SB Nation User Blog: Zu Long

All-Time 9s

Zu Long — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:09:55 -0000

Saw this survey on mlb.com, and thought it would be cool if people posted their picks/reasons/arguments in this thread.

C- Molina 2005. While the other guys may have had better offensive seasons, Molina gets my vote because he was so strong behind the dish.

1B- Joyner 1987. It surprised me how close I came to picking Morales though.

2B- Grich 1979. This one isn't even close.

SS- Fregosi 1970. Eckstein 2002 will always hold a special place in my heart, but Fregosi gets the nod here.

3B- Glaus 2000. This one also wasn't even close.

DH- Chili Davis 1994. If Davis gets a full season, he puts up better numbers than Downing and Robinson. I know Downing is the sentimental favorite though.

OF- Erstad 2000.

OF- Guerrero 2004.

OF- Salmon 1995.

OF was HARD. I ended up having to leave Baylor 79 off the list. Erstad 2000 seemed necessary because we needed a CF and someone who can hit leadoff. And Vlad 2004 was amazing. I suppose given my druthers I might have gone Salmon 98 at DH, Baylor 79 in the OF, but that wasn't an option.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. How about the rest of you?

Zu Long's Birthday Road Trip-Part 2

Zu Long — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:40:05 -0000

Well I had a ton of fun in KC. Got myself on TV, watched the Angels win a pair of exciting games followed by a nice leisurely finale on Sunday.

To review the ol' birthday wishes, looks like I only went 1-for-4, but batting .250 on events largely out of my control isn't too horrible. The Angels won all three games, extending my consecutive winning streak for games I've attended to 10-0 going back to 2004.

Not much else really... Oh, what's that you say? Pics, or it didn't happen? Can do. (After the jump)

As you can see, attendance has been hurt somewhat by the poor performance of the Royals... :-P

Though it wasn't quite that bad, the stadium was pretty empty for two of the three games. Greinke filled the stadium up pretty well though. As someone who has been making trips here every few years since 97, I can say that the stadium is MUCH nicer now than it used to be, even as recently as 2006. Especially the food.

This is ~~my girlfriend~~ the girl I got to sit next to throughout the Greinke game. A SoCal native going to school in Missouri, she brought a pair of friends with her to watch a team that wins consistently. The Cubs fan (seen in yellow behind us) was suitably impressed. She's wearing a Figgins jersey, and he is her favorite player. She hopes they resign him. She is also a Jeff Mathis fangirl. If any of you are curious, yes I did ask if it was okay to post this on a blog.

Angels in pre-game warm-up mode on Sunday. My favorite part of this picture is the guy rocking the Quinlan jersey in the corner there. You've got to be hardcore to wear that in public.

Little sister flanked by a pair of the faithful. Seen previously holding the BAM-BAM sign. Just so you all know, I held the sign most of the night and stood up every time Morales came to bat, but they only looked when I gave it to her in an attempt to change Morales luck. In addition to being able to attract the attention of camera crews, little sis is a wiz at getting players to sign her stuff. She is also a high-school drama star. I am forced to deal with the fact that she is smarter, more attractive, AND more talented than me, but I take consolation in the fact that I am taller by a foot (she's TINY).

Sister's haul for this game. Hula-Dula was one of two offensive players who was out signing stuff that day. The other was Robb Quinlan. Not pictured is a signature by Matt Palmer, who is an incredibly humble and nice person. He was out there signing autographs and talking to fans longer than anyone else, by a WIDE margin.

Epic Victory Pose, featuring special guest: TheOptimist! 5-0 combined record this season when watching in person.

Note that while I am clearly ready to unleash unspeakable amounts of BEATDOWN on all who would oppose the Angels, TO is half-assing it, because he is LAME.

So that's my trip. There are a bunch more photos, but most of them are of people playing and/or not really interesting. I'm not as good at this photoblog stuff as others such as Zoe Necrosis. I'll try to do better next time.

