SB Nation - Erick Aybar

More Roy Halladay Rumors: Angels Edition

Tom Dakers — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:41:31 -0000

Bob Elliot, not quite a Hall of Famer for the second year in a row, (which is really too bad, I thought he'd have it this year) comes through with an actual rumor of an offer from the Angels for Roy Halladay. The offer is lefty pitcher Joe Saunders, shortstop Erick Aybar and center fielder Peter Bourjos. You can click on their names to get more information about each, but here is a little:

Aybar is 26, hit .312/.353/.423 last year with 5 homers and 14 steals, though he was caught 7 times so his base stealing was kind of a break even thing. He had a UZR/150 of 7.6 so he's decent defensively. His WAR value was 3.8, he's just coming up to his prime years and he has 3 seasons left before he can be a free agent. He'd fill the leadoff role for the team too.
Saunders is 28 and had a 16-7 record and a 4.60 ERA in 2009 after a 17-6 and 3.41 ERA in 2008. He doesn't strike out many, 4.9/ 9 last year, so I'd be worried that he wouldn't be able to keep up that win/loss record, but he's been a good pitcher up till now. He has three more seasons before he can become a free agent.
Peter Bourjos is 23 and played Double-A ball last year. He hit .281/.354/.423 in Arkansas last year. He stole 32 bases last year, and 50 the year before. He has a good reputation for defense and would allow the Jays to mover Vernon Wells to a corner spot in the outfield.

The deal would give us a surplus of shortstops but Alex Gonzalez' contract isn't a bad one, I'm sure Alex could find a deal out there so him somewhere. I think I'd rather have Jesus Montero, as I think he could be a terrific batter, but I'm not sure the Yankees would part with him. We could do a lot worse than this deal.

I am guessing that this deal isn't that close to happening, Jordan Bastian has twittered that Alex Anthopoulos said that a deal is unlikely to happen during the meetings, but if the deal is on the table that's a good thing.

Poll

Would you trade Doc for Aybar, Saunders and Bourjas?

Yes

169 votes

No

142 votes

311 votes | Poll has closed

Torii Hunter Gold Glove #9

Rev Halofan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:42:05 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

G O L D (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Browse more photos »

The Angels added some hardware Tuesday with Centerfielder Torii Hunter collecting his 9th career gold glove and his 2nd as an Angel in as many seasons with the club.

Suffice to say that shortstop Erick Aybar was absolutely robbed in the awarding of the prize to Derek Jeter. Angels 3B Chone Figgins at least lost out to Evan Longoria, a competent fielder.

The official announcement is at MLB.COM's website.

Angels Franchise Gold Glove Winners (Official Team Site Listings has not been updated since 2004)

Torii Hunter	OF	2009

Torii Hunter	OF	2008

Orlando Cabrera	SS	2007

Darin Erstad	1B	2004

Bengie Molina	C	2003

Darin Erstad	OF	2002

Bengie Molina	C	2002

Darin Erstad	OF	2000

Jim Edmonds	OF	1998

Jim Edmonds	OF	1997

J.T. Snow	1B	1996

J.T. Snow	1B	1995

Mark Langston	P	1995

Mark Langston	P	1994

Mark Langston	P	1993

Mark Langston	P	1992

Mark Langston	P	1991

Devon White	OF	1989

Devon White	OF	1988

Bob Boone	C	1988

Bob Boone	C	1987

Bob Boone	C	1986

Gary Pettis	OF	1986

Gary Pettis	OF	1985

Bob Boone	C	1982

Rick Milller	OF	1978

Ken Berry	OF	1972

Jim Spencer	1B	1970

Bobby Knoop	2B	1968

Bobby Knoop	2B	1967

Jim Fregosi	ss	1966

Bobby Knoop	2B	1966

Vic Power	1B	1964

Peter Bourjos: Angels Best Prospect Performance #7

rghan — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:07:15 -0000

7) Peter Bourjos, 22 - CF, AA

.281/.354/.423 with 6 HR and 32 SB's. +7 bat, +15 glove

Like last year, Bourjos' bat tailed off in the second half. Turns out, it was injury related: he underwent surgery last month to clean up his wrist, which had been bothering him since June. Once healthy and in Salt Lake, it would not surprise me at all to see him return to his first half, ~.800+ OPS ways. Given Bourjos' power potential and the PCL's generous hitting environment, we may see some more homeruns as well. Looking further out, I think it's likely his early career mirrors Erick Aybar's, where he spends a good chunk of time as an under-appreciated backup on the mlb club, quietly contributing outstanding defense and speed, while steadily improving with the bat to the point where he gets leadoff consideration.

