albert Pujols as certain national reporters are speculating (hint, the writer's name rhymes with Shmon Shmeyman).

Yes, Albert and Mickey had a little bit of a run-in over Hatcher being a bit too candid with the media.  That incident was just frustration boiling over and I suspect that is what this firing is about as well, only this time the frustration comes from the top.  By that, I mean Jerry Dipoto and probably Arte Moreno too.  We are almost a quarter of the way into the season and the inept hitting has shown no signs of turning around, so one cannot blame management for wanting to shake things up.

Hatcher was just the easiest target.  In his 13 years in the position, fans have probably been demanding his firing for roughly 11 of those years.  If this firing does anything, it should appease the angry mob for a short time.  What it won't do is instantly turn around the team's offensive fortunes.

Granted, I have never heard anyone make any kind of case that Hatcher was a good hitting coach.  Heck, I can count on one hand all the times in the last 13 years that I have heard a player credit Mickey for helping them out.  That being said, a hitting coach has pretty limited impact and influence on the team's performance.  It is highly unlikely that interim hitting coach is going to come up and suddenly straighten out Pujols or Aybar or Wells or Bourjos.  At best, the team will benefit simply from having a new voice in the clubhouse.  But really, how much difference will that even make?

If we look at this from far enough away, the real story here isn't that Hatcher got canned, it is that Dipoto and/or Moreno actually were able to fire him.  Hatcher has been by Mike Scioscia's side for the entirety of Scioscia's tenure and Mike has protected him over and over and over again.  Maybe this was Scioscia's idea, but I seriously doubt it.  More likely, Scioscia had this thrust upon him, which is a safe assumption since Sosh was curiously absent when the announcement was made.

Combine this firing with the trade of Jeff Mathis and it seems pretty clear that the iron grip on the franchise that so many assumed Scioscia had before last off-season has been greatly loosened, assuming it was ever that tight to begin with.  Some have taken the giant leap of logic and decided that Hatcher being fired is somehow a shot across Scioscia's bow and that he better start getting results or he could be next.  I have no insider information here, but I find that assumption highly dubious.  Firing a batting coach says that the team is frustrated and not willing to stand idly by without doing something.  Firing a long-tenured manager like Scioscia says you want to change the direction and philosophy of a franchise entirely and the Angels are a long ways a way from crossing that bridge.

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Oakland Athletics (19-17) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (15-21)

Pitching Probables: OAK – Bartolo Colon (3-3, 3.96 ERA)  LAA – Ervin Santana (1-6, 5.09 ERA)

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

Before yesterday's game I wrote that the Halos are facing nothing but cupcake opponents for the next two weeks.

After yesterday's game I came to the realization that there is a very good chance that the Angels are the cupcakes.  This whole season has been bitterly depressing, but I've still done my darndest to maintain the mantra of "they'll be fine, this team has too much talent to be this bad."  And I still stick with that, the Angels aren't this bad, but they aren't much better than this either.

So, enough of the charade.  This Angel team isn't going to just up and start steamrolling mediocre teams.  At best they will scrap hard against them and maybe come out of this stretch a game or two closer to .500.  That big run where they win 12 of 15 games or something like that, it just isn't in them.

Enjoy the game!  Or don't.  You probably won't because a Bartolo Colon gem is beyond inevitable.

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