Monday, September 27, 2004
Big Weekend....Huge.
Wow. What a weekend. With so much to address and me being the working man with the one-hour lunchbreak, I am going to just shoot from the hip here, sacrificing anything stylish, researched, or well-thought-out. I'm sure no one will mind...
The only people foolish enough to believe that Jose Guillen got suspended for tossing his batting helmet are probably the ones that still think Lee Harvey Oswald was the only party responsible for assassinating Kennedy (John F., not Adam). Based on his behavioral hiccups throughout the season, it's believable that this could merely be the straw that broke the camel's back, but that's exactly why the Angel brass is sticking to that as the explanation. If there were nothing more to this suspension than a series of incidents like Saturday's tantrum, then why has Ramon Ortiz not been suspended? After all, hasn't Ortiz been putting his own interests before the team's all season, questioning Scioscia's decisions and demanding trades every time he's asked to play a lesser yet still vital role? Make no mistake about it, Jose Guillen did something beyond what we saw on the field Saturday.
Whatever it was, it really doesn't matter. The Angels had a player who was disruptive to the team concept and their chemistry so they acted like Keanu Reeves in "Speed" and took him out of the equation. Yes, Guillen was having a season second only to Vlad Guerrero, but that makes this move all the more admirable. No player--make that no player--is bigger than the team. The team seemed to respond to the suspension well on Sunday in their impressive 6-2 win over the A's, but it may very well still come back to bite them in the proverbial butt before this season is gone. This entire season could come down to a throw from left field to the plate and the Angels could find themselves coming up a few feet off line...but it doesn't matter. Mike Scioscia, Bill Stoneman, and Arte Moreno have made a statement about the conduct they expect from their players and they are willing to sacrifice winning for the sake of winning the right way. This move solidifies my love for the Angels organization and I hail them for it. I do now and I will even if they do lose because of it. Whether it's a fair question or not, I wonder whether George Steinbrenner would have allowed such an untimely suspension if there were similar problems with Gary Sheffield. Something tells me he wouldn't.
So what's next for Guillen and the Angels? I guess it's pretty much a given that he will be traded despite Scioscia's statements that he would welcome Jose "back into the fold" next season. My colleague Joe Lederer came up with a great scenario that I give my full endorsement to. Trade Guillen to the Cubs for Matt Clement and pursue free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran. As Joe pointed out, after dealing with Barry in San Francisco, Dusty Baker might be the perfect manager to handle Jose and the Angels could sure use the pitching help with Sele and Ortiz both likely to be gone at season's end. Beltran would be a tremendous addition to the Angels offensively, more than making up for the loss of Guillen's bat and with Sele and Kevin Appier off the books, they can certainly afford his price tag. He'd be a defensive upgrade in centerfield, allowing Anderson to switch back to his natural position in Left. I love the deal. Let's do that.
Now then, enough about next season, last time I checked the Angels were still hell bent on this year's postseason...
...And you could feel it in the air Sunday night in Anaheim. I arrived an hour before the first pitch and barely found a spot in the free parking off Orangewood. That was the first sign that this game would be special. Moving about the field level concourse, there was a palpable buzz among Angel Nation. This was no casual Sunday afternoon game where you stretch out and relax; you could see it in their quickened paces, the fans in Anaheim were feeling a sense of urgency. I had taken my girlfriend to a game just less than a month before and it was kind of a yawner. Even as a devout fan, I could understand how a person could be only mildly interested. As soon as we found our seats on Sunday night, I knew this game would be different. On the ground in front of each seat laid packages of Thunderstix. With the first pitch of the game, Angel Stadium became a prison riot of banging stix and shouting cheers. I turned to my girlfriend and said something to the effect of "Now this is what I was telling you about!" In this late season game with the Angels two games back in the West, I witnessed spirit and enthusiasm in Angel Stadium comparable to that of Game Six of the 2002 World Series. To quote Chris Farley from "Tommy Boy," "It....was......AWESOME." After my Thunderstix deflated, I made my hands ache and tingle from clapping so loudly. It made me proud to be an Angel fan...
...So proud, in fact, I bought tickets for the Division Series this morning...and confirmed plans with my buddies to go to the regular season finale in Oakland this weekend to make sure that the Angels are playing in said Series. Road trip! I told our driver, The Cruiser, that we should write on his car windows like the annoying little league moms. Angels Road Warriors. AL West or bust. Take your OBP and shove it up your a$&. He respectfully declined. Granted, the Angels have not played well lately and they have a monumental four-game series in Texas beforehand that could easily knock them out, but based on what I saw last night on the field and in the stands, I'm ready to say with all my heart that which I have not since 2002...I believe.
