Halos Heaven

Trumbo, Conger define homegrown talent - angelsbaseball.com
When the Angels talk about their homegrown products, they can't get much closer to home than fully grown Mark Trumbo and Hank Conger. "I'm 10 minutes away, right down Katella [Avenue]," said Trumbo, the slugging first baseman whose future most likely is in the outfield. Trumbo grew up, to 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, literally right down the road from Angel Stadium. He went to Villa Park High School and was taken in the 18th round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft Conger, the Angels' first-round choice in 2006, signed out of Huntington Beach High School. "It's about a 20-minute drive for me to the stadium," Conger said. "The hardest part for me is getting to the freeway. Mark has smooth sailing, right down Katella."

Making it to the big leagues has got to be a huge thrill.  Making it to the big leagues with your home-town team must make that thrill even huger...maybe even hugerest.

White Sox-Angels Preview -  FOX Sports on MSN
Garcia's return from a stiff back couldn't come against a better opponent, as he'll hope to improve upon a 15-3 record against the Angels on Friday night.Garcia held Los Angeles to an unearned run and five hits over six innings in a 5-2 home win July 7. The right-hander is 2-3 with a 5.94 ERA in the second half, though, and hasn't pitched since Sept. 7 because of a sore lower back. He'll face an Angels team that's playing well down the stretch. Los Angeles has won three of its last four series, the past two against playoff clubs Tampa Bay and Texas.Angels starters are 8-4 with a 2.34 ERA in September, and Joel Pineiro (10-7, 4.13) finally got a chance to contribute to that strong month Saturday. Pineiro missed two months with a left oblique strain before returning at Tampa and limiting the Rays to two runs over six innings in a 4-3, 10-inning loss.

And don't forget, Manny Ramirez plays for the White Sox, just in case you wanted to wear your faux-dreds.


MORE LINKS AFTER THE BREAK...

Twitter / Jon Heyman: early free agent prediction ...
early free agent predictions: cliff lee, yankees; carl crawford, angels; jayson werth, red sox; adrian beltre, angels.

That's a tweet from Sports Illustrated writer Jon Heyman, who obviously thinks the Angels have money falling from the sky.  It'd take the Angels somewhere in the neighborhood of $24-30M per year to sign both players.

Short Hops: No replay expansion for postseason? Umm, why? -  CBSSports.com
Here's what Selig said regarding his self-appointed Special Committee for On-Field Matters: "I don't get the feeling that there's a lot of support for it, at least [in] their conversations with me." Either something was lost in the translation, or the committee needs to be more forceful. Several managers this season have voiced support for expanded replay, most notably the Giants' Bruce Bochy, whose club was hosed by an incredibly bad call at the plate against the Mets on July 18. Not all of the aforementioned managers are on the committee, but the Angels' Mike Scioscia is. And when I spoke to the playoff veteran this week, heck yes he was in favor of expanded replay in the postseason. "Probably not to the extent that things have been rattled around, but I think you should look at it," Scioscia said. Specifically, he mentioned, "balls trapped in the outfield, outfielders who catch balls against the wall, things that happen far from umpires. Whether a ball is in or out of play when it lands down the line. Whether a fan touched a ball."

Bing Crosby's wine cellar produces vintage 1960 World Series film -  Yahoo! Sports
As first reported by the New York Times, an entire copy of NBC's television broadcast of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series was recently found in a wine cellar at Crosby's old home near San Francisco. That game — which will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Oct. 13 — is one of the greatest in World Series history and ends with Bill Mazeroski's dramatic walkoff homer to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 victory and a World Series win over the New York Yankees dynasty.

This is pretty cool.

O'Sullivan collects first win as starter for Royals -  CBSSports.com
Sean O'Sullivan had never won as a starter for Kansas City -- until closer Joakim Soria helped end his frustration. Soria pitched a perfect ninth inning for his 33rd consecutive save as O'Sullivan and the Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 4-2 on Thursday. O'Sullivan (3-6) did his part. The right-hander gave up two runs and six hits over six-plus innings to beat Mitch Talbot (9-13). He left with a 3-0 lead and two on in the seventh. Philip Humber allowed both Indians to score, but stranded runners at second and third to end the inning.

Dodgers knock Padres out of NL West lead -  FOX Sports on MSN
The Dodgers were getting tired of being doormats for pennant-contending San Diego. So Andre Ethier and Hiroki Kuroda sent the Padres back down the I-5 freeway for their next series against Cincinnati with a critical loss that pushed them back into second place in the NL West.

Frickin' Dodgers.

September 24 - BR Bullpen
Events, births and deaths that occurred on September 24.
1927 - The Yankees win their 106th, 6-0 over Detroit, for a new AL high. They will win 110, a record until the 1954 Indians win 111.
1961 - A dropped fly ball by Ken Hunt in the 10th gives the Tigers two runs and a 7 - 5 win over the Angels. Hunt had tied the game in the 8th with a home run.
1971 - Wasting a heroic pitching effort by starter Clay Kirby, the Padres lose to the Astros, 2 - 1, in 21 innings. Kirby hurls 15 innings and strikes out 15 men.
1998 - Shortstop Gary DiSarcina leads Anaheim to a 10 - 6 win over Oakland with five hits, including two doubles, and a pair of RBIs.

R.I.P.: 1978 - Lyman Bostock Jr., outfielder (b. 1950)