Halos Heaven

just quit the GMJ bashing

seriously, we have other problems, the least of which is gary

no

he flat out sucks. period.
we can bash Howie for sucking (which he did) but we cant bash the guy who BLEW the effing game?

screw that.

get over yourself... this loss hurts

but that doesn’t excuse crappy analysis

analysis?

Lackey was great, save for one mistake – Bay’s homer.
Figgins was horrible in the leadoff tonight – 0-5 with 3 Ks.
Howie was terrible in the 8 hole – 0-4 with 6 LOB.
Shields was great to start, then fell apart and let 2 more runs score. His fastball flattened out, and the Red Sox were sitting on it.
Vlad made a SERIOUSLY bonehead baserunning error.

Bottom line – our offense choked, save for 2 hits EACH but our 2-5 guys (which was nice to see for a change).

So after people get in your face, you can be observant

but other than that, your first reaction is to repeat the same, tired gripes about GMJ that you’ve used all season… no thanks!

gimme a break

like i’m the only one mad at the guy tonight?

i can be observant whenever i want to… forgive me for responding in the heat of the moment. i’m a fan.. it happens with all of us.

I'm with you dude

Matthews frkn’ stinks. I was VERY upset when he made that error. A lot of people were shouting nasty things to him so you’re not alone.

all you do is bash bash bash

it is the same old fucking boring tune – we get it, really, now sing another song or shut the fuck up or go talk to a drunk at the bar who will punch you in your nonsensical mouth.

Dude calm down on howiestheman

You bash bash bash against a lot of things as well. He’s just upset with GMJ, rightfully so. I’m upset with Figgy, you’re upset with Kendrick.

Bottomline: They all sucked terribly tonight and should do a much better job next time.

Based on what?

They can’t be worse?

Based on nothing

They SHOULD as in: I really think they should because I really want them to.

Also because they're paid to play better.

And finally:

Because we know they can.

Know they can beat the Red Sox in the playoffs?

Sure.

They did it three times 22 years ago. Beat them 8 times in the regular season this year. It’s not impossible.

Besides, wasn’t one of your rules “don’t be a quitter, never give up?”

Who said anything about giving up?

Did they win that series 22 years ago? I know you talked about how the Angels would not struggle against the Red Sox and how they handled Lester and I said that would not be the case and the team would be tested when they saw him again.

How did all those stats work out today Zu? Lester against Angles Angels record against Red Sox etc…

About the same as the win totals.

100 to 95 right?

Also: You seem to be suggesting we can't win against them.

What do you call it? “Accepting defeat?”

Your "ass"uming I am a fair weather Angel fan

problem is I am also able to see that there is issues. GMJ starting? Come on be serious!
Howie 15 AB’s in September has him playoff ready? Be real! Willits., Wood, Mathis bench players with Rivera, Morales, and Q. Super one real veteran that has more then 4 years of Big league service but he isn’t 100%. I could go on and on but you wouldn’t get it because it isn’t stats its about personal and the dynamics of team.

Your inability to separate my previous post from a coach of a team and a fan / observer is comical. Then again you never played so not surprised.

I played little league, and guess what?

I actually internalized all those life lessons they told me. The ones about don’t quit, etc. I hope they meant them more than you seemed to.

I’m not assuming you’re a fairweather fan, I’m assuming you have Chicken Little syndrome, just like you did when you were freaking out about us not getting home field. There’s a difference.

And yeah, we have issues. Last I checked, the BoSox do too (Lowell, Drew, Beckett, their shortstops collectively suck, etc.). We beat them 8 times in the regular season, during most of which they had Manny. We can beat them now.

So off base

Yeah good for you and the little league makes you a pro evaluator on the game. I am sure you have been involved in big games as a little leaguer or a coach/manager.

If realizing that the Angels need every advantage they can get (HFA) qualifies me as chicken little in your book…….I don’t give a ratsazz. It’s a fact. No conjunctivitis here but you may have a bad case of it

Red Sox issues have not kept them from victory and I think thats because they run out some vets and have many that have done this sort of thing before. Addition by subtraction when they dumped ManRam.

Howie Playoff ready

The Sux started Drew and Lowell who have had even fewer at bats.

Never got the answer on the 22 year question or maybe thats because you were 5 then and don't remember that

Are you suggesting the Sox have some magic formula...

to beat the Angels in the playoffs that they didn’t use during the regular season?

I usually agree with you 99.9% of the time and value your opinions, but why CAN’T the Angels win against Boston in October?

we cant take an easy excuse

like boston and chicago and just say we’re “cursed”

but seriously eff those guys

once again

excuse me for being upset and in the moment.
looking back at the amazing amount of F-Bombs in the threads leads me to believe I’m not the only one.

I’ll to my best to watch what i contribute from now on.

I agree with your Napoli analysis below

but to just lash out a tirade against the same guy you have always bashed when your man was so down just struck me as cowardice.

i hear ya

like i said, i’ll keep the GMJ-bashing under the hat (the best i can, anyway).

and i totally agreed that Howie choked tonight as well

but he’s not making $10MM/yr for his defense and lefty splits, which just added to my anger.

I don’t really see anything wrong with what howiestheman is doing. hella frustrating game and the bigger the fan you are the more angrier you get. understand benching matthews may mean that we still lose the game. but venting makes you feel better, this loss was tough.

my personal opinion: i definetely think rivera should have started over GmJ. his defense is not that superb (cue the error he made) and having riveras power in the line up could bring a boost to our team. look what happened when jason bay hit his bomb. TOTAL MOMENTUM changer

i think he saw my GMJ-bashing as a way to get the focus off of Howie's suckage

which was totally not my intent, but it is what it is.

game over. day off tomorrow. we move on to Friday.

