Changing of the Seasons - MLB Opening Day & NCAA Tournament Thoughts

When I reminded my wife that today was opening day for the Angels she said to me "Of course it is, didn't basketball just end?"  Yes, yes it did.

I suppose I should just get this out there and out of the way.  Once my team is out of the playoffs I GENERALLY don't care about who wins the rest of the thing.  It's Monday afternoon and other than Florida and Kentucky I don't know who the other two in the Final Four are.  I should check.  Hunh, UConn and Wisconsin.  I actually picked Uflop and the Badgers in my pool, and I have the floppers winning the big game.  Not that I really care mind you.  Again, I don't.  I watched maybe five minutes of the tournament after UCLA lost on Thursday.

So yes, for me Basketball is over.  I don't care what happens in the NBA other than for the draft because I am curious as to where Kyle Anderson and Zach LaVine end up.  Kyle might have played himself into the top 5, whereas Zach may go late first round or early second.  That's what I read anyway.

Neither appear to have any trading cards available, but they will, and soon.


2014 is the second year in a row that I've not bought any Baseball cards prior to opening day, and since I didn't break a single pack of 2013 product I'm pretty sure I'm not going to suddenly get the itch to buy the same stuff only with a new date on the front.

I have to say I'm no longer optimistic that Mike Scioscia can bring another championship to Los Angeles.  Yes, I know they play in Anaheim.  I wish they didn't.  Though I still have to say I'd rather go to a game at the Big A than Dodger Stadium.  You know I haven't been back to Chavez since before I was married.  That says something I think.

Some of the names on the projected opening day lineup are unfamiliar to me.  Kole Calhoun?  Doesn't matter, it's still opening day and everyone still has a chance to win it all!

All-Time Favorite Sports Figures Day 1 - Rod Carew

One topic that's always good for conversation is who are your all-time favorite athletes and why?  I'll run down a few of mine and then open it up for comments.


Baseball - Rodney Cline Carew

When Rod was traded to the Angels in 1979 I was 8 years old, we went to see two games that magical 1979 season, the first time the Halos made the playoffs in their then 18 year history.  I still have the two programs, complete with filled out scorecards.  For the next six season there was one consistency in the Angels lineup, Rod.  He batted over .300 for 5 of his 7 seasons as an Angel, only failing in his last two season when he was slowed by age and a new-comer named Wally Joyner.  Oh and he was an All-Star 6 of those 7 years, batting a gaudy .339 which was only good for 2nd in the AL behind Wade Boggs who flirted with .400 that season.

In his retirement he's been a hitting instructor for the Angels and Brewers, and sadly lost his daughter Michelle to Leukemia in 1995.  To this day there is a statue of the younger Carew at Angels Stadium.  To me Rod was always the class of the organization, even despite his chilly reception by reporters (a theme that we'll see repeated in a few paragraphs).

Viva Rod!

So When Do You Think the First Cards of Pujols as an Angel will hit?

I'm guessing there will be an airbrushed card in Topps 2012 Series 1. This is the best news that Angels fans could get today - signing BOTH Pujols and CJ Wilson, creating a log-jam at 1b that you LOVE to have. The Halos aren't done either, I would expect Kendrys Morales to get packaged now, but you never know.

2012 is going to be an exciting year!

Mail Day!

Oh boy oh boy, don't you just LOVE getting cards in the mail? I sure do. As I previously stated I've gotten three packages, thus far in this round of trading, but unfortunately I've lost track of who sent what. So my apologies for that. In the mean time I did figure out what was causing my photos not to upload to Blogger from my laptop - turns out my permissions for my network are all messed up. That's fine though because what I really need to do is wipe the hard drive on the network machine and start fresh, I just have to make sure that there's nothing on here I need.

Oh well.

Here's some kick arse cards that I've gotten recently:

Here's a 1997 Pacific of Darin Erstad, one of my favorite former Halos. You can't tell from the front, but this card is bilingual, the back is primarily in Spanish with an English translation. You also can't tell but the bottom photo is actually an acetate cutout that you can see through on both sides. Pacific sure didn't make very collectible cards in the 90's, but they sure made some nifty gimmicky ones.

Here I've got the front and back of a 1992 Donruss "Spirit of the Game" insert featuring...err...I can't really tell. It might be Gary Pettis, but I can't make out a jersey number at all. (I looked it up, it's Luis Polonia and Wade Boggs). I like the interactive feature of this card, and I'm sure someone has looked up whether or not Polonia was actually safe. I could, but I'm way too lazy to go all the way back to a 1991 game between the Halos and the Sox.

A couple of nice Upper Deck X cards from the last two years. I wasn't a huge fan of the sets in packs, but for some reason the singles really speak to me. I love the die-cuts too, and the shiny Vladdy doesn't suck. It's numbered X4-VG, and I know there were several levels of Xponentials, not that I care one iota about that, I just like the shiny.

Wally World makes a return to my blog pages in the form of this lovely 1990 Leaf. Back in the day I bought maybe a pack or two of this stuff, not really being into baseball at the time - I spent the 90's collecting Football and Hockey for some reason. Hey at least I don't have a ton of junk wax from the overproduction era, I got rid of my entire Football collection in 1998 when I moved from San Diego to Los Angeles. Wow, what a tangent. In any case, I have a special affinity for First Basemen, being that's what I played in Little League my last two years, and I was pretty good at it I have to say. I even modeled my swing after Rod Carew, the Halos PREVIOUS All-Star at first. I learned something too by reading the back of this card, Wally went to BYU, and I can only ASSume that he's a practicing member of the LDS church (as are my in-laws). SO that's kind of cool I guess. Next time I'm in Utah, maybe I can look him up and grab an autograph.

From 2007 We have this retro 1972 Gary Matthews Jr. card. I always loved the 72 design, with it's garish color scheme and it looks even better on today's stock. I can see where they were trying to go with this doozy, 1972 was Gary's papa's first season, but alas, his RC is in the 1973 set, and it's one of those old multi-player cards. Probably a small detail that no one at Topps caught.

The 2009 Halos Fab-Four...err...well Fab Three and a Half? I dunno, sure it's a great card of four of the Halos studs, but considering that two of the four will probably be gone before the next season starts, this card is kind of bitter-sweet. Plus Kendrick didn't do a whole lot this season. What could have been, what could have been. I do simply love these Goudy 4-in-1s, but I have no idea how they did the numbering. I guess I could look it up on Upper Deck's site, but again, I'm pretty lazy these days.

