On playing the Angels
ByWhenever the Yankees and Angels square off, the coverage focuses around the Yanks’ seemingly historic inability to beat Anaheim. In fact, since 2002, the Angels, 40-30 against New York, are the only American League team to have a winning record against the Yankees. We shouldn’t put much credence into this number though.
The Yanks’ troubles seemingly took off in 2002 when the two teams squared off in the ALDS. While the Yankees won 103 games that year, the Angels had won 99 and were not a bad team by any means. The Yanks won the first game but dropped the next three. While Steve Karsay threw in all four playoff games, Mariano Rivera was deployed once, and the Yankee pitching just couldn’t withstand the Angels.
Three years later, the two teams met again in the ALDS. In between post-season match-ups, the Yankees went 14-14 against the Angels in the regular season, and in 2005, Los Angeles was 6-4 against New York. Both teams had won 95 during the regular season, but the Angels emerged victorious. Mike Mussina couldn’t hold down the team in Game 5 of the ALDS, and Bubba Crosby and Gary Sheffield collided disastrously in the outfield. It was a rather forgettable series.
Since then, the Yankees have gone just 13-23 against the Angels. While the Yanks are 9-9 at home, the Angels are 14-4 against the Yanks in Angels Stadium. As the Yankees battle for home field advantage throughout the playoffs, the teams open up a somewhat pivotal three-game set tonight in Anaheim.
So should we care about the Yanks’ past performance? Do the Angels, as many are wont to say, get into the heads of the Yankees? Unless institutional memory is strong, it’s hard to see exactly how the Yanks allow previous years’ Angels losses to carry over.
The 2002 Angels were a team built on speed, pitching and Troy Glaus’ prodigious October power. There are just two players left them from that team on the Angels. John Lackey is still plugging away, and Chone Figgins had 12 ABs for the Angels that year. Just four Yankees — the so-called Old Guard of Andy Pettitte, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera — remain from the 2002 team. None of those are are thought of as weak-willed. I doubt the Angels are in their heads.
From 2005, a few other new faces join the rivalry. Along with Lackey and Figgins, the Angels still Vladimir Guerrero, Robb Quinlan, Juan Rivera, Maicer Izturis, Jeff Mathis and Ervin Santana. How some of those players have stuck around for four more years, I do not know. The Yankee hold-overs now include A-Rod, Hideki Matsui, Robinson Cano and, to a lesser extent, Melky Cabrera and Chien-Ming Wang.
That leaves us generally with a nice narrative and little reason to believe it. The Yankees have struggled against the Angels over the last few years, but by going 3-4 and beating the Angels at their own game last week, the Yanks have shown improvement. Yet, just because they often lose to the same team does not mean that the Yankee pinstripes are afraid of or intimidated by the likes of Erick Aybar and Torii Hunter. It’s just a narrative.
The Angels play the Yankees hard because, well, the Angels are a good team. They are one of the winningest teams of the decade, and they are, depending upon the day, the second or third best team in the AL this season. Even the best teams will lose to other good teams, and that’s all there is to it.
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The Mason Williams Watch
Bold prediction time: Yanks sweep te Angels, take two of three from Boston.
I’m predicting 4-2 over the next six. I’d be ecstatic with a sweep or two though obviously. It’s a bold prediction, but I think the team’s ready to start winning again.
Hey, the only time I was ever right about a prediction is when the prediction was about the Angels (I called that five run eighth inning comeback earlier in the year) so I feel good about this one.
i’d take either one–double sweep or 2-1 each. no matter what, we’re teh )(#*$@_ YANKEES!!!
why do people keep that forgetting that!
I would love it considering I’ll be right at the Games in Anaheim! I’ll take my $19.00 ticket and march my way right down to behind the Yankees dugout without even the slightest bit of a problem. So look for me! I’ll be there all three games. as far as Boston goes i like the pitching Match ups so I could see a 4-2 maybe one loss from each series. But Obviously I’m pulling for a 6-0!
Stop it with your logic, Ben.
Logic has no place here. Hysteria is what will influence all arguments from now on.
No beer and no TV make Homer… something something.
Go crazy?
DON’T MIND IF I DO!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’ll rue the day you crossed me Kabak!
Even the best teams will lose to other good teams, and that’s all there is to it.
Very true. Unlike this typical Foxsports Yankees doomsday article: http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/s.....om-perfect
It says how concerning the Yanks rotation is but says the Angels rotation just clicked in.
