SB Nation User Blog: billhune

What Type Of Lineup Do You Want?

billhune — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:23:17 -0000

Monkeyspanked's Fanpost about bringing Brandon Wood up got me thinking.

What type of lineup does everybody want to see? With rotation weakened due to the injuries of Lackey, Santana and Escobar, would you rather put a more offensive lineup out there (sacrificing some defense) going with the thinking that we need to try and outscore everybody,or would you rather put a more defensive lineup out there, (sacrificing some offense) trying to limit the # of runs the other teams score.

Will your thinking change when the 3 injured stsarters return? Does your thinking change from pitcher to pitcher

My lineups would probably look something like this:

Offense inclined lineup

Figgins - 3b

Kendrick - 2b

Abreu - RF

Guerrero - DH

Hunter - CF

Rivera - LF

Napoli - C

Morales - 1b

Wood - ss

Defense Inclined Lineup

Figgins - 3b

Kendrick - 2b

Hunter - CF

Guerrero - DH

Morales - 1b

Matthews - RF

Mathis - C

Aybar - ss

Willits - LF

MLB Extra Innings Free Preview

billhune — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 16:07:37 -0000

MLB Extra Innings Free Preview

MLB Extra Innings is currently running a free preview for 7 days. I just saw an ad for it, it started on tThursday, and is running thru Wednesday. Just wanted to let anyone who doesn't have the package, and is outside of the Angels viewing area.

Article about Scioscia from Tim Brown @ Yahoo Sports

billhune — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:45:04 -0000

Article about Scioscia from Tim Brown @ Yahoo Sports

Mike Scioscia Article

My visit to Citizens Bank Park

billhune — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:35:05 -0000

via farm4.static.flickr.com

I had the pleasure of going to see the Angels play the Phillies last night. This first photo is the view of the stadium from my seat. we had seats in the Hall of Fame Club section #221 Row 1. Great Seats!

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Unfortunately, due to traffic, I missed the top of the first and Guerrero's Home Run. This is a picture from Vlad's next at bat.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Santana had it going on last night. He was dealing. Struck out the side in the 4th, and made it look easy. I have to say I was worried before the game that Utley was going to bust out of his slump against Santana, but it turns out I was worried for nothing.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Here is the scoreboard during the bottom of the ninth inning. I am glad that I took the picture when I did, because the cleared it off right after the game was over.

via farm4.static.flickr.com

Here is a picture of me after the game basking in the glow of another Halo Victory.

When we were walking out of our seats we walked up past the Broadcast booths, and Hudler saw me in my Angels shirt and gave me a thumbs up as I walked by.

Overall, this is very nice stadium, and I hope to make it back, and get there early enough to be able to walk around the stadium and take it all in

As soon as I have my photos in an album, i will put in a link to all of my picture from the game.

Trivia Question

billhune — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:17:25 -0000

I was thinking about trivia questions, and decided I would post the following trivia question for your perusal.

Name the only player in Major League history to have at least 500 hits with 4 different teams.

And for a bonus question, name the player who ended his career a combined 7 hits away from being the 2nd to accomplish the feat. This player is 4 hits shy with one team, and 3 hits shy with a second team.

I know posting a trivia question in a format like this allows everybody to research it before they give an answer, but I would hope that everyone will try and think of the answer, before they go and look it up.

Sunday Afternoon Pregame Guesses

billhune — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:07:57 -0000

Since it 1 1/2 hours till game time and no one has put up a pregame guess thread, I will.

We are going old school, with a chance at 4 possible points.

Pick the runs & hits for both teams, Angels first, then the Blue Jays

I believe only one person has gotten a perfect score in this format.

Make your picks now, and see how you fare against your fellow HH brethren.

Go Angels!

New Technology for Baseball

billhune — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:30:54 -0000

New Technology for Baseball

Just saw this on Fox Sports, They just had a summit/meeting in SF, and the Angels were one of 9 teams to send someone to it.

One other note - There is another Mat with one T

The Angels Record is 8-2-2

billhune — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:18:01 -0000

The Angels have a record of 8-2-2 in series so far this year. And they have gone 6-0-2 in the last 8 series after losing 2-2 in the first 4 series of the year. If we just keep winning series the rest of the year, i.e. winning 2 of 3 for the rest of the year, we will wind up with 106 wins. While it may be a stretch to say we will win that many games, I feel that we should be able to win around 95-100, especially with Lackey coming back shortly, and getting Kendrick healthy and back in the lineup.

What are your thoughts about how many games the Angels will win

Poll

How many games will the Angels win this year?

Over 100

11 votes

95-100

50 votes

90-94

21 votes

81-89

5 votes

80 or Below

0 votes

87 votes | Poll has closed

The Rev's 1986 Replay is in the Final Stretch

billhune — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:50:15 -0000

Some of you may remembver that our beloved Rev. Halofan is currently competing in a Strat-O-Matic replay of the 1986 season that is being run over at SportingNews.com. The regular season is winding down, and the Angels have about 16 games left. We currently sit in 1st place with a 7.5 game lead. So I believe it is fair to say that we will be winning the division.

Now, who will we be playing in the playoffs? That has not been decided yet. The Tigers currently sit in first place with a 1 game lead over the Yankees and a 3 game lead over the Blue Jays.

Who should we hope to play? Here are our records againt each of the 3:

Tigers 7-5

Blue Jays 7-5

Yankees 4-8

I am hoping that we play the Tigers or Blue Jays, one because we have a winning record against both of them, and two, because our 4-8 record against the Yankees includes losing the last 5 in a row to them.

Also, Rev. was looking for a chance to get on The Howard Stern Show, if he got to the World Series and was matched up against Gary Dell'Abate who is managing the Mets. This is still a possibility as the Mets are currently in first place with a 1 game lead over the Cardinals in the east, and Jon Hein from the Stern Wrapup Show has the Astros in first place with a 4 game lead over the Padres.

Some Highlight from the Angels include:

John Candelaria 16-3

Chuck Finley 12-5 all in relief

Vern Ruhle 13-7

HR's - 25 Decinces

AVG. - .279 Joyner

OBP. - .369 Downing

SLG. - .510 Hendrick(who also has 12 HR's in 196 AB's)

RBI's - 82 Decinces

I would like to congratulate Rev. for a job well done in managing the 1986 season and wish you continued sucess in the playoffs.

p.s. Our opponent from the real 1986 playoffs - The Boston Red Sox managed by Curt Schilling - currently sit in 4th place 6.5 games out of 1st

Yahoo Sports Division Tour: AL West

billhune — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:56:28 -0000

Here is the link to the story here for your reading pleasure

I think he has the teams list alphabetically, and not how he thinks they will finish, because he makes no mention of how he thinks they will finish.

This article mentions Vlad, but talks about his failure in the post season.

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