Let's go, Team Maddon!

Bobby Abreu hit a bases-clearing double to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th inning, only to see Fernando Rodney walk the leadoff batter in the top of the 10th. And you know how THAT goes. A potential game-winning shot to center by Abreu in the bottom half fell just short -- a fitting metaphor for the Angels offense so far this season. In this episode, the Angels get swept by the Rays.

Let the Panther looose!

All of the old farts here at HH remember the uniforms the Angels are sporting on Friday nights this season. For some reason, seeing those jerseys tonight gave me a warm feeling, a comfortable feeling, like I was being transported to my youth when Rod Carew & Co. were on the field.

Obviously, younger folks don't have that same emotional connection to these unis like the old farts. But I wanted to ask the question to the younger HH-ers: What do you think of these throwback unis? Are the old farts just reaching back with rose-colored glasses when we see these? Or are they kinda cool in that old-school way?

So with respect to my man Cupie and his great "cool or lame?" game invention, I ask you folks, "Are the throwback jerseys cool or lame?" The rules are you can only choose "cool" or "lame". That's it.

The Rev sent me the reissue of George F. Will's Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball to review last spring, and needless to say I'm a bit late on that deadline. I realize there are many other HHers who are more qualified than me to do a proper analysis of it and its historical context, but that's why this is a blog and not a magazine. And I was a bit concerned that perhaps Men at Work wouldn't stand the test of time, like listening to the band Men At Work in 2011. After all, I had never read the book the first time around.

But reading Men at Work last summer was joyously inspiring during a season of uninspiring and uninspired play by our Angels.

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Final score from Angel Stadium of Anaheim: Milwaukee Brewers 12, Los Angeles Angels 2

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We need runs. A lot of 'em.

Rod Carew, the #17 Greatest Angel according to HH, was in the booth on Opening Night to chat about how MLB is using him to promote the All-Star Game in Anaheim this year. He was wearing an Angels jacket, even though they were playing against his beloved Twins, whose cap he wears in the Hall of Fame.

With his Panther-worthy swing he won my heart as a youngster, so he'll always hold a special place in my heart as an Angel (to the extent that I tipped the scales of voting in the first Top 100 Angels poll). But now that he has a frigging statue up now at the new stadium in Minneapolis, his legacy is tied even more to the Twins than ever before.

So I ask: Is it disingenuous for him to wear the Angels gear tonight? Is this pandering to SoCal Angels fans? Our first "Cool or Lame?" question of the year wants your opinion.

Quick usage tip for a common word on HH this offseason:

Here's the correct way to use the word that means "sign again" versus the one that means "retire voluntarily from a job" or "accept something undesirable that can't be avoided":

"I hope the Angels re-sign Vladdy, in part because when he resigns from baseball, he will go into the HOF as an Angel."

"If folks here continue to misspell re-sign, then I will be resigned to the fact that this is apparently the nature of The Internets."

I just watched an interview with Andy Pettitte on MLB network. He sniffled about 20 times during the interview. Is he feeling the flu shit that's going around? Is he working the White Lines that Grandmaster Flash warned us about? Either way, I'm feeling confident that Colonel Joe Saunders will get it done in New Yawk. Fuck all those ESPN pundits who said this series won't go to a game 7. THIS IS HOW THE HALOS ROLL.

I will be in San Francisco on Friday, watching the game at The Dubliner in Noe Valley (near the 24th & Church J Muni stop). I'm pretty sure the game will be on (it has a TV in the smoking patio and is always packed with sports fans), and it should start early enough before the big local crowd arrives. They have internet access, so maybe I'll bring my computer and hit the Game Thread like a total and complete nerd. Please join me!

Just look for the beautiful girl in this photo -- she will be with the Angel fan seen here with her in Yanker Stadium earlier this year when the fucking game rained out and I couldn't come back to NY to see the make-up game. Grrrr!