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Monday, June 27, 2005

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin': Angels 13, Rangers 3

Slaughter? Yeah, but let's not forget this is against a rookie pitcher, too, in a notoriously hitter-friendly park. The Angels' late success -- which includes, improbably, a home run by Adam Kennedy of all people -- has gotten some notice lately, not least by the Dodgers. Forget the recent sweep; the Dodgers have rubbed in the "of Los Angeles" meme at every opportunity, selling "Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles" caps and shirts in the park stores, not to mention the "This Is LA Baseball" counteradvertising. It even extended, I learned today (hat tip: Fire Jim Tracy), to the draft: Tommy Lasorda hisself indulged in a little needling during the conference call:
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.

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."

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.

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.

Recap


Comments:
Man, are we so jaded that we can't even enjoy a 10 run win? and a 7 1/2 game lead. I want them to keep up the pressure, but come down and enjoy the view from up here!
 
I'll have a full recap at PO later today, but I was at the game and you could sense wave after wave of depression hit the crowd as the Angels piled it on. Unfortunately, the crowd is not on the 25-man roster.

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.
 
Which is pretty funny considering it's the Angels who actually had a fight song so embarrassing

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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