JUST ARRIVED

As I was typing up this blog post the mail arrived, and I got yet another package, this time from Greg in NY. Greg sent a nice stack of Halos, from all eras, and I couldn't be happier. Here's a few choice samples:

This would be my first ever "ticket stub" card, and while I'm really pleased that it's a card that actually features a Halo who ACTUALLY PITCHED on the game in question, I'm a bit miffed that Topps doesn't make any mention of the outcome of the game on the back. Sure it talks about some of Big John's other good performances, but it doesn't say anywhere on the card that the Halos won the 32nd Athletics home game in 2008, nor does the stub have the date of the game on it either. Lets face it, we all have tons of ticket stubs from games we've been to, or we throw them away. Unless the game is majorly important, like a playoff or championship, stubs are mementos of our PERSONAL experience in the game. Why I would want a stub from an A's game from 2008 is beyond me. BUT, it's a cool card and I'm happy to have it. I just wish that the colors on the card and the stub itself were from an ANGELS home game, but I guess that's too much to ask. Hell the sample shot they have on their website is of Evan Longoria and the stub on his card is an Angel game so go figure.

Oh and there's also a little legal text on the back that says "FOR TRACKING INFO, PLEASE SEE WWW.TOPPS.COM CODE #00003142". I always check that stuff out and I could find NOTHING that has anything to do with this set. Not only that but on the site this particular card is supposed to be numbered /125, and the actual card is numbered /110. Not that I'm complaining about that.

Rodney Cline Carew is probably my all-time favorite Angel. I was 8 when he was signed by the team, and I remember my parents taking me to an early season game where he scored a run in the first inning and from that moment on he was my hero. Like many of my boyhood heroes (CF Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) from the era, Rod wasn't always the media's darling but who cares when you put up the numbers he did on the field. Sure he wasn't a power hitter, and it seems that the days of the spray hitting infielders are long gone, but I still have a soft-spot in my heart for the Panamanian born Carew. Since his playing days he's been a coach for both the Halos and the Brewers, and his daughter Michelle tragically succumbed to leukemia in 1996. I would think that the Halos would like to employ Rod for some great PR these days; as I see he's still involved in the periphery of the game. And hey, dig that crazy headband!

Hey, it's another crazy Pacific Die-Cut card, this time from their 1999 Crown Royale Collection. I still have a TON of the Hockey version of this set in storage, and even more of their successor Hockey die-cuts - as I really liked the one version that was a die-cut of the team logo. No other commentary here, other than I sure do like die-cuts don't I?

At first glance this appears to be a "broder" or unlicensed/bootleg card. However, turning the thing over I see that it's actually a Pacific card from 1989! But wait,is it really? It's part of a set called "Baseball's Best Four", and there were other sets numbered one through three. The Pacific Cards though is not our former friends in Washington state, nope, it's from Pacific Cards & Comics, Los Angeles, CA. Now I didn't live in LA in 1989, but I did visit a lot, and I can tell you that it was most likely a store set issued by a now-defunct card/comic retail shop. It's typical of the era too, no stats on the back, blurry picture on the front and thin paper stock. Looks like it was made at Kinko's to be honest. How fun!

Both Mario over at Wax Heaven and Dinged Corners have featured Fleer/Skybox's Metal card sets before, and I have to say I didn't much care for them when they hit the market. See, I'm a comic collector first, and back in the 90's we were bombarded with trading card sets based on comics, as comic shop owners tried everything they could to fleece their clientele of their hard earned cash. One of them was a Marvel set from Fleer way back in 1995, the progenitor of the brand. While that set did have a KICK ARSE full Metal promo card (which I do remember acquiring at some point only to sell it or trade it away) I thought the cards were way too busy and too "comic booky". You know what, I still think that about Fleer Metal Universe, and I'm glad that no one is endangered of having to buy a 21st Century version of those sets. But I'm always about the shiny, so here you go.

1979 was the first set of Topps that I remember getting a whole lot of. My father at the time was working as a L.A. Times delivery driver and I guess each morning during his run he'd stop at some donut shop on Santa Monica and Bundy and get some donuts, smoke some cigs and buy me a couple packs of 1979 Topps. Before I threw the lot of them out sometime in the 80's (they were beat all to hell at that point) I think I had about half the set. Memories...misty water color memories. Hey check the porn stache! This would be Aase's first Angel card, but not his RC.

Angels in the ALCS - 2009 Edition

I realize that I haven't blogged about my beloved Angels since...err...June, but don't think that I haven't been watching, because well, I have been. I thought that if I remained a bit quieter this season that perhaps they would have better luck in the Post-Season, and thus far, my plan has worked to perfection. However, I just came into possession of the Official ALCS Program, thanks to the kindness of my upstairs neighbor Wanda who went to the game yesterday.

In our storage unit I have a ton of old sports programs, a good quarter of them are from games that I didn't attend, but knew someone who was going, so I asked them to get me a program. I don't know what my fascination is with programs to be honest, other than they permanently capture a moment in time in both the game and the culture of the city that the game is being played. I realize that I'm not the biggest collector of programs and have no real expertise on their collecting, so I can't offer any tips other than try to keep your programs in the best condition possible, during and after the game. This sometimes can be tough, especially if you don't like to carry any baggage with you during the games. In my circumstance though I almost always have some sort of bag with me, either a backpack or diaper bag. You can get plastic portfolios from any major office store for a buck or two, and they protect programs quite nicely and aren't too heavy to carry. A really savvy collector would also have a stash of sharpies at their disposal in order to gather athelete autographs.

The oldest game programs that I actually remember obtaining at a game are from the 1979 Angels season, their first in the playoffs in club history. That year I think I went to two games with my folks, at least I remember I have two programs. The older of the two was from earlier in the year, and I forgot who was on the cover. The second has Jim Fregosi, though it took me all morning to remember that. Here's a nice shot of Rod Carew, who the Angels had acquired in the off-season as a free-agent.

My personal mantra is that for every live event I attend I make an attempt to buy a program. I really don't know why, I just do. This isn't exclusive to sports either, though I have programs from a San Diego Gulls minor league hockey games, a Las Vegas Stars minor league baseball game, a couple of UCLA/Cal basketball games that I attended in the bay area, and a bunch of others. Mostly I have Angels, Padres and Kings game programs. I also own about a season's worth of USC Football Programs from the year I had season tix to the Trojans. I've got a half-dozen or so Super-Bowl commemoratives too, both from the years that San Diego hosted, and from when the Chargers were playing (1995). I have yet to attend a Super-Bowl though, I just either knew someone who was going, or managed to snag a retail copy. My obsession with programs extends to the theater and live concerts as well. Given that most of the publications are one-time-only affairs, they can become quite valuable. I have concert programs from 10,000 Maniacs, Pink Floyd, The Who and The Cult. I had to buy outrageously priced programs at the two Cirque Du Soleil shows we saw in Vegas, as well as the National Tour of Wicked at the Pantages. My mother still has her programs from the Beatles two Hollywood Bowl concerts in 1964 and 65.