I can’t take seriously anything Tracy Ringolsby says. It’s that stupid hat. Somehow, he won himself the Spink Award a few years ago too.
“Tracy Ringolsby is a Hall of Fame baseball writer, recipient of the J.G. Taylor Spink Award during 2006 Hall of Fame ceremonies in Cooperstown.”
I see that Ringolsby is slinging the same self-aggrandizing bullshit that Gammons does.
Winning the J.G. Taylor Spink Award does not make you a Hall of Fame baseball writer. There is no Hall of Fame for baseball writers. It means you have been honored by the Hall of Fame. That’s it. You’re not a Hall of Famer. You’re an honoree.
Tell that to Peter Gammons.
Read my post again.
Tom Zig FAIL
I must be double failing because I’m missing your point.
Quote:
“I see that Ringolsby is slinging the same self-aggrandizing bullshit that Gammons does.”
Emphasis on Gammons
If it weren’t for the misnomered “Hall of Fame” honor, ESPN would have to resort to introducing Gammons as “that well-known, unabashed, and slightly unbalanced Red Sox shill, Peter Gammons.”
Ringolsby is mostly a dummy but he votes for Blyleven for the Hall of Fame so I give him some leeway.
(He also votes for Jack Morris and Lee Smith to balance that out)
yeah Joe Saunders scares me
Joe Saunders, 2009 post ASB: 4.97 ERA, .310/.377/.468 against. Keep that in your pocket.
“The Angels, meanwhile, appear to be hitting their stride at just the right time, benefitting from a revamped rotation since the return of Joe Saunders from the disabled list and the acquisition of Scott Kazmir from Tampa Bay.” -Tracy Ringolsby
Post ASB-Weaver 4.86 era .281/.340/.492
wish writers were held accountable for their writings.
I love the poll question: Will the Yankees choke in the postseason? Yes or No. Not much room for discussion there…
Isn’t it possible to lose in the playoffs without “choking?” Has it come to the point that every loss the Yankees incur during the playoffs will be considered a choke? Has the media pidgeonholed the Yankees into the only team that can “choke” in the playoffs…while other teams simply lose?
I think the answer is yes to the latter… no to the former.
New Poll Question:
2009 Yankees: Big Chokers, or Biggest Chokers?
i hate the Angels…i hate them…i hate their fruity fans…i hate their stadium…i hate their stupid rally monkey….i hate their mindset…i hate their manager…i hate chone figgins…i hate Garret Anderson going for 8 RBI and 2 HR…i hate their catchers becoming johnny bench when they play us…i hate EVERYTHING ABOUT THEM!! From top to bottom…I HATE THEM!
Tell us how you really feel.
I hate you black bastards. You STINK!
Movie is awesome.
What about Howie Kendrick and his Bondsian pwnage of the Yankees?
I hate Howie Kendrick hitting damn near .600 vs the yankees…i hate that kendry morales became a star before juan miranda..when they are the exact same players…i hate giant rocks in CF…
Hey, how would you feel if Mike Vick played for the Angels?
(stands back to avoid getting pieces of brain on clothes following the imminent head explosion)
http://i16.tinypic.com/5x3mp6o.gif (safe)
Non-fun Fact of the Day:
Howie Kendrick is hitting .396/.421/.612 (1.032) since the All Star break. That’s 5th in all of baseball, behind only Matt Holliday, Derrek Lee, Albert Pujols, and Joe Mauer.
No, you read that correctly.
(gulp)
Well that’s not cool.
Howie Kendrick is hotter than Roger Clemens’s balls.
And Matt Holliday, Derrek Lee, Albert Pujols, and Joe Mauer are all even hotter.
and yet it’s STILL taken a late-season collapse by the tigers to somehow make him MVP-worthy in the eyes of many.
Well, he’s got -10 xRBI.
He might hit 1.200 in this series.
He’ll hit moonshots so awesome that they’ll call other players out of the dugout to round the bases in front of him and take outs off the scoreboard.
let him hit 1. ONE. and if he watches it too long, dont give him any more opportunities for walks. hit him.
series line for kendrick:
1-1, 9 HBP
My favorite thing is that their offense has been a lot better this year…because Morales, Abreu, and Napoli have been doing a great job getting on base and hitting for power, and Kendrick has been out of his mind for the last month, but the narrative is still that they kill you by going first to third and stealing. If that were true, wouldn’t they DESTROY the Red Sox, who are among the worst in the league at throwing out baserunners?
