Harry Kalas died this morning while preparing for the game against the Nats this afternoon.

He was found on the floor in the broadcast booth, and taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

This is a terrible loss for all Phillies fans, and he will be greatly missed. My heart goes out to them, and the Kalas family. He was a Hall of Fame voice, and the NFL will greatly miss him as well.

RIP.

In a shocking turn of events, they put us above the Suxs! They even had some nice things to say...

"At this point, Los Angeles looks like the most well-rounded team in baseball. As is the case every year though, the Halos could use another big bat to protect Vlad Guerrero (Mark Teixeira would certainly suffice ...), but don't expect owner Arte Moreno to give up any of his big prospects at the deadline. Moreno has always been committed to building the franchise from within."

Rankings

In light of the fact that not many Halos fans know a whole lot about the Phitin Phills, I figures, since I see them all the time, I would shed some light on the subject and give you a little preview on the up coming series at Citizens Bank Park. This is one of the best offenses in the NL and they are going up against one of the best pitching staffs in the AL. Should be a great match-up, possibly one we see in October. Hope you guys like this! *Note: My Stats were collected over the past week or so. Some may be a little off, but you get the general idea

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Adam Eaton: In his eighth season, this 30 year-old former Padre, is 2-4 and has a 4.57 ERA in 13 starts. Eaton’s best season was his last year as a Padre in 2005 when he went 11-5 with a 4.27 ERA in 22 starts. Eaton has improved in his last 3 starts but has given up a lead-off HR in his past two starts. If Eaton settles down and doesn’t get hurt early, he can have a quality start. Throws a sinking fastball between 89-93 and also has a big breaking curveball. Doesn’t really have a change-up but when he throws it, it usually gets hammered.

Brett Myers: The Opening Day Starter for the Phills has had a rough season so far, starting with a career worst 3-7 record and a 5.34 ERA. He was a closer for most of last season due to inuries and team need and had 21 saves. Righties have a .305 BAA this season. Myers leads the NL in HR allowed and in 1 career start against the Halos, went 5 2/3 with 5ER in a loss. Throws a cut fastball around 92-93, and a pretty devastating splitter.

Cole Hamels: Cole is a very good young pitcher who is quickly becoming an ace. On Monday he allowed 2ER in 7IP against fatty, Bartolo Colon. He is 7-4 with a 3.23 ERA. Cole is 2nd in NL in innings pitched and 3rd in SO. Phillys are 10-5 when he is on the hill, and his stuff has been getting better and better. Cole is very good pitcher, and will definitely be an ace very soon. He throws a sinking fastball 89-93 that can get to 96 when he throws hard. His curveball is a 12-6 that is still getting better, and his change-up is very good. His change in speed is why his K/9 is so high.

Relievers: The Philly’s pen has ben arguably the best in the NL so far this season. Brad Lidge is their closer, 18 saves (2nd in NL) and 0.90 ERA. JC Romero (former Angel) has been a lights out set-up man this season. Romero has 4 saves of his own and has a 1.33 ERA. The rest of their relievers have a combined 2.10 ERA with Chad Durbin leading the way with a 1.51 ERA in 41.2 IP. Only hole that exists in the pen is Tom “Flash” Gordon. Flash was the set-up man for the past couple of seasons, but this year has struggled. He gave up a walk-off Grand Salami to the Marlins last week and his ERA has ballooned over 5.

Offense: The Phills have an offense that I wish we had. They have a great balance of speed and power with the ability to score 10 runs without flinching. They are 3rd in runs scored and 2nd in HR, but still in the top 5 in stolen bases. Oh and did i mention they have consecutive NL MVP's with a third one on the way...

Line-Up

J. Roll – (.289 BA, SS) One of the best lead-off men in MLB and the NL MVP last season. This guys does it all. He was on the DL earlier this season, but since coming back has been on fire.

Victorino – (.281, CF) When J. Roll was on the DL, Victor was the lead off man. Gives the top of their line up two true lead off men, much like ours with Figgy and Mighty Mouse. Good range in CF with a decent, but accurate arm.

Utley - (.299, 2B) This is the first time Chase’s BA has dropped below .300! He is leading the NL in HR and has been a one man wrecking crew. If he keeps playing the way he is, he will win the NL MVP (however he has slipped into 0-20 slump). If our pitchers are not careful, he can ruin all of our weekends.

Howard – (.221, 1B) Howard has had a very similar season to Vlad He has no produced like he has in the past two seasons, but as he showed on Monday against the Red Sox, he has the ability to go 4-4 with 2HR and 4 RBI’s. He broke the SO record last year, but he also won the NL MVP two years ago and won the HR Derby. Lets hope he doesn’t come out of his slumber.

Burrell – (.284,  LF) Pat “The Bar” Burrell is also known as the Met Killer. He had a great start to the season but has cooled off some. When it gets late in the game, he gets hot thought. He has had 4 walk-offs this season already and has a career BA above .400 when he comes to the plate in the 8th inning or later.

Jenkins – (.256, RF)

Feliz – (.262,  3B)

Ruiz – (.230, C)

Pitchers Spot

BENCH:

Werth – (.268, OF)

Taguchi – (.210, OF)

Bruntlett – (.250, UTL)

Dobbs – (.362, UTL)

Coste – (.306, C)

In a very short amount of time, the Angels will be squaring off against the Phitin Phills! I am so excited the Angels are coming to where I live! Seeing as how this doesnt happen much, them playing the Phills that is, I thought a decent amount of east coasters would be making the drive from the tri-state area. So, because I have been having wet dreams about the Angels playing at Citizens Bank Park since the schedule was announced, I thought I would extend an offer to anyone attending the games to come tailgate with some fellow  Halos Fans.

So, if you are an Angels fan, or know any Angels fans that they are coming, let them know that for Saturdays game, I will host a tailgate for anyone who wants a beer and a burger before the game. Rev, I would love it if you came, but I am guessing you are not flying out!

Please shoot me an email, or put a post here with your info, and let me know if you or anyone you may know here on the East Coast is interested in joining!

brocflores@gmail.com

This is for Saturdays game only! Go Halos!

I am flying in tonight from Philadelphia for the Mariners series at the Big A. Wondering if there was a HH Tailgate or pre-game of any kind. I wanted to make sure I got the full experience during my trip!

My seats are in 105.

And Rev, where are your seats? I would love to come meet the great and powerful Oz!!!

I really hope that HK is back in the lineup this weekend so I can see him play in person! GO HALOS!

A story on SI.com that has the most memorable collapses. This was inspired by the Memphis collapse on monday night. It also includes Van de Velde in the British open in 1999. Guess what number 15 is....

http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1127930/15/19/index.htm

#14 is Bill Buckner so i gues that eases the pain some. But, I will forever hate the Red Sucks! Anyone else with me on that?!

 I know that the halos fans across the pond have put banded together at times to watch games away from home and I wanted to do something similar.

I grew up in Huntington Beach and now I live right outside Philly. I dont know if fan groups exist in other cities, but I want to put one together here. So anyone that lives in or around Philly and would like to watch an Angels game or two a month with some other Halos fans, LETS DO IT!

I am all of us would like to see some groups start poping up all over the US so that when our boys travel they can still feel at home. So anyone interested in joining/getting together once a month let me know.

I thought this would be the perfect year to get this started seeing as how we play the Phillies here in Philly!

If interested, please email me at brocflores@gmail.com