Angel fans... enjoy the Scioscia era

When Joe Torre brought his Hall of Fame resume to the Dodgers, people were expecting him to bring his professional style of championship baseball to Los Angeles.

The strange thing is that style was already in Los Angeles.
Well… maybe not quite Los Angeles, but in Los Angeles of Anaheim.

(Please just go back to calling them the California Angels!!!)

Don’t laugh but Mike Scioscia is quietly putting together a case Cooperstown already. He’s not there yet, but assuming he won’t blow a 15 1/2 game lead in 37 games… his first 9 years will include at least one World Series title plus 4 more division titles.

Not a bad start.

And when you look at the team, they are built very similarly to the Joe Torre Yankees.
The Torre Yankees had a home grown core (Jeter, Rivera, Bernie, Posada, Pettite) and the 2002 Angels were almost entirely the product of its farm system.

Both teams had good but not great starting pitching, a solid bullpen, and had a lights out closer who earned a World Series ring first as a devastating set up man. (Rivera for Wetteland, Rodriguez for Percival.)

And both had a manager who were All Star catchers in the National League who brought a National League style of play to the AL.

And at this writing, you would have to consider the Angels to be the favorite to win the AL Pennant.

I hope you Angel fans appreciate it. Yeah Arte Moreno opens his wallet up and brings in the Vlad Guerreros and Torii Hunters of the world.

But he plays the free agent market correctly… the core of the team is in place. He isn’t hoping to save the team with wild spending (see Tom Hicks and Alex Rodriguez.)

So here we are… it’s August 21, 2008 and Scioscia can basically line up his playoff rotation. There’s more than a month to play and the Angels will be rested, ready and dangerous.

And Mike Scioscia will have the Angels ready to make their claim for “Team of the Decade.”

Keep in mind before he became manager the Angels had won a grand total of zero post season series and were best known for a few monumental October face plants (1982, 1986 and 1995.)

So, Angels fans… and I have met a few of you… let me ask you:

Are you appreciating it?

Hey Big A Baseball, have the memories of Donnie Moore and the charging 1995 Mariners all gone away?

How about you Gilbert Quinonez? Do you realize that the Angels finally have the edge of “best manager in town?”

Let me ask you, Rally Monkey. Do you just love Arte Moreno for making the Angels players for every big name out there?

Halos Heaven, you better not be jaded.

Hey Angels Win, who would you rather beat up this October? The Red Sox or the Dodgers? I guess why not both.

And finally, Anaheim Angels All The Way… do you call them the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or do you just call them the California Angels.

Either way, you’ve got some time to kill…
The playoffs are a given now… another typical Scioscia year.

THE CUBS ARE ON A ROLL!!!!

5 wins in a row including last night's dramatic 9th inning rally...

They are the best team in the NL by 5 games...

Their first pennant since 1945 is there for the taking...

Possibly even their title in 100 years!

Man, am I the only person wondering how cruel this ending is going to be?

I have a feeling that when the post season is over, Job will be looking over a Cub fan and think "Man, I'm glad I didn't go through THAT!"

A Case For The Metrodome

The Minnesota Twins are going to have a new open air stadium and by the look of the above computer rendering, it's going to be a great place to see a ball game... under 14 feet of snow.

Baseball has enough trouble scheduling with bad weather.

But I am not proposing putting a roof on the new park.
On the contrary, I am saying something much more radical:

SAVE THE METRODOME!!!!


I know it sounds crazy, defending the single most maligned stadium in the game, but I say there is a place for it and a real group of reasons to keep it as the home of the Twins.

Indulge me!

Let's list:

Reason 1: It's a dome

I know I hit on this already but seriously? An open air stadium?

Do you just want the first week of the season snowed out every year?
Have you BEEN to Minnesota?
Have you at least seen Fargo?
That film took place in Minnesota...
I believe during 4th of July weekend!

Reason 2: It's recognizable

When baseball started replacing the cookie cutter ballparks that all looked the same from the 1970s with the new fan friendly ball parks, a strange thing occured:

All the new parks started looking the same.
Seriously what is the difference between the new Philadelphia park, the new Washington park, the new St. Louis park and now this new Minnesota park?

But when you see a line drive hit off the "Baggie", you know EXACTLY where you are!








Reason 3: Everything ugly becomes beautiful again

As bad music and ugly clothes from the 70s and 80s became popular with nostalgia has proven, there is no predicting what people will long for.