Yeah i thought that ws your intent

that is what happens when the same drum gets beat too often in substitution of deeper analysis…

We are cool.

If only you could ban yourself...

PhiSlamma - October 1, 2008 reply

Hostility Abounds Tonight

it happens

we’re all pissed and highly irritable.

nothing personal, I’m sure.

gotta have thick skinz on teh internetz.

Is it just me

or is it cranky in here?

Man I’m glad I was at the park today. I mean, this game stank on ice, but it would have been worse here.

scareduck - October 1, 2008 reply

It's crankier in here then it was in the topic.

Mostly.

Howie Blew the game

Although GMJ sucked, he didn’t blow the game. Although the error in RF was pitifull the run never scored.. And sure his bat sucked going 0-3, but at least he didn’t have any LOB like Howie

Howie came up in many key situations and flat out blew it and couldn’t get a hit. HK was 0-4 with 1 K and 6 (that is right SIX) Left on Base.

Howie needs to flush this game out of his memory and get his head on straight. We need him to perform this year and get it done!

Right there is other problems but he is one of them

other is the fact that Howie had a total of 15 AB’s going into this series. Those 15 AB’s against shit teams at that.

Why GMJ has earned it with his "defense."

Not BOTG but he does suck

I agree HK blew it.

You bring absolutely nothing to our discussions anymore

his error cost us nothing compared to how much howie absolutely and gutlessly choked.

It didn't cost us

But it was terrible anyway. It changed the vibe in the entire section I was in.

GMJ blows. Figgins was terrible, Kendrick was terrible.

i agree that Howie blew tonight

wholeheartedly.
there’s no excuse that can be made for 0-4 with 6 LOB. plain and simple.

Not so true Rev

Sort of like you talking about how Howie grounded into what you said would have been a double play no matter what Vlad did on the base running gaffe

I say that based on the fact that It allowed them to send another guy to the plate which amounted to Ellsbury to once again hit and score in the 9th. GMJ catches that ball then there is a few less hitters in that inning. Everything effects the game. Either way they are not going to win scoring 1 run

exactly

it’s the whole “butterfly effect” thing.

we get an out there, Lackey stays in longer, the game is pitched differently (on both sides) and things change.

it’s all about playing the “what if” game.

If momentum can be lost.....then he cost us something.

He even made Lackey say, “insert F-Bomb here.”

But Howie killed it for us with his lame ass bat (Almost like Reggie’s). This game has everyone stressed the fug out, so everyone needs to take a breath and try to relax a bit.

acuda27 - October 1, 2008 reply

Howie never should have been batting after Hunter

Terrible line up, GMJ is worthless. Howie takes a while to get warmed up, not 15 Ab’s and clearly he shouldn’t be batting that high in the order. That was Juan Rivera’s spot in the lineup and we would be up 1-0 if fucking GMJ wasn’t in the lineup and it was set up properly. Howie should be in the 8 hole and it’s no surprise he struggled in the clutch given the circumstances. The manager has pure blame on this retard lineup. Did he just not witness an entire season where GMJ was ABSOLUTELY worthless any and all times when it actually mattered. Fucking idiot! Juan would have come through and this would have been a different game.

End rant.

But I feel better now. :-)

LosAngel - October 2, 2008 reply

How about the umps?

The zone (and the appeals to third) were really weird from my POV (granted it was in 512, but still)….

red floyd - October 2, 2008 reply

i wasn't around for the whole game

but just from what i saw, the zone seemed very.. ahem fluid.

howiestheman - October 2, 2008 reply

stupid asterisks

made things bold.

duly noted.

howiestheman - October 2, 2008 reply

nice blend of positivism with solid commentary as usual Rev

But these still fucking hurt.

highlandhalo - October 1, 2008 reply

Agreed.

Terrible performance by Howie. We can overcome this. Our offense was decent, but couldn’t get the guys around the bases. All our production was from 2-5 spots.

Stings

Really f—ing stings.

Especially because Boston now knows it’s the “same old story” (to quote the blowholes at TBS) and so knows that all they have to do is fend us off Friday—not too hard—and the SERIES IS THEIRS.

Done.

Kendrick ?

How about Figgins ? He didn’t get on base ONCE. GA had hits his first few times up, as did Teixeira. If Figgins had been on base once or twice, it would’ve been a completely different ball game.

Kendrick was terrible, but Figgins just as much. And don’t get me started on GMJ.

Bingo.

Figgins went 0-5 with 3 K’s AT THE TOP OF THE LINEUP. He is not a leadoff hitter. Personally, I want Tex or Anderson batting first, Vlad second, Tex or Anderson third, and Torii fourth. Get the good batters more chances to succeed, particularly when the “table setters” in Figgins and Aybar are playing like it’s spring training.

Agreed Figgins was shit

and has a history in the postseason of being shit….0-5 with 3 K’s is not getting it done from the leadoff spot….