My lady and I are going to all three games out here on the Left Coast.
Here’s to a non-fatigued Andy beginning to rewrite the narrative, and me finally going to an Angels/Yankees game where the Yankees win!
But, then, explain why the Red Sox continue to humiliate the Angels seemingly at every turn. Is it simply pitching? Relief pitching? Inability of the Angels to exploit the bandbox dimensions of Fenway? Better scouting?
Well last year I’m pretty sure the Angels owned the Red Sox until the playoffs.
Just more mind games from RSN.
Last week it was Rick Reed. The Angels actually won two out of three games, but he called strike three a ball and then later tried to blame the catchers.
What a shitter.
Reed: “It’s all your fault that I totally messed up that call, because you did that thing that you do all the time and it influenced my decision-making process in the exact opposite way it normally would even though you do it all the time and every single catcher in baseball does it all the time and I’ve literally seen that happen probably a million times if you add up all the pitches from all the games I’ve umpired in all my life.”
Napoli and Mathis: “Go fuck yourself, San Diego.”
And to make matters even worse, he “enjoys being Mr. Mom in the off-season,” according to his bio.
I have never witnessed Jason Varitek frame a pitch, EVAH!!!
Since I depressed you with my Howie Kendrick nugget, lemme cheer you back up again:
Jason Varitek, Post ASB, 2009 – .158/.250/.242 (.492)
I feel better now.
http://www.theonion.com/conten....._take_knee
he’s scored 4 runs post ASB.
yeah yeah i know Rs, RBIs and whatever are overloved. but 4 fucking runs in 37 games?
Wow. Just wow. That’s almost as bad as; “the throw beat you.”
Two strokes and still allowed to umpire!!!
anyone going to any of the games ? im going to tuesdays game, anyones welcome to come do some beer bongs in the parking lot with me.
Please tell me that Marty Foster and Angel Hernandez are not umpiring any Yankee games in the next 2 series
Can you imagine a crew of Marty Foster, Angel Hernandez and Rick Reed? It wouldn’t matter who the fourth guy is. That’s the umping crew from hell.
I’m pretty sure the fourth ump in that crew would be Enrico Pallazo.
My favorite Hernandez story goes back to Wrigley Field in 2001 when he actually tried to eject essentially a fan from a game. Steve McMichaels, former Bear, had just finished singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” when he flippantly remarked that he was “going down there to speak to the home plate umpire.” Apparently, Hernandez had made another of his dubious calls the night before against the Cubs on the bases. Hernandez signalled McMichael’s ejection and wanted crew chief Randy Marsh to phone the broadcast booth to have McMichael removed from the park. Marsh demurred, understandably.
I didn’t realize Stan’s Dad was an MLB umpire.
Please tell me that Marty Foster and Angel Hernandez are not umpiring any Yankee games in the next 2
seriesdecades.Fixed.
Agreed. This is a totally different team and are no doubt better than the Angels this year. I have great confidence in this team but anything can happen in a short series.
Just like anything can happen in a Giants-Cowboys game–
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW, TOO SOOOOOOOOOOOOON?
Hey Jerry, put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Lawrence Tynes’d
I feel Mike Pop’s pain… At least he doesn’t have to post with a sketchy handle for a week.
Shit happens man. My team should of won that game.
They should have. But then Tony Romo was your quarterback.
I couldn’t resist – we’ll save the rest for an open thread.
No need to, we both know what happened that game. The Giants didn’t play that much better than the Cowboys.
The roles seemed to be reversed, you were supposed to dominate the run and us the pass.
Sucks how it ended but I’m fairly confident in the Cowboys going forward.
Last one, promise:
Tony Romo was not the reason the Cowboys lost that game.
That is ridiculous. But I’d love to hear your reasoning in the open thread.
Under 2 minutes
game on line
Manning with the ball
GAME OVER
How about those Cowboys?
At least they had a big TV to watch themselves lose.
You’re absolutely right. Tony Romo did an excellent job hitting receivers – Giants receivers, that is.
Yep, off Witten’s foot was totally his fault.
The Kenny Philips was inexcusable. Dominating you with the run, and he airs it out to Sam Hurd. Just trying to make a big play. Dumb.
/I kept it going to defend myself. I am done.
Off Witten’s foot WAS his fault. Behind the reciever, man.
To be fair, while the Witten pick was insanely flukey, it was a poorly thrown ball that was behind him.