Maybe the Metrodome should stand as a lasting monument to an era of bad stadium building.

Maybe it will become a baseball travelers destination.
(Remember, they almost tore down Fenway Park in the 1960s.)







Reason 4: It's a legit home field advantage

When the place is packed and the homer hankies are waving and noise is deafening... the Metrodome is a unique place even on TV.

Plus the quirkiness and color of the roof ads to more of a home field advantage.
Remember sure fielding Willie McGee unable to catch a flyball during the 1987 World Series?

The Twins have yet to lose a World Series game in the Metrodome... which leads us to the next reason.



Reason 5: Two World Champions celebrated there


Don't take that for granted folks...

The Cubs and the Phillies have been around forever and combined they only have 3 World Series titles.

Since the expansion era only Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, the Oakland Collesium and Baltimore's Memorial Stadium have had their team celebrate a World Series on their home turf.

And Oakland has been rebuilt, Memorial Stadium has been torn down and Shea and Yankee Stadium will be abandoned after this year.

Ironically the Metrodome would become the house of Champions!


Reason 6: They already ARE competitive!


Remember how the Twins were supposed to be contracted after the 2001 season?
Part of the reason was they were unable to be competitive?

What did they do in 2002? They won the Division and went to the ALCS.
What did they do in 2003? They won the Division.
What did they do in 2004? They won the Division.
What did they do in 2006? They won the Division.
How are they doing in 2008? They are tied for first place.

So much for contraction!


Reason 7: $522 million can be better spent!

I hate to get all preachy, but 522 million clams could go to a lot of teacher, fireman and police salaries instead of assuring the opening of the baseball season will be snowed out.


So that's my take.
Then again the Metrodome is one of the few stadiums I have NOT been to.
What do you Twin fans think?

Are the folks at Twins Nations ready to lay waste to the place where Kirby made that catch and Jack threw 10 shutout innings in game 7?

Is everyone in Twinkie Town ready to turn the page?

Hey Nick and Nick, aren't you the least bit nostalgic?

Do the Twins Without Spin feel that a third party in the Metrodome will be sweeter than ever, especially after the contraction threat?

Has the Twins Geek always been embarrassed by the giant souflee looking park?

Or will the likes of Seth Stoh help get me to save the Homerdome?

I guess Twins fans won't have to worry about fair weather fans... not under all that snow.

Come on Marlins! Make this interesting

You guys have been doing a great job making 2008 interesting, but let's pick it up!
Your last 4 losses have been close games and if you won 2 of those games, you'd be 1 1/2 games out of first in mid August with the lowest payroll in the NL.

Look, the Mets and Phillies are vulnerable and the Wild Card is coming out of the Central.

My love for late season Anarchy is well documented.
Having anarchy come with the lowest payroll in the NL out playing the biggest payroll would be even sweeter.

Did the Rockies really win the 2007 NL Pennant?

With a year of hindsight, last year's pennant by the Rockies was truly bizarre...

Imagine you are a Denver sports fan and you've been patient with the Rockies and their futile attempt to put a contender on the field.

You saw the Blake Street Bombers of 1995 slug their way to a wild card... but ever since then there's been nothing to cheer about.

The 1996, 1997 and 2000 teams finished just barely over .500... and since then they fell into irrelevance.
And with the introduction of the humidor, the scores weren't even 11-10 anymore.

They were the definition of a filler team on the schedule. A franchise that made you feel sorry for a steady pro like Todd Helton who was cursed with anonymity in the Rockie Mountains.

So let's say you are that Denver sports fan who saw the 2007 team hover around the .500 mark all summer but also spend the season stuck in fourth place.

Yeah it's nice to see a team have a chance to win more than they lose, but it's another who cares season... another meaningless passing of the time before the Broncos started.

So it's September 15th, the Rockies just lost their 3rd straight... 6 1/2 back with 14 to play.

And that Sunday you stop paying attention...
Or you decide to go on a 6 week camping trip...
Or you become the caretaker of the Overlook Hotel.

You'd come back to see the Rockies only lost one more regular season game, won a winner take all playoff against San Diego, swept 2 teams before somehow winning the NL Pennant.

And in 2008 it all went back to normal.
Losing baseball... not contending in a division where 84 wins might be enough.

The Denver fan who stopped following those last 6 weeks might have missed the sole glory this franchise will ever have.