Here’s to hoping he nuts up and figures it out this time around….we need the spark at the top of the lineup and HALO…

no, botg is

GMJ*

mjhsieh - October 1, 2008 reply

Here's my list of major issues tonight:

1.) Gary Matthews Junior. [how did he not play himself off the playoff roster?]
2.) Scot Shields in the ninth. [that belongs to Frankie]
3.) Throwing a fastball to Jason Bay. [he struck out on curve balls and looked horrendous]
4.) Throwing a fastball to Jed ‘Effing Lowrie. [a rookie who can’t hit breaking balls]
5.) Not taking the free walks which Lester was trying to hand out. [especially early in the game]
6.) Not pinch-hitting for Erick Aybar in the ninth. [Aybar, 0-4]
7.) Not pinch-hitting for Chone Figgins in the ninth. [Figgins, batting first, 0-5, 3K’s, needs to bat ninth]
8.) Not bunting one ball towards the geriatric, injured Mike Lowell. [play Angels baseball for chrissakes]
9.) Vlad Guerrero…

agree with #8

all day they had the chance. maybe never again during the series

eyespy - October 1, 2008 reply

Some good points Carl

I agree with
#3, 4, 5, 6 8

Disagree with:

On paper I thought it was a good matchup to get GMJ in there against Lester, I liked his hitting numbers vs Lester and I thought he would add value in the field. Although I was wrong with both, I can’t go back on my initial thought and hunch…Hindsight is 20/20

I thought Shield was brought in too early…Arrendondo should have came in first and then Shields should have only pitched one inning….No Frankie in a tie game, I have no true data on this one, but I believe Franky pretty much sucks coming into a tie or loosing ball game…He should only be used in Save situations (4 out max)

7 Let Figgy try and get going we needed base runners. Had he gotten on GA would have had a chance to tie the game with one swing of the bat….

Vlad oh Vlad…my only reason for not picking on him is boy do we need him in the post season. If this continues he is going to get a new name….Reggie Jackson was Mr October….hopefully Vlad doesnt become Mr Every month except October

we've seen this before

And we’ve seen the Angels come back to win before. Strong chin, folks. Strong chin…

yeswecan - October 1, 2008 reply

+1

lightupthehalo - October 1, 2008 reply

I admire the optimism

But I started watching in ‘05, and I’ve seen this before also.

Yes, and

The two times we did it was against the Yankees.

We’re 0 fer 2 doing it against the Sawwx. Doesn’t bode well for us.

But we'll be positive

Going into the next game.

Can’t imagine the Boys in Halo Red are too excited about having another Chowdsweep.

As much as tonight hurts

I felt like the Angels really needed to lose this game to wake them up from their AL West level of play.

Also losing the first game of the series was a good sign in the past, just GET OVER the Sox.

our ace had a lead, our #4 hitter had risp with 1 out in the 1st inning

lackey shouldnt have gone away from the curve ball against bay – fastball out over the plate game over

vlad 1st pitch hacking after a teix walk – fail … leads to a howie fail with 2 outs

vlad kills a rally by trying to go to 3rd

most importantly, we never got a leadoff batter on base. figgins led off an inning 3 times and failed, o/5 on the game

Bay didn't Jack a fast ball dude

Quinlan's Goofy Swing - October 2, 2008 reply

Ummm, yes he did. Check the video, check gameday, check lackey's and bay's interviews.

My bad TBS guy called a hanging breaking ball.

What I Would LOVE TO HEAR:

Scioscia and the Players ADMIT: The Red Sox OWN US IN THE PLAYOFFS…..and I want to hear them say: “WE ARE TIRED OF LOSING TO THEM !”

Dono Romantico - October 1, 2008 reply

so we're admitting defeat after one game?

Admitting that they care.

yeah, because all they care about is money, right?

seriously…

Yeah, seriously.

I want someone to come out and say “Look, we’re not dumb. We know we’ve been terrible in the postseason since 2002. We know we are playing the defenders of the World Series trophy. We know we need to play better, AND WE WILL.”

I would love to hear

Impatient hitters can’t perform in the playoffs and get exposed.

2002: 3.54 Pitches/PA
2008: 3.65 Pitches/PA

Uh...

Sorry, 3.57 pitches in 2002.

Bottom line

Angel Baseball= exciting and fun
Angel playoff baseball= boring and excrutiating

but one game can change it all

Jangel7 - October 1, 2008 reply

tough pill to swallow tonight ..

but the ALDS championship will only be that much sweeter that it won’t be a sweep.

lightupthehalo - October 1, 2008 reply

its in their heads not ours

Jangel7 - October 1, 2008 reply

Figgy for BOTG

As much as Kendrick sucked, Figgy has the big guys with all the hits batting BEHIND him. He gets on base once, twice and we win.

yer out

In 73 post season PA, Figgy has a .178 OBP

It all starts at the top, and he is killing us there, move him to #9.

elricsi - October 1, 2008 reply

Exactly

Although I don’t know who should be our #1 hitter.

good luck with that one

i mean, Vlad, GA, Tex and Torii look like they felt pretty comfortable, but putting any of those guys in the leadoff spot is kinda ridiculous.

fact is, Figgy is the leadoff guy, and he’s going to have to man up.

I can only..

hope he will.

Agreed

Chone and the bottom half swung on bad pitches and took the good ones. Lets hope they do better.

Vlad...

Too aggressive, too many times running 2nd to 3rd. Sucked the air out of the stadium.

Red - October 1, 2008 reply

I was actually disappointed they didn't pinch run for him in that situation.

I know, I know, we need his bat in there, but in that situation, down by only one run, they should have put in Reggie to run for him, and then put in Juan rivera to hit next time that spot in the lineup came up. Seeing Vlad on 1st base when Torii’s at bat started really really irked me.

halofan4life - October 2, 2008 reply

i noticed by comparison to the regular season games that our hitters were not swinging as much. emphasis on howie kendrick and chone figgins. i think they were trying to draw walks. we’re not sticking to our specialty

and that's something they'll need against Dice-K

but not against Lester. Lester throws strikes… THIS was the game that hacking would’ve been a good idea.
Friday’s game… not so much.

