Good Night, Sweet Prince.

2,504 Wins, 15 Division Titles, 5 NL Pennants, 1 World Series Title, 4 Manager of the Year Awards, 158 Ejections.

These are just the surface of the impressive resume of now former Braves skipper, Bobby Cox. The Braves lost to the Giants last night, 3-2, and lost the series, 3-1. With the Braves now out of the playoffs, Bobby Cox is off to a very happy retirement.

Perhaps the finest NL manager of my lifetime, Bobby Cox led the Braves to 14 straight division titles in the 90's and 00's. Granted, that only led to one World Series championship, it was still an impressive feat that will likely never be copied.

Maybe my favorite part of Bobby Cox's legacy will be his 158 ejections (also 3 postseason ejections, bringing the total up to 161). You could argue that someone who managed as long as Cox would be a shoo-in for a record like that, but Cox has such a fiery demeanor, it was usually must-see television whenever he went out and argued a call.

Something you might not know about Bobby Cox, is that before he was the manager of the Braves, he was their General Manager, and drafted Chipper Jones with the first overall pick in the 1990 draft. He is a good baseball mind, and will be missed across the league (except maybe by Mets fans).

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Oh, and not to gloat or anything, but if the Rangers win tonight, my First Round predictions for the playoffs will be 100% accurate. Yankees and Phils won in 3, Giants won in 4 and the Rangers will have won in 5. I'm a genius, someone get me to Vegas, stat!

At Least We Aren't The Ducks...

The Angels could have it worse. They could have played 2010 like the 2010-11 Ducks.

Through three games, the Ducks have been outscored 13-2. 4-0 loss to the Red Wings, 4-1 loss to the Predators, and a 5-1 loss today against the Blues in St. Louis.

The defense is horrendous (outside of the surprising play of 18-year-old rookie, Cam Fowler), the "scoring line" of Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan has zero points, and while Jonas Hiller is still one of the best goaltenders in the NHL, there is only so much he can do when no one else on his team can play decent hockey.

They have had their moments. There were times in Nashville against the Predators that it looked like they could jump out to an early lead, or even win the game. But 3 2nd period goals surrendered and a number of hit goal-posts ended all hope of a victory.

I know its impossible to write off this season with 79 games still left to play, but if the Ducks find themselves 5 or more games into the season without a point (much less a win), its going to be very hard for them to recover.

Michael Young Blasts Rangers Past Rays For 2-0 Lead.

Man, Dustin Diamond really looks bummed.

The Rangers have assumed a dominant 2-0 lead in the best-of-5 series against the East Division Champion Tampa Bay Rays. Michael Young's 3-Run-Homer didn't decide the game, but it was more like the icing on the cake. CJ Wilson shut down the Rays lineup, who looked almost as bad as the Reds.

If they cant find a way to get guys on base (and then get them home), the Rays will be the first East Division Champion to be swept in the ALDS since the Red Sox back in 1995, the first ever year of the Division Series.

With the series going back to Texas on Saturday, things are looking good for the Rangers to win their first ever Playoff Series. Its never to late to hop on the bandwagon. Just Sayin'.

Roy Halladay Slings 2nd Ever Postseason No-Hitter

Thats right, Angels Fans, Erick Aybar + Joe Saunders + two Prospects = Playoff No-Hitter.

For those that don't understand that math, that was the Blue Jays asking price for the best pitcher in baseball last off-season. The Phillies (and Mariners) had enough guys to get the deal done, but the Angels were in the fast track to secure Doc Halladay and only had to give up Aybar, Saunders and two prospects no one has ever heard of. But Tony Reagans liked Aybar and Saunders too much to give them up. What a clown.

Saunders is now a Diamondback (don't get me wrong, I love Dan Haren, but a guy like Halladay comes around once a lifetime) and Erick Aybar had a season-long slump in 2010 after a career-high year in 2009. I wish Angels Management hadn't put so much stock into the absurd numbers the Angels offense put up in 2009. Abreu is too old, Izturis couldn't avoid injuries forever, and Aybar just isn't that talented.

Oh well, Live and Learn, I suppose.

Former Angel Molina Powers Rangers Past Rays

A quartet of Former Angels help propel the Texas Rangers past the Rays in Game 1 of the ALDS in Tampa. Bengie Molina hits a solo-shot (after already hitting an RBI Single), Vladimir Guerrero hits an RBI Double, Darren O'Day and Darren Oliver pitch a scoreless 8th inning, all helping the Rangers secure the Game 1 victory.