So today I pose the question to Rockies fans... what was the lasting effect of the 2007 pennant?

Folks at Rockies World... do you see more people pumped up and knowing the names of the players?

Hey Rockies Home, what do you think was the fluke? The pennant or this downturn?

Do the folks at Rox Head really think this is the worst Rockies team ever?

Does everyone at Purple Row still wear their 2007 gear with pride?

Are all Rockie fans like Mark at Bad Altitude and tuning out... a la Marlins fans after the post 1997 World Series fall out?

Or is everyone in Denver, including the Up in the Rockies folks, just waiting for the Broncos season to start?

I've got a bunch of cousins who grew up in Colorado and they tried to trash talk with me as the 2007 World Series got started.

They were so green at it I almost felt like I needed to expain the rules of baseball to them.

What I am saying is a month and a half is far too short a "glorious era."

Upon Further Review... Instant Replay Makes Sense

Bud Selig is in favor of using instant replay for questionable home run calls... and let me do something I rarely do:

I am going to praise Bud Selig!

Isn’t the fact that we don’t use instant replay on questionable calls border on insane. If we have the camera and the equipment, why are we relying on eyesight and judgment calls? Isn’t it the equivalent of a meteorologist saying, “I don’t need those fancy doplers and satellites… I judge the weather by a tingling in my toe!”

We have the means to fix it, but we don't. It's like using the Guttenberg press instead of a printer. Here I am hoping that my readers see the name Guttenberg and don't automatically think about Police Academy!

But if we have the technology, why not use it? This kind of logic would have had Lee Majors sitting in a wheel chair instead of spending the $6 million to fix him up!

With spectators having access to remote TVs, broadcasters with every angle at their disposal, teams with TVs in the club house and millions of fans watching the game live, often the only people on the planet Earth who don’t know they got the call wrong are the only people who have a say! It’s a warped athletic version of the Truman Show where we watch them make fools of themselves all while exuding their authority.

And who are these power mad umps and refs? They are the fat kids that the jocks used to pick on. That’s right… Chunk from the Goonies has taken control of the sport. They are probably half blind from diabetes and yet we are taking their eyesight over my HD Plasma!

And have you heard some of these Jabba the Hutts behind the plate talk? One said he likes to call strikes 3 balls off the plate. 3 balls off the plate? That’s called a BALL!

Wesley Snipes’ accountant didn’t play with the rules this much!

Why should different umpires have different interpretations of the strikezone? Isn’t the strikezone in the rule book, or is it a judgement call of a 78 year old dude downing bearclaws between pitches?

I say use cameras and lasers to determine balls and strikes. How could it be worse than the debacle of the late Eric Gregg in the 1997 playoffs whose strike zone was 5 feet off the plate, 12 feet above the batters head and calling the low strike to any pitch burrowing beneath the earth’s crust to the magma.



Gregg that day was loving the fact that the Miami crowd was cheering his every strike call. He literally became Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun! Which, for those of you keeping score at home, was the last time O. J. was intentionally funny.

The biggest opponents of instant replay are traditionalists... the same people who fought against batting helmets, play by play on the radio and letting blacks play.

These people are the Christian Scientists of sport. DON’T USE THE MEDICINE! JUST PRAY YOU GET THE CALL RIGHT!

They say "it's a slippery slope!" To what? Getting all the calls right?

They say "it will slow the game down." Have you watched baseball these days? A turtle on qualudes moves faster.

Sheen found Brando quicker than a ball game gets to the 3rd inning!

It's called INSTANT replay... not drop it off at the Fotomat and wait replay.

Does anyone go to the game saying "Oh man! I hear that fat guy is umping the game! He's FANTASTIC!?"

Who ever REMEMBERS the name of an umpire or a ref unless they screw up royally? Like Don Denkinger, whose blown call at first base may have cost the St. Louis Cardinals the 1985 World Series! You think Cardinal fans would have minded if they took the extra time to get the call right? Then again their death threats to Denkinger had such a human quality to them!

WELCOME TO THE RED SOX, PAUL BYRD!

Good luck and know that the entire staff at Sully Baseball is 100% behind you.

And please ignore the fact that I claimed your faith in Jesus was a mask for your guilt of being an HGH user.

And let's forget that I said you were lying through your teeth when you said it was cleared with the team and the league.

You are a Red Sox pitcher now... that's all that is important.
(Hell, if I could love J. D. Drew, I can love anyone)