I'll continue posting the top performances through next week. Again, remember that this list is based entirely on statistical performance in 2009, and is not a traditional "best prospects" ranking.

2010 Bill James Player Projections

WiHaloFan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:03:05 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia has a busy off season in store for him.

Browse more photos »

Now that the Angels off-season is officially here, it's time to start the speculation of player moves the team may make prior to the start of the 2010 season. To help fuel the discussion on who should stay and who should go, below are the 2010 player projections courtesy of the 2010 Bill James Handbook (which will be published on or before November 1st). The Bill James projections have been around for over 20 years, and the handbook has proven to be a valuable addition to a fan's bookshelf for either quick reference or deep analysis.

Angel players expected to return in 2010:

Pos			G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
C	Mike Napoli	2009-Actual	114	382	60	104	22	1	20	56	3	3	40	103	.272	.350	.492	.842
		2010-Projected	115	395	68	105	21	1	24	69	5	3	54	103	.266	.361	.506	.868
1B	Kendry Morales#	2009-Actual	152	566	86	173	43	2	34	108	3	7	46	117	.306	.355	.569	.924
		2010-Projected	153	572	80	168	38	1	29	98	2	3	40	97	.294	.341	.516	.857
2B	Howie Kendrick	2009-Actual	105	374	61	109	21	3	10	61	11	4	20	71	.291	.334	.444	.778
		2010-Projected	124	467	70	144	34	3	11	68	14	6	21	76	.308	.343	.465	.808
SS	Erick Aybar#	2009-Actual	137	504	70	157	23	9	5	58	14	7	30	54	.312	.353	.423	.776
		2010-Projected	139	520	75	151	25	6	6	57	18	9	28	55	.290	.330	.396	.726
LF	Juan Rivera	2009-Actual	138	529	72	152	24	1	25	88	0	1	36	57	.287	.332	.478	.810
		2010-Projected	138	529	69	149	30	0	23	87	0	0	36	62	.282	.329	.469	.797
CF	Torii Hunter	2009-Actual	119	451	74	135	26	1	22	90	18	4	47	92	.299	.366	.508	.873
		2010-Projected	146	556	82	151	33	1	24	92	16	7	48	113	.272	.335	.464	.799
MI	Maicer Izturis#	2009-Actual	114	387	74	116	22	3	8	65	13	5	35	41	.300	.359	.434	.794
		2010-Projected	124	446	70	126	25	3	6	56	14	6	43	48	.283	.348	.392	.741
OF	Gary Matthews#	2009-Actual	103	316	44	79	19	2	4	50	4	1	40	74	.250	.336	.361	.697
		2010-Projected	124	403	55	101	23	2	9	48	6	3	44	91	.251	.327	.385	.712
C	Jeff Mathis	2009-Actual	84	237	26	50	8	0	5	28	2	3	22	73	.211	.288	.308	.596
		2010-Projected	85	238	30	52	12	1	6	29	2	1	21	61	.218	.287	.353	.640
		2009 - Total		3746	567	1075	208	22	133	604	68	35	316	682	.287
		2010 - Total		4126	599	1147	241	18	138	604	77	38	335	706	.278

The above nine players are under contract with the Angels for 2010, and with the exception of Matthews, will most likely be in their opening day line up. As you will notice, the James projections show a slight increase in run production in spite of a decrease in batting average and on base percentage. It would have been interesting to see what the projected production of Brandon Wood would have been, but providing numbers for players with little major league experience is hard to predict.

A couple things stand out; Howie Kendrick with 34 doubles in only 124 games. This would be 45 doubles if he played an entire season. Yet, he's projected to add just one base on balls in 93 more at bats. Two of the youngest Angels are projected to show a slight decline from 2009. Kendry Morales is projected to decline in his power output, while Erick Aybar's breakout season looks to also fade in 2010.

