Under Blue Skies, Angels Try to Stay Upbeat

Also, great point by Kevin about Izturis – there may be a fine line between being aggressive and being stupid but Izturis’s error in throwing to second was clearly more mental than physical.
Though Scioscia said Izturis’s attempt to start a double play was too ambitious — he had an easy out at first, which would have left runners at second and third and two out — Izturis said he did not regret his choice, only his execution.
Unfortunately, all of these valid complaints about McCarver are meaningless.
— bill in beijing 3. October 19,Fox Racing Hats, 2009 7:54 am
Link
— Tony 15. October 19, 2009 5:30 pm
Link
“Well, the hamburger I had was terrible,” Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said of the flight back to Ontario International Airport, which landed at 5:20 a.m.
Mugsy (#9) – I agree with your points. The easiest solution is to mute the sound on the TV and put the radio on for the audio play-by-play….
It’s all simply a matter of noteriety and publicity. And, as the old saw goes: There’s no such thing as bad publicity. All publicity is good.
We should seek a return to a best of three games for a Division Series and a best of five for the Championship. And by scheduling a few day-night doubleheaders during the regular season we could end the regular season a few days earlier than now.
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Angels returned home Sunday to find blue skies and warm weather, the environment where balaclavas and baseball do not go hand in hand. They also did not appear to need anything to warm their souls after a 4-3, 13-inning loss to the Yankees on a frigid, drizzly night in New York.
Your Comment
Comments are ################## and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive. For more information, please see our Comments FAQ.
Rally monkey will be out.
— Paul kostabi 2. October 19, 2009 6:26 am
Link
— mssrao 14. October 19, 2009 4:37 pm
Link
Between TBS and Fox, the play calling has been abysmal, in my opinion!
Howie Kendrick DID start Game 1. He went 1-3 if I recall correctly.
Everyone is focusing on how the Angels need to hit better. Well, I suppose that’s how THEY see it. But I see something else; great Yankee pitching, that also shut down the Twins and the Red Sox late in the year.
— George 12. October 19, 2009 1:52 pm
Link
It’s not as if the Yankees played in fine weather, while the Angels were forced to to otherwise. Including the weather factor, the playing field was indeed level – and both teams so evenly matched that the outcomes could easily have been reversed.
“I’m not going to make an excuse on that play,” Izturis said. “But when I went to throw the ball, it was wet. The field was soft — it was tough last night to play over there.”
— Mugsy 10. October 19, 2009 1:14 pm
Link
Then in game 2, the repeated assertions that the second basemen does not need to touch the base during a double play were just ridiculous. There’s a great article about it in the NYT’s today. The so-called “neighborhood rule” that McCarver kept referring to doesn’t exist at all. McCarver even claimed that the second basemen hadn’t touched the bag the entire time – which a while later he had to retract after FOX looked at the replays of every double play.
Simply put, the first two games of the ALCS this year we’re held at a point in October when the World Series used to be finished. Global warming is not yet so far advanced that we should still be barely into determining the pennant winner even as we’ve passed the Columbus Day holiday.
— Johnny 13. October 19, 2009 2:11 pm
Link
Oh, and the Yankee fan in me rises to tell you – we’ll whup you in warm weather too. Tell that to your monkey!
At least on TV, we won’t have to watch the video montage of “Calling All Angels” before first pitch.
Izturis made a bad decision. For him not to acknowledge that is just stubbornness. Whatever–I hope the Angels continue to make mistakes and do whatever they can to help the Yankees win. But then, Scioscia is stubborn, too, because Guerrero no longer belongs in the lineup and still shows up hitting 4th or 5th? And Figgins is 1 for the playoffs and is still leading off? And thank the baseball gods for Brian Fuentes!
These folks are not bound by reason or truth – they can say any absurdity they please. And if it results in criticism and complaint – all the better as far as the media (particularly Fox) is concerned.
Better bat him cleanup and find him a glove
Scioscia, speaking before a voluntary one-hour workout that every Angel appeared to attend, was intent on keeping the mood light and upbeat. He preferred to focus on the way the Angels played — mostly well — rather than the result, which was not good enough.
— Matt 8. October 19, 2009 11:43 am
Link

— Matt Brosseau 5. October 19, 2009 9:34 am
Link
Furthermore, some big time Angels hitters have all but disappeared at the plate. Besides Vlad, Abreu and Figgins have been awful. Figgins did have that one double, but other than that he hasn’t had a single hit – and only got on base from being hit!
Your Name Required
And by the way, I am waiting for the Yankees to really start hitting — Texeira has been a disaster in the first two games, Cano had the one big triple but otherwise has not looked comfortable at the plate, Posada. Swisher has been so-so,Toronto Blue Jays Hats, nothing like when he’s at the top of his game. If these guys warm up in the LA sun I’ll take their chances, with A-Rod and Jeter continuing to come through, against Weaver over those other guys against clutch pticher Pettite any day.
Last but not least, is anyone as irked by TIM MCCARVER as I am? I’ve always known him to be a Yankee hater since the mid 1990’s, but his comments seem more over the top than ever this year.