I found the commentary about the Cowboys’ new stadium a little over the top last night, but I suddenly have a pretty strong interest in checking it out.
What’s the over-under on number of years before the Cowboys start showing hardcore pornography during timeouts on those huge hi-def jumbotrons? Whatever it is, put me down for the under.
You can’t NOT show porno on a screen that big and clear. It would be a crime against humanity.
did you see the “cage” dancers?
fan-tastic.
i wish the angels had that.
/pathetictopicattempt
My favorite thing from that game:
I went into the Sunday Nighter with a real thin lead in my RAB Fantasy Football league matchup against Aaron (90.90 to 89.60).
He had Jason Witten and Patrick Crayton as his only players left to play. I had only my kicker: Lawrence Tynes.
I still won, 104.90 to 104.30. Witten’s 5 catches for 33 yards and a touchdown and and Crayton’s one catch for 4 yards were worth a combined 14.70 points. Tynes’s four field goals were worth 14.00 points.
Not quite enough, Cowboys. Advantage: Tommie.
It has to suck playing vs. someone who’s always right. It’s like, whoever you pick is going to pan out.
In other news I just picked up Mario Manningham for my fantasy team.
Well thank Mo we all know how your fucking fantasy football team did this week.
(Kidding, I actually find your fantasy football exploits pretty entertaining, I just like the old “nobody gives a shit about your fantasy team” joke.)
Thanks. It’s all in good fun, as I’m sure you know…
… Tubby.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi.....da.svg.png (safe)
Au contraire:
Time of possesion: Giants by about 9 minutes
Total yardage: Giants, 427, 378
Giants penalties: 4-40 Cowboys penalties: 4-50
Giants were in the Red Zone more, they just didn’t score as much
Giants deserved to win
My proof:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c.....wcast.html
i love when the cowboys lose, it doesnt matter who they lose to, since i like the giants its even sweeter
Heh, I remember when Sheff and Bubba collided. My dad was all upset, big fan of Bubba.
http://bubba-crosby.com/main.htm
I was all upset because it was a stupid play destined to cost the Yankes runs when they could least afford to give them up.
I was at Angel stadium that day right next to the play. The main thing I remember is the deafening sound of the thunder-sticks (why not just hand out air horns at Yankee stadium if we’re going to resort to artificial noisemakers). Angel fans thought that ball was going out of the park so the noise reached a ridiculous level from the thunder sticks. It’s no wonder they collided
The notion of an Angels/Yankees narrative that is in any way relevant to this year’s play is just this side of Alice in Wonderland. Further, the idea that the Angels are in the Yankees respective heads is utterly ridiculous. People said that about the Red Sox after they took the first eight games this year, but that didn’t stop the Yankees from taking the next six of seven.
The fact of the matter is that the Angels have had some very good teams this century and they have played the Yankees tough. I expect the Angels to play well in this three game series but feel confident that the Yankees can take two out of three.
It’s a short three game series so anything can happen from Angels sweep to Yankees seep and everything in between. That’s why we play the games instead of just relying on computer simulations. I will be shocked if the Yankees don’t take at least one game and disappointed if they don’t take two.
Go Yankees! This is definitely a post season preview series.
Mon – Pettitte v. Saunders
Tue – Gaudin v. Santana
Wed – Burnett v. Kazmir
Yeah, I agree. I think we take two of three. That Burnett-Kazmir tilt could be an awesome pitching duel…
Taking two out of three would go a long way in quelling the sky-is-falling-we-aren’t-even-going-to-make-the-playoffs crowd.
Actually, taking ONE out of three would quell the “we’re not going to make the playoffs” crowd to complete silence for the rest of the season. Really.
I doubt it.
I’m not sure if clinching a playoff spot would really stop them. As long as there’s games against the Red Sox on the sked and we haven’t clinched the AL East yet, they’ll still panic, even if we’re already guaranteed the wild card.
Then perhaps it was wrong for me to say they’d be silenced. I should’ve said that they’d be morphed into the “we’re going to blow the division” crowd.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed, after all.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E%3Dmc_squared
Bingo.
You mean, Eureka! (the definition is at the top)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eureka
Well true. But then again they would just become:
the sky-is-still-falling-sox-are-gonna-win-the-division crowd
I am looking forward to that one most. Both Kazmir and AJ have had awesome stuff for years. Both have been injury prone and inconsistent. Both can rack up double digit K’s or a lot of BB’s.
