Blame of the Game: Scot Shields
Scot Shields served this game up; the Rays did not win as much as we lost it, choke style, with an assist from Jeff "Just Worthless" Mathis.
Hey, we are back to being the Angels who always lose in the first round of the playoffs, mid-season overachievers who cannot really handle the rigors of a 162-game season.
Maybe this is better than being the 1995 Angels and maybe it is a less painful way of avoidance in not being the 1986 Angels, but if Mike Scioscia does not bench Figgins and Kendrick and Mathis for at least a game (or two) we could become the grinded-into-the-ground 1964 Phillies, and Mike Scioscia, you are better than Gene Mauch, really.
And for you jaded season ticket holders look at the bright side, our coming quick first-round exit means a cap on what Arte Moreno can let John Carpino raise your ticket prices to - nobody is going to let a loser stick it to them!
0 recs | 60 comments
gdog009 - August 19, 2008
Just unreal
Scioscia sticks with Shields after that godawful first batter, Mathis chokes away a routine sac bunt, and that’s the game, really.
scareduck - August 19, 2008
Another truly pathetic display
against another overachieving team that is set to become the ’97 World Series winning Marlins of 2008.
shiftyeyedgoat - August 19, 2008
time for SRod and Napoli to see some playing time.
i swear… if Napoli doesn’t get MORE time, I might kill someone
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
oh yeah
MATHIS for BOTG.
douchebag.
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
He sucks
ass. Time for Naps to be the regular.
I can’t even imagine what Sosh sees in Mathis – but it’s gotta be something. Sosh certainly knows his shit.
ViolaHalo - August 19, 2008
Sosh
Likes the way Mathis calls games. The position is much more complex than offensive production, and there’s very little glory for being good at it. The catcher is responsible for knowing how to pitch to each hitter, knowing a pitcher’s strengths and weaknesses, and knowing what to call when. Sosh has said in the past that he values the way that Mathis does this. Naps does it well too, but apparently not as well.
tbone_cutter - August 19, 2008
so his crappy defense and HORRIBLE offense offsets Napoli's very slight disadvantage?
i highly doubt it.
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
Here's the quote
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080809&content_id=3280409&vkey=news_ana&fext=.jsp&c_id=ana
“Mathis has probably close to 100 RBIs for us this year with the difference he’s made behind the plate when he catches and when other guys catch,” Scioscia said. “If he’s catching and his ERA is 3.60 and the other guy’s is 4.60, then it’s a run a game right there that he’s in the plus column.”
EAT IT HOWIE!
tbone_cutter - August 19, 2008
CERA is a completely bogus stat!
Napoli’s CERA got jacked up from catching Adenhart/Moseley/some Garland early in the year.
Personally, i don’t think that catcher has THAT big of a difference in the pitching game. yes, he attributes to it, but not as much as most people seem to think.
and that “one run a game” that mathis supposedly adds with is glove is taken away when he throws balls all over the outfield.
AND napoli can add that one run (and probably more) with his bat.
besides, it’s not "one run a game different. that’s complete BS and you know it.
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
First off...
Napoli and his .221 batting average do not ad anything CLOSE to 1 run per game and YOU know it.
Secodly, I didn’t hear anyone complaining about Mathis’ defense earlier this season when he was picking runners off of first every couple of games – everyone thought he was AMAZING defensively then. Now, he has a couple of errors at the wrong times and people start talking like we should call up a minor league catcher? COME ON!
Furthermore, I never said that I, PERSONALLY, believe that Mathis’ 1-run/game CERA makes enough of a difference to keep Naps on the bench, I was replying to why SOSH gives Jeff more PT. As he clearly stated in that interview, regardless of the objections of anyone on this blog, he DOES put that much stock in CERA and wouldn’t trade 1 run of CERA for a .14 difference in BA.
Finally, when Naps was on the DL and Mathis caught EVERY game, we went on one hell of a tear. This offense is perfectly capable of producing while he’s in there.
tbone_cutter - August 19, 2008
yeah, i'm pretty sure MATHIS was the reason for our offensive tear
and actually, if you noticed, our pitchers started pitching a lot worse during that stretch.
also, have you noticed that our bullpen, which has suffered lately, has been suffering more when Mathis is catching?
i haven’t seen anyone talking about calling up a minor league catcher, but after 12 errors, i think mathis should see more bench time.
and in my defense, i’ve hated him all year.
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
Unfortunately...
You are right about our pitchers struggling during that stretch…and that really bugged me.
No, he wasn’t the reason for the tear, but he’s clearly not the sole reason for our slump now. We have 8 other guys in that lineup capable of producing offensively. They haven’t for 5 or 6 games. That bugs me too.
