Big Game Hunter Sends Fans Home Happy

After two innings of leaving the bases loaded, and some questionable managerial decisions, the Angels finally win the game on a walk-off single by Torii Hunter. It was the home finale, and what a way to send off the 2010 home season. Sure, it wasn't a celebration of another western division title, but it was still one hell of a way to go out.

The Angels now find themselves 78-80, and in a one game lead for second place over the A's, whom they swept. The Angels start a four game set in Texas to finish the season tonight. If they can manage to win 3 of 4, they will be a .500 baseball club. If they can somehow sweep the Rangers, they will be a winning baseball team. Thats right, the 2010 Angels would have a winning record.

Its a little silly to get that far ahead of ourselves, but just finishing ahead of the A's would be nice, although they are playing an equally meaningless series against the last place Mariners. Regardless, it would be nice to see the Angels end the season strong, especially for the crop of young talent that have shined over the last month.

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In Angels Nation news, we will be taking an announced hiatus (for a change), as I am getting married over the weekend. We will be back Monday, however, to recap the Rangers series, and take an in depth look at the 2010 Postseason.

Remember, you can follow us on Twitter @angelsnationnet, or on Facebook, where we are simply Angels Nation.

Angels Ride Their Future Into Second Place.

The postseason hopes might be done, but the season is far from over. With a win against Oakland last night, the Angels moved into a tie with the team for second place in the West at 77-80. Bragging rights for the second best team in one of the worst divisions in baseball might not seem like much, but its not so much why we are doing it, but who.

Guys like Peter Bourjos, Hank Conger, Mark Trumbo, Jordan Walden Howie Kendrick, and Jeff Mathis have all played integral parts in the teams first two wins against this Athletics club. This is a great experience for these guys who, while they may not be on the 2011 Opening Day Roster, will play important roles in the Angels quest to reclaim the West Title.

A nice winning streak, a second place finish and a .500 record to end the season will go a long way to establishing confidence in these young players, not to mention the veterans who will be looking forward to the early vacation this year to help rest their bodies and minds.

I'll go further into the 2011 Angels later, but for right now, lets enjoy the last 4 1/2 games of the season (the Angels are currently tied with the A's 1-1 in their last home game of the year), wish our compadres in Texas well, and enjoy baseball while its still around.

Carl Crawford Countdown: 74 Days.

Rangers Can't Shut the Door.

Dallas Braden, who earlier this season pitched a perfect game against another playoff team, the Tampa Bay Rays, threw 8 shutout innings last night, only allowing one hit.

It seems like for the last week and a half, the Rangers magic number to eliminate both the A's and Angels, and clinch the West has been less than 10. However, they lost two-of-three to the Angels earlier in the week, and another two-of-three to the lowly Mariners last weekend.

The Rangers are still in good shape, however. Even if they lose the next three against Oakland, they are still up 4 with 7 to play, and they draw Seattle and the Angels in those final games of the season.

At this rate, however, the Rangers could be the last to clinch a playoff spot in the American League, and that could have a pretty terrible effect on the teams chemistry. If the Rangers had played the last 30 games like they played the first 120, they would have clinched weeks ago, but they have seemingly already shut it down for the postseason, hoping to win enough games to get by.

Unless they can manage to win 8 or 9 of their last 10, I'm not going to expect anything but a first round sweep by whatever AL East team they draw in the first round (right now, that'd be the Yankees). The offense almost looks worse than the Angels, and even Cliff Lee, their three month superstar, couldn't get the job done last night against the A's.

They have Tommy "Big Game" Hunter on the mound tonight against an Oakland rookie. If they can't distance themselves from the AL West pack tonight, its likely just an early sign of things to come in October against far superior opponents.

Angels Refuse to Limp Across Finish Line

Ervin Santana threw a complete-game shutout last night for his career best 17th win of the season.

You know, if not for the injury to Kendry Morales and the Miserable performance from our Bullpen, the Angels would have had a pretty good year.

