One Too MANNY Years

Now that the Dodgers season is officially over, I’d like to look back at the Manny Ramirez experiment.  Sure it’s not over, but as a Los Angelino, I’m saddened by the fact that there’s nothing to look forward tow with respect to Maniaco.  In hindsight, the Dodgers’ best move would have been to not sign him to the two year $45 million contract they gave him in the beginning of this year.  I know it was Manny’s power that pushed them inot the playoffs last year, sweeping the Cubs and eventually losing to the Phillies in the NLCS.  Fast-forward 1 year, and what do we have? A post-steroid Manny who can’t hit a whiffle ball and a Dodgers’ clubhouse filled with unpredictable pitching.  Why didn’t they lock up Cliff Lee?  All they had to do is give up one of those young “studly” pitchers they have. The same pitchers that got shelled by the Phillies.  Sure, the NLCS is an accomplishment and considered a successfull season for many teams. But not if you were there the year before and supposed and cruised to the best records in the league the following year. The Dodgers aren’t/weren’t built for the post-season.  And I’m not talking about the shitty Cards that they spanked (let’s not even bring out that dropped ball by Matt Holliday).  The best thing that happened to the Dodgers this year was Many’s 50 game suspension. Unfortunately, he’ll be around for the entire year next year because there is no way he’s going to opt out.  I can’t see anyone pay this guy a tenth of what he is making right now, and at age 38, good luck.  Now if only the Angels could shock the world and beat the Yanks in 7.  GO RALLY MONKEY!!!

Angels’ Pitcher Nick Aidenhart Killed at 22

This is the true definition of tragic. For those of you who don’t know Nick Aidenhart, he was a starting pitcher for the Angels. After struggling last year, the kid cracked the Angels’ 2009 starting rotation, pitched 6 scoreless innings on Wednesday against the Oakland As…father watching in the stands. That evening, him and his friends were struck by a drunk driver, 3 dead, 1 in intensive care.  Aidenhart was one of the top pitching prospects in the Angels’ organization. Only 22 years old, that’s right, 22 years old.  The person that ran the red light, well, suspected of drunk driving and arrested for felony hit and run. Hope he gets the damn electric chair… or better yet, just hang that c-sucker. Then you have jackoffs like NFL wide receiver Dante Stallworth driving drunk and killing an innocent civilian two weeks ago, pissing their lives away. Hope it was worth it Dante.  The difference between the victims, none.  The difference between the athletes, one who valued life in Adenhart vs. one who didn’t appreciate it Stallworth. The penalty for drunk driving should be some hard core jail time, if not death especially if harm is caused to others.  Maybe then people will learn that you can’t get away with drunk driving.  All you need is one slip-up to to ruin your life, the life of the person you hit, and the lives of everyone that knows you and the victim. Don’t endanger other people’s lives just because you don’t value your own. What a tragedy. Makes you take a moment and think…sometimes life’s not about winning or losing, money or fame, it’s just about living…R.I.P. Definitely too early for this kid, way too early.

Angels Commit Suicide

Or maybe it’s a homicide; Angels guilty of killing the hopes of their fans.  100 wins, 100 shmins. All coming down to a suicide squeeze.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s a seldom used strategy in baseball where you have a runner on third with less than 2 outs.  The batter tries to bunt the ball at the same time while the runner at 3rd is sprinting for home.  Now if contact is made with the ball, oala!!! You have a run scored.  But if the batter misses the bunt, you have the runner at third running right into the catcher who has the ball in his glove, ala suicide… Either that or he’s caught in a pickle like Reggie Willits was last night.  After tying up the game at 2 a piece in the top of the 8th and mowing down the side in the bottom of the inning, the Angels had ALL the momentum going their way.  Angels leadoff batter Kendry Morales starts with a double.  He’s moved over to third with a bunt by Howie Kendrick. One out, runner at third, Eric Aybar up at the bag. Instead of taking a pitch with a 2-0 count, Scoscia calls the suicide, Aybar misses the bunt, Willits is tagged out for out number 2 and Aybar grounds out to finish the inning, the game, the season, and finally our hopes. Varitek dropped the ball, who cares??? It should have never come to that in the first place.  There’s a lot of fingers to point.  The Angels infield for one.  The coaching decisions. The disappearing bats of the big guns. The Red Sox wanted it more, Manny or no Manny. They deserve it. And now, they get to cruise through Tampa Bay and into the World Series.

K-Rod: Thanks For Nothing

Mr. Save leader.  Mr. I want a huge contract next year.  Mr. Electric Closer.  Try Mr. Loser.  Mr. Un-Clutch.  Mr. Mayor of Choke City. The Angels World Series hopes just went down the drain.  Francisco Rodriguez, a.k.a. K-Rod, brought in late in the game to shut down the Boston Red Sox after the Angels clawed back from a 5-2 deficit to tie it against Boston’s Jonathon Papelbon. Try the loss with 2 earned runs. Series over. I don’t care how many saves he had in the regular season. I’ve always said that this kid is overrated.  He makes every save appearance for the Angels dramatic.  He basically has pitched his way out of Anaheim.  Hopefully Angels’ owner Artie Moreno takes this as a sign and doesn’t spend $15 million on this guy. As for the Angels and their best record in the league, thanks for coming.  AAAAARGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!.  I’ve never been this angry before.  Talk about choking.  I thought the Chicago Cubs were bad but this takes the cake. Manny Ramirez replacement Jason Bay cranks two homers in two days. Are you kidding me? How many times do let 1 guy beat you?  How many times do you let 1 team beat you? Apparently while racking up the best record in the league, the Angels forgot their “balls.” No pride. No guts.  Congratulations Red Sox.  Looks like you guys are going to the World Series…again.