Zu Long's Birthday Road Trip

Zu Long — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:31:09 -0000

So, today's my birthday. As luck would have it, the Angels are playing at a stadium roughly 3 hours driving time from where I live over my birthday weekend. This being the case, I did what any self-respecting Angels fan would do--weaseled my family into a weekend trip to KC, including tickets to three of the games.

As it IS my birthday, I figured that beyond bringing you guys after game reports with thoughts on what happened during the game plus (hopefully) pictures, I'd do a few other things that I've always wanted to try, but haven't had a good enough reason to actually pursue. My birthday wish-list is as follows, in order of likely-hood:

-Get in the broadcast during a crowd shot with the BAM-BAM poster my family made up. For those not in the know, Rex Hudler sent out a challenge to have Angels fans make BAM-BAM posters for Kendry Morales earlier in the week. It's not an HH certified nickname, but I have decided to screw it and unleash my inner camera whore.

Chance of success: 75%. It's KC, for crying out loud. Most likely not a lot of people there, much less with Angels signs. I'll be the guy in the white Tim Salmon jersey, orange sunglasses. I may have my cap on backwards as well. If you see me, screenshot it and post it in this thread for posterity. TheOptimist will let you know if it's me or not.

-Try to get Rex to give a shout-out to HalosHeaven.com on-air.

Chance of success: 50%. I've met Rex before, and I have the feeling he'd do it. Plus, they do it all the time for Angelswin, so why not?

-Take pictures with as many of the Angels players/staff as possible.

Chance of success: ??%. Depends on who's out there and how many autograph seekers/etc. there are.

-See if I can get into the broadcast booth.

Chance of success: 0%. But I'm going to ask anyway.

Note that except for the first one, none of this will happen Friday night. I'm going early Saturday and Sunday though, so we'll see. Right now it's looking like Friday might be rained out, resulting in a Saturday double-header. There may also be a surprise guest appearance on Sunday. We'll see if that happens.

On the Subjects of "Luck" and The Los Angeles Angels

Zu Long — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:02:10 -0000

The luckiest team in baseball. That's what they call us, "they" being Sabermetricians in general, and especially our immediate rivals here in the AL West. Every year the specifics change, but the refrain remains the same. Last year we were "lucky" because Joe Saunders played over his head and our record was better than the numbers said it should be. This year we're lucky because our whole offense is having a "career year." Our team BABIP is too high, etc.

So are "they" right? Just how lucky have we been? Let's explore those questions a little.

On one level, they are absolutely correct. We are fantastically lucky to have Arte Moreno as an owner. He spends money, his main goal is winning and putting butts in the seats. He keeps his nose out of day to day operations, but isn't too busy to interact with the fans. Of the thirty owners in baseball right now, he just might be the best, and we lucked into him, pure and simple.

If that's what they meant, then most of us Angels fans probably wouldn't have a problem with it. But that's not what they mean. Their thinking runs more toward our players' performance on the field. Posts like this are common:

so far,
Kendry Morales
Chone Figgins
Maitzer Izturis
Juan Rivera
Torii Hunter
Mike Napoli
Eric Aybar

are all having career years this year so far, all of them. Thats not really a young group of players either… this has to slow down

Is this person correct? I would argue he is not.

Kendry Morales- Kowbell is 26 and has never in his career been given a real shot at the major league level. He tore apart A+ and AA at 22 and hit well in AAA at 23. He struggled his first 200 or so PA in the majors, but that could be expected from a 23-year old rookie. Additionally, his poor numbers were largely a result of poor luck-it's not as if his plate discipline was bad or he lacked power. The next two seasons were an exhibition in positional roadblocking. The Angels had a young first baseman already, and had no real reason to let Morales go. So he sat in AAA and put up numbers largely similar to those he is putting up right now while making brief jaunts to the MLB where he mostly sat on the bench. It should also be noted that the numbers being put up right now aren't very far off the mark of what was projected 4 years ago by Clay Davenport based on Morales production in the Cuban League from ages 18-20.