They still can. With last nights win, the Angels are 75-76 on the season, and still just a game and a half out of second place (and 8.5 out of first?!?!).

While I don't think for one second the Angels will actually complete any kind of monumental comeback (Oakland still has a shot, though, considering they start a four game series against Texas in Oakland tomorrow), I think this little run they are putting on to end the season is a great sign for 2011.

Dan Haren tries to complete the sweep against Texas tonight, he will go up against CJ Wilson, who at one point was the teams best pitcher, but has recently come back down to earth.

Remember Kids, It Could Be Worse...

You know... I almost feel bad for Dodger fans.

For the 8th or 9th time this decade, their season is mathematically over before the Angels' after losing the the Padres 6-0 last night. Not only that, but their fearless leader, Joe Torre, is leaving the team at season's end, to be replaced by Don Mattingly, who has already admitted he is going to be a terrible manager to start.

Not only that, but rumors are running around that Torre could just be leaving to go to a job in New York (to coach the Mets) or Chicago (to coach the Cubs). Thats right, someone would rather coach the Mets or the Cubs than your incredibly boring baseball team.

In addition, the McCourts, the family who owns the team, is currently going through a rough divorce trial, trying to decide who owns the team. This has put a hold on most money coming in or out of the team for a while, and has really crippled their ability to compete.

Oh, and Dodger Dogs taste like Rodent.

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Angels Elimination Number: 4 (Still?)
Carl Crawford Countdown: 81 Days

Adenhart Trial Update

From ABC 7 News Chicago:

The man accused of murder in the collision that killed Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others told police afterward that he blanked out driving home from a bar.

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A man charged with murder in a drunken-driving crash appeared shocked in a videotaped interview when police told him about the collision that killed Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others.

"I did a horrible thing," defendant Andrew Gallo said as he sobbed in the recording played Monday during the trial in Orange County.

Gallo, 23, also rubbed his eyes as the jury watched the interview done soon after the April 9, 2009, collision.

Adenhart, 22, died just hours after pitching six scoreless innings at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Two of his companions, Courtney Stewart, 20, and Henry Pearson, 25, also died. Another friend was critically injured.

Gallo sped through a red light in a minivan and smashed into the side of the sedan carrying the four victims, authorities said.

In previously played segments of the interview, Gallo described a night of drinking beer and shots of sake with his stepbrother then claimed surprise that he had been driving, explaining his license was suspended.

"It's a big blur, I don't even know how we got there ... I don't remember how the accident happened," Gallo said in the footage shown Monday.

Gallo was seen sitting in a corner of a small room, rubbing his shoulder and sipping from a cup of water between questions. Investigators asked if he wanted them to relay a message to the victims' families.

"I'm sorry..." Gallo said, his voice cracking. "I didn't mean for anybody to get hurt."

Gallo pleaded not guilty after he was indicted on three counts of second-degree murder, a felony count of fleeing the scene of a traffic collision involving death or permanent injury, and two other felonies involving driving under the influence.

He could face a maximum sentence of 54 years and eight months to life in state prison if convicted of all counts.

Defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman began calling witnesses on Monday, including Gallo's father Thomas.

Goodman has said Andrew Gallo drove while intoxicated but did not intend to kill anyone and thought his stepbrother was his designated driver.

Prosecutors said they took the unusual step of charging Gallo with second-degree murder -- and not the lesser charge of manslaughter -- in part because he had a prior drunken-driving conviction and because he was driving on a suspended license.

Jon Wilhite, the lone survivor from Adenhart's car, suffered what one doctor called extraordinary injuries that included the separation of his skull from his spine.

Wilhite's recovery has been one of the best reported in medical literature for the injury, spine surgeon Dr. Nitin Bhatia testified.

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I'm not a Lawyer, nor do I claim to be, but it seems pretty odd that his defense so far has been "I don't even remember driving". As someone with a past history of DUI charges, it seems like "I don't even remember driving" would be a terrible way to go with your case.

