So I'm sure I'm not the only one who's noticed this... Torii Hunter was so fired up the entire way through the ALDS against Boston. They win and make it to the ALCS in NY and ever since, Torii has has a look on his face that I can only describe as absolute depression. I have not seen him smile a single time since Boston, and have only seen him hanging his head as though he faces an inevitable defeat.

In Monday's game, there was a home run hit over his head in dead center. Torii ran to the wall where Nick's memorial is and leaned against the wall for several seconds, as though he was apologizing to Nick for the impending loss.

This is not how it should be! Torii is a great player and has the ability to turn it on for this team at any given time if he starts to believe again.

Bring back that fire Torii, we believe in you!

TEMPE, Ariz. -- The Los Angeles Angels defeated Francisco Rodriguez in salary arbitration Friday, and the reliever will receive $10 million rather than his request for $12.5 million.

L I N K -to- S T O R Y

Despite the loss, Rodriguez tied the record for the highest salary in an arbitration decision, a mark he shares with Alfonso Soriano, who lost his case against the Washington Nationals in 2006, and Ryan Howard, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

From the ESPN.com story:
________________

He was home in Arizona, "eating popcorn and watching the whole [George] Mitchell thing," and up popped his name. "I was," Donnelly says, "sick to my stomach."

Donnelly is tied to Kirk Radomski for supposedly asking him for Anavar and being supplied with Deca-Durabolin in 2004, when Donnelly had nosebleed and arm problems.

Here is Donnelly's statement: "In 2004, I was having multiple physical problems and was concerned about not getting back on the field for even close to the level I had experienced. I made a phone call to Radomski. We discussed Anavar.

"Upon learning that Anavar was classified as a steroid, I realized that was not an option. That was the end of it. Yes, I called him. But I did not purchase or receive anything from him. I never took Deca or Anavar. I do want to fully support the testing program of Major League Baseball, and I support wider testing."

....

He is, in baseball terms, a grunt who has found himself and his career caught in the crossfire of the millionaires and billionaires of the steroids era. "I haven't slept since that came out," Donnelly says. "I'm still sick."
_________________

Full story at http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3156636

For the fourth straight year, and seventh time overall, Vlad Guerrero earned the Silver Slugger Award. Guerrero hit the 25-homer mark for the 10th consecutive season, and he is one of four players in the past 50 years to hit .300 for 10 straight years.

http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071108&content_id=2296283&vkey=news_ ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps_07.jsp

Our first game on Wed @ Boston will begin at 3:30 PST, and the Friday game at 5:30 PST.

The first home game Sunday in Anaheim will be at 12:00 PST, and the Monday game will be at 6:30 PST.

Since I have to fly home from Sacramento on Sunday to see the game, it looks like it's going to be an early flight for me.

So, by deciding to give TBS the exclusive broadcast rights for the DS and half of the CS, MLB has said "FUCK YOU" to those of us wishing to watch all our playoff games in HD.

To my knowledge, the only carrier that has added TBS HD (only launched on Sept 1) is DirecTV.  So, if you're like the vast majority of the country watching with cable, too bad.

Side note: After reviewing MLB's playoff schedule (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/schedule/ps_07.jsp) I realized that the "half of the CS" that is on TBS is the NLCS, which means as an Angels fan I will only be screwed out of the DS games.  Still, why go with a cable network that has just barely launched their HD channel?  Thanks, MLB.

So, I was fortunate enough to get an email yesterday stating that I had won the lottery and am allowed to buy tickets for the ALDS... The exact wording of the email:

"CONGRATULATIONS!
You have been selected for the opportunity to purchase tickets to a potential 2007 Division Series game at Angel Stadium of Anaheim!

You may purchase up to four (4) tickets to each potential game of the Division Series, on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability by game. Use your Passcode (shown below) to begin the purchase process.

Note: If you purchase more than four (4) tickets to a single game, your ticket orders will be voided without notification."

-----
So, this morning I clicked on the link at 10am, opened up the first game, and bought the best 4 tickets I could.  I then went to the second game and did the same thing.

Upon trying to go buy for the third game, I was greeted with a message saying "We're sorry, there are no more tickets available for this promotion."  I knew that the game couldn't be sold out yet because I did all of this within about 3 minutes.  So I go back to the first page on the Angels website that I was taken to from the email.

The page on their website states:
"You may purchase up to up to four (4) tickets to one (1) potential game of the American League Division Series, on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability by game. This purchase opportunity will be online on this page only, starting at 10 a.m. PT on Wednesday, September 19 and continuing through 10:00 p.m. PT on Thursday, September 20.

Note: If you purchase more than four tickets to a single game, your ticket orders will be voided without notification."

This is more than a misunderstanding, they completely changed the policy.  Now I'm not that upset that I only got tickets to the first 2 games, but if there is any way my tickets are getting revoked then I'm going to have to have a word with Arte.

Sidenote:  I'm assuming since I got my tickets e-mailed to me by ticketfast that the order was successful and is not void.  Unless they decide to void the tickets they already sent out and not even tell anybody about it.

Anybody else have problems like this?

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/angels/la-sp-angrep9aug09,1,6916098.story?coll=la-headlin es-sports-mlb-angels

Medical report on Rivera is encouraging
The outfielder, who broke his leg in the off-season, could play in minor league games next week.

Continue reading this post »

Discuss.

This is absolutely ridiculous, there is no excuse for his performance and I have a really hard time believing that Saunders could not bring us more wins with the way Santana has been pitching.  What does everybody else think?  Will it actually happen?

300 yet? 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2694164

Free-agent reliever Darren Oliver has reached preliminary agreement with the Los Angeles Angels on a one-year contract with an option for 2008, a baseball source told ESPN.com.

Darren Oliver
Relief Pitcher
New York Mets

Profile
2006 SEASON STATISTICS
GM     W     L     BB     K     ERA
45     4     1     21     60     3.44

It's believed the total package could be worth $3.5 million if the option year vests.