Angel Free Agents:

			G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
3B	Chone Figgins#	2009-Actual	158	615	114	183	30	7	5	54	42	17	101	114	.298	.395	.393	.789
		2010-Projected	154	578	97	165	25	5	5	51	37	15	76	105	.285	.369	.372	.741
RF	Bobby Abreu*	2009-Actual	152	563	96	165	29	3	15	103	30	8	94	113	.293	.390	.435	.825
		2010-Projected	157	606	103	173	38	2	18	101	25	9	101	127	.285	.389	.444	.833
DH	Vladimir Guerrero	2009-Actual	100	383	59	113	16	1	15	50	2	1	19	56	.295	.334	.460	.794
		2010-Projected	135	508	77	155	29	1	24	88	5	3	46	70	.305	.369	.508	.876

What's interesting with these three players is they fall into 3 different categories; declining, sustaining, and improving. The player projections for Guerrero were pretty generous, and are relying on his improved health and increasing playing time, but what really surprises me is his increase in base-on-balls with a much smaller ratio of strikeouts. Although his BB% in 2009 was the lowest of his career (4.7%), the projections have him returning to his career level of 8.3%.

Figgins also looks like he'll revert to his career numbers in BB%, resulting in a significant drop in OBP (but still higher than his career OBP of .363). Turning 32 in January, re-signing Figgins might not be the right move for the Halos, especially if a large salary increase and declining numbers are considered.

Bobby Abreu looks like he's aging well. His numbers are projected to remain about the same as in 2009, which were pretty much in line with his career number...with the exception in slugging percentage.

Notable Free Agents - 2010 Projected

	Age	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
Matt Holliday	30	155	605	105	191	43	3	27	109	14	6	66	112	.316	.391	.531	.922
Jason Bay	31	153	560	99	150	32	2	32	103	11	4	88	159	.268	.374	.504	.878
Nick Johnson	31	124	426	67	118	29	1	12	62	2	2	91	83	.277	.414	.434	.849
Adam LaRoche	30	152	571	79	155	42	1	26	91	1	1	79	91	.271	.348	.485	.833
Adrian Beltre	31	131	483	61	130	29	1	17	68	10	4	32	82	.269	.321	.439	.760
Miguel Tejada	36	157	622	84	186	37	1	18	91	4	3	32	62	.299	.342	.449	.791
Rick Ankiel	30	118	375	53	95	19	1	18	59	3	2	29	87	.253	.310	.453	.764
Xavier Nady	31	124	424	54	121	25	1	17	65	2	1	28	85	.285	.337	.469	.806

Is Tejada really 36? Could Nick Johnson stay healthy two seasons in a row (and can his limited power return)? How much will Nady cost and will he be healthy? Break the bank for Holliday?

Obviously, these numbers aren't written in stone. They're just educated guesses at what to expect from these players, but they do provide a good base to build discussion on.

Chone Figgins: Should He Stay or Should He Go?

Rev Halofan — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:29:52 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

Browse more photos »

Angels 3Bman Chone Figgins is a free agent.

I think it will take $27 Million over 3 years to sign him.

While he is a fan favorite, his skill set may be reproducible by Erick Aybar, who is younger and under club control at an affordable price for some time to come.

He got caught stealing at a higher rate this year than in years past.

He had some great hot streaks and served as a sparkplug but is diminished in ability from the right side and is a lodestone on the offense when slumping as he becomes a guaranteed out.

He will be 32 next season.

In addition to a newfound plate discipline, above average speed (but not great speed) and a .300 singles hitting batting average, Figgins was one of the best defenders at 3B this season in the American League.

But while Aybar will never challenge Figgy's hold on the all time franchise Stolen Bases record, he can more than replicate the singles-hitting and great infield defense.

We ranked him All Time Angel #19 in our preseason Top 100 Angels poll and he might even be higher than that after his contributions to this season's division title.

If it was up to me, I would make sure that when Desmond DeChone Figgins returns to Angels Stadium in the uniform of another team that he is rightfully honored with a tribute video on the jumbotron. It is too difficult to assert that Figgins has played his final game in an Angel uniform.

Poll

Is Re-Signing Chone Figgins the Angels' top offseason priority?

Yes

392 votes

No

991 votes

1383 votes | Poll has closed

Angels Yankees ALCS Game 6 Lineups Remain the Same?

Rev Halofan — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:04:36 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

2 months ago: Los Angeles Angels' Joe Saunders, scheduled starter for Game 6 of the American League Championship baseball series against the New York Yankees, walks back to the dugout after the game was postponed because of rain Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, in New York. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Browse more photos »

These lineups for the Angels and Yankees were posted before Saturday's postponement and there is no reason to think they will change for Sunday... What do you think of them? There was talk that Figgins would be demoted to batting 9th, but lo and behold, he remains atop the lineup and the hot bat of Banjo Mathis stays in the mix as well.