Man, those Sox sure got Shields' number

’Ol snaggletooth needs a shrink that can exorcise those Red Sox demons. As for Matthews, he gets a panther award for having suckered the idiot Stoneman into the 5/$50 million.

Kendrick for BOTG

PieceOfAase - October 1, 2008 reply

He did look really bad, as always against the Sox

(Shields)

We started the regular season with a loss against the Sox

We did not lose another game against them since. Let the ALDS be just like that and we’re all going to be fine.

Go Halos! Go Ervin!

Playoff baseball is not the same as the season.

trying to compare the two is useless

Playoff baseball

ALDS Game 1 winners:

12-14 series record.

That's encouraging.

I thought so too.

Angels record in ALDS games where we lose Game 1: 2-2.

Angels record in playoff series overall where we lose Game 1: 4-3
Angels record in playoff series overall where we win Game 1: 0-3

Like Rev said- Right where we want them

Nice ZU

that is what we needed to see this AM….A ray of Sunshine…….

GO HALOS…

Vlad for botg

Swung at a bad ball with 2 on and 1 out, ran through a stop sign to ruin our last good chance at a comeback. However, they should have pinch ran Willits for Vlad who may have made it 3rd on that.

hard to hate a guy with 2 hits

he undid one of those hits right quick

truth.

I'm going to agree with Kendrick for BOTG.

While the 6 LOB is inflated because he comes after the middle of our lineup…he’s supposed to be there to drive in the middle when they get on base. His ABs looked poor, Aybar and Chone had poor ABs too. They took fastballs and swung on outside curves.

I refuse to let this get me down, partially because I’m drunk, GO HALOS! I’ll be more fatalistic if game 2 doesn’t go our way.

Also special BOTG goes to the shitty umps. What was with the bad check swing calls?

Do we really need to listen to those broadcasters again?

I thought Fox was bad. Not only were they sucking Chowda ass the whole time, they kept repeating themselves over and over.

yeah I wish I could listen to rex and phizzy on the radio because that was some horribly biased crap right there.

Well regional broadcasters have a right to be biased homers like Rex and Fizz.

A national broadcast should be balanced.

Exactly, TBS is not The Boston Station

They could have tried to be a little unbiased.

Also how about the camera guys panning to the BoSux fans

cheering in our stadium? I got all stabby right then.

Stabby!

Good Simpsons reference.

Heh and manatees make me think of south park

The manatees pick the balls and then we make our script for The Family Guy

you know

i’ve heard about that clip like 198340298 times, but i’ve never seen it.

gotta link?

http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/index.php?season=10

there’s 2 episodes. Cartoon wars ep: 1 and 2.

you're fantastic

thanks.

np howies

please talk to the bottom of the lineup and make them calm the fuck down and then we’re even :D

lol

got it. XD

At least the stadium was rocking

And drowning out the chowds, unlike game 3 last year.

red floyd - October 2, 2008 reply

They were patting the asses of the Red Sux all night..

" Oh Lester still throwing 95, what a super stud…"

"let me touch his manly balls"

blegh, they were orgasming every time the BoSux got a “almost HR” foul

have the red sox beaten the angels 10 times in a row during playoffs?

i don’t think they mentioned it at all.

They did and they pointed out it was a record

Buck had to wipe the Varitek off of his chin

He called him a genius for calling a curve ball in the first, and “mixing pitches.”

princeton11loveshalos - October 1, 2008 reply

you know its fun just blaming single people but...

but we can’t do that. We still love Vladdy and we are still gonna cheer Kendrick when he gets us those hits. I know all of us are frustrated because the stinking bosox beat us again but we gotta stick to our team and every player. We lost today but we need to rebound as a team and not go calling people out. Its about coming back as a team. We gotta pick up those bats and use them against these sox. We are gonna fight back.

LETS GO HALOS

now that i've calmed down a bit...

the biggest problem is this – our 9 hits (yes, all freaking 9) were singles. we’re going to have to do a little better than that to win this series.

the Red Sox had 8 hits, but 3 of them went for extra bases (2 doubles and a homer).

we can’t come through in the clutch it seems. is there a magic button? no. all we can do is hope Scioscia lights a fire underneath them tonight, and they start playing the way they did to win 100 games.

I was dissappointed with Naps ABs. He didnt look as good as the end of the season.

He was too fidgety and it seemed like he was swinging for yard instead of for bases.

Maybe it was just me.

i noticed it as well

I’m hoping this was because of postseason jitters, and they ALL now have it out of their systems.

Like someone said above, they were being entirely too picky tonight at the dish against a guy that you HAVE to be ready to swing against. Friday’s game against Dice-BB is the PERFECT time to hold back and take a few pitches.

I'm glad others saw the fidgety

and it wasn’t just a product of my alcohol induced state of mind (which involved taking a shot for every ground out or flyout by the Halos)

ouch

so you’re basically tanked right now?

yeah i'm pretty gone

and i’ve got 2 papers due tomorrow but fuck it the angels made me drunk

Howie

Was it just me or did he look a bit haggard tonight.
Like he hasn’t gotten much sleep.

I can and can't blame him.

I got no sleep last night I was up at 4am ready for the game. Then again I don’t get paid and I dont go up there for ABs

I'll Say it Again: Someone Needs To Step Up

And Publicly Say They Are Tired Of Losing to The Red Sox in the Post Season and Cut all the typical “we’ll see how it goes” talk.

THE FIRST STEP IS ADMITTING YOU HAVE A PROBLEM. THE ANGELS HAVE A PROBLEM BEATING THE RED SOX IN THE POSTSEASON.

