Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim

                Although baseball has a long and cherished history, the thrill of going to a baseball game is the chance of seeing something unique and unexpected.  Last night the sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium saw the Dodgers win despite recording no hits, and broadcaster Vin Scully claims that in his fifty-plus years calling baseball games he’s never seen such an occurrence (though with the way his memory is aging these days, he might’ve years and years ago). However, seeing such unusual history only takes on meaning when contrasted with the everyday normality that is the slog of a six-month baseball season. The extraordinary only becomes noticed when compared to the ordinary.

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The mishaps of the Dodgers’ much-maligned offense have been chronicled in many a-place, including this site. Despite a pitching staff that is reliable at worst and brilliant at best, the Dodger bats frequently cost the team victories in all ways imaginable: not drawing walks, hitting into double plays, failing to produce a big inning, not hitting for power, and failing to come up with enough hits. Earlier this year they scored exactly one run in five of six games, and throughout the year they have been at the bottom of the pack in nearly every offensive category. Derek Lowe probably has it worst, as he has made a living of surrendering one run in seven innings and still getting saddled with the loss; in the last year and a half I think he has lost 240 games by scores of 1-0 or 2-1.

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                Suppose I told you that the Dodgers would send two in-season callups to make back-to-back starts in mid-June, and that the first would throw a complete-game shutout and the other would get the loss after a shaky four-plus innings. And suppose that one of these two mystery pitchers was highly-touted 20-year-old rookie Clayton Kershaw, and the other was a 28-year-old farmhand named Eric Stults. Which pitcher would you guess threw the gem, and which would you think was mediocre?

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On the eve of the Dodgers winning three games in a row (Joe Torre: “We won a game today, if we win again tomorrow, that’s called a ‘winning streak’”) for the first time roughly a century, the great Jeff Passan over at Yahoo! Sports has his annual “All-Overpaid and Underpaid Team”. He is spot on with his selections that I can see, but this seriously should have been labeled “The Los Angeles Dodgers”. Out of every player in the league mind you, the Dodgers manage to crack this list a whopping 4 times out of an available 9 positions. Jeff is right by stating what the Dodger contracts lack in length, they make up for in girth (how many guys have actually tried to claim that, by the way?), and that in no way makes them better. The Dodgers have the enormous problem of overpaying for mediocrity, and a glimpse further on this list shows that the Dodgers already added, or tried to add (if you believe the rumors, and of course I do, for this argument) another 6 of these players. While Dodger stupidity with the pocketbook is nothing new, let’s look at these players and see why they aren’t Dodgers or won’t be for long. Since Jeff already astutely pointed out the flaws of Andruw Jones, Nomar, Kent, and Schmitt, I’ll avoid rehashing his points and add anything else I can to the conversation. 

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For the latest installment of my preview of the 2008 Major League Baseball season, I’ll take a look at the American League West.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

Will Torii Hunter be able to provide another big bat to help Vladimir Guerrero carry the load?

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You know, everyone keeps talking about the baseball and steroids debate so I thought I would lighten things up a bit by discussing a less relevant topic. Some in Los Angeles may think this is just as important as steroids, but let’s face it – this only affects us natives and locals who have a serious passion for our Los Angeles Dodgers. Yeah, I am talking about why on Earth is that frickn’ team in Orange County allowed to use our city’s name? Seriously, it really burns me up. Anaheim and Los Angeles couldn’t be more different. I totally resent that those guys profit from using my hometown’s name. If they are so freakin’ great – use your own town.

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