Monday, June 27, 2005 |
Rollin', Rollin', Rollin': Angels 13, Rangers 3
Draft day, three weeks ago. All 30 clubs are on the conference call. One by one, scouting directors come onto the line to announce their club's pick. Except the Dodgers, where mascot Tommy Lasorda gets the honors.Which is pretty funny considering it's the Angels who actually had a fight song so embarrassing it's been hidden on their fan forum page navigation. But never mind; the annoyance the Dodgers organization had at the beginning of the season begins to roil to a full-fledged irritation and beyond as high summer and a full DL hobbled the Dodgers into a soul-crushing third place six and a half games behind the Padres. "The A Team", for now, is less marketing and more like an accurate assessment of who's top dog in the metroplex.Come the Dodgers' turn to pick, Tommy booms over Ma Bell's lines and 30 speakerphones, "On behalf of the LOS ANGELES DODGERS, the ONLY major-league team in LOS ANGELES ..."
"I don't know why they're so worried about what we think," Angels scouting director Eddie Bane says. "Everybody makes their picks, but we don't need team fight songs."
But I digress.
Colon pitched a good, not great, game; the last run he gave up, a homer to Hank Blalock in the sixth, was clearly on a "hit me" pitch, but by then he was already up by eight. Even Jake Woods -- his walk excluded -- had a nice little outing. Only Jose Molina failed to get a hit.
Games like this one really concern me because teams have a way of forgetting their bats after big blowouts. Arlington or no, hobbled Rangers bullpen or no, tomorrow the Angels will go up against John Wasdin, who blanked the Angels in five and a third innings and will make an emergency start for the slightly injured Kenny Rogers. It won't be easy.
Nevertheless, Ranger pitching stinks. The local media have started to question whether the Rangers should be buyers or sellers at the deadline.
Oh, and the Angels' fight song is AWESOME.
You take that back! I loved that fight song! I have very fond memories of listening to that in the car on the way back to the SGV after games at the Big A.
I remember when Bob Roe played the whole thing, all three or four minutes of it, after a game against the Royals in 1991, where the Angels nudged into first place by a half game.
They then went on to lose seven in a row and finished in last place (albeit at .500).
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