Dono Romantico - October 1, 2008 reply

I'll publibly say

capitalizing words for emphasis is irritating and wrong, but I agree with your point.

Publicly!

Nice. Making a typo while bagging on someone else’s poor grammar.

Are you an English teacher?

Dono Romantico - October 2, 2008 reply

Reading teacher for elementary school

but my BA is in English Lit. Plus, besides the multiple subject credential for elementary, I also have a secondary level credential in English.

I least I didn’t write pubicly.

Rally Manatee - October 2, 2008 reply

*at least

Dude, I need a nap. It’s so hot! “Milk was a bad choice.”

Rally Manatee - October 2, 2008 reply

Why have a BOTG?

Seriously, the Sox played a great game. As much as I hate to admit that. And regardless of how much the TBS crew sucked him off, Lester did pitch a good game.

A guy goes 0-4 and is BOTG? He didn’t give up any runs, he didn’t make all of the outs. The Angels didn’t lose the game because of mistakes or errors, they lost because they were out played.

Friday’s another game, its not over yet.

BASES LOADED HIT IN THE BOTTOM OF THE FIRST.

Just think what that would have meant. Probably two RBI and who knows what more, Thats why he’s nominated.

We can play this all night...

instead of walking, if Hunter hits a home run the score would have been 3-0.

I agree

No blame of the game tonight. We just got beat, that’s all.

Gorbachav5 - October 1, 2008 reply

Truly, why blame one for the loss of all.

Nice Ctch GMJ

The Broadcasters sucked ass, GMJ sucks ass, why didn’t Sosh pinch for Napoli to lead off the ninth,? You knew he was going to K against Pap Smear, A homer only gets us withinb two.

Napoli does have the second highest OPS

Need runners on.

High OPS anchored by slugging

He also strikes out a bunch, I mean I love the guy, but when its bottom of the ninth down by three, and he’s leading off….

Hard to put the blame on Howie

For me it was the whole approach to things but if I am picking a guy it is the guy that is at the top of the order “table setter” who was awful. Howie had a total of 15 Ab’s in September. Not expecting a lot out of him at this point to be honest with you. The guy with experience and a 2002 World Series Champ was not good.

Red Sox “Table Setter” 3-5 run scored RBI w/DBL and 2 SB
Angel “Table Setter” 0-5 w/3K’s

Figgins is the BOTG

Nobody is to Blame!... Damn!

What’s up to all my true Angel buds! … oh, and I guess hi to all of you losers who want to blame and/or bash or players.

Let me start by saying RELAX, have a beer, take a pill… do something! This is only one game and we have a team built to win this thing. We had solid pitching for the most part and our bats will wake up for the next game. Don’t sleep on Lester… dude is a great picther.. give him some credit and stop blaming our team.

Word of caution though.. All I heard is how the Angels hammered the Redsox this year. Well that was without Big Papi and without Jason Bay (no he’s no Manny, but he did hurt us tonight and is severely underrated.

Vlad is Barry and ARodesque. The guy just isn’t clutch. It’s time to shift the order around a bit. I would hit Hunter in the 3 hole, Tex in the 4 hole and Vlad 5.

Either way, don’t get your panties in a bunch, but Game 2 is a must win… obviously

marshgr - October 1, 2008 reply

good idea

id be more comfortable with that lineup

ANewFoundThrice - October 1, 2008 reply

And I thought it was going to be a different start to this post season....

Anyone know of anywhere in Colorado I can go find some red sux fans to beat the shit out of? There is nothing I would enjoy more right now.

BoulderBrian - October 1, 2008 reply

Can we have a pep talk or something?

Because honestly, I know I’m always pessimistic, but hot damn, what is it with this team and collapsing against Boston in October? I’ll feel better in the morning but right now, as far as I’m concerned, game set and match.

Someone talk me out of my sorrow.

cardinalwraith - October 1, 2008 reply

It could be worse

You could be litigating a personal jurisdiction case similar to Asahi.

princeton11loveshalos - October 1, 2008 reply

LETS GO ANGELS

THIS AINT OVER
NO FREAKIN WAY WE ARE GOIN DOWN AGAIN
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

I don't remember....

hearing that the world is coming to an end??

Its one game…do we not have an All star pitching Friday night??

im4kiss - October 1, 2008 reply

I love voodoo like a fat kid loves cake.

Lackey was pretty nails except for letting that ball to Bay stay up.

Talk to the Wall Street BAnkers who want $700 Billion of your money

oh the world is going to end if they cannot buy a new yacht every year, sorry they are such stupid gamblers this time they will be prudent, really, or the world is gonna end.

It's tough to find blame for this one

Kendrick, Figgins, Matthews, the supposedly Pujols-esque Napoli, Shields, etc. And even the guys who did well didn’t do that well. Singles all around. Lackey was by far the best player and he made the worst mistake of the night with that pitch to Bay. So my analysis? We got beat by the better team tonight.

But we really gotta calm down. It’s not the end of the world. We can come back from this. We need to be patient against Dice-K on Friday and let Ervin do his thing. I have no problem saying we can win this series.

Gorbachav5 - October 1, 2008 reply

I'm calm but I'm drunk.

We lost the first game of the season series with Boston, too... then rattled off 8 in a row!

I’d blame Chone for this one. He did nothing tonight, especially when leading off innings 1 and 3, and struck out LOOKING… god i hate that.
Rough night, but if 1 or 2 pitches could have been changed, we win this one.

Chone's Chonies - October 1, 2008 reply

Yah that last one STUNG.

figgins led off the 1st, 3rd , and 5th innings

Howie didn't have an at bat with risp less than 2 outs.