Scioscia will make two lineup changes to add a little more sock to the lineup — Mike Napoli will replace Jeff Mathis at catcher and Howie Kendrick will replace Izturis at second base. Though Kendrick did not start in Game 1 against C.C. Sabathia, he usually faces left-handers and will against Andy Pettitte. Kendrick, who will bat seventh, has also been a terror against the Yankees, batting .426 against them in his career.
— George 6. October 19, 2009 10:11 am
Link
— Kevin 9. October 19, 2009 12:45 pm
Link
— Kelly 7. October 19, 2009 10:25 am
Link
Rally monkey will be out.
As for Joe Buck, he couldn’t polish his father’s microphone–and shouldn’t be allowed to. (How many times did we have to be reminded that Darren Oliver is 38?). Send Buck back to football, where Troy Aikman misses him. Give baseball back to NBC, the only network that ever even tried.
Their spirits were not dampened by being down two games to none in the best-of-seven American League Championship Series.
Sadly, that just the way of the world that we live in….
I don’t know how Izturis doesn’t realize he made a stupid play. With Melky’s speed,Primitive Spring 2011 – Beyond The BLVD, and the fact that Izturis had to run to his left to make the play, with his momentum going away from 2nd base, there was 0 chance at a double play. The lead runner is the only one that mattered. It made no difference if the 2nd runner was on 2nd or first. He should have made the easy out at 1st for the second out of the inning. Trying to make a fancy play to get the runner out at 2nd was just plain dumb. As a Yankee fan, I’m glad he did what he did. But if he is still defending his decision to go to 2nd, then I’m glad he’s not on my team.
Defensively, the Angels expect the conditions to aid them. Scioscia noted that his infielders were not the only ones to struggle. Derek Jeter booted a routine grounder and Robinson Cano committed two errors.
Both teams faced the same conditions in Games 1 and 2. Having to don balaclavas and heavy gloves was de rigueur for players on both teams.
In game 1, he kept saying that Teixeira’s foot was off the bag when every single replay showed it was one the bag. Even Buck finally said, “I think it shows his foot was on the bag.”
— George Add your comments...
As to weather conditions – blame that on the team owners who are forever trying and wring more and more revenues by needlessly elongating the post-season period.
“For me, it’s not about thinking about who I was,” Guerrero, who has battled back and knee problems and has been strictly a designated hitter this season, said through a translator. “I’ve always seen myself as the same type of player — somebody that needs to produce for the team, somebody who wants the responsibility to be up there when it really counts.”
— tagtron 4. October 19, 2009 8:54 am
Link
Mugsy is right on – TBS announcers are horrible and the fact that McCarver is still broadcasting ALCS and WS for Fox is inexplicable. The guy has a lot of knowledge about baseball but is borderline incompetent as a big game announcer. I often find myself forced to hit the mute button and just watch the action – I suspect that I am not alone.
“There were a lot of positives on that field that our guys did,” Scioscia said. “Unfortunately, there were some negatives that we need to get better at if we’re going to get back into the series and win the series. I’m confident we will.”
Drawing attention is all that matters. It creates “adversting impressions” and the more such “advertising impressions” you get – the more you can charge advertisers.
Your E-mail Required, will not be published
Great games so far, no blow-outs and a 13 inning thriller. Excellent pitching by the boys from the bronx. Best of luck to both teams and may we all be treated with at least five more games of intense ALCS rivalry!
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
I’m an Angels fan for almost 30 years, so now is the time I enjoy the most. The only thing missing is the Angels of the regular season. Pitching has been OK, but Fuentes is anything but solid. Izturis’s error was inexcusable, not professional baseball. Not to mention the other costly errors by the Angels with the momentum building Yanks capitalizing on almost every one.
Let’s hope the bombers come out strong in CA but it’s really all about Pettite today. It would be great to see another postseason classic from him.
Thank you Mugsy and California Yankee Guy. McCarver became so defensive when the replay showed that Tex’s foot was on the bag that he went so far as to argue that Figgins had the best view of the play and would not have argued the call if he wasn’t safe. How ridiculous is that. Same thing on the play the previous inning when ARod was called out at the plate when he had touched home plate and was never tagged. McCarver was defending the call even before a replay was aired. He continued defending it even after the replay showed that Mathis never tagged Arod, by suggesting that Mathis should get credit for the out just because he had done a great job “hanging on to the throw” and that “Arod hadn’t touched home plate.” Buck finally had to remind McCarver that the replay showed that Arod did in fact touch home plate.
-->
“I would do it the same,” he said. “Maybe I make a good throw, and we have a chance to make a double play. I’d change nothing.”
Other than to provide a simplistic intro – exactly what does the weather have to do with anything regarding the current status of the ALCS?
Great points by Bill in Beijing and George.
“As afar as what our mood is, we know this thing could turn in a heartbeat. The momentum in a short series turns even pitch to pitch or inning to inning. If we win Game 3, you know, we’ve got a different vibe in this whole series and that’s what we want to create.”
He is a media figure. Even more, he is a Fox media figure.
As far as the broadcasts, well, we all know FOX hates baseball. I cannot believe McCarver ever played the game, let alone at a high level–he caught Bob Gibson, for pete’s sake! Teixeira’s foot was on the bag; Aybar made a bad play; Layne made (and had to make) the right call; Jeter was safe at first on the “double play.” These things happen–it’s called baseball, but McCarver has no clue.