Halos Heaven

Angels welcome one of East's beasts - angelsbaseball.com
The Angels are looking to lefty Joe Saunders to get them off on the right foot against Joba Chamberlain in Friday's opener.

Hunter update — heading to DL? - Bill Plunkett - OCRegister.com
Angels outfielder Torii Hunter met with Dr. Lewis Yocum Wednesday night to go over the results of his MRI. Hunter said he was told he has a strain of the adductor muscle in his right groin but there was no evidence of a tear.

Team Reports - MLB at CBSSports.com
"We've been searching for continuity on our pitching staff pretty much all year," Scioscia said. "We've had a lot of guys in and out of our rotation, a lot of guys sifting through roles in the bullpen. ... On the pitching side, we've been searching for it for quite a while, and we have to find it."

Figgins falls short in Final Vote whirlwind - angelsbaseball.com
"I want to thank the organization and all the fans for voting for me, and I especially thank my teammates and their families for getting behind me. It really means a lot knowing it was so important to those people who are closest to you. In a way, that's just as meaningful as winning and going to the All-Star Game.

This is a bummer, Figgins deserved to make the team.

Halos bullpen faces critical test down stretch - Scott Miller - CBSSports.com
The Angels' bullpen ranks 13th in the American League and 28th in the majors with a 5.01 ERA entering Wednesday. Only Cleveland (5.13) and Washington (5.58) have been worse.

Power Rankings: Is pitching overrated? - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
Angels drop one spot to #5

Recalling the Spirit of '79 - OCRegister.com
If ever a mid-season series prompted a team to believe it was ready for bigger things, it was that electric weekend sweep 30 years ago.

Moneyball (the movie) lives! (sort of) - SweetSpot by Rob Neyer - ESPN
It was alive. Then it was dead. Then it was alive again. Then it was dead again. And today, thanks to the truly bizarre nature of the movie business, it seems that "Moneyball" lives yet again.

Aaron Sorkin to provide a script re-write.  I just got interested.

With New System, Digital Eyes Will Chart Baseball’s Unseen Skills - NYTimes.com
A new camera and software system in its final testing phases will record the exact speed and location of the ball and every player on the field, allowing the most digitized of sports to be overrun anew by hundreds of innovative statistics that will rate players more accurately, almost certainly affect their compensation and perhaps alter how the game itself is played.

A collective, orgasmic "Ahhhhh!" was heard from statheads across the world.

Erin Andrews Takes One on the Chin | TMZ.com
Andrews -- who serves as a sideline reporter for ESPN -- was struck in the chin by a foul ball hit by New York Mets player Alex Cora during the 4th inning.

She got hit on the chin with a ball?  Sorry...too easy.

The Columbus Dispatch : Bob Hunter commentary: Risking a midseason trade might not pay off
But the names that have been popping up in Cincinnati and in other offense-starved locales -- Oakland's Matt Holliday, the Los Angeles Angels' Gary Matthews Jr. and Toronto's Vernon Wells and Alex Rios.

GET THE REDS ON THE PHONE!

Halo's Heaven Standings - Fantasy Baseball - ESPN
Mid-season HH fantasy league standings

July 10 - BR Bullpen
Events, births and deaths that occurred on July 10.