Final Score in Anaheim: Angels 8, Rays 7
Kendry Morales and Vladimir Guerrero each hit 2 Homeruns as the Angels beat the Rays in a Fantasyland Slugfest.
Vlad's 2nd of the night broke a 7-7 tie. One dude in the stands with a sharpie and sloppy penmanship whipped together a #400 on the back of a sign he had brought to the ballpark and will probably be on every Angel highlight reel until Vlad hits #500 in 4 years.
Sean O'Sullivan gave up 6 runs in 4.2 innings, the shakiest being 3 in the 5th. Jason Bulger gave up a run, but Valddy got it back.
Kendry's monster night saw him hit his 24th and 25th HRs
Kevin Jepsen won in relief and his 2 IP were night and day - one saw him throw 22 pitches, the next just 14 including a strikeout looking to end the 8th. Brian Fuentes started out the 9th with a weak grounder from Carl Crawford and K of Evan Longoria.
Then Ben Zobrist hit a head-hanging bomb to the Left Field corner which Juan Rivera caught practically sitting on the short wall. Ballgame. It was Fuentes' 32nd save and first in over a week.
0 recs | 59 comments
If panther is all about the paw...
…and a little bit the roar, I’m giving it to JR. That was one smooth catch.
Turks Teeth - August 10, 2009
Too many choices, really.
opiejeanne - August 10, 2009
I vote Ecstatic Panther...
…rather than Performance Panther.
I want William Blake to burn my panther bright.
Turks Teeth - August 10, 2009
Hahaha! Very nice.
I voted for Vladdy but I was torn. JR’s catch was brilliant.
opiejeanne - August 10, 2009
Jerry Rivers!
cupie - August 10, 2009
Kendry For POTG
Vlad gets Co-Panther for the Numero Cuatrocientos!!!!!
acuda27 - August 10, 2009
Vlad is baack!!!!
vlad IS my man - August 10, 2009
Hey Vlad
you’re not bad
Funke5ive - August 10, 2009
44FAN - August 10, 2009
Wow, that's a beautiful mug.
Who did that photo? They nailed the eyes.
Turks Teeth - August 10, 2009
44fan did
he works for TMZ.com
eyespy - August 10, 2009
Alright. Walker Evans on the crotch shot.
Turks Teeth - August 10, 2009
You meant Angels 8, Rays 7, right Rev?
Regardless, gotta give Vladdy the panther. 2 homers, including number 400 AND THE GAME WINNER.
Chone's Chonies - August 10, 2009
400 did it for me.
AlanFalcon - August 11, 2009
Halos put another half-game between us and Texas
and Vlad gets closer to his rightful place in the Hall.
It’s a good day.
cardinalwraith - August 10, 2009
gotta go vlad
opp field game winning homer and a historic 400 to boot.
put vlad and morales back to back and let the good times roll
Quinlan's Goofy Swing - August 10, 2009
The correct answer is VLAD.
clover_black - August 10, 2009
Vlad all the way.
Though I really want to see the epic catch by Juan.
Zu Long - August 10, 2009
Lots of panther in this game
Kowbell
Juan
k-Jep
But how could I vote for anyone other than my Big Daddy
TheTypingFiend - August 10, 2009
eyespy - August 10, 2009
Sweet. That was my pick too.
Vlad hit two solo shots, but took 1-3 runs away on the GIDP with the bases juiced. K-Mo was legend, but JR was all smooth falsetto when he cut in with the glove of destiny.
I mean, Fuentes coughing up the run would have been just too cooked into the script, right?
Angels in the outfield. It means something. No Jacob to wrestle this wing-ed boy down to earth.
Turks Teeth - August 10, 2009
You silver-tongued devil, you!
for this:
“..but JR was all smooth falsetto when he cut in with the glove of destiny….”
opiejeanne - August 10, 2009
Vlad came awfully damned close to being the BotG.
That 1-2-3 GIDP could have been really huge.
That said, I voted for Kowbell.
red floyd - August 10, 2009
eyespy - August 10, 2009
K-Mo and Vladdy are JuJutsu Panthers!
HALO N BRIMSTONE - August 10, 2009
If Jim Rice is in the Hall of Fame
then Vlad will surely get in…
blochead - August 10, 2009
That would be in a fair world.
Unfortunately, you’re talking about the Baseball Hall of Fame.
moosemastr - August 10, 2009
All they need to do is bring up
The .300 25 HR’s stat for 11 straight years. Only Lou. Nobody else.
Figgi4life - August 10, 2009
....Except Vlad, of course
Figgi4life - August 10, 2009
I'll give it to Vlad. Not because he deserves it, but because 400 is huge.
Figgi4life - August 10, 2009
espn giving vlad his props
pointing out he is one of 6 with a .320 career average and 400 hr
i hope he keeps his average that high because tthe others on that list are all legends:
the babe
jimmie foxx
ted williams
lou gehrig
stan the man musial
sctrojan13 - August 10, 2009
nice company
eyespy - August 10, 2009
HOF
princeton11loveshalos - August 10, 2009
Not yet
He needs 3-4 more good years.
PhiSlamma - August 10, 2009
-1,000,000
Could not hate a post more.