Lakers Beat Bulls, Again

Kobe Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls again this year in the windy city, 103-91 .  I said it before, the Bulls not pulling the trigger on the Kobe trade before the year started was a huge mistake and we’re seeing the effects now. These two teams are headed in different directions, the Lakers with the 5th best record in the West and the Bulls, in the bottom half of the East. So many teams have hesitated in making trades that involve their young stars. No one wants to give away “potential” talent for a short term fix.  The Clippers didn’t trade Shuan Livingston for Allen Iverson and look where that got them?  The Angels wouldn’t trade away their talent for Miguel Cabrera and well, now they are average.  Its the same story, everyone thinks their shit doesn’t stink, they have the best talent and they don’t want to get ripped off.  Well, it seem like Kobe is happy, for now at least, and the Bulls are content with being a middle-of-the-road team.  I guess everyones happy.  For now, at least.

Los Angeles Angels Sign OF Torii Hunter

The Angels bounced back on Wednesday by signing free agent Torii Hunter to a 5-year, $80 million dollar contract. Look, Hunter’s not a bad player, but he’s also not worth $80 mil. Artie Moreno must be out of his freakin’ mind. Why isn’t he going after the big fish Miguel Cabrera? Between Hunter and Gary Matthews, Jr., the Angels have over $130 million tied up. We all know that Hunter had a career year last year but maybe, just maybe it had to do with the “contract year.” You’d think the Angels would learn a thing after signing Matthews right after his contract/steroid year. Think again. Reports are that the Angels will start Garrett Anderson in left, Vladimir in right and Hunter in center. Ummmm, someone forget about the $50 million Matthews? That’s a lot of $$$ for someone to be “spelling” the outfielders and/or being a DH. Maybe they can trade him for some batting cage balls?

Angels Going to Hell

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim made the playoffs last year and lost to the Boston Red Sox.  Instead of addressing their weaknesses, they’ve decided to head in a different direction and trade away Orlando Cabrera for John Garland.  Now I don’t understand this move.  They traded one of their top hitters, and possibly one of the best shortstops in a league for a guy with a 10-12 records and a 4.31 era. The last thing the Angels needed is another starting pitcher, as they’re already stacked with the likes of Lackey, Escobar and Weaver, among others.  I hope they’re not thinking about getting Miguel Tejada, a shortstop on the down of his career and who most (including this author) believe was on steroids prior to last year.  Now Miguel Cabrera, the 3b phenom from Florida, is the guy who will make everyone forget about Orlando, but I’m still not sure this puts the Angels over the hump.  If only they didn’t blow $50 mil on stupid Gary Mathews, Jr… Artie Moreno better clean up his act and start spending in the right places or else the Angels will end up like that other team in LA, awful and forgotten.

The Electric Backslide

So Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees are playing nice again, and reports are that the two parties have been in negotiations the past few days. What the @$%*? I thought Hank Steinbrenner came out and blasted ARod in the press after he opted out of his contract. Wasn’t ARod booed mercilessly in New York? Won’t he always be second fiddle to Derek Jeter? I guess money talks and bullshit runs a marathon. Reports have it that the Yankees are willing to pay ARod $275 million over ten years, however the catch is that they don’t want to deal with Scott Boras, ARod’s agent. Looks like Rodriguez might throw his agent under the bus to get the money he wants. This is the same agent that got Rodriguez his last record setting contract, and now how soon they forget. We always knew ARod was spineless, but show some loyalty man! It’s not all about the money. Did I just say that? Take a little less, go play for the Angels where you’ll be happy. We won’t boo you here when you fail in the playoffs, we’re just happy to be there. You won’t be second fiddle to anyone on the team, Vladimir Guerrero doesn’t speak English and doesn’t really speak for that matter. If ARod ends up back with the Yankees it will be pathetic on all counts. Steinbrenner threw him out with the dirty bath water and now he backslides and negotiates with him. Let’s just hope this is a p  loy to drive up the bids by other teams.

Let The Bids Roll In

The champagne was still flowing in the Red Sox clubhouse when Alex Rodriguez opted out of his Yankees contract. Everyone knew that A-Rod had ten days after the World Series to opt out of the remaining three years of his contract, but no one expected it to come this early. This on the heels of the Yankees preparing to offer him a five year extension worth $150 million. The Yankees have said repeatedly that if Rodriguez opted out, they would not pursue him on the free agent market. Now we have a chance to see if they stay true to their word. Not long after Rodriguez and his agent, Scott Boras filed, Hank Steinbrenner issued a statement saying that Rodriguez doesn’t appreciate the privelage of being a Yankee and that they basically don’t want him around. Sounds like fighting words to me. Now the list of suitors can line up for quite possibly the greatest player of our generation. The list should be a short one, with the Angels, Cubs, and the Red Sox believed to be the only ones that can afford him. This will be the greatest contract in the history of sports. Stay tuned.

Scott Boras Thinks …

Looks like A-Rod won’t be wearing a Yankee uniform next year after all. Scott Boras, Rodriguez’s agent, while not specifically stating Rodriguez would opt out with three years left on his 10-year, $252 million contract, suggested that becoming a free agent again would be his client’s smartest choice. Couple that with Brian Cashman’s statement of, “if he opts out, then he’s out”, and it looks like good old Alex will be playing somewhere else next year. Can someone say, the Big ‘A’ at the Big ‘A’? Sources close to Rodriguez say the Angels may be frontrunners… A-Rod and Vladimir? Too good to be true if your an Angels fan…