Seattle send-off Cliff Lee struck out 10 Rays, and Nelson Cruz added a solo-shot of his own. The Rangers looked GOOD. The Rays never looked like they even had a foot in the door. If they are going to play like this for 18 more innings, the Rangers will easily win their first postseason series in franchise history.

I thought the Rangers would take Game 1, but never in such a commanding fashion. If David Price can't slow down the Rangers potent lineup, the rest of the Rays staff doesn't stand a chance.

Angels Nation 2010 Postseason Preview

Just so we are all clear, Angels Nation is officially on the San Francisco Giants' and Texas Rangers' Bandwagons. If you are uncomfortable with this, please note that the rest of the league is evil, and should be treated as such. The Yankees, Rays, Braves and Phillies all come from the super evil East Coast, not to mention the Rays play in Florida (Voted most evil state by committee of voters), the Twins and Reds, well, they arent evil, but they are the two worst teams in the playoffs (fact), and no one wants to bandwagon a loser.

Lets start with the matchups in the National League:

Giants vs. Braves - Bobby Cox's last season as a manager, nothing would be a more fitting send off than a World.... boo hoo hoozle. Go cry about the loss of your manager some more Braves Fans. Oh wait, the Braves fans don't even like the Braves. The are probably all bandwagoning the Rays right now, considering they have a better shot at postseason glory. The Giants, on the other hand, have one of the best starting 4's in Baseball, Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez and Zito. They also have Buster Posey, who is maybe the greatest rookie catcher of all time.
Prediction: Giants in 4

Phillies vs. Reds - Lets get things straight, I dont like the Phillies, but I'll be damned if they dont have the best team in the playoffs. The hitting is amazing, the pitching is out of this world, and they have a coach who has taken this team to the World Series the past two years. I like the story of the Reds, but they dont have the pitching to keep up with the Phils.
Prediction: Phillies in 3


American League:

Rangers vs. Rays - I don't totally hate the Rays, but their unfortunate affiliation with the state of Florida, not to mention their lack of fans with enough income to actually attend their home games, makes me like them very little. Rangers have taken the last month and a half off. They should be the most rested team in baseball right now (the Reds might be just as rested, but they have a crappy team, so...), not to mention they have Cliff Lee, who was really the only bump in the Yankees road to glory last season. Sure, they have to get through a tough Rays team who won the best division in baseball, but they dont have enough starting pitching to keep up with the Rangers.
Prediction: Rangers in 5

Yankees vs. Twins - No Morneau, Mauer isn't at 100%, their best pitcher is probably Carl Pavano, oh, and they have Brian Fuentes. How on earth did the Twins get this far?
Prediction: Yankees in 3

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Angels Nation will continue to be your source for biting 2010 MLB Postseason coverage well into November (because that's when Game's 5-7 of the World Series will be, for some dumbass reason), then, we wont have anything to talk about for a while, except the hyjinks of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney (and all their Kardashian pals!)

Angels End 2010 Campaign with a W.

In what was likely his final game as an Angel, Hideki Matsui hit a homerun, part of 6 runs that helped propel the Angels past the Rangers for their 80th win of the season. It was his 21st of the season, and his 83rd and 84th RBI's on the season. Sure, those are slightly down from his season last year which culminated in a World Series MVP award, but much better than I would have thought back in May, when he was struggling at the plate and losing AB's to Juan Rivera.

Mark Trumbo finally got his first big league hit yesterday on an RBI-Single. Its highly unlikely he will start the season anywhere but Salt Lake, but the the kind of promise he showed (even going hit-less until yesterday), I doubt he will stay there long.

Dan Haren got his 12th win of the season yesterday, and his 5th as an Angel. In his 14 games as an Angel, Haren posted a 2.87 ERA, going 5-4 with 75 K's to just 25 Walks. His strikeout pace fell a bit, but he continued to get guys out and put the Angels in a position to win.

It was a competitive weekend series with the Rangers, and the Angels were able to hold their own with the West Champs (who begin their Postseason run in Tampa on Wednesday, which we will cover more tomorrow.) As a fan, I'm looking forward to 2011. With Kendry Morales back in the lineup, and a sturdier Bullpen, the Angels could make a deep October run.