Anyway, I didn’t mean anything personal. I’m just a little edgy with the losing streak and all.
tbone_cutter - August 19, 2008
as am i, and right now, anything concerning mathis pisses me off. it's nothing personal
and no, he’s not the only reason for the slump, but he sure isn’t helping to break out of it.
what i don’t understand is how the guy still gets as much playing time as he does… during the month that Naps was out, he hit around .200. he had some moments, but still hit .200. that’s about what we can expect from him.
why not give Napoli the same kind of chance? i can just about guarantee that he could hit and play an all-around better game given every day playing time.
considering mathis’ glaring errors (not just tonight’s), why not give the other guy a decent shot at taking the every day time? that’s what we did with Juan Rivera, and look where it got us.
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
Bench Figgins, Kendrick, Mathis, Aybar, Guerrero, Hunter, Texiera, Anderson.
They all lost it imho; failure in the most epic proportions.
Can anyone explain to me why Arrendondo wasn’t put into the game instead of Oliver?
Tomorrow’s lineup should be:
Catcher: Napoli
1B: Morales
2B: Rodriquez
SS: Aybar
3B: Quinlan
LF: Rivera
CF: Matthews Jr
RF: Wilits (Is he still available?)
Lame…. Fucking Lame. My gf’s is pissed at me for yelling at Mathis, Shields and Rivera for Fucking Sucking.
Obscurity - August 19, 2008
oh yeah, that's what we need
Matthews and Quinlan in the game together.
do you WANT to get swept??
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
No...
The point is to shake the lineup.
Maybe if the lineup were shaken up and everyone were benched for a game complacency wouldn’t be the angels new motto.
Obscurity - August 19, 2008
i hear ya, but that's not the way to do it.
sit 1 or 2 guys… not half the team.
Howie needs a break. Let SRod play.
Morales needs to start. Sit either your DH or Tex (who was robbed ALL GAME), preferably the DH.
Sit Mathis indefinitely. Naps IS the best catcher we have.
As much as I hate to say it, sit Figgins for Quinlan. I hate Quinlan, but Figgins needs to ride the pine.
once again… i can haz Brandon Woodz???
howiestheman - August 19, 2008
yeah, i think Obscurity needs to head back into his namesake
silly talk.
gdog009 - August 19, 2008
Oliver...
Was brought in to face Carlos Pena, who cannot hit left-handed pitching for the life of him.
tbone_cutter - August 19, 2008
My GF is PISSED at Mathis, Shields, Howie and Figgins for sucking
Rev Halofan - August 19, 2008
I'm in the same boat
I know Wood has always sucked at the Major League level but he does seemed to have turned a corner in AAA (just look at this walk/k rate lately) but I’d like to see him get a lot of playing time and not be jerked around every game like Scioscia has always done with him.
MH252525 - August 19, 2008
Are you Acuda in disguise?
Has he gotten off his oxygen tank yet?
highlandhalo - August 19, 2008
When was the last time Shields had a good outing?
I can totally see the Rays making an early exit in the playoffs.
Doctor Wu - August 19, 2008
When was the last time the bullpen had a good outing?
Obscurity - August 19, 2008
these loses make it hard to be optomistic about the post season
we were hitting shields and he would have been out of the game sooner if we exercised just a little bit of patience.
too many blown opportunities
bullpen blows it again
mathis is a terrible player who needs to be given a ticket back to salt lake tonight. serious, at this point i am ready to give budde a look
UCIHalo - August 19, 2008
If so...
we traded Kotch for nothing to rent Tex…nice!
K3YEROUT - August 19, 2008
I know it's hard...
But there are going to be games like this. On the bright side (if there is one) Santana was amazing tonight and GA’s streak continues. The fire is still there, we just need a little kick in the pants.
tbone_cutter - August 19, 2008
agreed
some little fires gotta lite up and we can get going again
AnaheimHalos61 - August 19, 2008
I blame Scioscia
Having more obvious could it be that Shields had NO idea where the strikezone was? Cut your losses and put in another pitcher. But if he was going to stick it out with him, then why in the world did he take him out after he finally seemed to be throwing strikes?
For the 20th time Soth, Oliver is not a situational lefty. The guy stands on the 3rd base side of the rubber so he has literally no advantage over lefties and the numbers show that so clearly!
Napoli is the MUCH better option to be starting especially against RHP. Napoli seems to be on a tear offensively, he just missed a couple pitches yesterday and he unlike Mathis is the guy that can give a struggling offense a boost when he catches lightning in a bottle like he does every so often.
