SB Nation User Blog: Brew Angel

Preaching the Halo gospel to other teams' fans

Brew Angel — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:02:49 -0000

As most of you know, I also follow a certain NL Central team. In the interest of proselytizing the Church of the Lit Halo, I've posted (on Brew Crew Ball) a list of reasons Brewer fans should embrace the Angels for the remainder of the playoffs. I thought I'd re-post it here, and encourage any of y'all to pop in over there and add your reasons. Or do the same for other teams you follow. Testify, brothers and sisters!

http://www.brewcrewball.com/2009/10/14/1085515/why-brewer-fans-should-embrace-the

17. Class. Arte Moreno may be the best owner in sports. Mike Scioscia may be the best manager in baseball.

16. Jason Kendall (part 1). John Lackey will be starting game 1 for the Angels. He was pitching in 2006 when I took my son (then 2) to a day game at Angel Stadium. He plunked Kendall. Kendall charged the mound. (Baby's first benches-clearing brawl!) Kendall and Lackey hate each other. So you should like Lackey. Though I suppose it's possible that their argument was over who was better-looking....

15. The Rock. Bill Schroeder came up with the Brewers in 1983. He played 6 seasons, then was traded to the Angels, where he closed out the final two years of his playing career. Let's leave Gus Polidor out of the discussion....

14. Rule 5. The Brewers picked up Nick Green (not the Boston guy) from the Angels. And the Brewers got more out of Turnbow than anyone had a right to expect. Okay, sure, he sucked after the first half of 2006, but what do you want from a Rule 5 pickup?

13. Gagne. Speaking of bad closers, if he hadn't been juiced with the Dodgers, the Brewers never would have wasted $10M on an awful season of his services. So you can't cheer for the Dodgers. And the Angels knocked out the team where he did win a World Series, then parlayed it into the Brewers signing.

12. The Angels. This is a team that's fun to watch (See Figgy run! Run, Figgy, run!). They play baseball the "right way." And I don't mean in some St. Louis-esque, self-styled, uber-serious "right way." I mean they hit, run, hit & run, sacrifice, get productive outs, play excellent defense, put a good starter on the mound every night, etc. And they look like they're having fun. It's a GAME! Watch Torii Hunter or Vlad Guerrero smile, and you'll know what I mean.

11. Monkeys. This gives you an excuse to buy a Rally Monkey. And who doesn't like monkeys?

10. Barry. The Angels ended Barry Bonds' last, best, hope for a World Series ring. Yes, it was in the process of getting their own WS win, but fans who are appalled by juiced-up behemoths should still be grateful. I mean, sure, we had Troy Glaus, but he's gone now (and a Cardinal, to boot!), and we hardly ever let Gary Matthews Jr. play!

9. Philly. The Phillies knocked the Brewers out of the postseason last year. Then they won it all. They had their turn. Then they released Jenkins. You can't cheer for them again, can you?

8. Manny. The Angels are the LA team that does not have Manny. Or MannyWood. Or Manny dreadlock caps. Or fertility drugs. Or hypocritical fans that booed Barry (Which I agreed with) and cheer Manny (Which I don't agree with).

7. Damn Yankees (Part 1). They stole the Brewers' big (and I mean "BIG") free agent last year (CC). They stole the Angels' big free agent last year (Teixeira). The Brewers didn't even get a first round pick, and were left with Parra/Suppan/Bush/Looper as the 2/3/4/5 after YoGa. You should hate them for that. That and their general evilness.

6. ESPN. The Angels could become the first team to knock off both the Yankees and Red Sox in one season. They'd be doing it for the 27 teams outside the New York/New England area. And there shall be much lamenting from Bristol, CT.

5. Damn Yankees (Part 2). The 5 biggest contracts in baseball history: 1. A-Rod ($275M); 2. A-Rod ($252M); 3. Jeter ($189M); 4. Teixeira ($180M); 5. CC ($161M) (Thanks to the LA Times for pointing out this one.)

4. 2010. The Angels host the Brewers. They also play the Cubs and Cardinals. Would you trade a split vs. the Crew for a sweep of both the Cards and Cubs? I'm not necessarily promising anything, but I'm just sayin'...

3. Jason Kendall (part 2). I live about a mile and a half from Jason Kendall's house in Manhattan Beach. I can walk that distance while carrying several dozen eggs. And my son has a heckuva pitching arm. I'm not necessarily promising anything, but I'm just sayin'....

2. 1982. Without the Angels taking a 2-0 ALCS lead, and then getting crushed by the Brewers in 3 straight games, the Legend of Harvey's Wallbangers would be cheapened.