Which AJ and which Kazmir will show up? I hope it’s the good AJ and the bad Kazmir. But a real solid pitcher’s duel could be fun as well.
Part of the reason the Angels get a psychological reaction they do is their style of play. When the offense is going well it seems like they never make an out. They just keep walking and hitting singles and so on. It is intensely frustrating because you aways have the chance to get out of the inning with a DP or something, but never do.
It’s a lot easier to absorb a walk, single, and HR than it is to watch the other guys get hit after hit, even if both sequences produce three runs.
You may be on to something there.
One more note: One of the biggest thorns in our side, a guy who put up a career .320/.340/.488 against the Yankees in 518 plate appearances, is now playing in Atlanta.
http://cdn1.sbnation.com/entry.....seball.jpg
used to hate seeing him come to bat, such a sweet swing.
although it annoys me that played for 1 organization for 14 years, yet the team have 3 different titles when i look at his stat sheet.
http://www.baseball-reference......html?redir
CAL 94-97
ANA 97-04
LAA 04-08
team has
Same organization, same location, different names. So stupid.
Nothing like the storied tradition of the Anaheim Angels of California in Los Angeles.
BTW, how many uniform configurations have they had during that 14 year, three-name stretch? Like, 20?
http://bit.ly/1vumt
I love that the 94-96 unis look like Texas Rangers of the last 15 years. Those Angels in the Outfield unis were pretty horrendous. Ah how I don’t long for those Disney Days!
There is something very reassuring about knowing what the Yankees’ uniform is going to look like every fucking year and the fact that it still looks good every fucking year . I love that the Red Sox have those stupid Friday night hats. Did they really need to wear them in a game to sell them to their mindless drones?
yeah but they look too professional, too business-like. thats why they’ve failed so much recently
/espn’d
I’d love to petition the league to allow teams that do not have alternate uniforms to ban other teams from wearing their alternate uniforms in their parks.
Not only do I love the Yankee pinstripes, but I love traditionalism in general. Whites and greys. I don’t want to ever see this in Yankee Stadium again:
http://sixfourthreeblog.files......s-red1.jpg
im with you, whites an greys, an while we are at it , no pink yankee hats either
For a positive spin the Angels really are all set for the first round of the playoffs as division winner so these 3 games do not have the same urgency to them as they would have if the Angels were still being pressed by the Rangers. The Yanks, on the other hand, are now on the verge of being pressed and also just want to win in Anaheim just to prove they are capable of doing so (sought of the same feeling/parameters when Yanks met Bos in early August after losing 8 straight). I look for a full press tonight and short leash on Andy (with the “A” relievers coming in earlier than usual if needed).
By the way, Mark Feinsand pretty much just proved my point by missing the point in his most recent blog post about this series.
There’s your faulty Angels narrative right there.
See, if he just cut this part “and play the other games close – they can head home feeling good. When you’ve lost 16 of your last 21 in a ballpark, anything short of a sweep has to feel like a moral victory.” I would be fine with the statement. If the Yankees win one game, they probably clinch the playoffs. That is all that is necessary at this point. The other shit is mindless drivel.
BUT TEH PLAYOFF PREVIEW!!!!!!!1!!!
if you dont think its a playoff preview, well then you’re just wrong
/andy’d
I could be wrong, but I believe “Playoff Preview” was an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.
Actually, it is German for a whale’s vagina
That wasn’t the name of the Confederate submarine that mysteriously sunk?
Oh I guess it wasn’t.
http://www.charlestonillustrated.com/hunley/#
Perhaps some or maybe even a lot our misfortunes against the Angels have been due to the largely crap defense we’ve had and Mike Scioscia knowing how to exploit it.
In recent years, we’ve had Giambi at first, pre-2009 Jeter at short, declining Bernie in CF, Damon in CF, Abreu in RF, Sheffield in RF, Matsui in LF. That’s like -2000 UZR right there.
Good point. Hitting and speed will prevail against a porous defense.
Don’t forget Tony Womack, Matt Lawton, and Kenny Lofton.
(claws eyes out)
If there ever is a record for worst outfield defense…EVER, See: 2004 Yankees.
http://tinyurl.com/n6v3hf
Wow, -11.1 UZR/150 from your “all glove, no bat” backup centerfielder. And yet, that’s still a massive, massive, massive upgrade over the regular guy.
Tony Womack is a great guy