With all that in mind, can putting up these numbers in his first full season in the majors really be called a "career season?"

Chone Figgins- A career season for Figgins? At first glance, his .815 OPS is significantly above his career average of .750. Then again, Figgins has done this before- he put up remarkably similar numbers in 2007. His batting average is high, but not really that much higher than it was in his 2004 and 2005 campaigns. The real story is in Figgins' walk and K numbers.

Figgins has been an interesting study in player improvement. Every year his walk rate has increased, from 7.8% in 2004 to 12.4% now. His pitch selection is vastly improved over where he was. He tends to hit a lot of line drives. The big question is where you put his power and hitting ability. As one looks at his career, his ISO has hovered around .105 for essentially his whole career except for last year when it dipped to .042. His speed rating for last season was also much lower 5.6 as opposed to its usual level around 7.5-8.

From this we can make the conclusion that Figgins was probably playing injured much of last year. A leg injury would explain the lack of driving power as well as his lessened speed. So, given correct readings of Figgins plate discipline and power, is he really playing above his head? No, he is not. He appears to be only due to his poor season last year.

Maicer Izturis- Mighty Mouse has indeed been good this year, but it's not like we don't have a precedent for this. In 2006 and 2007, at ages 25 and 26, he put up OPS of .770 and .750. His current OPS of .787 seems out of place only if you average those seasons with his abysmal 2008 campaign OPS of .691, and his first 325 PAs that he collected during partial age 23 and 24 seasons. So is this season really outside of Izturis true ability level when you consider that he is currently in his prime at 28 and therefore expected to put up his best seasons? No.

Juan Rivera- Once again, we simply turn back the clock and look at his past few seasons. Juan Rivera is a guy who could never get playing time, while ironically being a person who NEEDS regular playing time to produce. When he finally got that playing time in 2006, during his age 27 season, he did not disappoint. Then he suffered one of the horrifying freak accidents that occasionally happen to players, and had his shin snapped in half during winter league. He spent the next two seasons recovering. Even then, when one looks at his base numbers from 2008, his power and walk rate, he was actually pretty close to his 2006 level. His essential features as a player were still there, he just hadn't gotten his swing back yet. Once one understands this, it comes as little surprise that his 2009 numbers are almost identical at this stage to his 2006 level.

Torii Hunter- Legitimately having a career year.

Mike Napoli- Napoli is another guy who, for one reason or another, hasn't been able to put a full season together. He's had other guys in front of him, he's been injured, all kinds of things. Still, to say that Napoli is having a career year is to ignore that his OPS was nearly 80 points higher last year, and that he too is still evolving as a hitter. BABIP is higher, but that's probably because he's striking out less and getting a little less lucky with more homers being doubles off the wall rather than over the fence. His core number of XBH was 30 last year in 274 PA, and is 29 this year in 289 PA. Not a whole lot of difference there. Career year? No.

Erick Aybar- First off, the guy is 25 with a whole 2 partial seasons under his belt prior to this season. His minor league average for seasons ages 18 to 22 was .312. This is not a guy who came out of nowhere and is suddenly hitting .300. This is a top prospect who was always projected as a good hitter at SS, and continues to show improvement in his core numbers with more walks, less Ks, and better contact. Admittedly, he's been on fire the last month, but there's nothing wrong with being streaky. It's possible that his numbers will drop as the season wears on, but it's also entirely possible that they won't. Bottom line is that at this stage of the game to say he's having a career year is simply laughable.

So after going through item by item, we find one legitimate career season, unexpected and totally unpredictable. Beyond those hitters our team also features Bobby Abreu, who is having pretty much the sort of season one would expect, Vladimir Guerrero, who is having a horrific season by his standards, and Howie Kendrick, who has spent most of the season to date completely imploding but has lately set himself firmly on the comeback trail. There is also our supporting-cast types who have done nothing special. Luck-wise on the offensive front we've about broken even.