Whole game would have been different if Lackey didn’t go away from the curveball. Or, maybe, just maybe, after throwing everything outside for 2 at bats, just show something inside once?
It’s no secret why he gave up so many homers, they know what’s coming after a few at bats!

At bats with risp and less than 2 outs :
vlad 1st inning – pop out to right first pitch
tori 1st inning – walk
aybar 9th inning – horrible k

tori also ended an inning with 2 on, on a first pitch weak grounder to the pitcher. sure he got the lone rbi, but howie hit the ball harder than him all night … and howie didnt even make hard contact all night.

i’d blame lackey 1st, why can’t we have a starter pitch a game in the post season without giving up a run? he had a lead, his game to lose.
2nd – vlad killed two rallies, one with his first pitch hack bs in the 1st. and also with his stupid baserunning.
3rd – every person who led off an inning. 0/9 leading off an inning, 3 times it was ChoKe Figgins.

are you kidding me. howie hits it into the gap in the first inning and we’d be saying how f’ing great of a game lackey pitched today.

ellsbury doesn’t make that play on tex in the 8th and we might have the momentum to win the game

bottom line, we caught some bad breaks along with untimely hitting and boneheaded moves.
we couldve easily had this game. WE ARE STILL LIVE

WE ARE STILL LIVE

we are study every match of october baseball.
my all friends need team to win luminous match.

=D

YES

Very nice.

i blame a guy hitting with 1 out, in the # 4 spot, more than the guy in the #6 spot with 2 outs.

all in all, it was a typical angels playoff loss. heck, most of their losses in general look like games they very easily could have won. early opportunities, followed by panic induced mistakes late.

erv needs to be nails friday

what a kick to the nads

beaten on a homer by manny’s replacement. ouch.

it a’int over. we just need one freakin’ win and the rest could take care of itself. i hope Torii said something in the locker room afterward.

Being at this one stung

But I like our matchups for game 2 and 3 better than last year.

That said, Friday is a must-win. Dealbreaker right there.

101halo - October 1, 2008 reply

game 2=biggest game in franchise history

imo

A little ahead of yourself there

But biggest game this year? Yes. Biggest potential game of the entire playoffs for us? Yes. If we even it up on Friday and manage to pull off the rest of the postseason, it will have been the defining game I bet.

But that’s why we play the games.

I’ve climbed down from my ledge, but gotta say, it was rough watching Papelbon’s last pitch. Excruciatingly painful.

101halo - October 1, 2008 reply

yeah i don't know about that

biggest game in Franchise history (up til this point) was Game 7 of the 2002 World Series, IMO.

biggest game of the year? you’ve got it.
biggest game of this postseason? there’s a good chance of that.

just fitting in with the some of the hyperbole in this thread

well then good work

as you’ve done that.

Anyone Tivo the game??

LOL

i needed that laugh.

or know if they are going to rebroadcast the game

You can probably watch it on MLB.com

DVRed It but deleted it after the game cuz I was PISSED OFF

acuda27 - October 2, 2008 reply

Howie? That's hilarious.

A 3rd year guy with 10 postseason ABs gets the blame when the so-called “best leadoff hitter in the game”, “catalyst” and “sparkplug” goes 0-5.

In other news, water is wet, the sky is blue, and Red Sox “fans” are still sore winning asshats.

ReggieBullits - October 1, 2008 reply

vlad fears the post season

it scares him

Vlad has RBIs tonight

If Figgins gets on.

ReggieBullits - October 1, 2008 reply

figgins fears them too

Obviously.

ReggieBullits - October 1, 2008 reply

Just back from the game

Seriously, the guys let us down. The crowd was UNBELIEVEABLE. The most boisterous, excited crowd ever! My ears are still ringing. Those fan noise makers are very effective. Loved the 100-1 angel fan-chowd ratio.

Lester sacked up despite his early troubles and dominated. Hitting 95-97 on three straight pitches late in the game. His curveball looked nasty.

Big John looked solid. But one mistake will do you in, and he made to Bay. Bay squared it and connected. I knew immediately from the sound of the bat. I didn’t even look at it and knew it was gone.

No extra base hits was one of our downfalls. No Figgy…no base stealing/hit and run/etc.

Despite this setback……BELIEVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

swiss mcgee - October 1, 2008 reply

Yeah the Big A sounded like it was on fire most of the night

as opposed to Wrigley field which sounded like a morgue post grand slam.

i can affirm this to be true.

gotta give it to the fans… the crowd was definitely more halos than chowds by a decent margin, and a good percentage of the fans did hang around to see the gutwrenching last moments of the game.

101halo - October 1, 2008 reply

Agreed.

Nice to see that, after seeing game 3 last year.

Those fans were cool, but too fragile. My buddy’s broke in the 8th. Bring back the ThunderStix!!!!!

red floyd - October 2, 2008 reply

YES WE CAN!

Funke5ive - October 1, 2008 reply

Man did that hurt tonight

I was out in the RF pavillion tonight. I was impressed with the Halo fans who overwhelmingly decided to keep their ducats for tonight, there was a far smaller contingent of Sox fans than normal. That didn’t keep the ones who were there from being dicks, and there were fights in the pavillion all night long.

The crowd was on fire for the first half of the game. But the sequence of events, starting with Bay’s HR, continuing with Mathews’ stunt, Vlad’s boneheaded baserunning, and Shields pouring gasoline on a fire all contributed to the crowd turning mostly silent for the final hour and a half.

Big John gave us a great chance to win. But then Figgins, HK, Napoli, Aybar, these guys did ZERO tonight. Offensively we looked like our old selves, barely scraping across a single, unearned run, with a few walks and a bag of singles. Then, despite our pitcher throwing well, a single mistake turns the game completely around.