I also collect media-guides, if I can get them. The LA Kings sell theirs at retail, though quite often they can be difficult to find at Staples. At one point I was buying them off eBay, but that was about a decade ago. UCLA also sells their Football and Basketball programs at retail, and they're relatively easy to find. Again, media guides are a great resource during the season, though now most of the info is available online as well. In fact, UCLA's media guide is posted in it's entirety online. Someday I'll be able to gather all the programs that I own and give them their own bookshelf. But then someday I'll also frame all the tickets from every live event I've ever been to as well...but that's another post.

As for the games themselves, so far I haven't been impressed by either team. I think the Halos gave away both of the first two games, which were easily winnable. Sure, we can blame the weather for the errors, but these guys are pros and they should have played better. Yesterday afternoon's tilt was a bit better, though again the Angels blew more than one opportunity to put away the hated ones in pin-stripes. Scott Kazmir takes the mound this afternoon and I really am hoping that this will be his break-out game in the post-season. He's had one bad start this post-season, though the Angels came back and won that one. He's had middling success against the Yankees in his career going 6-5 in 14 starts with a 2.67 ERA. The Angel bats looked like they finally came to life last game, I'd love to see Kazmir get some run support today.

Last Night was actually pretty busy in SO-Cal sports, with the Angels playoff game going to 11 innings, the Chargers blowing a half-time lead to the Broncos, the Dodgers getting creamed in Philly, and the Kings dominating the Dallas Stars in Dallas. It's a rare thing when three of the four major sports are running concurrently, and even rarer that all four will be going, but that's exactly what will happen on October 27 when the NBA starts. It used to be that Baseball would be over before the beginning of the NBA, but if the World Series goes seven games it will end on November 5, almost nine days into the NBA schedule.

Oh and UCLA Basketball practice has begun, our first game: November 4 against Concordia. We're playing in the 76 Classic tournament in Anaheim beginning November 26, and the Wooden Classic is on December 12. It's a good time to be a sports fan!

Angels now 1/2 Game Back!

I don't know if anyone's been watching lately, but the Halos are now only 1/2 game back of the West Leader Texas Rangers. Just got finished watching the great come-from-behind win that the Angels gutted out over our cross-town rivals, which was cause for joy. The Halos have been beating up on National League teams for the last week sweeping both the Padres and the Giants, combined with tonight's victory over the Bums means their Interleague record is a League best 9-1. In the last 7 games the Angels are unbeaten, while the Rangers have gone 3-4 in the same span.

Unfortunately Manager Mike Sciosia, who is the longest tenured manager in the AL, has had some pretty bad injuries to deal with this season, not the least of which was Vladdy playing in less than two dozen games at this point. Not to mention the early season tragedy that took the life of Nick Adenhart, which has clearly had an effect on the team.

These Angels are resiliant though. They will come through in the end and win the West for a third straight time, and eight over all.

By the way, tomorrow's game against the Dodgers features Jeff Weaver versus brother Jared Weaver for the first time. I really, really hope it will be a great game, and I get to see it.

Mail Day part 2

Sorry for the delay, life got into the way.

Last time I left off I was going to look at a few more vintage cards that I got in the mail from Eric S who is sending off packages left and right. I saw a couple of other blog entries indicating they also got packages from him, so if you want a fantastic trade partner, drop me a comment with your email and I'll hook you up with him.

I showed off some of the more modern Angels he sent already, today I want to look at a few of the 20th century cards that I found to be the most interesting. Not that there weren't a TON of interesting cards in that 800 count box, but if I highlighted each and every one I'd be writing posts for WEEKS I tell ya.

Here's a nice 1993 Score card of our current pitching coach Mike Butcher, who had a completely undistinguished career as a relief pitcher. It kind of makes me wonder how many coaches in the bigs had pretty much pedestrian MLB careers. Still, because pitching coaches don't typically get cards, this one is a bit more special to me and will go in my "current" Angels binder, rather than the "former" Angels binder. Yes, I have separate ones.

Lance Parrish looked like he might make it to the HOF at one point in his career, after all he played for 19 seasons, the first 10 for Detroit. Something happened though and his stock fell big time. Might have been the three plus years he spent with the Halos after they jettisoned Bob Boone. In any case, this isn't a spectacular card by any stretch, but it IS a 1992 Leaf card, which I thought had one of the nicest and cleanest designs out of all the sets in the 90's, and it was highly collectable at the time as well.

Nothing special here, a Donruss Triple Play card that most collectors wouldn't look at twice. Check out the back though:

That has got to be the most trivial piece of information that I've seen in quite some time. I also want to know how they knew it was exactly 12 pitches.

I bought a TON of 1993 Leaf, but not Baseball, nope, I bought a ton of Leaf HOCKEY in 1993 and beyond. I always liked the backgrounds on the flip-side, and this one is the epitome of what most people think about when they think about California. I mean, look at that sunset! Makes me want to drive to the beach right now. Alas, it's a bit chilly today, it's only 70 degrees and sunny outside...in November.

I love cards that link two or more players on the same card. I especially love them when the link isn't tenuous such as the "player of the year in 1960 and 2008". Here we have the Pater-familias of the Boone family, Grandfather Ray and Father Bob. I think there should be an updated subset of all the second and third generation ballplayers in the bigs today, Prince and Cecil on the same card? Heck yeah (it's probably the only time the two of them would be on the same page...heh) The two Tony Gwynns? Bring it on. It'd be even better as a relic issue. I can dream right?

Now, HERE was a quandry, I had never actually seen any 1990 Donruss Blue borders, so I had to look them up. At first I thought this might be one of the fabled "Aqueos" Test issues, but the back didn't have the "Test Issue" stamp. A quick Google search turned out that these were from the "Baseball's Best" boxed set. I really like the blue border versus the red border, and the fact that the backs list entire career stats (I'm a sucker for that). Now I did more than my fair share of buying on 1990 Donruss, for whatever reason that I cannot remember 18 years later. Probably looking for that Juan Gonzalez Reverse Negative. If the standard set had been blue rather than red, I'd probably have bought more.