But if this was pretty much how you could have expected it to go down at the beginning of the season, why were so many people bagging on us as a team when the season began? The projection systems were unanimous in pegging us as an 85 win team, after all. And that was before Vlad blew up and the pitching tanked. We're on pace to score around 890 runs on the season, and our upper order projection was only 816. Obviously they completely underestimated us.

You might notice that quite a few of our hitters had down 2008 seasons. Since projection systems tend to weight the most recent season as most important they completely undershot many of our players. The other part is that many of our players don't have consistent track records which would make them easier to predict. They are either too young or have been injured in the past. And if one looks around, there were a number of people who were pointing out that our offense's upside was being underestimated. But the whole point of people using projection systems is to get a ballpark answer and work from there. If it was so obvious we were better than projected, why are so many people surprised?

It comes down to expectations. The Angels have had chronic offensive issues of one type or another since 2003. They've been able to stave it off and put up good numbers a few times, but the impression has stuck--Angel offenses aren't supposed to be able to do this, "this" being to have most of their offense remain healthy and produce at the level they are capable of producing at.

In 2003, half the offense went down with injuries post-break. In 2004, we got absolutely devastated by injuries to Glaus, Salmon, GA, B-Mo, Erstad and others. 2005, Steve Finley sucked balls, D-Mac was hurt, GA was hurt, Cabrera was awful, and Rivera and Kotch didn't show up until late in the season. 2006, Kotch goes down, D-Mac goes down, Figgins sucks, Mathis sucks, Kendrick doesn't arrive till the end of the season. 2007--Rivera goes down for the count in January, Figgins is out for the first two months, Kendrick is in and out of the lineup--and this was a GOOD year. 2008's problems have already been documented above.

The Angels have had so much crappy luck with their offense that it created the expectation of continued suckitude. This year is different not because we are suddenly incredibly lucky, but because, for ONCE, we actually got some things to break the other way on the offensive side. The truth is that offensively over the past few years we've had some of the crappiest luck imaginable, to the point that just breaking even appears lucky. In one area this is particularly true: Our offensive prospects.

It has been pointed out on occasion that the Angels have had a relative lack of breakout offensive prospects over the last decade. Our opponents fans have taken this as providence--clearly, they argue, our prospects were never that good in the first place, and therefore any current Angel prospects would have to significantly outperform their predecessors' numbers or be judged to have the same low ceiling.

It affected us too though, to the point where Erick Aybar suddenly figuring out how to hit has left us a little mystified--but it shouldn't. Aybar was a great offensive shortstop in the minors. In retrospect it makes sense. At 22 Aybar was probably called up a bit early from AAA, where he was having a poor (by his standards) half-season. He spent most of the next season and a half sitting on the bench, collecting a mere 250 PA. Small wonder then that he would struggle in his first season getting a majority of the ML ABs at his position.

One final note on this subject for those who claim we are undeservedly fortunate--it wasn't very long ago that the Angels farm system was considered the best in baseball. Mike Napoli, Casey Kotchman, Dallas Macpherson, Jeff Mathis, Erick Aybar, Alberto Callaspo, Howie Kendrick, Brandon Wood, Kendry Morales, Sean Rodriguez--Some people appear to have convinced themselves that this entire group of young players, representing a whole half-decade's worth of top prospects, would be frittered away or flame out into sub-par major league role-players. Well, I'm sorry. Looks like you're just not that lucky.

Fuentes and Figgins Text Messaging During ASG

Zu Long — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 04:29:07 -0000

((The following is a parody based loosely on The Dugout in format. Some themes have been carried over from parodies of previous ... seasons All-Star games.))

Top of the 6th

GetFiggyWitit: Brian, you there?

Fuentesaurus: Sup, muchacho?

GetFiggyWitit: I am so freakin' BORED right now.

Fuentesaurus: Si.

GetFiggyWitit: Maddon said he's holding me for a "critical situation." I don't know man, smells like horsecrap to me.

Fuentesaurus: Least you got a chance, man. I'm pretty sure even that n00b from the A's was ahead of me on Joe's depth chart this morning.