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I don't think there's any question as to whether or not I like Randy Moss. If you aren't sure, scroll down and read about the time he did a touchdown pose to celebrate an incomplete pass. Better yet, check the espn archives for the time he said he only gave effort on the plays where he wanted to. When you're done, maybe you can explain how why he thought it was funny to run over a traffic cop last year in Minneapolis and then chauvinistically degrade a female reporter that asked him about it. For all the crap that Randy Moss has done, I think he deserves just as much credit for his good deeds, of which I knew nothing of until Sunday.
After scoring each of his two touchdowns, he ran over to the back of the Vikings' endzone and gave the touchdown ball to a disabled man in a wheelchair, grabbing the man's arms and pumping them in celebration, even if the man could not do it for himself. I wish I knew more about their relationship but the postgame coverage was limited to Stuart Scott's description of the man as Randy's "friend that he comes to every game with." Aren't celebrations like this so much more enjoyable than poorly choreographed dances and cell phone pantomimes? Bravo, Randy Moss! You've set a great example for your fans and your colleagues. There, I said it...now I need a shower.
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USC was favored by 22.5 points against Stanford this weekend and I took them to cover. If that spread had applied to only the second half, I still would have lost, but I wouldn't have been embarrassed. USC mostly sleepwalked through the first two quarters at The Farm, but was jarred awake by the image on the scoreboard at halftime: Stanford 28, USC 17. Funny thing was, I wasn't all that worried. I was building a pen for my crippled cat at the time and you might think I would get nervous and focus all my attention on the game. Neh, I just kept hammering away, knowing my Trojans would do the same. I'm not sure why I had such confidence considering SC had taken a similar shot to the chin almost exactly one year prior at Cal and not recovered to win. I guess I just felt like they had been as devastated by that loss as I was and probably learned a thing or two from it. By the looks of the scoreboard at the end of the game, it would appear they had: Stanford 28, USC 31. An impressive win? Half yes, half no. Despite giving up 300 yards of offense for the first time this season, the defense deserves a lot of credit for making game plan and attitude adjustments to the tune of 36 total second half yards allowed. With the bye week coming up, I'm confident Pete Carroll will get this team focused on four quarters of focused football. Beware a Trojan team with a close call and a bye week. Cal Bears, get ready for your day of reckoning.
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The only people foolish enough to believe that Jose Guillen got suspended for tossing his batting helmet are probably the ones that still think Lee Harvey Oswald was the only party responsible for assassinating Kennedy (John F., not Adam). Based on his behavioral hiccups throughout the season, it's believable that this could merely be the straw that broke the camel's back, but that's exactly why the Angel brass is sticking to that as the explanation. If there were nothing more to this suspension than a series of incidents like Saturday's tantrum, then why has Ramon Ortiz not been suspended? After all, hasn't Ortiz been putting his own interests before the team's all season, questioning Scioscia's decisions and demanding trades every time he's asked to play a lesser yet still vital role? Make no mistake about it, Jose Guillen did something beyond what we saw on the field Saturday.
Whatever it was, it really doesn't matter. The Angels had a player who was disruptive to the team concept and their chemistry so they acted like Keanu Reeves in "Speed" and took him out of the equation. Yes, Guillen was having a season second only to Vlad Guerrero, but that makes this move all the more admirable. No player--make that no player--is bigger than the team. The team seemed to respond to the suspension well on Sunday in their impressive 6-2 win over the A's, but it may very well still come back to bite them in the proverbial butt before this season is gone. This entire season could come down to a throw from left field to the plate and the Angels could find themselves coming up a few feet off line...but it doesn't matter. Mike Scioscia, Bill Stoneman, and Arte Moreno have made a statement about the conduct they expect from their players and they are willing to sacrifice winning for the sake of winning the right way. This move solidifies my love for the Angels organization and I hail them for it. I do now and I will even if they do lose because of it. Whether it's a fair question or not, I wonder whether George Steinbrenner would have allowed such an untimely suspension if there were similar problems with Gary Sheffield. Something tells me he wouldn't.
So what's next for Guillen and the Angels? I guess it's pretty much a given that he will be traded despite Scioscia's statements that he would welcome Jose "back into the fold" next season. My colleague Joe Lederer came up with a great scenario that I give my full endorsement to. Trade Guillen to the Cubs for Matt Clement and pursue free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran. As Joe pointed out, after dealing with Barry in San Francisco, Dusty Baker might be the perfect manager to handle Jose and the Angels could sure use the pitching help with Sele and Ortiz both likely to be gone at season's end. Beltran would be a tremendous addition to the Angels offensively, more than making up for the loss of Guillen's bat and with Sele and Kevin Appier off the books, they can certainly afford his price tag. He'd be a defensive upgrade in centerfield, allowing Anderson to switch back to his natural position in Left. I love the deal. Let's do that.