Wow, look at the porn 'stache on Frankie there. Rockin' it son. Seriously, Tanana doesn't get NEARLY the recognition that he deserves. He was a great Angel.

Which card do you think was produced first? These are both Fleer card from the early 80's, one from 80 and the other from 81, both of utility-man extraordinare Bert Campenaris. If you guessed the one on the left, you'd be wrong. That's actually his 81 card, the one on the right is from 80. I can't be the only one who ever noticed that Fleer's pics from 1981 were much, much worse than the ones from 1980. This scan is actually better than the card itself! Early 80's sets weren't without their own quirkiness were they?

I saved the best for last, a 1963 Topps Los Angeles Angels Team Card. Just look at that beauty, they just don't make cards like this anymore. Oh wait, they kind of do, they just call them "Heritage".

Once again, big thanks to Eric S for the box of Halos, now I need to find about 100 more binder pages, and I have a LOT of sorting to do.

Requiem for a Season

This isn't news, the Angels season is over. It was over Monday night, I just needed a day or so the let that digest and start transitioning into my Fall/Winter sports.

The season itself was a great one for the Halos, they hit a franchise record 100 wins on the last day of the season, they clinched a playoff berth earlier than any other team and had the best record in baseball. They also had a reliever break the 19 year old saves record. Most teams would kill for a season like the one the Angels just finished.

Most teams aren't the Angels.

This season we had a $123 million payroll, that's good for sixth highest in the majors. Out of the top 10 aggregate salaries on opening day, only half made the playoffs, and not a single one of the top 3 did (Yankees, Tigers, Mets). Owner Arte Moreno has said publically that he wants to keep the payroll about the same next season, and the Angels have quite a few players eligible for free agency. They are:

• Mark Teixeira 1B - Acquired just before the trade deadline for Casey Kotchman and a minor leaguer. Tex is the absolute must sign of the group, he was a monster in his time with the Halos and really played his heart out in his first post-season experience. His agent is the infamous Scott Boras though, so signing him will be costly, as he's looking at a bump from his $15 million salary in 2008, plus he'll be looking for a long-term deal. Be that as it may, it makes great business sense to sign this guy, since he'll be a perrenial All-Star and is in his prime. If the Angels somehow don't sign Tex, there are some young guys on the roster who can take his place, but then the trade of Kotchman will hurt just a bit more.
  
  
• Francisco Rodriguez P - The Halos closer just set a major league record for most saves in a single season, and wants to test the free-agent market. That's fine, since down the stretch he seemed to lose his consistency, and actually blew quite a few saves this season. He also single handedly lost game 2 for the Angels in the ALDS, and fans aren't going to forget that one. He lost in arbitration before the 2008 season started, as he was looking for $12.5 million and the Angels ended up giving him $10 million. Fortunately the bullpen is stocked and there are several options that pitching coach Mike Butcher has to work with.
  
  
• Juan Rivera OF - Rivera is an important backup at the moment, and could become even more valuable in the next season or two. He's got great power and is solid in the field, and he's also inexpensive. He made just over $2 million in '08, and even a modest increase wouldn't put him out of the Halos price-range. Even though he'll be attractive to other clubs, hopefully he'll re-sign for under $5 million.
  
  
• Garrett Anderson OF - GA has played his entire career for the Halos, and I for one would like to see him retire as an Angel. He's played long enough to have earned his spot in the Angels HOF, and it would be a shame to let him leave. The Angels do have a club option for $14 Million for 2009, or a $3 Million buyout. Let's hope that they re-sign and extend him for the rest of his career. I can see him becoming a valuable coach for us after retirement. Arte and Tony Reagans should treat him right.
  
  
• Jon Garland P - Acquired in the off-season via a trade with the White-Sox, Garland was kind of a lame-duck pitcher in his final contract year. His 14 wins this year was the second highest in his career, but not close to his two 18-win seasons in '05 and '06 for the Sox. He made $12 Million this year and will be a hot commodity this off-season. If he walks it won't be quite as bad a hit as it seems, since Kelvim Escobar should be back next season taking his spot in the rotation. If he DOES re-sign though, the Halos will have a tough decision since they'll have six or seven guys fighting to get into a five-man rotation.
  
  
• Darren Oliver P - Reliver who's been with the Angels for awhile, and isn't making big dough even though he's in his 13th season. I wouldn't expect the Angels to offer him much of a salary increase, and if he leaves it won't be the end of the world. Still, he's a valued member of the bullpen and brings a veteran attitude to the young pitchers. Guys like Bulger and Jepsen can really learn from Oliver.
  
  
  
• Vladimir Guerrero OF - For the sake of completion, we have to list Vladdy, since his contract is up this year, but the Angels have a club option for 2009. The only way they wouldn't exercise that option would be if the sky fell down, so expect to see Vlad in Halo red for at least another season.
  
  

In addition to those guys, the Angels will certainly be in the C. C. Sabathia sweepstakes, unless by some miracle they sign Frankie and Tex, and there are a ton of other great free-agents out there. This will be an interesting off-season to see if the country's economic slow-down has any effect on baseball at all.

Hockey

Hockey starts in a few days, so there's still hope that the Kings will make the playoffs. Their first game is October 11, so my guess is that they'll be out of contention by the end of October.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a fan of the L.A. Kings, it's just that the last several years have brought too much heart-ache and disappointment for me to really care that much about them. First, they haven't made the playoffs since 2002, which is the longest they've gone without making the post-season. Second, they traded my second favorite player on the roster Michael Cammalieri, and even though he wasn't performing up to standards, he was gritty and brought a great attitude to the game. Third and definitely the most important, the ownership of the Kings, AEG Group, has no intention of paying the money it requires to put a winner on the ice, yet they'll pay an astronomic amount to some English guy to play half a season for the Galaxy.

I've attended at least one Kings game every season since I moved back to Los Angeles in September of 1998, and I even attended one last season, though that was a gift. I cannot seriously see myself buying tickets to a Kings game this season unless they really turn it around and become contenders for a playoff-spot right away. This is what happens in the fourth-most popular sport when your ownership doesn't care anymore. They can hype up the season all they want, but in the end, unless they pay to put a quality product on the ice, it won't matter.

I will say this though, the Kings are very, very young, and full of talent. Plus they still have Alexander Frolov, who is my favorite player on the ice, and Anze Kopitar who has tons of raw talent and potential. Due to the fact that they've sucked on ice for several seasons in a row the Kings have gotten great draft-picks, so now it's time to see if they're worth the hype.