MH252525 - August 19, 2008
I don't like Shields
>>off to look for my posts from last year on how bad Shields is
ladybug - August 19, 2008
we are in a five game funk in August, off the ledge guys
tanana40 - August 19, 2008
This
Is a really weird stretch of poor play, because certain facets of the team are playing really well. You know how, on a good streak, teams will find a way to win? Well it’s like we’re finding new ways to crap the bed all of the time – each night is a new way.
Mostly it’s been pitching and defense, though. We’re putting up runs. Frustrating as shit, all of it.
ViolaHalo - August 19, 2008
I actually think it's been mostly
The offense, the bullpen and Jeff Mathis’ all around shitty play. Out of the Angels 4 losses on this roadtrip they held the opposing team to 4 runs or under in 3 of the losses and in their other loss the other team only scored 6.
I think the offense is the much bigger concern than the pitching.
MH252525 - August 19, 2008
Everyone needs to calm down.
You guys are overreacting. We’ve had one bad week. It is not the end of the world. If we continue to play this way next week, maybe we should worry. But it was just one bad week.
We’ve played awesome for practically the entire season and we have a stretch of 5 bad games and you guys are going off the deep end.
Almost every team in baseball would LOVE to be in our position. We’re a lock for the playoffs, we have great pitching, and we’ve got a very good offense.
Angel Hawker - August 19, 2008
Spoken like a guy
with a beautiful wife and comfortable new home environment. ;0)
Rev Halofan - August 19, 2008
or someone who has missed our quick playoff exists
UCIHalo - August 19, 2008
I've been around for the playoff exits...
In fact, I worked every home game of the playoff exits.
But I also remember how the White Sox almost choked in 2005 the final three weeks of the season or so…and still won the World Series.
I also remember how the Red Sox were down 3 games to 1 against Cleveland last year…and won the World Series.
The thing is EVERY team goes through tough times. I’d rather have them with a 15 FREAKING GAME LEAD. Remember we also have five solid starters—3 of which are GREAT starting pitchers.
Going 5 and 5 in our last ten is not the end of the world. Yeah we’ve lost two series in a row, but we hadn’t lost one before that since like the Middle Ages or something.
Angel Hawker - August 19, 2008
I mostly agree..
It is just sooooo frustrating to see Shields melt down in a close game. Most of his pitches weren’t even close. I didn’t even have the opportunity to blame the umpire. He flat-assed sucked. And it din’t matter if they were fastballs or breaking pitches.
The offense needed one more clutch hit in the early innings too. Let’s hope they play better tomorrow (beginning to be a recurring theme).
sothball - August 19, 2008
Sucks collecting this data after a loss. :(
scottnak - August 19, 2008
this post seemed awfully negative
considering how many people get yelled at for being negative on this site
ihearhowie2.0 - August 19, 2008
You want peaches and cream?
Read the sidebar guidelines – I bitched once and offered a solution.
Posters here get called out for whining incessantly.
Rev Halofan - August 19, 2008
i wasnt saying it was in violation of any rule
just that it seemed to be in opposition to the whole “you should be happy we are where we are with who we have or else youre a bandwagon fan” sentiment that a lot of people use to squash negativity on this site. Not directed at just you, theres a lot of those “i hate jeff mathis because he isnt an all star” type posts in here that were referenced a few weeks back that everyone agreed sucked back then.
we’re up like 12,000 games in the division. Ya, tampa bay has our number for the time being but we were slumping even before we came in here…its still understandable.
ihearhowie2.0 - August 19, 2008
ALL GOOD
Tension is inevitable but we should all be friends in the end. Just not the rear end.
Rev Halofan - August 19, 2008
OK you folks get pisshead drunk
While I’m thinking about a good post to write tomorrow (my time BST) about why this is NOT 1995.
Doomsayers piss off
We’re going all the way
highlandhalo - August 19, 2008
Lead over Rangers trimmed to 15 games
Reality check boys and girls
highlandhalo - August 19, 2008
Rangers losing big late
Another magic number shaved down regardless of our recent ineptitude ! ! ! ! ! !
Rev Halofan - August 19, 2008
Well that's good news!!!
I think it’s time to check on women’s beach volleyball.
Anyone know if Brazil is playing tonight? That will take my mind off of this loss!!!
sothball - August 19, 2008
If there's one player who needs a full-time traveling shrink on the payroll
it is Scot Shields. Whether he is wound so tightly that he’s privvy to the occasional snap, he tends to wilt against good teams in crucial series’ (BoSox and, now, the Rays).
He’s still a long ways’ better than Justin “DFA me” Speier.