1. Nick Adenhart

Why Brewer fans should embrace the Halos

Brew Angel — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:03:55 -0000

As promised, I have returned after the Angels' epic sweep of the BoSox to encourage you, my Brew Crew Ball brethren, to hop aboard the Halos' bandwagon while there's still time. I therefore present, in list form, reasons why the Brewer faithful should transfer their allegiance to the Angels. At least until, oh, sometime in Mid-November.

17. Class. Arte Moreno may be the best owner in sports. Mike Scioscia may be the best manager in baseball.

11. Monkeys. This gives you an excuse to buy a Rally Monkey. And who doesn't like monkeys?

9. Philly. The Phillies knocked the Brewers out of the postseason last year. Then they won it all. They had their turn. Then they released Jenkins. You can't cheer for them again, can you?

2. 1982. Without the Angels taking a 2-0 ALCS lead, and then getting crushed by the Brewers in 3 straight games, the Legend of Harvey's Wallbangers would be cheapened.

1. Nick Adenhart

Angels/Brewers trade idea

Brew Angel — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 19:40:03 -0000

Bear with me here. As most of you know, I have rooting (and I don't care what "rooting" means in Australia) interest in a certain NL Central team in addition to the Angels. The Brewers had a great 2nd half of April and May, surged into first place in their division, but have dropped since due to injuries (Rickie Weeks, Dave Bush) and lack of starting pitching depth (after Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Suppan is statistically their 2nd-best starter right now!) The Brewers have gone from buyers a week ago to potential sellers today, as the result of an abysmal start to the 2nd half. (Consecutive blowout losses to the Nationals will do that to a team.) On BrewCrewBall today (Brewers SBNation site) someone mentioned what they thought Angels might be willing to give up for bullpen help.

Now, I understand that the Angels would like to shore up their starting rotation. But Cliff Lee is gone, and we're not going to pay the asking price for Halladay, so let's accept that a front-line Ace isn't going to happen. And the Brewers need starting pitching, too, so they won't give up anybody (other than Jeff Suppan, but nobody would want him). Our other big weakness this season has been the bullpen. What do the Brewers have to offer? How about the all-time saves leader? Can you picture a Hoffman/Fuentes righty/lefty combo? Fuentes has worked as a setup man in Colorado, and Hoffman might have the added advantage that most AL batters have very limited experience against him.

According to Elias, Hoffman is expected to be a type A Free Agent at the end of the year, so he'd also bring a couple of draft picks. That has to be part of the equation, because if he isn't traded the Brewers would be happy to offer him arbitration and take the picks if he turned them down. But since picks are riskier than already-developed prospects, I think they'd be willing to trade him for the right package of minor-league talent. So what would you trade for a Hoffman?

The Onion: Jason Kendall

Brew Angel — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:54:18 -0000

The Onion: Jason Kendall

Rather amusing, though it features John Lackey's least-favorite former A.

Parra's Minor League start on ESPNews tonight, 8:05 CT

Brew Angel — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:54:30 -0000

Parra's Minor League start on ESPNews tonight, 8:05 CT

Apparently there's some guy named "Ramirez" against whom he'll be pitching tonight. Who knew?

(Each of Ramirez's at-bats on Tuesday can be seen live on ESPNEWS. First pitch is at 9:05 p.m. ET.)

Lohse to the DL

Brew Angel — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:28:02 -0000

Lohse to the DL

Zambrano to the DL

Brew Angel — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:49:53 -0000

Zambrano to the DL

Out 2-3 weeks. Brewers don't have to face him this Friday.

Papelbon Compares Manny Ramirez to "Cancer"

Brew Angel — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:06:28 -0000

Papelbon Compares Manny Ramirez to "Cancer"

And Lester responds by comparing Papelbon to "A sphincter-mouthed douche."

Buy Jason Kendall's House! Only $7.3M!

Brew Angel — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:57:23 -0000

Buy Jason Kendall's House! Only $7.3M!

Scroll down a bit past the entertainment-industry fluff, and you'll see that the Brewers' catcher is unloading his house in Manhattan Beach.

Who to cheer for in today's game?

Brew Angel — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:43:42 -0000

I'm torn. I can't decide whether or not I want the White Sox to win today.

Don't get me wrong: I hate the White Sox. I hate A.J. I hate Ozzie G. I love O.C., but I hate the rest of their team. But at the same time, I want another crack at them, and I think if we meet them in the ALCS we'll pound them. Our starting pitching is better than 2005. Theirs is worse. Our lineup is more potent that 2005. Theirs is worse. A.J. still can't throw out baserunners. As long as Doug Eddings isn't umpiring, I think we would beat them in 5.

I realize that they'd need to get past the Rays (and I like Joe Maddon/Percy/Gabe Gross/Grant Balfour), and we're (rightfully) focused on the other Sux team first, but if you could work your will to arrange the matchups you wanted, would you rather the Halos play the White Sox, Twins, or Rays in the ALCS?