Training Camp Autos - The 90's Chargers Part 1 - The Brain Trust

If you recall, I lost a binder of cards, thankfully I found it this afternoon. It wasn't actually lost, I just put it in a different color binder and forgot about it. The binder was exactly where it should have been, next to my Chargers Autograph binder, which has a number of great cards from the 90's that I got personally autographed at Charger training camp from 1993 to 1997. Over the next few weeks I'll spotlight a those cards and players and share my experiences as an autograph hound. If this series goes well, I might even dig out my Hockey autographs from L.A. Kings training camps.

My first experience with NFL training camp was circa 1992 when I attended a Charger scrimmage at Mesa Community College where I was taking some classes at the time. You got to stand right next to the sidelines, and in one instance Rod Bernstine, Tight-End extraordinaire almost ran me over trying to catch a sideline pass. You really do not realize how big NFL players are until they almost run you over. While I was collecting cards at the time, I didn't realize that I could get them autographed at camp, until I saw quite a few other folks trying to get autos. Best part was, the players were all signing and being gracious about it as well. A buddy of mine suggested that I bring some cards, which I had, and I managed to get this 91 Pro Set issue signed by the head-coach Dan Henning.



Henning wouldn't last much longer after I got this signed, but somehow I managed to meet the next coach, Bobby Ross at the next scrimmage and managed to get him to sign his 1992 Pro Set card.



This nice thing about Pro Set was that they made cards for more players than any other company at the time, including the head-coaches. Unfortunately no one ever made cards for General Managers, which in all honesty isn't that surprising. Nevertheless after watching the Chargers practice at UCSD one day I ventured over to La Jolla Shores beach, where I happened to meet then GM Bobby Beathard. I recall that at the time there was a big controversy over one of the big players and whether or not he would sign (I THINK that it was Stan Humphries, and this was 1995 after he took them to the Super-Bowl, but my memory is fading). Beathard was extremely polite, after all I had just come from training camp and had binders full of autographed cards in my car, so he could tell I was a fan. I may have also been wearing my Chargers Super-Bowl Sweatshirt. He was kind enough to sign a Junior Seau card, because at the time I couldn't think of a better representative of the franchise.



One other nice perk about camp was that they used to give out a ton of cool free items, as well as a roster-sheet that listed everyone at camp that day, by name and number. Most of the time invitees don't have their name on the back of their jerseys, so unless you have this sheet it's really difficult to tell who the players are. Here's one of the two that I still have, you'll notice in the top right corner it's numbered 9.1 - well, they put out separate sheets for each practice on two-a-days.



Well, even I know that a roster sheet isn't all that exciting, but what about oversized player cards? I'm pretty sure that these were a stadium giveaway that got left over, but it didn't matter to me, I was able to get a few signed, which was especially cool because these players really didn't have other issues, as they weren't necessarily first stringers. Check out the back on the Jefferson, they're all pretty much like that. They make great display pieces to be sure.



Here's two more:



Then there are the magazines, each one was published by the Chargers and while they're kind of thin, they are packed full of good information and nice photos.




The May edition has a great article on the 1993 draft picks, and as I was flipping through it I noticed that I had gotten Darren Carrington's autograph inside. There's a story behind that autograph and the other one that I have of his, but that's for next time.

Halos vs. the Chowds - Round Two - FIGHT!

In a scant couple of hours we'll see the Angels hosting the Red Sox for Game Two, and as a die-hard Halo fan, I'm seriously hoping that history changes tonight and we tie up the series at one win apiece. I'll be making a tray of enchiladas tonight in honor of Arte Moreno and the Angels.

Celebration Weekend

I've got a ton of things on tap this weekend and celebrations galore. Tomorrow my wife and I celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary, and then Sunday is our daughter's second birthday, and we are throwing a party in her honor.

Playoffs Begin TODAY!

The wait is over, the MLB Playoffs start today with a slate of three games. The Phillies are hosting the Brewers (no score, top of the 3rd as of this writing), the Dodgers are in Chicago taking on the Cubs in a couple hours, and then our Western Division Champions take on the hated Red Sox later tonight. The Chicago White Sox will play the Tampa Bay Rays beginning tomorrow.

The pennant races were actually pretty darn interesting this season, with more than one coming down to the last weekend of play. The White Sox actually had to play a make-up game with the Tigers on Monday due to a rainout earlier in the season. If they had lost that game the Twins would have automatically made it in. Since they won, the Sox and the Twins had to play a one-game playoff which was a great pitching duel won by a 7th inning Jim Thome homer.

All eight of the playoff teams deserve to be there, there's no sliding into the playoffs in MLB. What's interesting is that on the AL side, three of the four teams have won the World Series since 2002 (Halos in '02, Boston in '04 and '07 and Chicago in '05) that's four out of the last six World Series, which you have to think bodes well for which ever AL team wins out.

On the NL side, we're looking at a long time in between World Series victories. The Dodgers are actually the most recent of the three NL teams that have won the title, last winning in 1988. The Phillies have only won one World Series in their history, despite being in existence since 1883, and that title came way back in 1980. Their last WS appearance was in 1993 when Mitch Williams gave up that famous game-winning dinger to Joe Carter. The Brewers became the first team in MLB history to make the playoffs in both the AL and the NL, however, it's been a LONG time in between appearances for them; they made their one and only other playoff appearance in 1982, defeating the Halos in the ALDS and then losing to the Cardinals in the World Series. We all know that the Cubs have waited since 1908 for another WS title, and haven't even been to the big dance since the end of World War II! Yes, they've made the playoffs the last two seasons and three times total in the 21st Century, but they're still 100 years away from their last World Series victory.

Playoffs on Demand

Wow, I just checked out the MLB site, and apparently they're streaming each post-season game live as a part of TBS Hot Corner, but with four different camera feeds, one from the mound, one from the plate, one from the center field camera and one from the dugout. It's kind of difficult to figure out the action, but it's rather nifty. Here, check out a pic:



The "live" stream really isn't live either, it's about 30 seconds behind the the television feed, which is usually a couple of seconds behind the actual live action. There are no announcers on the audio either, just the sounds of the game itself, which is a mixed-bag in of itself, because you really can't tell what's going on in the game once the pitch is hit.

It's only available for the division series and the ALCS, so if you want to check it out, do so soon.