TheAngelsAngels - August 11, 2009
You can hate it all you want...
But he is right. 400 HR’s doesn’t cut it for a corner outfielder in this day and age.
jimmuscomp - August 11, 2009 via mobile
hmm Jim Rice had 382 career HR's
Fred Fredrix - August 11, 2009
At Fenway Park.
He was an AL MVP.
Vladdy Was an AL MVP.
Vladdy will be a HOF. He wont be first ballot but what he has done for the DR he will get it.
WillGoAngels27 - August 11, 2009
I mean
I think they should also consider the .320+ career average, 1300 RBIs, 11 years with .300/25 and 9 years with .300/25/100 the MVP award, legendary arm, leading a team during a decade of great success, etc. Right?
TheAngelsAngels - August 11, 2009
If he can get a ring
I say he’s in
JoseGuillenSux - August 11, 2009
there's way more
than just the 400 HR. He’s a shoe-in. The 145 OPS+. The .322 career average. The MVP, and finishing in the top-10 in MVP voting 2004-2007. All those All Star games. He’s a no-doubt, 1st ballot HOF-er.
jjackflash - August 11, 2009
what he said and rec'd
snowhor - August 11, 2009
Vlad will be remembered for more than his on field accomplishments.. He has done great charity work for the community and he also did a lot in Montreal when he was there…He has carried himself with great dignity and class his entire career.. Not to mention that he is one of those special type of players that does not come along often.
He put up numbers on bad teams in Montreal,and his first 4 years in LA he carried the offense into the playoffs..He always grinded his way through injuries and always played at 100%.
A-Rod and Manny can’t say that,and they both were on the roids..
Vladdy did it CLEAN
raven191 - August 11, 2009
-∞
linkbruin - August 11, 2009
I'm not going to pile on here
Wait, yes I am. This is ludicrous. He has all of those other stats that everyone else has mentioned, PLUS all the intangibles that voters love – he was the most feared hitter in the AL (yeah, even more than A-Rod, Ortiz and Manny) from 2004 – 2007. He was always described as one of those guys who, if he came up to bat, you’d stop what you were doing to watch it. Never mentioned in conjunction with steroids. He always looked like he was having fun. He was unique in that he wasn’t a sabremetrically inclined hitter, but he still looks good by all those metrics.
Vlad’s a HoFer. Not a doubt in my mind.
Gorbachav5 - August 11, 2009
VLAD!!!
easy pick. I don’t need to see what FanGraphs says. Any other night, I’d listen to arguments in favor of Kendry, Rivera and even Jepsen. But not tonight. Not when the GWHR is #400. Vlad is a HOF, and likely the first to wear an Angels cap.
jjackflash - August 10, 2009
VLADE!
side note… Fuentes almost screwed us again tonite
robi s - August 10, 2009
its amazing
how quick people forget about the almost 2 month perfect streak by the fuentesaurus
he’ll be fine, everyone goes through little rough patches
sctrojan13 - August 11, 2009
Quit being so level headed
The chicken littles don’t understand
Good point though, the bullpen as a whole is will be fine.
Seik1177 - August 11, 2009
Easy there...
robi s is right. Fuentes almost blew the game. However, since it is a team game, Juan Rivera picked him up.
Also, am I the only guy who thought “GA wouldn’t have gotten that one”?
Good grab Juan! Holy mackerel! That was clutch!
I missed #400 … my 5yo kid wanted to play MLB 2k9 out in center field at the stadium. I stole a glance at the monitor out there and saw Vladdy push a ball to right. I said “oh, there’s a foul ball…” then, the crowd noise from hush to MAYHEM signaled HOMERUN #400! Bummed I missed it, but I had an interesting “vantage point” by listening to the crowd.
Downing Rules - August 11, 2009
I don't know
JR was playing two steps away from the warning track in a “no doubles” defense. Anyone playing back that far could have caught that ball, except for Gary Matthews, who clearly would have dropped it.
Gorbachav5 - August 11, 2009
You mean they were playing a "prevent" defense?????
red floyd - August 11, 2009
The save goes to
Juan Rivera.
Slyintine - August 11, 2009
K-Mo
sooooo effing amazing this year!
but Panther goes to Vlad. 400 HRs…. congrats Big Daddy!
howiestheman - August 11, 2009
My Panther goes to Vlad
My Panther runner-up(s) go to the fans who backed away from Rivera and let him catch that ball. There are so many d-bag fans that would have tried to grab it and might have screwed Rivera up. Those guys did the right thing. Good work.
Gorbachav5 - August 11, 2009
+1
they should at least get free tickets or a stadium beer or something…
Rev Halofan - August 11, 2009
What was up with the guy clutching his head and faceplanting into the fence? He looked dejected, even though he was wearing red. Let me guess … a fantasy nerd of an Angel fan who had Zobrist on his stupid fantasy team? Lame.
Downing Rules - August 11, 2009
Agreed. Great awareness
hauldog - August 12, 2009
Panther?
You can argue that Morales had 1 more RBI than Vlady that night.
But he’s Guerrero. When he hits two homers in a game, he’s the king of Angels Stadium. Period.
Slyintine - August 11, 2009
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