PieceOfAase - August 19, 2008
Maybe
With Speier you have a good idea of what your getting.
Good Scot/Bad Scot is much more a roll of the dice.
TheTypingFiend - August 19, 2008
Time to swap out Dondo and Shields?
I think Dondo has earned some 8th inning set up time.
Ajax - August 19, 2008
FUCK.
I guess the Angels were too busy patting themselves on the backs after sweeping the likes of the RedSox and Yakees. Not realizing that some nobody team is about to kick their asses again. This years ALCS will be exactly the same as last years, except it will be the Rays humiliating the Angels.
Way to make a statement guys.
Scuff - August 19, 2008
It's going to be okay....
Deep breath….
tbone_cutter - August 19, 2008
It's a good thing I had no internet access last night
because I’m pretty sure I would have earned a temporary ban. F’in Mathis. True, Shields coiuldn’t throw the ball into the grand canyon, but man on second with one out is a world of difference from 2d and 3d with no outs. On top of that, I was in Yankee stadium on that Sunday when that pig excuse for a catcher threw the ball into left field.
Toss that on top of the 29 straight steals and it just absolute shows how bad our receiving corps is. And to give Mathis or Napoli credit for this pitching staff’s ERA is a joke. Does anyone think that Jose or Benji would have done a worse job?
Moondoggy - August 20, 2008
This is not 1995... or 2004, or 2005, or 2007
Did it occur to anyone that, in spite of Sosh’s “one day at a time, turn the page” philosophy, these guys know they have the division locked up, and sometimes have trouble bringing it at the highest level every day? I understand we want home field, and so do they, but they’re also human. They’re in a bad stretch, but there is plenty of time for them to get back on track (even Figgy!) before the playoffs.
Of course the playoffs are a crapshoot, and I am worried we are having so much trouble at Tropicana, but this team is built much better for the playoffs than any previous team: we have much better pitching than 2002 (which was insanely hot – I mean Adam Kennedy 3 HRs in a game?), and a more solid lineup than the last few years. Added to which, the Red Sux don’t have Manny, and we went into Fenway and handed them a major ass whupping, and I am confident that we have as good a shot as anyone to go all the way.
The one thing I share is a frustration that Naps doesn’t get more playing time. I think it is clear that the CERA stat is being unfairly biased by Napoli catching Adenhart and Moseley early in the season, and his offensive capabilities are clearly superior to Mathis. I think Mathis has flashes of brilliance defensively, but has had an awful lot of lapses (how many times has he thrown the ball into the outfield?), so I would like to see their time flip-flop. However, Sosh does know things we can’t see (e.g., who do the pitchers like/respond to throwing the game?), so I am trying to trust that Sosh knows what he is doing.
So, I hope everyone had a good night’s sleep, and let’s get off the ledge and watch as the good guys win today!
halofan91 - August 20, 2008
Also
Shields has sucked every August I can remember but always seems to find a way to recover. And you can’t just bench him for the month. These are human beings, not Topps cards, and it doesn’t work that way.
halofan91 - August 20, 2008
BOTG
The BLEEPING hack Mathis.
I am off him. He is an abortion of a “defensive” catcher.
Scot always melts down after errors. See the game where Aybar threw it away and you all gave Scot the BOTG.
hauldog - August 20, 2008
Love that photo
How much do you want to bet that poor little boy holding the sign is a tranny now? “Papa don’t preach, I’m in trouble deep.”
Rally Manatee - August 20, 2008
If we have to lose to anyone, I'd rather it be the Rays
The Rays winning means tougher chances for Red Sux and Jankees. So, 15.5 games up, if we have to meet our quota of disappointing loses, let’s give them to the Rays.
I don’t see how any of you fans are freaking out already about losing round 1. We’ll step up when we need to. Even most of our youngest players have playoff experience, but the Rays (who still have a tremendous possibility of choking down the stretch, although I wish them the best) will be very inexperienced in high pressure games. They will succomb to the power of the thunder sticks, or the Mr. Miyagi paddles, or whatever we have this year.
Rally Manatee - August 20, 2008
Get ready to shoot the messenger
Don’t get me wrong, both of these catchers frustrate the hell outta me for different reasons.
The reason Mathis is in playing is defense. It goes beyond the errors (which I agree 12 is unacceptable). Napoli has been charged with 7 pass balls, Mathis has been charged with only 3 in almost 250 more innings caught.
Knowing your catcher is going to block the curve in the dirt give the pitcher some added confidence according to Rex.
Also Jeff has thrown out or picked off 18 out of 46 (39) Would be base stealers, as for Napoli 8 of 38 (21).
Seik1177 - August 20, 2008
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