As of last night's victory, the Angels are 3852-3896 (.497160) all-time, or 44 games under .500. After the Angels' inaugural season in 1961 at 70-91 (.435), it has been a long, uphill battle. However, since 2000 (and Mike Scioscia's managerial debut), we have moved .01452 closer to a .500 franchise record.

Twelve MLB teams are over .500 all-time; they are the Yankees, Giants, Dodgers, Cardinals, Cubs, Red Sox, Indians, Reds, White Sox, Tigers, Pirates and Diamondbacks. Of those twelve, only one is an expansion team (and the D-Backs are only 4 games over .500 at this time, and are likely to go sub .500 shortly). The Astros (-11), Blue Jays (-35), and Braves (-37) are all close to .500, but only the Braves have a winning record so far this year.

The soonest possible point in time that the Angels can have a .500 franchise record is 44 games from now, if we just so happen to go on a 44-0 streak from here, however unlikely that may be. In order to become a .500 franchise this season, the Halos would need to go 52-8 (.867) over the remaining 60 games, so, also unlikely (not impossible, mind you).  If we sustain our .600 record for the last 3.5 seasons, however, we will become an all-time winning club two games before the end of the 2010 season. So, it is entirely possible inevitable, that the Angels will become a .500 club sometime next season.

This just goes as a testament to the great leadership the Angels have been blessed with over the last decade.

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Originally found at: http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2007/08/03/160-the-united-countries-of-baseball/

This was sighted at a Niketown at Union Square in San Francisco. Even though it makes our territory way too small, it's still a pretty interesting concept:

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k126/Plexust/unitedbaseball.jpg

And since when were the A's popular anywhere?