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Following a professional sports team has it is ups and downs. I’ve been an Angel’s baseball fan for as long as I may remember. For the most part, it is been unrewarding because we seldom put a competitory team on the field. We avereaged regarding one playoff aspect a decade until not so long ago when we’ve always been in the hunt for gold. The Angels crowning glory was in 2002 when Tim Salmon and the rest of the Halo’s raised the trophy and trotted around the Big A when we beat the San Francisco Giants in Game 7. 2008 kept high hopes for Gene Autrey’s team. Yah I recognise he passed from physical life and doesn’t own them anymore, but you recognise he still watches on the Jumbotron in heaven. On a side note, Artie Moreno has been a outstanding owner and has helped market the Angels much better any of the former owners including the Disney machine. Anyways back to baseball. We ended 2007 with solid pitching, good hitting and one of the the best bullpens in the majors. But those pesky Red Sox beat us again and Artie knew we were missing a few pieces. With his wallet open, we signed Torii Hunter and in a surprise move swapped Orlando Cabrera for Jon Garland. In hindsight I think this was a bad trade even even though Garland ended up winning 14 games, he had a gaudy 4.90 era. For those of you that don’t follow baseball, 4.90 is terrible. The public will never know the real reason behind the trade nevertheless I have a sentiment that Orlando wasn’t loved by the Angels institution and they wanted to rid themselves of his attitude. Top 5 Angel Highlights of 2008
Top 5 Angel Lowlights of 2008
The Angels were solid all year long. We had the best or close to the best record all year round and didn’t go into any major tailspins. We also had our percentage of injuries but most teams have the same issues and ought to rely on bench and minor league players. The Angels have an magnificent scouting division and we have a great deal of almost ready for prime time players at our double and triple A teams. Most notably are Jose Arredondo who will soon be a closer, Brandon Wood who will soon be our each day shortstop or third baseman, and Kendry Morales. We also brought up Sean Rodriguez, Ryan Budde, and a couple pitchers that filled in nicely when called upon. The best move the team made all year is retail soft spoken Casey Kotchman to the Atlanta Braves for the unbelievable Mark Teixeira. Tex brought gold glove fielding along with a solid bat to the middle of the lineup. He lived up to his hype and filled a hole around Big Daddy Vladdy. But having the best record in baseball doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win in the playoffs. Although Tampa Bay was tough all year, I’d have rather seen the Angels play the Rays rather of the Red Sox. We beat the stuffing out of Boston for the duration of the year with an 8 -1 record, but they have our number for the duration of the playoffs. So why did the Angels fall to the Red Sox again this year. In my opinion, our defense was the number a major culprit. There were a few plays that if made might have turned the tide, rather dropped balls and the lack of turning a crucial double play did us in. Also to blame was the disability of the bottom of the order to plate men on base and a very suspect suicide squeeze undertake in game 6 that cost us a prospect of pushing the go in front run in. I’m not in truth sure how a major league player may miss a bunt, but Erick Aybar did and the Red Sox nailed Reggie Willits in a run down that gave the Red Sox hope. Angles manager Mike Scioscia gambled and lost on that call. I’m sure talk radio lines blew up blaming Mike for losing the game. However, I put the blame on the hitter who must have done whatsoever it took to touch that ball! I’m not happy we didn’t go further but I wasn’t devastated. I think the 2002 teams World Series victory will hold me over for another decade or so. I was at game 7 versus the Giants and believe me, having almost 50,000 persons as fanatic as I was cheering for the same team was a once in a lifetime experience. And at least I’m not a Cubs fan! |
