Fall Down or Fall Classic: Los Angeles Angels
Making history, or falling pillage to it? Fall Down or Fall Classic looks at the reasons each playoff team could win it all -- or could become a mere footnote in 2007's MLB yearbook.
Postseason baseball is becoming a morsel of a habit for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Some of Southern California Including Orange County Some Of The Valley A Little Bit Of Malibu But None Of East Los Angeles. Since the Angels commemorated a World Series competition in 2002, they've made the playoffs in two of 4 seasons, production it to the ALCS in 2005 when the lost to the White Sox.
So how will the fable bring an end to ... 2007?
The Angels took over premier place back in April and they not let it work. Sure, the Mariners invested some excitement at the starting of September, merely the Angels answered at letting us entire know who the lotion of the crop really namely in the AL West. When it was entire said and done, the Angels finished 94-68, 5 games onward of the Mariners.
So will 2007 bring ... to an end the same way 2002 did, or are the Angels on the verge of variant early exit from the playoffs? I'm of the opinion that the Angels may officially take over the metropolis of Los Angeles this fall, but that's equitable my attitude. Let's all take a deeper look.
There are many reasons why I like this Angels team, and it all starts with their director, Mike Scioscia. For my money,
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The Angels do everything that a crew has to do to triumph playoff games, and they do it consistently. They pitch well. They hit well. They activity ward. The push runners over. They steal bases. That's right, they steal bases.
In a baseball globe gone ga-ga for sabremetrics the final few years, it's nice to penetrate a team that still appreciates the value of the stolen base. Sure, it's a risk, but how many times in your life have you gotten something you wanted without catching a risk?
In the cold climate of October, as pitchers reign supreme over hitters, stolen bases convert even more important. There are going to be periods this postseason when a team's misdemeanour is str
uggling, and somebody's going to must provide a spark. Stealing a base provides that spark.
Don't trust me? Ask the Red Sox and their fans how essential Dave Roberts stolen bottom was against the Yankees in 2004. All it did was rotate the plenary catena nigh and bring the Red Sox to a World Series heading. The Angels saw it first hand themselves in 2005. After the infamous stealing of first found by A.J. Pierzynski in Game 2 of the ALCS, Pablo Ozuna came into pinch run and stole second base before Joe Crede brought him in with a game champion.
Instead of being up 2-0 and going back to Anaheim, the Angels could merely salvage a split, and the White Sox rode that impetus right quondam them.
Still, there's a lot more to this team than the stolen base. There's that male that can hit any pitch, whenever, anywhere: Vladimir Guerrero. There aren't many hitters in this sport that I enjoy watching hit more than Vlad the Impaler. In an offense that relies on base hits, mashes, and stolen bases to score runs, Vlad brings the thunder.
Whether he's kicking 450-foot moonshots to center field, or lining an RBI unattached into right field, he's forever getting the scamper home.
The Angels likewise have a very mighty beginning rotation led by John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar. Not to say a very strong bullpen headlined by K-Rod, Francisco Rodriguez.
Still, there are some cares about this team. One creature the health of Vlad. The Angels aren't exactly strangers to overcoming injuries, but I panic that an harmed Guerrero is someone they can't withstand. Also, what has always been a lights out bullpen has shown some chinks in it's armor as of late.
In the second half this season, Scot Shields has had a WHIP of 1.81. Not exactly ideal because a reliever, and it's led a lot of folk to prodigy if Shields is destroying down afterward annuals of constant use. If Shields continues to skirmish, it ambition be up to Justin Speier to step in,
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Perhaps the worst warning for the Angels is this: I picked them back in the spring to win the World Series this year. That's probably the worst thing that can happen to whichever team, and I sincerely apologize to Angels fans everywhere for act it.
I haven't picked the right World Series winner since....wait a second....I picked the Angels in 2002,
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"I've never once had a bad situation,'' La Russa told FanHouse Wednesday morning. "Not once. In Chicago I had a great owner in Jerry Reinsdorf and a great general manager in Roland Hemond. In Oakland, the Haas family owned the team and were special people, and Sandy [Alderson] was as good a GM as anybody and a good guy.