I was watching ESPN coverage a lot last night and saw a picture of Nick Adenhart and Brandon Wood holding up the American flag.  I've looked on yahoo and google images for this picture but can't find it anywhere and I thought maybe someone on this site would know which one I'm talking about or maybe has a link to it.  Just thought I'd ask.  Thanks for the help and RIP Nick.

I was driving in Richmond today (Sunday) and have a VA plate that reads GO HALOS.  Some guy pulls up next to me and starts waving at me and I couldn't figure out why until he drove by me and also had an Angels license plate that read ANAHEIM, with an Angels sticker on it.  I was just wondering if this guy might also be a member on this web site, as there are not too many Angels fans in Virginia.  So if you are reading this and have a black pickup truck with an Anaheim license plate and Angels sticker, and drove by a red pick up trick with the GO HALOS license plate and sticker, and waved to me furiously on rt. 64 West at about 1:00, then I'm probably talking about you.  Let me know if you're on here too!  Go Halos!

P.S.  Does anyone else on this web site have any Angels related vanity plates they would like to post?  I'd be willing to bet they are harder to get than in Virginia.

The Mets picked up Darren O'Day in the Rule 5 draft today according to mlbtraderumors.com.  I would have thought he would be on our 40-man roster, but I guess there wasn't room for him.  Pretty solid bullpen the Mets are putting together it looks like.  Anyone think there was someone else less deserving of a spot on our 40-man roster than O'Day?  Very interested to hear people's thoughts on this one.

My life as a sports fan, was turned upside down tonight twice.  I am from Alexandria, VA, 2 miles from the Maryland border, and now live in Farmville, VA, a town about an hour west of Richmond.  I mention this because I am not a fairweather fan, the Angels are actually the only exception to my strict allegiance to hometown teams, being the Washington Redskins, Maryland Terrapins football and basketball, and Joe Gibbs Racing (by way of the Redskins).

I grew up an Orioles fan, but was very disappointed with the team, with their decision to release  Billy Ripken, as I'm sure little brothers like myself all over the Washington metropolitan area were.  Searching for a new team, I became enamored with the Angels, to this day I don't remember why.

Anyhow, two things I've never experienced before, I experienced today.  First, that if you are a fan of other sports as I am, you may note that all of my favorite teams have won national championships in the last 25 years, also my lifetime, and I have never had a team go to the chamionship, and not win.  This is what it felt like to see John Lackey lose the no-hitter tonight.  I kept saying to myself, if he gets to the 9th, no way he loses it, and I was heartbroken.  I imagine this is what many fans whose teams lose in the championship must have felt like.

Secondly, the Angels made a blockbuster move at the deadline to pick up Mark Teixeira.  Year after year, I hear of the emminent trades the Halos are going to make, to the point where I assumre they are inevitable even before they happen.  Finally it happened, I feel like this is the year the Halos are making the big push to win the championship, and I haven't felt this good about the team since 2002.

For those of you who disapprove of this move, let me just leave you with this one thought:  If we sign Teixeira to a 5-year deal, I doubt many of us will miss Casey Kotchman for a while down the road, and this is the same group of people who every off season, wonder when the acquisition of the big bat is coming, well I say here it is.  I have experienced two very unsual feelings in my sports fandom tonight, and  I just thought I'd share, so Go Halos!

A year ago today, Roger Clemens announced from Yankee Stadium that he was returning to the Yankees.  He was the most popular man in New York.  A year ago, Ervin Santana was probably the worst starting pitcher on the road in all of baseball.  Just thought I'd point out how much can change in one year.  Go Ervin!!! 

Also, since I need more words, The Tigers really stink, and I think that is hilarious.

I don't know how many people pay attention to the AAA SL Bees, but they are dominating all opponents right now.  They are 8-0, and Matt Brown, and Nick Adenhart are particularly nasty.  And even better news, After starting off slow, Brandon Wood is now above the Mendoza line with 3 HRs and a 7 game hitting streak.  Very good sign of things to come!  Hopefully we won't lose a game all year, Go Bees!

I assume most people on this site are from SoCal, but I'm from Northern Virginia, in driving distance of the Orioles and Nationals.  Over here, we can just decide on a whim to go to a game, and buy tickets at the stadium for any game.  I was reading all the posts about tickets for the Angels games, is it hard to do that over there? 

Also, anyone on the east coast going to the Nationals and Orioles series against the Halos in June and July?  I can't wait!

I just saw the new roster and saw a couple people changed numbers around.  Aybar is #2, Morales is #19, Rivera is #21, some of that was to accomodate Garland for #20 I think.  I always wanted a Howie Kendrick jersey when he first came up, but I always kind of figured he'd some day change off of 47, and then I would buy whatever number he changed to.  Does anyone know why Howie likes 47?

Here is a question that was asked to John Manuel from Baseball America on an ESPN.com chat about the Halos SS situation, and I tend to agree with his analysis, even though I know it will never work out this way.

Dan LA, CA: How do you think the Angels SS situation will play out this year? Will there be a big drop off in defense with the loss of Cabrera?

 John Manuel: (2:49 PM ET ) I'm fascinated by that competition actually. I'm betting on Brandon Wood but have very little confidence in that bet; he's the top talent there and to me, they could use the offense. I'm not an Erick Aybar guy (or a Willy Aybar guy for that matter), and I'm not huge on Maicer Izturis, who I think is a great utility guy but that's his optimal role. Give the most talented guy, Wood, the shot, and see how he responds. My ample gut tells me Scioscia will go with the best defender, probably Izturis.