Suboptimal’s post got me thinking.  My curiosity goes beyond just the hitting coach, though:  It seemed to me that the Angels, as opposed to other organizations, had difficulty developing hitters.  Matt Welch seemed curious, too.  Many of them had done well, to various degrees, during their minor league career, yet couldn’t seem to carry that success over into the major leagues.  I realize that almost every rookie suffers through some growing pains, but eventually the good ones "figure it out."  Ours didn’t.  Or so it seemed.

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As I was trying to RE LAX after yet another Angel loss, I got to thinking:  It seems that many Scioscia teams have gotten off to slow starts, only to come on strong later.  But, was that true?

To find out, I decided to go to Baseball Reference's Angels Franchise Page.  Here is a table of Angel historical starts under Mike Scioscia:

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OK, it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Kevin Youkilis’ nickname, but for now, it’ll do. Has anyone else noticed how Hank Conger, our prized young catcher, has turned into a veritable walking machine down at AA?  It’s apparent that now that Scioscia and Hatcher have found religion, they’re preaching it to the kids. And at least one of them is listening.

Last year, Hank the Bank had only 14 walks ALL YEAR.  Sure, he only played half the season due to injuries, but still.  This year, he has 23 walks in only 37 games since his all-star break, resulting in a post all-star break line of .321/.419/.470.  He had only 19 walks before the break, so apparently, something clicked.  Furthermore, he is striking out less.  Very cool (Overall, his slash stats are .298/.367/.421 – the power IS down this year, but I don’t see a reason to be alarmed…yet).

He is developing nicely and should be ready by 2011.  That way, we can have TWO catchers sitting on the bench behind Mathis.

According to Stephen Smith and Jamey Newburg, the Halos lost Warner Madrigal to a paperwork foulup.  He is now property of the Texas Rangers.  

We seem to be pretty good at losing relief pitchers to other teams...here's another example of just giving away a good arm with nothing to show for it.  C'mon guys...

During the Central Florida/Southern Mississippi game, ESPN reported that Alex Rodriguez has chosen to opt out of his contract. No links could be found, but they broke away from the game to announce this breaking news.

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

UPDATE: The Texas Rangers just got $21 million in salary relief.

UPDATE: Thank you Scott Boras for ensuring that this story is the biggest news in baseball this evening - Heh Heh Heh, Sincerely, fans from 29 teams.

Baseball Prospectus has a two-part interview with Joe Maddon.  Here are the links:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6629

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=6630

He discusses statistical preparation, gut instincts, and more.  It's not clear on an everyday basis that we miss him, but having a mind like that around sure didn't hurt, either.  I hope the D-Rays are patient enough with him to allow him to turn things around there.

From the LA Times:

Asked if he's stressing working counts and being more selective, Hatcher said, "More selective? You see how many pitches we take for strikes? Everybody says we're too aggressive. We take a lot of strikes. We're 0-2 a lot of times. That's the frustrating part. That's why Mike [Scioscia] is saying we're giving too many at-bats away. We've got to be ready to compete, and when you get your pitch, be ready to hit it."

Here's the link

I love how Mickey Hatcher says that the Angels are in a lot of 0-2 counts.  I didn't believe him.  And neither should you.

In Game 1 of the Oakland series (vs. Gaudin) the Angels had exactly ZERO 0-2 counts.  In fact, there were only THREE instances where the Halos even allowed a second strike to be called against them (Willits on a 2-1 count, Matthews on a 2-1 count, and Izturis on a 3-1 count).  Other than that, the Angels were hacking away!

In Game 2 of the Oakland series (vs. Haren) the Angels did indeed have TWO 0-2 counts:  In the 1st inning with Anderson, and the 9th inning with Izturis.  But...that was it.  And, again, there were NO other times that the Halos allowed a second strike to be called against them.  (Strikes ocurred, of course, but that was because they were swinging away)

I have always deferred to the idea that the hitting coach doesn't have much influence on major league hitters.  After reading this, though, I'm not so sure anymore.  That is one of the more pathetic quotes I have ever read from a professional coach/manager.  Completely wrong.  Completely ill-informed.

He has to go.  Now.

We all love our manhood.  I mean...our manhood.  And we want to protect our manhood at all costs, right?

Well, Mark Littell takes that protection to new heights.  Here is an experiment that I would like to try on a few other ex-major leaguers.  The aforementioned Jeff W comes to mind.  Not for the faint of heart...

It appears that White Sox fans are concerned with Erstad blocking Brian Anderson or Ryan Sweeney.  Most of them are expecting him to be a fourth outfielder, but reality says otherwise.  Guillen will most likely start him in CF, at least until the kids prove they are ready.  It's interesting to note that some of them believe that Erstad is only "slightly above average" defensively.  Here's the link to the discussion:

http://www.southsidesox.com/story/2007/1/23/175130/261#commenttop

Here are his latest winter stats:

http://www.hitboricua.com/LBPPR/Stats/Arecibo.12.22.06.pdf

In the last three games, he hit three doubles and a home run.  Not yet enough to consider him "sound" and "ready,"  but certainly a step in the right direction.  And, yes, it IS Puerto Rico.  Ultimately, what he REALLY needs is lots of AB's.  But it's good to see him start hitting a little...

September 15, 2005

The Angels had just lost four in row, including a three game sweep at the hands of the Mariners.  In that sweep, TWICE the Halos were held to just one run - once each by Joel Pineiro and Ryan Franklin.

To make matters worse, the Angels had just lost to the lowly Tigers, their fourth loss in a row.  The Tigers had chased soon-to-be Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon with eight runs in only five innings - our best pitcher couldn't stop this losing streak!  Things looked awfully bleak.

On the other hand, division rival Oakland was on the last leg of a road trip, winning the first of a four game series at Boston.  They were tied with the Angels for first place - and in the drivers seat as the season's last two weeks approached.  After Oakland left Boston, ten of their last thirteen games were at home.  Only four games were left with the Angels, but they were ALL in Oakland.  The stars were aligned for an A's divisional crown, except...

They had to play the games.  Oakland proceeded to lose nine of their next fourteen games, while the Angels went 12-2 during the same span, including three wins against Oakland.  Within TWO SHORT WEEKS, the division went from a tie to a SEVEN GAME LEAD...literally in a blink of an eye (much like the Yankees did earlier this year to the Red Sox).

Seven games in two weeks would put the Angels ahead by two by the end of the season.  It IS possible.  CAN history repeat itself?  Honestly, probably not.  But just remember how we felt at this time last year...