Boston limped into this series. No Manny, no Schilling. Lowell injured, Varitek a shadow of his former self.

Despite all that, Friday becomes an absolute must win, otherwise we’re looking at game 3 in Boston against Becket, a money pitcher if ever there was one.

You look at this tournament; it is so winnable, there’s nobody there who looks dominant compared to us. It’s so hard just to get to the playoffs, with a year like this one we really need to take advantage of the opportunity.

C’mon guys, get it done!

goodvibe61 - October 2, 2008 reply

Exactly

Thank you. Please send this message to the clubhouse. Now.

Clutch - October 2, 2008 reply

I was in right field behind the foul pole

there were a couple good arguments that got pretty heated.

Funke5ive - October 2, 2008 reply

I was in left field terrace

3 different groups of chowds got thrown out. hilarious. other ones were just stupid drunks. most disappointing boston fan was a guy in a ucla hat. let him know he was a traitor, and there’s plenty west coast teams to choose from.

but seriously stadium was loud and great. going to game 2 as well, want to see that kind of energy again.

we made boneheaded plays, but unlike 04 and 07 i actually confident going into game 2.

*i am

Groundhog Day

I keep seeing the same shitty game against the Red Sox in the playoffs over and over again. It’s starting to freak me out. On Friday I need Figgy and Vlad to come up big just to prove myself that I’m not stuck in some kind of weird endless loop of playoff torture.

Zaius - October 2, 2008 reply

you mean this isnt an overrated Bill Murray movie?!?

I was at the game tonight - it was pretty disgusting.

I give the blame to Mike Scioscia.

Vlad on first base, eighth inning, being the worst baserunner in the history of baseball, in a one run game, and you don’t pinch run?

Ninth-inning, one run game, and we don’t go to Frankie? What are we saving him for, oldtimers day in 2025?

Gary Matthews playing? Because he had one lucky game against Lester about five months ago? This guy shouldn’t even be on the roster. I’m talking about the AAA roster.

Figgins sucks every October.

Aybar looks in over his head. I miss Izturis.

If we lose friday, we might as well cancel our flight to Boston. It’ll be a sweep….guaranteed.

bc56274 - October 2, 2008 reply

you hit the head

on every nail

ANewFoundThrice - October 2, 2008 reply

Had the "pleasure" of watching this game at work tonight

Then coming home at 330am and reading the anger displayed by the rest of you guys. Wheres the anticipation and enthusiasum for Friday? I think “yeswecan” and his strong chin have the right outlook. Fresno State had like 5 elimination games and still won the College World Series….

I agree with Rev about Howie being BOTG. What did he have 6 LOB? And that performance in the first inning? That sealed BOTG right there. Vlad would be the easy pick for his base running clinic, but i can’t knock hustle. Howie just choked.

So heres to a blowout victory friday night. Mathis is going to shock the world…

Old School Predictions:
Us: 8 runs 10 hits
Them: 3 runs 7 Hits

Northwest - October 2, 2008 reply

UMPIRES

All I want to say is we had them in the first inning but the umpires were clearly favoring them and put our guys in bad hit counts with check swing strikes that should have been called balls and not doing the same to them when you do that it changes how a batter has to approach and helps knock the wind right out of a team. They started swinging at stuff they shouldnt have because of the fear if they held up on the swing they’d be called out and whats normally a ball in regular season or against a more unpopular team than the redsux is a strike against them. even the announcers said “Well the check swing calls are definetly favoring the Red Sox tonight” I think it was Chip Caray that said it but anyway the umps started the first rally killer of the night and put doubt in the teams mind the rest of the night.

devildogamp - October 2, 2008 reply

I agree with the check swing calls, but let's be honest, we beat ourselves tonight.

No need to blame umpires, that’s the easy way out.

Chone's Chonies - October 2, 2008 reply

Wow, being pissed off is one thing, but reading this thread is taking it ....

…to another level. It was ONE game, and yes I know it is a five game series. But, the Sox threw their ace, they won. Now we get Dice-K and his walks and 5 inning start. Then the bullpen which is the weakness of the sox. We will win this series. Calm down.

Jack Kerouac - October 2, 2008 reply

I agree

I’m going to use a corny phrase but hey.. It’s time to turn the page and “roll the dice” ha ha oh not funny but still we’re going to win the series because its not a 1 game series

devildogamp - October 2, 2008 reply

Amen to that!

I think everybody is scared shitless though. They don’t want this great season to come to a crashing end. I think this dayoff will benefit everybody in here more than it will the team.

Chone's Chonies - October 2, 2008 reply

We need to keep the enthusiasm going, yeah, it was just one game...

but this is not like the regular season, where you lose a ballgame you should’ve won and you say, oh well, we’ll get em tomorrow. This is a best of 5 short series; every PITCH is magnified to the umpteenth degree. If we don’t capitalize we won’t have a tomorrow to play another game. You can’t give away opportunities because there are so few of them in a short series.

I would have to disagree with your assesment about the pitchers; it is US who threw our ACE Wednesday, not them. Their ace is slightly injured and resting, waiting for Sunday. Lester is not their number one guy at all. And we were at home.

John Lackey threw a great game; he made 2 mistakes the whole night and the first didn’t cost him a run in the 1st inning. That should be enough to win a ball game. If we can get a similiar performance from Magik tomorrow night let’s hope the offense beats up Dice K and we can put this one behind us.