Angels
Chone Figgins, 3B
Bobby Abreu, RF
Torii Hunter, CF
Vladimir Guerrero, DH
Kendry Morales, 1B
Howie Kendrick, 2B
Juan Rivera, LF
Jeff Mathis, C
Erick Aybar, SS

Yankees
Derek Jeter, SS
Johnny Damon, LF
Mark Teixeira, 1B
Alex Rodriguez, 3B
Jorge Posada, C
Hideki Matsui, DH
Robinson Cano, 2B
Nick Swisher, RF
Melky Cabrera, CF

Joe Saunders (LHP) @ Andy Pettitte (LHP)

What do you think of these batting orders?

Hey, Bud! It's Time For Replay Review: NLCS Game 5 Preview, Dodgers vs. Phillies, Wednesday 10/21, 7:07 CT

Al — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:09:34 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

Photographic evidence of The Worst Call of All Time.

Browse more photos »

Fortunately, they had nothing to do with the outcome of ALCS game four, which the Yankees won 10-1. But there were three horrendous umpiring calls in consecutive innings in last night's game -- and two of them were made by Tim McClelland, who has a reputation as one of the best in baseball. The one that everyone's talking about has been termed by Kevin Kaduk ("Duk") of Yahoo sports as "The Worst Call of All Time".

I don't think I'd go that far, because as noted above, even all three calls put together had negligible impact on the game. Had 2B umpire Dale Scott made the right call when Erick Aybar had Nick Swisher picked off second base in the fourth, that inning would have been over -- but McClelland made the wrong call in saying that Swisher, later in the inning, left third base too early and thus was out instead of scoring. No harm done, right? Well, maybe. If Swisher is called out at second, the inning would have been over, and Scott Kazmir wouldn't have had to pitch to two extra hitters in that inning.

But McClelland's call in the fifth -- how can you miss that when it's right in front of you? Angels catcher Mike Napoli tagged two runners, neither of whom was standing on third base at the time. They were both out. True, again, no "harm" was done, because the Yankees failed to score after that. But Darren Oliver, as Kazmir had to do in the previous inning, had to throw to another hitter. Who knows what the pitch sequences would have been, or whether Kazmir might have been able to settle down when it was only 3-0? After the game, McClelland said:

As far as the two calls that I had at third base. The first one with Swisher leaving too soon. In my heart I thought he left too soon.

On the play with Cano and Posada, I thought Cano was on the base. I was waiting for two players to be on the base, and when there was never the situation where both of them were on the base at the same time. When he tagged Cano, I thought Cano was on the base, and when Jorge touched the base and continued and tagged Posada out, I thought Posada was out.

In his heart??? You're not supposed to make calls with your heart, Tim. You're supposed to watch the game with your eyes. And you "thought" Cano was on the base? How about checking with your eyes?

I'm being deliberately too tough on McClelland here -- he is, as I wrote above, generally respected as one of the best in the game. The real villain here is Bud Selig, because he refuses to admit that replay review of plays like this is necessary in modern baseball. Under a system that's been proposed by others and that I agree with, you could give each manager two "red flags" that he could throw for replay review. Last night, two plays went against the Angels and one against the Yankees -- you could have gotten those right under that system and everyone would be happy, I presume, that the right calls were made instead of having another postgame apology news conference from an umpire.

It's way past time, Bud. You already have review for home runs, and it's working well. Time to have review for other calls. The umpiring in the postseason has been atrociously bad. Let's fix it.

Dodgers at Phillies, 7:07 pm CDT. Phillies lead series 3-1. TV: TBS. Announcers: Chip Caray, Buck Martinez and Ron Darling.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Dodgers site True Blue LA and Phillies site The Good Phight.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

They Screw Up At Least One Important Call Every Game

Jeff — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 23:11:50 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Browse more photos »

I didn't get to watch the Angels/Yankees marathon last night, but I've been reading about it, and - surprise! - an umpire made a controversial call that had a dramatic impact on the win expectancy. This one was the doings of second base umpire Jerry Layne, who decided the tenth inning would be a good time to stop calling the neighborhood play. This, of course, came as a surprise to Erick Aybar, who was given no indication that extras in New York meant the game would now, in select circumstances, be called by the rulebook.