Now then, enough about next season, last time I checked the Angels were still hell bent on this year's postseason...
...And you could feel it in the air Sunday night in Anaheim. I arrived an hour before the first pitch and barely found a spot in the free parking off Orangewood. That was the first sign that this game would be special. Moving about the field level concourse, there was a palpable buzz among Angel Nation. This was no casual Sunday afternoon game where you stretch out and relax; you could see it in their quickened paces, the fans in Anaheim were feeling a sense of urgency. I had taken my girlfriend to a game just less than a month before and it was kind of a yawner. Even as a devout fan, I could understand how a person could be only mildly interested. As soon as we found our seats on Sunday night, I knew this game would be different. On the ground in front of each seat laid packages of Thunderstix. With the first pitch of the game, Angel Stadium became a prison riot of banging stix and shouting cheers. I turned to my girlfriend and said something to the effect of "Now this is what I was telling you about!" In this late season game with the Angels two games back in the West, I witnessed spirit and enthusiasm in Angel Stadium comparable to that of Game Six of the 2002 World Series. To quote Chris Farley from "Tommy Boy," "It....was......AWESOME." After my Thunderstix deflated, I made my hands ache and tingle from clapping so loudly. It made me proud to be an Angel fan...
...So proud, in fact, I bought tickets for the Division Series this morning...and confirmed plans with my buddies to go to the regular season finale in Oakland this weekend to make sure that the Angels are playing in said Series. Road trip! I told our driver, The Cruiser, that we should write on his car windows like the annoying little league moms. Angels Road Warriors. AL West or bust. Take your OBP and shove it up your a$&. He respectfully declined. Granted, the Angels have not played well lately and they have a monumental four-game series in Texas beforehand that could easily knock them out, but based on what I saw last night on the field and in the stands, I'm ready to say with all my heart that which I have not since 2002...I believe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't think there's any question as to whether or not I like Randy Moss. If you aren't sure, scroll down and read about the time he did a touchdown pose to celebrate an incomplete pass. Better yet, check the espn archives for the time he said he only gave effort on the plays where he wanted to. When you're done, maybe you can explain how why he thought it was funny to run over a traffic cop last year in Minneapolis and then chauvinistically degrade a female reporter that asked him about it. For all the crap that Randy Moss has done, I think he deserves just as much credit for his good deeds, of which I knew nothing of until Sunday.
After scoring each of his two touchdowns, he ran over to the back of the Vikings' endzone and gave the touchdown ball to a disabled man in a wheelchair, grabbing the man's arms and pumping them in celebration, even if the man could not do it for himself. I wish I knew more about their relationship but the postgame coverage was limited to Stuart Scott's description of the man as Randy's "friend that he comes to every game with." Aren't celebrations like this so much more enjoyable than poorly choreographed dances and cell phone pantomimes? Bravo, Randy Moss! You've set a great example for your fans and your colleagues. There, I said it...now I need a shower.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
USC was favored by 22.5 points against Stanford this weekend and I took them to cover. If that spread had applied to only the second half, I still would have lost, but I wouldn't have been embarrassed. USC mostly sleepwalked through the first two quarters at The Farm, but was jarred awake by the image on the scoreboard at halftime: Stanford 28, USC 17. Funny thing was, I wasn't all that worried. I was building a pen for my crippled cat at the time and you might think I would get nervous and focus all my attention on the game. Neh, I just kept hammering away, knowing my Trojans would do the same. I'm not sure why I had such confidence considering SC had taken a similar shot to the chin almost exactly one year prior at Cal and not recovered to win. I guess I just felt like they had been as devastated by that loss as I was and probably learned a thing or two from it. By the looks of the scoreboard at the end of the game, it would appear they had: Stanford 28, USC 31. An impressive win? Half yes, half no. Despite giving up 300 yards of offense for the first time this season, the defense deserves a lot of credit for making game plan and attitude adjustments to the tune of 36 total second half yards allowed. With the bye week coming up, I'm confident Pete Carroll will get this team focused on four quarters of focused football. Beware a Trojan team with a close call and a bye week. Cal Bears, get ready for your day of reckoning.
# posted by j.h.k. @ 1:30 PM 