GetFiggyWitit: See, like right now, why is Hamilton even still in the game? I can play center. Maddon KNOWS I can play center. And Young is totally about to hit into a double play right here.

Fuentesaurus: The pitcher on the Padres?

GetFiggyWitit: Nah man, the other guy. On Texas.

Fuentesaurus: Oh. Si.

GetFiggyWitit: See!? Right there! Totally called it.

Fuentesaurus: Nice call.

GetFiggyWitit: This is BULLSHIT. I'd have stolen the base and gotten to third on the play.

Fuentesaurus: Si.

Bottom of the 6th

GetFiggyWitit: So like the entire goddamn bench except me just got subbed in.

Fuentesaurus: That sucks, my friend. But hey, Joe hasn't made you fetch Pena's spare jockstrap yet, right? So that is something.

GetFiggyWitit: ...

Fuentesaurus: Oh.

GetFiggyWitit: TWICE

Fuentesaurus: Si. You are getting it up the ass.

Top of the 7th

GetFiggyWitit: GODDAMNIT, I'm gonna kill Maddon.

Fuentesaurus: You should do what I am doing.

GetFiggyWitit: What's that?

Fuentesaurus: You know what 'J's sound like in spanish right?

GetFiggyWitit: Yeah?

Fuentesaurus: There is a reason I keep calling him "Joe."

GetFiggyWitit: ...

Fuentesaurus: Is funny right?

GetFiggyWitit: ...Yeah. Sure Brian. Real funny.

Fuentesaurus: You need to lighten up man.

GetFiggyWitit: Sorry. I just feel like if the NL got ahead again, I KNOW Maddon would have to put me in.

Fuentesaurus: Si. That is why I convinced Papelbon to throw the game by offering to get him a blowjob from some Venezuelan hookers.

Bottom of the 7th

GetFiggyWitit: DUDE! That's awesome! You know some Venezuelan hookers?

Fuentesaurus: Um...no. But that Pabelbon guy is seriously dumber than a box of pinatas. I'll just use some Jedi mind tricks on him.

GetFiggyWitit: You have JEDI powers?

Fuentesaurus: Si. How else are you supposed to average over a strikeout per inning with a fastball that tops out at 90?

GetFiggyWitit: You know, now that you mention it, that does seem kind of odd.

Fuentesaurus: Si.

GetFiggyWitit: Oh well, cool! Man it's going to be awesome to watch that jerk Paps serve one up.

Fuentesaurus: Si.

GetFiggyWitit: Woo! And there it goes!

GetFiggyWitit: OH GOD DAMNIT CRAWFORD!

Fuentesaurus: That was muy unfortunate my friend. It was a pretty bad ass catch though.

GetFiggyWitit: Yeah, it kind of was. Oh well, there's two other guys right?

Fuentesaurus: Si.

GetFiggyWitit: Tejada, what the hell is wrong with you? My dead Grandmother could have hit that pitch out of the park. Hell, I could have homered on that pitch. And that's saying something.

Fuentesaurus: Perhaps the last hitter will have better luck.

GetFiggyWitit: Jayson Werth? Isn't he just another hack-happy lefty who can barely hit outside the band-box Philly pretends is a stadium?

Fuentesaurus: Would you believe he has actually hit better in away games this year?

GetFiggyWitit: NO.

Fuentesaurus: On the basis of that at bat, I also find it questionable.

Top of the 8th

GetFiggyWitit: What the hell man? Papelbon was trying to throw the game and they STILL didn't score.

Fuentesaurus: Si. It has become very clear why the NL loses every year. At least I will finally be on the winning side.

GetFiggyWitit: Maddon better put me in this inning. It's only a matter of time before one of the choke-artists on the other side blows it.

Fuentesaurus: It may already be too late.

GetFiggyWitit: DAMNIT UPTON!

Fuentesaurus: I don't think even Gary Matthews Jr could have found a worse route to that ball.