Here's video of the play in question. What's clear is that Aybar never actually touched the bag. What's also clear, though, is that he got close, close enough that he would ordinarily get the call. The same call it looked like he had gotten in, say, the third inning, when Mark Teixeira grounded a ball that Maicer Izturis flipped to Aybar with Johnny Damon bearing down on him from first base. The same call it looked like he had gotten in the seventh inning, when the characters were Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner. The same call that middle infielders get all the time, a call that everyone knows isn't technically correct but a call that is nevertheless universally understood to be among baseball's unwritten rules.

According to my spreadsheet, the Yankees had a win expectancy of ~73% with a man on first base. The grounder, as ruled, dropped that to 72%. Had Layne called Cabrera out at second, however, it would've dropped all the way down to 55%. That's a 17% difference, or roughly the equivalent of awarding the Yankees a leadoff double. The call didn't end up hurting the Angels - Darren Oliver worked his way out of the inning - but it did still deal their chances a severe blow, and just because it didn't ultimately end up costing anyone any runs doesn't mean we can just sweep it under the rug.

If you're an umpire, and you want to call a game by the book, that's great. That's pure, and it's good to adhere to a concrete set of rules. But if that's something you want to do, then (A) you have to make all the players and coaches aware of what you're doing before the game, and (B) you can't just change your mind all willy-nilly in the middle innings, completely unannounced. All anyone ever wants from refs or umpires is consistency. While there's a difference between being consistent and being correct, the former takes precedence over the latter to the point where they can be one and the same. The neighborhood play, for example, isn't correct, but because umpires have been consistent about calling it, it's been regarded as such for as long as anyone can remember. Consistency. If umpires could be consistent about their calls, then no one would have a problem with them.

Layne, it seems, deviated from consistency. He deviated from consistency in the bottom of the 10th of a tie game in the ALCS, and he deviated from consistency knowing full well that, though he had the rulebook on his side, the Angels would be steamed, because he was going against what's normal. Somebody explain that to me. Somebody explain to me why that particular situation warranted aberrant punctiliousness, especially when it looked like earlier plays in the third and seventh innings were called as they've always been called.

That call isn't the reason the Angels lost the game. They lost the game because they didn't hit when they had to, they didn't field when they had to, and Yankee Stadium allows for some damn retarded home runs. But that call is just the latest in a series of questionable calls that umpires have made in what's still a young playoffs. I don't think there's any good excuse for doing what Jerry Layne did in the 10th inning last night, and until umpires are either replaced or held to a higher standard of conduct, baseball's going to bear a blemish that it doesn't need to bear.

CC Sabathia: Good Deal! Yanks win ALCS opener 4-1, work cold to their favor

CrazyYankeeChick — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:29:19 -0000

Man, it's cold out. When I started this whole watching-the-Yankees-bat-from-outside ritual, it was a 65 degree situation. But right now, my digits are creamsicles as I'm typing this. So when I think of the fact CC Sabathia went 8 innings and let up 1 run, I'm more in awe of him, his fat, and this team than ever.

The Yankees beat the Angels 4-1 tonight, thanks to Porky's 7K gem, unrelenting bats against John Lackey, and 3 errors--THREE--from a team that hasn't logged an error since the Cowboys dynasty.

I don't why it feels like Maine in January when it's not even freezing temperature. But it is. Maybe Jorge Posada's right. Maybe it IS "Yankee weather."

Ghosts and unseasonably chilly temperature. Yankee Stadium's answers to all things inexplicable. You can't discount the 10 hits and flat-out absurd defensive that came from a determined New York squad. But on the other hand...there's Torii Hunter letting a single get by him which allowed Derek Jeter to score in the 6th, a throwing error from Lackey, a do-you-have-ir-ok-got-it-wait-what? pop-up blooper between Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar...and that was just on defense.

CC held the slugging monsters from LA to only 4 hits and 1 walk...and zero stolen bases. For all the rampant concern about how in the world the Yankees were ever going to manage the team who's speed can break the sound barrier...there wasn't even so much as an attempt.

The Yanks took an early 2-0 lead with Alex Rodriguez's (who else) sac fly that scored Jeter, and an infield single from Hideki that plated Johnny Damon.

Hideki can thank the 400 pounds of sweatshirt coating Aybar's ears, who couldn't make heads or tails of the whole calling the pop-up thing. Bundled up in so much insulation that I wouldn't be surprised if they all had Pink Panther padding in there, the Angels played like an old school Nintendo baseball game where no player can run in a straight line, and no matter how angrily you bang on the control pad, the player won't move beneath the ball to catch a routine pop up.