I'm also not a Judge, nor a part of the Jury, but if this is how the whole trial is going to go, this seems to be a pretty easy one case to decide. Throw this clown in jail for as long as you can. Anything else is too good for him.

At Least We Aren't The Dallas Cowboys.

"America's Team" lost again yesterday to the Chicago Bears to start the season 0-2. Right now, under head coach Wade Phillips, they look more like Cowgirls than anything (and even that might be underestimating Cowgirls).

The Angels, however, beat the Tampa Bay Rays again to win the weekend series. They almost look like a real baseball team again. They were one Fernando Rodney Saturday blow-up from sweeping the second best team in baseball.

The Angels days are still numbered, however, as the Rangers won a game this weekend to bring the elimination number down to 4. The Rangers are in town for the next three games. By tomorrow night the Angels could officially be out of the race. Conversely, by the end of Wednesday, the Angels could be only 7.5 back with 10 to play (11 for Texas).

It would be the worst late-season collapse in Major League history, but its very unlikely. The Angels are still trying to find their identity, while the Rangers are playing for their first postseason in ten years.

Although, if the Angels can do the unthinkable and find themselves 3 or 4 games back of Texas when they start their final series of the season in Arlington, it would make for some damn interesting games.

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Speaking of the Cowboys, Kim Kardashian recently broke up with Cowboys Wide Receiver Miles Austin (again). Its pretty clear that Austin needs to step his game up. At this time last season, Kim's old beau Reggie Bush was 2-0...

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Angels Elimination Number: 4
Carl Crawford Countdown: 83 Days

Cleveland, Now 100% More Depressing.

Who thought that could even be possible?

Another loss to the last place Indians puts the Angels 11.5 games out in the West, and dwindles their elimination number down to 6. That means as soon as Sunday night, the Angels could be eliminated from postseason contention for the first time since 2006.

For all intents and purposes though, the season is over. Even if the Angels win the rest of their games, the Rangers still have 10 remaining games to win 6 more, and eliminate the Angels. Its not like its going to be difficult, either. All 10 are against either the A's or Mariners, including a 3-game set in Seattle starting tonight. With the Angels in Tampa for 3 against the first place Rays, its very likely the Angels season will be over Sunday night.

Personally, I wont be watching this weekends games. In fact, I probably wont watch another baseball game on TV until the playoffs begin in three weeks. The Angels have been hard to watch, even in victories, and my attention has shifted towards the NFL season, and the upcoming NHL season (Pre-season next week!)

However, that doesn't mean Angels Nation is dead for six months, no sir. Once the season is actually over (somewhere around October 4th) I'll do a 2010 season retrospective, along with the seasons best moments and an in-depth look at the season ahead. Not to mention 2010 Postseason and World Series coverage, and once we get into November, some of the most opinionated Hot Stove coverage on the internet!

I was thinking about using the slogan "Angels Nation: Where Angels Baseball is Always On", but I don't want to get sued by the MLB Network, so I've opted for the much more appropriate "Angels Nation: Carefully Documenting How The Angels Will Suck Next Year, Too"

Angels Elimination Number: 6
Carl Crawford Countdown: 86 Days.

Things I'd Rather Watch...

The Angels lost to Cleveland, the joke of all sports-towns, AGAIN last night, and to be honest, things dont look good going into tonight. Weaver is on the hill tonight, but that has spelled trouble for the Angels in the last two months, getting something like 5 runs in Weavers last 12 starts (I need a stat-checker).

Regardless of the Win or Loss, the Angels have been tough to watch lately. The Offense looks comatose, and the Bullpen seems to think they need to serve up batting practice.

So, lets go through my list of hilarious things I'd rather watch than Angels Baseball right now.