If not…..let’s not go there.

goodvibe61 - October 2, 2008 reply

thanks for the reality check

did it for me

ANewFoundThrice - October 2, 2008 reply

OK not all I wanted to say after all..

I’m not tryin to knock Vladdy or anything because he contributes all year long but in that situation Vlad would have never been left in the game our number 1 angel moment of the year star would have been pinch runner. In 02 It was Figgy’s job when salmon got on base in late innings he’d pinch run for as willits should have done for Vlad but its cool now they’re cocky and they’ll let their guard down for an “ARCHANGEL” style asswhippin the kind that makes the bible scare children lol

devildogamp - October 2, 2008 reply

holy shit guys...this was GAME 1!!!!!!

maybe the boys needed a little whoop-ass to get a reality check in the humility department. They are up against a strong team…that’s why it’s the play-offs. No one got here from looking pretty.

It’s one game…they can still do this. You guys are whining like it was game 3. CHILL OUT….they can still do this. There’s MORE than enough time.

Quit the f**ing negative mojo and start thinking positive. Send the good vibes their way.

knock it off before I call you all a bunch of whiny ass girls who missed the clearance sale at the outlet malls

ladybug - October 2, 2008 reply

What the boys need for Friday night...

what worries me

I that if we lay a turd in the first round will this effect Tex’s ‘destination’ choice? We want his first taste of the post-season to be successful, not just for him but for us as a team.

Why do we always tighten up when boston is around. Even though we spanked them in the regular season even in the last game we seemed tight

With boston we need to get on the board early (within the first three innings) and then KEEP scoring. If would have told you that Boston would only get 4 hits against Lackey, and score4 runs total I think we would have taken it. Boston could score 4 runs or 22 but if we don’t score more than 1 it doesn’t matter

Sinatrasratpack - October 2, 2008 reply

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

That is Tex’s decision

BigBangRobbDawgg - October 2, 2008 reply

Got to be Vlad

I disagree that Howie is the blame. Yes, he sucked but…
Vlad pops out on 1st pitch with 2 men on in the first.
Angels only run was scored after Vlad’s weak ass grounder that Lowery couldn’t handle.
And Vlad’s boneheaded base running. Who’s to say that Howie doesn’t try to move up runners versus ground out to SS.

I still don’t understand why Sosh didn’t run for Vlad with Reggie.

SoCalWine - October 2, 2008 reply

I have to agree with SoCalWine

Halo84653 - October 2, 2008 reply

Willits would have made it home! (kidding, but he would have been a much better running choice)

ladybug - October 2, 2008 reply

yup

ANewFoundThrice - October 2, 2008 reply

I blame...

Jon Bon Jovi and his mystery appearance early in that game. It threw everybody off and is clearly to blame for the loss last night.

Wytelitning - October 2, 2008 reply

"shot to the heart...

“and he’s to blame….”

yeswecan - October 2, 2008 reply

He gives ROCK a bad name

Rev Halofan - October 2, 2008 reply

was at the game last night...

glad to see the halo fans packing the house and bringing the NOISE … also was a nice surprise to see no one really left til the end of the game even after shields was shields against the sux. BOTG had a lot of candidates mainly howie, figgy, anybody who batted after torii. against a red sox line-up lackey couldnt of done any better, made one mistake. despite the loss the series is STILL very much up for grabs. i was not impressed by the sox

The "Sux" sure did suck last night

Not

fuck the Angels, straight up and down

I hope the Red Sox stomp the shit out of them

oriolez - October 2, 2008 reply

awwww how cute....our first troll of the post season

Dream on….it was ONE game

ladybug - October 2, 2008 reply

Go back to your shit hole franchise run by your shit head owner

Enjoy sucking, it is all you got!

its cute because he spells orioles with a "z"

It's a woman...

orioLEZ

Downing Rules - October 4, 2008 reply

Yeah, it was one game...

and since the Angels took something like 8 or 9 from Boston in the regular season, and these things tend to balance out the more good teams play each other, and the ‘08 Angels are the worst 100-win team ever, I expect the Sox to win a couple more before it’s all said and done

oriolez - October 2, 2008 reply

Wow. You sound like a real knowledgable fan.

A fan that follow the game closely…with lots of passion.

So, since you can say unequivocally that “…the "08 Angels are the worst 100-win team ever…”, I will assume that you have actually done some research…that you have gone back through the record and actually spent time checking out teams from the past.

Just to give evidence that you have don’t just throw out useless, worthless and totally STUPID cliches, please advise me…how many teams have won 100 games over the last 100 years? If you have done your research, that should be a simple answer for you to find. I know the answer to that question. Do you?

I want to take you seriously. But if you can’t answer this simple question, it will show that what you write isn’t worthy of any future effort. It will also show that you really are a stupid worthless troll that likely doesn’t have the brain power to click the reply button (as evidenced above). I look forward to your timely response.

Mr. Oriolez...tick, tick.tick.

It took you only 6 minutes to respond to Ladybug’s post above. So far, an hour has passed since my challenge to you. I really want to discuss with you why I think you are wrong about the Angels being the worst 100 win team ever. But first, I need to see you are serious.

Are you pretending that you aren’t seeing my response? You and I both know better than that.

Or did you suddenly remember you had geometry homework?

Still waiting for your answer. It is approximately 10:50 EST. I will wait another hour before drawing my conclusions as stated above…tick, tick, tick.

Mr. Oriolez...I will check back in another day to see if you have done your "homework".

In the meantime, here is a much easier question…how many 100 win seasons have the Orioles had in the past 100 years?

youve been listening to ol' stevey phillips too much

one game is just that. theres still a series to be played, but i guess that kind of analysis is beyond you.