GetFiggyWitit: Of course. They f--- up a play on one of like TWO guys on this team who could concievably hold their own against me in a foot race. What the hell?

Fuentesaurus: You are screwed, muchacho.

GetFiggyWitit: And there goes Jones with the sac fly. Damnit.

Fuentesaurus: Do not give up my friend. The NL could still score.

Bottom of the 8th

GetFiggyWitit: Thanks for trying man, but I really think you've got a better shot at getting into this game than me.

Fuentesaurus: Perhaps. We will see. I dumped a whole canister of Exlax into Nathan's sports drink last inning.

GetFiggyWitit: WHAT?

Fuentesaurus: Si. I would not go into the clubhouse restroom after he comes in from pitching.

GetFiggyWitit: Dude, where do you even come up with this stuff?

Fuentesaurus: I get bored just sitting here all game. I have to do something to keep busy.

GetFiggyWitit: I think I'm starting to understand why our bullpen has been having so many problems this year.

Fuentesaurus: Oh...Um...These are not the droids you are looking for...

GetFiggyWitit: Yeah, that shit's not gonna work man.

Fuentesaurus: Si.

GetFiggyWitit: "S cool tho. Just lay off once we really get into the pennent race, okay?

Fuentesaurus: Si.

GetFiggyWitit: Hey, man it's working! Nathan's starting to choke.

Fuentesaurus: Si. I have to go. They want me to get warmed up.

GetFiggyWitit: Cool man. Good luck.

Top of the 9th

GetFiggyWitit: I can't BELIEVE they blew that.

Fuentesaurus: Si. I am pretty sure that Escobar's myspace page could out-hit the NL lineup.

GetFiggyWitit: Oh, that was COLD, man. Nice one.

Fuentesaurus: Si.

GetFiggyWitit: Hang on, someone else is texting me.

FrankySaysRelax: Chone, you gotta help me!

GetFiggyWitit: What? K-Rod? Aren't you pitching right now?

FrankySaysRelax: Yeah, so?

GetFiggyWitit: ...Okay, never mind. What do you need?

FrankySaysRelax: WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? Brandon Inge!? Isn't he like Detroit's backup catcher or something!?

GetFiggyWitit: Well... I mean, kinda but... he's having a good year?

FrankySaysRelax: DUDE THIS IS BULLSHIT!! Where's Big Papi? Or Vlad? Or A-Rod?

GetFiggyWitit: Well, they didn't have good years this year. So they're not here.

FrankySaysRelax: Well what about Pujols!?

GetFiggyWitit: Dude, he's on your team.

FrankySaysRelax: God damn it! How the hell am I supposed to wring some drama out of this? I just struck out some dude named Carl Crawford with just changeups!

GetFiggyWitit: Hey, you should put somebody slow on base. Then I'd be subbed in to get the insurance run. That'd be exciting, right?

FrankySaysRelax: Well, it's not Pujols, but I guess it's better than nothing. Alright, I'll put Morneau on, he's slow.

GetFiggyWitit: Okay great man, thanks... OH WHAT THE F--- WERTH!?!? You caught that!?

FrankySaysRelax: Sorry dude, I tried. Catch you later!

GetFiggyWitit: I don't BELIEVE this.

Fuentesaurus: Hey, muchacho. So while you were gone, I shoved like, thirty or forty razor blades into Rivera's glove.

Bottom of the 9th

GetFiggyWitit: Well, good try, Brian, but I don't think it's going to work. Looks like no Angels this year.

Fuentesaurus: Si. The NL hitters seem to be swinging at balls that even Vlad would just step away from.

GetFiggyWitit: How did you ever give up runs pitching to those guys?

Fuentesaurus: Luck mostly. Also I often went out to the mound drunk, just for the extra challenge.

GetFiggyWitit: Yay. We win. Man, I'm going to give Maddon the biggest kick in the balls...

Fuentesaurus: Oh, hey wait up man. I still have a few razor blades left over that we could shove down his pants first.

GetFiggyWitit: Aight, cool, I'll meet you here.