1. The WNBA Finals. At least some of those girls have talent.
2. Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Not only is Khloe married to one of the reigning NBA Champions, but she is a former WWF Women's Champion!
3. Pre-Season Hockey. No Good Reason for this, and its a little sad.
4. Dodgers Baseball. Haha, no, just kidding.

On the bright side, the season is almost mercifully over.

Rangers Magic Number (To Eliminate the Angels): 8
Carl Crawford Countdown: 88

Ok, Fuentes, Now Its Personal....

Hey, look at that picture up there. Its a pretty rare one. Its Brian Fuentes throwing a pitch for his new team, the Minnesota Twins. Why is it rare, you ask? Well, he has only faced one batter since being traded for Andre the Giant a few weeks ago. Why is that? Well, because the no-good schmuck seems to have hurt his arm, something the Twins didn't know going into the trade (We're not that sorry).

Why am I being so outspokenly aggressive towards a player who cant suck for us anymore? Well, on a radio interview yesterday with Mason and Ireland on the local ESPNRadio affiliate, he trashed us, the Angels Fans (Note: I am currently unable to find any kind of article pertaining to the interview, but I will provide a link once one surfaces). He complained about us "booing him" last year, even though he lead the league in saves.

First off, buddy, the 2008-2009 Angels played in such a way that my sister could have lead the league in saves. Next, we didn't boo you because we didn't have anything better to do, we booed you because you sucked, and we all knew it. You were also third in the league in BLOWN saves.

Then, he gets on us about booing John Lackey (on his return trip with Boston) even though he was a major factor in the team winning the 2002 World Series. Well, I cant really argue that he helped us win the series, but he got booed because he badmouthed the fans after he left. A classless act.

His reasoning for the booing of himself and Lackey by the Angels faithful? "Thats the kind of fans they are".

You know, at first, I was just happy you are gone. Never around to walk 3 batters in the ninth inning, or grow creepy porn-'staches again. Now, I wish you the worst of luck. I wish your new team the worst of luck (acquiring your sorry ass was a good start). I hope Minnesota not only falls out of the playoffs, but I hope when (if) you come back this season, you have the most miserable final two weeks of the season, and you are pretty much forced out of the league.

Go White Sox!

Angels Get Nice Win; NFL Season Kicks Off

Although the Angels are still 9.5 games out of first place, and the Rangers magic number is down to 14, the Angels got a really big win last night, outlasting the Cleveland Indians in 16 innings. After a Torii Hunter double led off the inning, Callaspo moved him the third which set up the sac fly by Jeff Mathis to win the game.

The Angels still only had 6 hits in 16 innings, and their offense looks as abysmal as ever, but wins like this could propel them back into second place, and help finish the season with a winning record. Also, Peter Borjous hit his third major league Home Run last night. I cant wait to see what this kid can do in a 162-game season with major league time under his belt.

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The NFL Season Kicks off tonight with the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints vs. the Minnesota Vikings (the team the Saints beat in the NFC Championship game to get to the Super Bowl).

I'd like to take this time to just throw out a few predictions for the upcoming NFL Season, and get some of you used to seeing football on here a bit more.

Playoff Teams:
NFC: Cowboys, Vikings, Saints, 49ers, Eagles and Packers.
AFC: Jets, Bengals, Colts, Raiders, Patriots and Steelers

NFC Championship: New Orleans Saints defeat Dallas Cowboys
AFC Championship: New York Jets defeat Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl: New York Jets defeat New Orleans Saints

Yeah, its a homer pick, but part of the charm of the upcoming NFL Season is that no team is really a clear favorite. Every team has a number of weaknesses, and I think the Jets have the fewest weaknesses (even fewer is Mark Sanchez finally comes into his own as a great NFL QB).

Oh, and to be super cool, lets go ahead and add an NFL prediction section to this blog.

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Texas Rangers Magic Number (to Eliminate the Angels): 14
Carl Crawford Countdown: 94

NFL Opening Day Prediciton (Record: 0-0):
Saints defeat Vikings