This same play engendered ridiculous blown call #3,801 of the playoffs, when A-Rod darted home only to find Jeff Mathis patiently waiting for him with the ball. HOWEVAH, no tag was ever successfully made as A-Rod barrelled over him and touched home. I've been saying for the past week that all these bad calls work both ways, and that it all evens out in the end.

(But there's no reasoning with someone people, as my Mets fan buddy argued that not only does this not come close to making up for the Mauer call--yup, he's still on that--but he also insinuated that the errors weren't entirely accidental. This is what I'm up against.)

Vladimir Guerrero, who ranks 3rd in my Favorite Players Who Aren't Yankees list,' doubled in the 4th, and after Juan Rivera's groundout advanced him to third, Kendry Morales brought him home with a single to left center. Such would be the first and last time an Angel got to see homeplate.

CC never faltered, only going to 3 balls only twice. Thanks to this lights-out dominance when they absolutely needed it the most, the Yankees bullpen is as fresh as ever, with Mariano Rivera serving as the only reliever to enter the game. Anaheim's bullpen, on the other hand, threw a combined 52 pitches over 2 IP of work....35 more than Mo did in a little less than the same amount of time.

Overall another paragon of an outing from the New York Yankees. The ONLY drawbacks of the night:

Someone tried to launch a Joba-as-starter symposium while I was outside. Last thing I heard was "he has 4 pitches!" before he deemed it too cold to argue and retreated indoors.
11 runners left on base.
3-for-12 with RISP. I'm okay with this, though, since I don't think everyone needs to play 100 percent every game. Just enough percent to win.

I can't say enough about the defense that backed Tubbo up. After Nick Swisher met quota for the requisite "where-is-your-head?!" move in the outfield, it was nothing but remarkably fluid efforts that saved more than a few runs. "Ok, CC. You scratch our back, we'll ~~scratch yours~~ buy you a cheesesteak."

And no one is happier about this win than Brian Cashman, who tonight saw his off-season Christmas shopping for the Big Boss excel in spades. Mark Teixeira's defense on 1st was mind-blowing, to say the least. When his old pal (and #2 on the aforementioned list) tried to run out a single in the 6th, Tex lunged for the toss to 1st and ended up in a move that looked like he belonged at the top of a pyramid in the National Cheerleading Championships.

The Yanks played smart tonight. They kept it simple, and deserve to win for how patiently and evenly they played this one out. You don't need to look any further than their opponents to see what a frantic, jumpy, uncomfortable, and overanxious team looks like.

And the Angels don't need to look any further than their opponents to see what greatness looks like.

-CYC

Angels Frozen in Place, Drop Game 1 to Yankees

Rev Halofan — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:17:30 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

2 months ago: New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez collides with Los Angeles Angels' Jeff Mathis as he tries to score on a double by New York Yankees' Hideki Matsui during the fifth inning of Game 1 of the American League Championship baseball series Friday, Oct. 16, 2009, in New York.(AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Browse more photos »

Final Score in New York: Angels 1, Yankees 4

A night of sloppy fielding from the normally sharp Angels gifted the Yankees enough runs to take Game 1 of the 2009 ALCS. The Angels had the tying run on deck in the 9th, so it is not like they got dominated, in fact, the Yankees were pretty flat all night and a precision defensive outing would have yielded a win.

But just like in the 2002 and 2005 postseason, the Yankees took game 1 of the series form the Angels. John Lackey pitched fantastic, Jason Bulger and Matt Palmer each did the job of holding things in place, but CC Sabathia scattered hits far enough apart from each other to avoid any trouble.

It didn't look like the Angels when Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins looked at each other on a first inning popup instead of looking at the ball. The national broadcast hardly named them as it was so intent on stroking the Yankees. A FOX broadcast truck in the Yankee Stadium parking lot had gallons of lube at the ready should the game have gone into extra innings, but it wasn't necessary, as the Angels threatened but did not score off of Mariano Rivera.

The Angels got a RBI single from Kendry Morales in the 4th inning to score Vladimir Guerrero who had led off the frame with a double that almost cleared the plexiglass centerfield wall. It was that kind of night for the Angels ... a lot of invisible almosts that are now just whisps blowing around the L in the scorebook.

Poll

Blame of the Game

Aybar

235 votes

Figgins

212 votes

447 votes | Poll has closed