Kevin Jepsen Update

Interestingly enough, the playoff roster that I posited on September 17 became a reality on September 29, as Mike Sciosia must have read my blog and decided that I knew what was best for the Angels. Heh...as if. Seriously though, I suppose that I must be pretty dialed into the Angels lineup this season. I'm really glad that Jepsen made the post-season roster, despite only appearing in 8 games with 8 1/3rd innings pitched total. Of course the teams can change their rosters in between rounds, so who knows what the Skipper might do should the Angels advance. I did just now purchase Jepsen's 02 Bowman Chrome RC for $1.20 and $2.00 shipping.

Team Trading Update

I have sent out all packages owed to everyone, and I'm pretty sure I'm not expecting anything else. I still have nice packs of 40-50 cards INCLUDING super-stars, for pretty much every team in the bigs. If you want one or more of these, please email me at wmnoe at yahoo dot com and let's set something up.

eBay Update

I don't have anything of interest for sale at the moment, unless you like Harry Potter Chocolate Frog Cards, WWE Action Figures or The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Figures.

Ending Notes

Here's how long this entry took me to write, it's now the top of the 7th and the Phillies are up 3 - 0.

Lost and Found

I hate losing things, I really, really do. Unfortunately it happens to me ALL THE TIME. I suppose there's a number of factors involved, small apartment, lots of toys for the rugrat, daddy's brain doesn't function as well as he'd like it to on occasion.

BUT WHEN YOU LOSE A WHOLE BINDER OF CARDS, that's just bunk. It's here somewhere. I know it is. I just can't figure out where. It's my Allen & Ginter Binder, which also has Topps Chrome and Political cards in it. It's a standard 3 ring view binder with both A&G Wrappers in the front cover. I know it's here. I just don't know where, and it's driving me absolutely bonkers. I've got like 7 packs worth of cards to put in the damn thing, and I can't do it. Is there ANYTHING more aggravating?

I suppose there is; such as crappy replacement redemptions, or that really awful co-signers card that Treasure Never Buried pulled out of his expensive box (note to self: do NOT buy boxes of Topps, ever), or starting Minnesota's Defense over Philadelphia this last weekend in Fantasy Football.

There are two positives though, yesterday I got a nice package of mostly Vlad Guerrero's from Mario at Wax Heaven which reminded me that I'm supposed to send him the Red Hot Rookie Redemption #7 and a bunch of Marlins for his collection. I would have done that on Monday, BUT, I've been sick all week with some sort of nasty upper chest/cough bug that DOES appear to have finally gone away. Unfortunately for us, my wife got it though. The other positive was that in my search for the binder I did find a small box of cards that I had been sent a little while ago, and it contained a pack of Allen & Ginter that I had purchased and completely forgotten about, and there was a Jermaine Dye Jersey in there as well!

The other day I went looking for Upper Deck Baseball Heroes packs, but came up short, because the card shop (which isn't one I normally frequent) didn't get any in (which is why I think I don't frequent them that often). I did buy a couple more packs of A&G and pulled a David Ortiz Jersey. I've pulled something like four jerseys out of A&G packs now, that's pretty darn good odds, considering I don't think I've bought anywhere NEAR four boxes worth of that product.

Normally I would give you a Kevin Jepsen update since he pitched last night, but, err...he stunk last night, so I'll save it for another time. I'm also still working on the 2002 Angels Playoff Review, which I should post before the week is out.

Speaking of playoffs, the Halos are having a couple of nifty celebrations to celebrate their winning the AL West. First on Saturday, September 27 they're doing Fiesta Angels at the Big A from 10 am to 5 pm, with free parking until 3 pm. Actually I think this was planned a long time ago, so it's not PART of the playoff celebration. However, Monday they're holding A Rally at the Big A from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM, and that is certainly a celebration. I want to attend both, but will probably attend neither. Gas is pretty darn expensive these days you know. Sigh.

Various and Sundry

Kevin Jepsen Update: Game #5 & 6

Our budding rookie reliever, Olympian Kevin Jepsen got into two more games since last I blogged about him. He got into the game in the bottom of the 5th on Friday against the Rangers, relieving Darren Oliver with runners on 1st and 2nd. His first pitch was smacked to left by German Duran who scored on a wild pitch to Josh Hamilton who later doubled. Jepsen finally got out of the inning with a strikeout of Milton Bradley.

Fortunately he settled down in the 6th getting Hank Blalock to ground into a double play after Marlon Byrd singled. He struck out Nelson Cruz to end the inning and his night. His line, not very good, 1 1/3rd inning, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 2 strikeouts, no walks. The Angels ended up winning a wild one 15-13!

Jepsen pitched to one batter last night as well, getting Nelson Cruz to fly out with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th to earn his second hold of the season. Jepsen's season line is now: 6 Appearances, 5.1 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 ER, 5 K, 0 BB, 0 HR, 1.69 ERA, .75 WHIP and a 2.11 BAA. If he keeps pitching this strong in the next week, I can't imagine Scioscia keeping him off the mound.

Halos Sweep the Rangers

The Angels march towards the post-season has not had any let-down so far. Back-to-back losses to the A's on Tuesday and Wednesday this week saw the Halos struggling and fielding make-shift lineups in order to get some of our backups some playing time, and also to rest some weary bodies. Vladdy hadn't played for over a week and skipped the two losses, but he was back Saturday, and raised his BAA to .299 today. If all is right in the universe he'll get .300 for the season for the 12th straight time. Oh and Frankie got his 60th save yesterday.

Team Trading Update

I know I have a couple more packages to get out in the mail, both are leaving tomorrow. IF you haven't received anything from me and you're expecting something, please LET ME KNOW ASAP. My public email is wmnoe at yahoo dot com. My spam filter is quite good though, but I'll go through and empty it right now.

I've restocked most of my team packages, so if you're wanting to get rid of your Angels cards, and have a favorite team in mind, I'd love to trade with you. My collecting philosophy for the last several years is that I love busting packs, but unless the players are Angels, I don't really care to keep them. I also don't put together very many full sets. This year I'm working on a 2008 Upper Deck complete set, and I might do a Topps one as well. I'm also keeping all my Heritage, Bowman Chrome & Prospects and Allen & Ginter. Pretty much everything else I buy goes into team lots, and that includes super-stars. So for example, the Mariners lots will have Ichiro, Red Sox have Manny, Big Papi, etc. Currently MOST of the teams have a lots containing 40 - 50 cards. All I ask for in return are a similar number of Angels cards. I don't particularly care about doubles, though I'm pretty sure I'm good on the last several years of both base Topps and base Upper Deck, so I don't need those. I'll even take your junk 90's stuff, because I got rid of all my junk 90's stuff years ago.

