6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Well, I heard some people talkin’ just the other day
And they said you were gonna put me on a shelf
But let me tell you I got some news for you
And you’ll soon find out it’s true
And then you’ll have to eat your lunch all by yourself
’cause I’m already gone
And I’m feelin’ strong
I will sing this vict’ry song, woo hoo hoo, woo hoo hoo

But I get ahead of myself.

Kenny Rogers has a reputation as an Angels-killer, but it's odd to discover he only has a career 4.20 ERA against the Halos. Not knowing that coming in, I expected — and got — a well-pitched game. In fact, you could argue that Rogers actually outpitched Santana, it being he stayed in longer without the situation getting out of hand for the Tigers, giving up only two runs over seven innings of work. Nonetheless, he gave up a pair of walks to Chone Figgins; to Rogers' credit, he never scored, thanks to a some masterful pitching to Vlad, GA, and Cabrera. Tigers pitching held Vlad to only a walk, and the bottom four Angels did exactly zero.

And then, Tim Salmon. The Kingfish came on to lead off in the top of the second to the Eagles' "Already Gone", a song whose lyrics left no doubt in anybody's mind that 2006 is his victory lap; it's over after this season. But the thunderous cheers that welcomed him were as silence compared to the deafening shouts that greeted his solo blast into the Angels bullpen. It was his first home run this year at Angel Stadium, and the same piece of real estate he used to unload his game-winning shot in Game 2 of the 2002 World Series. For that moment, it was like peeking through a keyhole into a past I never knew, the hard times this club has been through, the times when Salmon was its only bright hope, and then the broad sunlit uplands he would have almost no part of. We saw the star who never made the All-Star team, memories and prehistory alike mingling, sweet and bitter and glorious and painful all at once, the light twinkling at the sunset of his career, as the planets sometimes do.

The Angels had more magic in their arsenal, this time from Ervin Santana — "Magic", after the basketball player — who fanned a career-high ten Tigers, despite getting into a bases-loaded jam in the third. Slipping out of it like Houdini, he coaxed a line drive out from Magglio Ordoñez to end the inning and the threat. But between times, he worked a lot of high-count strikeouts, striking out the side in the second and erasing leadoff batter Curtis Granderson in the first. Even though the scorebook officially records CS 2-6, the reality is that runners mostly steal off pitchers; and with that erasure, Santana served notice there would be no hanky-panky on the basepaths.

Too, the Angels relief corps came through again, Donnelly to Shields to K-Rod, just as it was supposed to, with Frankie striking out the side in the top of the ninth. Frankie was throwing almost all fastballs in the mid-90's, and virtually all of them for strikes. I still fear for him; there'll be worry enough for tomorrow, anyway.

At last, a moment: before the game, I spied with my binoculars Timmy and freshly called up recruits Reggie Willits and Howie Kendrick engaged in a long conversation, about what I know not. There before me stood the longest tenured Angel and the club's new blood all at once. They stayed like that together for several innings whenever Tim was not at bat. For reasons I cannot describe, it filled me with hope and good cheer to see the fading star, smiling, beside the rising ones.

Update: Thanks to David Pinto for the link.

Recap

// posted by Rob @ 11:40 PM link  //  8 comments