Fuentesaurus: Si. But remember--Stay out of the bathroom.

Angels 2009: A Half-Season in Retrospect

Zu Long — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:00:15 -0000

If at the beginning of the season, you had told me that by the time we reached the All-Star Break, Howie Kendrick and Vladimir Guerrero would be our biggest offensive liabilities, John Lackey and Ervin Santana would have stratospheric ERAs, our bullpen would be the worst in baseball, and despite ALL OF THAT, we would still be 12 games over .500 and on top of our division... well, first, I'd have laughed in your face. A lot. Like, for HOURS.

But after I finished laughing, I would probably have said something like, "Man, who stepped up?" As it turns out, the answer is pretty much everyone else.

Certainly, no recent Angels team has overcome more adversity to get where they are. From having half our starting rotation out to start the season, to losing two of our best relievers in Jose Arredondo and Scot Shields, to losing our biggest bat 8 games in, to having our batting champion-to-be struggle at staying over the mendoza line, to losing a promising young rookie in a tragic car accident, this has been a season where everything we've taken for granted the last few years has been turned on its head.

And I'll admit it--after the way this season started, I thought, "You know... this one might be a lost cause."

Fortunately for us, the guys in our clubhouse weren't having it, and I think that it may be an argument for the amount of success Arte has had in breeding a culture of winning in this organization.

From the front office on down, everyone on this team expects to win, come hell or high water. Previous seasons have taught us that the size of our opponent's lead is meaningless--we can come back. Poor performance by our off-season signings is irrelevant--someone else will step up. Injuries to stars can be weathered. Hot streaks by our opponents can be snuffed out or matched. The only thing that matters is winning the game we are playing that day.

That's our team philosophy and I think the players have internalized it. Those of you familliar with sabermetric assessments of previous seasons will be unsurprised to hear that we have once again been dubbed "the luckiest team in baseball" according to what "should" have happened.

Really, it's become such a familliar refrain that it's actually lost most of its irritation value for me. These days I mostly just shrug it off. Luckiest team in baseball, huh? Sure we are guys. Sure we are.

So, looking forward, what's next? Well, we'll be missing Vlad and Hunter for a while. Some of our starting pitchers need to get their heads together. And it'd be nice if someone other than Fuentes and Oliver would step up as being truly reliable in the pen. Certainly, we haven't won this division by any means and we could still finish the season on the outside of the postseason looking in.

But more than ever, I feel blessed to be an Angels fan right now. This is a team that has utterly erased the word "quit" from its collective lexicon, and because of that, they can never become a lost cause. It's fun to watch guys like that play. ^_^

Angels #1 in 2009 Ultimate Standings

Zu Long — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:57:29 -0000

Angels #1 in 2009 Ultimate Standings

ESPN rarely gives us what we believe is our due, but when given the opportunity to speak for ourselves, plus a few unbiased metrics, we always take our spot among the best franchises in sports. We've been number 1 among MLB teams for several years running, and this year we finally made it to #1 overall. Check it out.

Ichiro to the DL

Zu Long — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:41:37 -0000

Ichiro to the DL

He'll probably be back in time for Seattle's first series against us though.

Prospect updates from Baseball America.

Zu Long — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 17:40:10 -0000

Prospect updates from Baseball America.

This is a really great quick hits for our minor leaguers, and it answers some questions people wanted to know about.

Hank Conger may be catching at Arkansas after all.

Young Il Jung, that Korean guy we all heard about, had Tommy John surgery and will be back in June.

On the bad news front, Luis Jimenez, one of our rookie league standouts from last year will miss this season with shoulder surgery, which is too bad.

There's other stuff there too, so check it out. While we're on the subject of BA articles, there's a cool write up on Jordan Walden as well.

Torii is fine

Zu Long — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:22:27 -0000

Torii is fine

Apparently he has a nasty lump on the side of his face, but is otherwise okay. The Angels will keep him out tomorrow, but don't expect any long term problems.