Special Card Trading

I do have several "relic" and other special cards to trade on a 1-1 basis. I'd much rather trade than sell them on eBay because I know I won't get much value for them.

Here's the specials:

• 2008 Goudey Mini Black Back Dmitir Young #196 numbered 02/34
  
• 2008 UD Series 2 Dontrell Willis Jersey (Black swatch) UDJ-WI
  
• 2008 Upper Deck Ben Sheets Jersey (white swatch) 97-BS
  
• 2008 Upper Deck Mark Buehrle Jersey (white swatch w/pin stripe) 98-MB
  
• 2008 Topps Series 2 B.J. Upton Jersey (white swatch w/sweat) HR-BU
  
• 2008 Topps Red Hot Rookie Redemption #7 (Chris Volstad - Marlins)
  
• 2005 Topps UH Carlos Beltran All-Star Patches Jersey #42/60
  

If you'd like one or more of those, please feel free to make an offer. I'd like to get Angels cards in return.

Angels Playoff History Part 3 - 1986

The Angels new logo for 1986, their 25th Anniversary Season, would be used until 1992. Borrowed from SportsLogos.net

Previous Installments:
Part 1: 1979
Part 2: 1982

In 1985 MLB expanded the first round playoff games from best of 5 to best of 7, a move that was long overdue. Unfortunately after 1993 they went right back to the first round being best of 5, because they effectively doubled the number of teams that made the playoffs. After coming in second in the AL West for two seasons in a row, the 1986 version of the Angels seemed poised to break out and enjoy post-season success. They improved their record by two games, winning the AL West by 5 games, which was a club record at the time (their current best is winning the West by 7 games in 2005, which will be broken this year obviously).

The ’86 Halos were the first team since 1979 not to have Rod Carew starting at first, the HOFer having retired at the end of the ’85 season. In his place was a 24-year-old rookie out of BYU who coined the phrase “Wally World” with a few monster shots out to left field. The venerable Bobby Grich at 2B joined Wally Joyner at 1B, though it would be his last season, Dick Schofield at SS and team veteran Doug DeCinces still at 3B. The starting outfield was Brian Downing still at LF, the speedster Gary Pettis who was in his prime and won a Gold Glove in CF, and an almost-retired Rupert Jones started in RF. Reggie Jackson typically was the DH as he was also in his penultimate season in the bigs, and last with the Halos. Perennial Gold Glover Bob Boone was still behind the plate. Pettis and Joyner were the Angels All-Stars in 1986, Joyner becoming the first rookie in 16 years to start in the All-Star game.




The starting rotation for manager Gene Mauch consisted of 41-year-old Don Sutton, and 25 year-olds Mike Witt and Kirk McCaskill. The trio was joined by John Candelaria, Ron Romanick, Joe Slaton and Ray Chadwick who all started games as well. Sutton, Witt, McCaskill and Candelaria all won 10+ games each, Witt leading the squad with an 18-10 record, with McCaskill right behind him at 17-10. In only 16 starts the Candy-man won 10 games and lost 2. The closer for the Halos was Donnie Moore, who led the team with 21 saves. Such luminaries as Chuck Finley, Doug Corbett and Terry Forster joined him in the bullpen.

After spending the first half of the season dueling with Texas for first place in the West, the Angels took over for good after the 92nd game in the season. With 9 games to go they held a 10 game lead over the Rangers and a 90-63 record. They would win only 2 of their remaining games, going into the post-season on a downturn that would ultimately be their undoing.

Game One showed a lot of promise however, with the Angels jumping out to a 4-0 lead in the second after two walks, a single, a double and another single. Turns out that is all they would need, cruising to an 8-1 victory. Mike Witt got the win over Roger Clemens in his first post-season appearance. Brian Downing had a stellar game at the plate going 2-5 with 4 RBI and Wally Joyner knocked two doubles to go 2-4.

Boston would come roaring back in Game Two with Bruce Hurst on the mound against Kirk McCaskill. The game was extremely close for the first 6 1/2 innings, but the Sox, who held a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the 7th blew the game wide open with 3 in the 7th and 3 in the 8th, winning 9-2. Wally Joyner was the lone bright spot for the Halos with a solo homer in the 5th.

Splitting the first two games at Fenway was a great outcome for the Halos. They rolled into Angel Stadium and won the next two games 5-3 in Game Three with HRs from Pettis and Schofield behind a gem pitched by John Candelaria (7 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, 3 BB, 5 K) and mopped up by Donnie Moore who got the save. Oil Can Boyd took the loss for the Sox. After the game Wally Joyner would sit out the rest of the series with a staph infection, moving Grich from second to first, and Rob Wilfong getting more playing time. No doubt that had Joyner been healthy, the outcome of the series would have been drastically different. Joyner was the Halos rally-spark that season, and had become a fan favorite.

Game Four was a come-from-behind affair, the Angels winning finally 4-3, after trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th. Clemens started the game, going 8 1/3rd innings. The Sox scored a single run in the 6th and two in the 8th, and were one inning away from tying the series at two games apiece, but Clemens gave up a leadoff solo shot to DeCinces in the bottom of the 9th, and was yanked after giving up back-to-back singles to Schofield and Boone. With runners on 1st and 2nd, and 1 out Pettis delivered a double off of reliever Calvin Schiraldi that scored Schofield and put Devon White (running for Boone) on 3rd. With the bases loaded and two outs, Schiraldi hit Downing with a pitch scoring the tying run.

In the extra frames, the Angels blanked the Sox; Doug Corbett got five straight groundouts and didn’t give up a hit or a walk. In the bottom of the 11th new Catcher Jerry Narron led the inning off with a single. Pettis moved him over to second on a bunt. Rupert Jones was intentionally walked and Bob Grich in his 6th AB of the game finally got a hit, scoring Narron. The Angels were one game away from their first world series ever, and the Red Sox were reeling.

The Angels took a 5-2 lead into the 8th inning in Game Five on homers by Boone (solo) and Grich (two runs) and RBIs by Wilfong and Downing. Starter Mike Witt would be pulled in the top of the 9th in favor of Gary Lucas after he gave up a 2 run HR to former Angel Don Baylor. With the Angels ahead by only 1 run, with two strikes, Donnie Moore gave up a two run shot to Dave Henderson giving the Sox a 6-5 lead. The game would end up going to the 11th after the Wilfong drove in Jones to tie the game in the bottom of the 9th. Unfortunately for Moore he couldn’t keep the Sox off the scoreboard, and they won in the 11th 7-6 off of a sac-fly by Henderson.

The two teams flew back to Boston, with the AL East Champions behind 3 games to 2. Boston dominated every aspect of Games Five and Six, winning them by a combined 13 runs. Game 6 ended 10-4 and Game 7 was over in the 2nd inning, ending 8-1. For all intents and purposes the series really ended with Game Five, as the Angels never really recovered, and neither did Donnie Moore, who had signed a huge 3-year contract extension (avoiding Free-Agency) after the end of the ’85 season where he became one of the league’s pre-eminent closers.

He’d spend the rest of his career with the Angels, being released after his contract expired in 1988. The post ’86 seasons weren’t kind for Moore; he blamed himself for the Halos not making the World Series, and spent a lot of time on the DL. After his release he tried to make one of Kansas City’s minor league squads, but was eventually cut. According to his obituary on July 19, 1989 he had an argument with his wife Tonya whom he was legally separated from. He shot her three times in their Anaheim home, and after she fled with two of their three children, he turned the gun on himself, ending his life at age 35, a tragic reminder of how seriously people take sports. Of course it’s impossible to tell, some almost 20 years later, how much that one pitch factored into the decision that Donnie Moore made to end his life. Reports are that substance abuse and depression over the end of his baseball career were just as much of a factor, as were continuing marital strife and allegations of spousal abuse. Accounts of the shooting also vary depending on the source.



The Red Sox would go on to play the Mets in the 1986 season; a team that many would say was a team of destiny. The Sox would have their own bad luck to overcome, and perhaps a greater goat in Billy Buckner who allowed a slow roller by Mookie Wilson to pass between his legs letting Ray Knight come in to score the winning run. The Sox had been one out away from winning their first World Series since 1918. They would have a long wait in between opportunities, even longer than the Halos. The Sox wouldn’t get another chance at a World Title until 2004, only two years removed from the Angels next chance at a World Title in 2002.

The intervening 16 seasons were a grab bag of middling success for the Halos. They would come in 2nd in the AL West three times during the 90’s, but their combined record between 1987 and 2001 was 81 games under .500 with 9 losing seasons out of 15 with nine different managers between Mauch and Mike Sciosia who took over the managerial duties in 2000.

Since 1986 the Angels and Red Sox have played twice in the Playoffs, the Sox sweeping the Halos 3-0 both times (2004 and 2007). If the Angels end 2008 with the best record in the league and the Red Sox make the post-season as the Wild Card, then they’ll play again this season, and the Halos have won 8 out of 9 against them this season. Both John Lackey and Joe Saunders have two wins against them, and one of those two should start two games in a five game series (probably Lackey).

Next time we’ll look at the Angels historic 2002 run to the title, a feat that we can only hope that they’ll be duplicating this season.

Post Season Starters (Games Started)

1B – Wally Joyner (3), George Hendrick (1), Bob Grich (3)
2B – Rob Wilfong (3), Bob Grich (3), Rick Burleson (1)
3B – Doug DeCinces (7)
SS – Dick Schofield (7)
LF – Brian Downing (7)
CF – Gary Pettis (7)
RF – Rupert Jones (5), George Hendrick (2)
DH – Reggie Jackson (6), Rick Burleson (1)

Rotation
1. Mike Witt (2)
2. Kirk McCaskill (2)
3. John Candelaria (2)
4. Don Sutton

If I were Mike Sciosia

I posted a blog over at Halos Heaven containing the Halos playoff roster if I were in charge. Check it out and either comment there or here wouldya?

EDIT:

I have since removed said post from Halos Heaven because it got several unintended hostile comments, one from the BOARD OWNER, Rev Halofan, which was especially uncalled for. So I have removed the blog and if I could figure out how to do it, I would remove them from my SB Nation account. In fact, I will probably just terminate said account, since the other "blog" from them, Bruins Nation is just as hostile, if not more so.

Here's what I don't understand about all of this, we're all fans of the SAME TEAMS/COLLEGE, why does there have to be so much hatred and hostility? I don't know, but what I do know is that I'm not hanging out somewhere where I'm not wanted.

In any case, here's the playoff roster for the Halos that I would use if I were their manager:

My Playoff Roster


1. C Mike Napoli
2. 1b Mark Texiera
3. 2b Howie Kendrick
4. 3b Chone Figgins
5. SS Erick Aybar
6. RF Vladimir Guerrero
7. CF Torii Hunter
8. LF Garrett Anderson
9. C Jeff Mathis
10. IF Brandon Wood
11. IF Kendry Morales
12. IF Robb Quinlan
13. OF Gary Matthews Jr.
14. OF Juan Rivera
15. OF Reggie Willits
16. SP Ervin Santana
17. SP John Lackey
18. SP Joe Saunders
19. SP Jon Garland
20. RP Frankie Rodriguez
21. RP Scot Shields
22. RP Darren Oliver
23. RP Jered Weaver
24. RP Jose Arredondo
25. RP Kevin Jepsen

Kevin Jepsen Update - Game #4

I actually watched the game last night and remembered suddenly why I'm so interested in this pitcher; he's a great story after all. FIVE years at Class A mostly because of injury, and when he gets his first opportunity in the bigs, he shines like no one else has in QUITE a while.

Jepsen relieved starter John Lackey last night with one out in the 6th inning and a runner on second. Lackey had just given up his 4th earned run and had started to get wild, so the call went out to the kid. He got Jack Hannahan to strike out swinging and Cliff Pendleton to fly out to center to close out the inning. His line consists of 2/3rds of an inning, no runs, no hits, 1 strikeout and stranded the runner on second, and he showed a lot more promise than the next reliever, fellow youngster Jason Bulger, who started the 7th inning, gave up 3 walks, a hit and 3 earned runs, WITHOUT recording a single out.

For the playoffs the Angels should have at least one open bullpen slot that can go to one of the new guys. So far if you compare Bulger's numbers to Jepsen's numbers, Jepsen is the clear winner even though he hasn't pitched in nearly as many games.

Check it out:

Pitcher	Games	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	W	L	S	ERA
Bulger	10	11.1	9	8	2	5	12	0	0	0	6.35
Jepsen	4	3.2	1	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0.00

Most importantly, the Halos have won 3 out of the 4 games that Jepsen's appeared in so far, they've only won ONE out of the 11 games that Bulger's appeared in.

I'll continue to keep an eye on Jepsen and Bulger, I'm curious to see if either one of them makes the playoff roster.