SB Nation - Login for mobile commenting

Halos Heaven

Tuesday Halolinks: Albert Pujols Valentine's Day Lovefest

I want Albert to be my Valentine Halolinks:

Star-divide

  • Not only is he the best player in baseball, but he now has the weather on his side: For Albert Pujols and Angels, numbers don't lie ... or do they? - latimes.com. ""Nobody has brought up how being on the West Coast should benefit Albert," said McGwire, who ranks 10th on baseball's career home run list with 583. "He'll get away from the Midwest summer heat and into cooler nights with less humidity. "I played in Oakland for 11 years, and when we came back from a hot summer city it was refreshing; your body felt a lot better. I truly believe the weather, plus using Albert as a designated hitter, will add three years to his career."" And then...
  • Question No. 1: Albert Pujols and new scenery - ESPN Los Angeles. "Each of the three scouts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, seemed to think Pujols was poised for some monster seasons in the early part of his deal. They don't envision much of a transition period to a new set of pitchers and hitting backdrops."
  • This article is just bizarre. It has a conspiracy theory-type of vibe to it that kind of creeps me out: Did Moreno Mastermind The Pujols Deal? - Modern Times. "The Wells deal, which probably cost Reagins his job, just seemed like the latest in a long line of disastrous baseball moves made by the Angels of late. But was it? Was the Teixeira fiasco and the train wreck that followed really just a mistake made by an inept, conservative front office? Or was Arte Moreno making a series of moves that would make the Angels a surprise player for Albert Pujols." And then, to make it even more creepy, HALOWOOD shows up with his comment, "Scotty Allen - Let us not forget that Moreno's supposed "inability" to resign Mark Teixeira resulted in Kendrys Morales hitting 34 HR's as his replacement and the Angels compensatory pick was used to draft Mike Trout, who would become the top prospect in baseball. " And then this guy with the voice of reason: "Phil Meyer · CSU San Bernardino - This is the dumbest article i've ever read."
  • Jeff Mathis is still in Tim Brown's thoughts: Arrival of Albert Pujols lets Angels continue owner Arte Moreno's plan to win over fans in Los Angeles - Yahoo! Sports. "Granted full confidence by Moreno, new GM Jerry Dipoto traded a decent young arm (Tyler Chatwood) for a catcher (Chris Iannetta) who’d be something more than four automatic outs a night."
  • This is smart, put the onus on Abreu to earn playing time: Angels GM Jerry Dipoto not eager to trade Bobby Abreu - latimes.com. "Bobby is an Angel," Dipoto said. "Right now, he fits on our 25-man roster, in our clubhouse, on our team. Where he is in eight weeks is predicated on how he’s playing and everyone’s health. We have some unknowns with the health of Kendrys and the progress of Mark, but we know Bobby is healthy. As I told him, if he swings the bat like he can, we’re going to find a way to play him."
  • This is a cool article about an Angels-Rockies game 5,000 days ago featuring the current Angel's GM: 5,000 days since bizarre ending to Rockies-Angels game - The Hardball Times, "For this final half-inning, Colorado removed starting pitcher Jamey Wright for Jerry Dipoto. It would prove to be a bad move as Dipoto didn’t have his stuff."
  • Who is the guy on the card? A baseball card mystery: Where’s Dave Collins? - The Hardball Times. "Complicating matters is the fact that the player on this card is wearing an airbrushed cap and windbreaker. The Mariners did not yet exist when Topps took this photograph. Collins played for the California Angels in 1976, so it must be someone else from the ‘76 Angels. H/T: baseballmusings.com So that’s our mystery for the week. Who is this curly-haired player impersonating Collins on his 1977 card?"
  • Who's going to pony-up for this for our next Halos Heaven ballgame? Angels Offer Single Game Luxury Suites: Fan's View - Yahoo! Sports. "Dugout Suites: These suites offer that down-on-the-field viewing angle, only 50 feet from the batters. The seats are actually lower than the level of the field and are so close you can hear all the sounds of the game. For non-premium games, the Dugout Suites are $3,395 and $7,495 for premium games. The suite price includes 12 tickets and 3 parking passes." By the way, I'll be in town the week prior to May 19th for my daughter Holly's graduation from CSF (more about her later in this edition of Halolinks). Who wants to go to a game??
  • I thought this was an interesting way to look at this signing: Yoenis Cespedes agrees to 4-year, $36 million deal with Oakland Athletics - ESPN. "Cespedes will receive $6.5 million in his first year, $8.5 million in his second year and $10.5 million in each of the last two years of the deal. The deal would make the 26-year-old Cespedes the highest-paid player on Oakland's roster this season before he plays a major league game. The next-highest salary belongs to outfielder Coco Crisp at $6 million."
  • Who would you rather have, Hamilton or Napoli? Hamilton, Napoli, or Other? - FanGraphs. "How much better is Hamilton projected to be than Napoli with the bat? Well, according to the projections I’ve looked at, it is the other way around. Oliver’s updated projection sees Napoli as slightly better than Hamilton"
  • I'll check back on this later as it seems like it'll be an interesting series: Introducing the "How to Land a Job in Baseball" Series - Beyond the Box Score. "After speaking with front office members and thinking aplenty, I've realized that, though not in any particular order, there are five necessary steps for those with their eyes set on becoming a member of a major league club's baseball operations department."
  • Building Through the Draft: Best of the Best - FanGraphs Baseball. "For a lack of a better endpoint, I chose to look at the draft history of the past decade. I ranked teams in total wins above replacement added by these homegrown players since the 2002 Draft, but also included the average WAR per homegrown player for that club."
  • On Saturday night, my daughter Holly ran into this guy at the Goat Hill Tavern...
    Img951707_medium
    You all are invited to the wedding.
  • Poll
    What did you buy your sweetheart for Valentine's Day?
    Chocolate
    21 votes
    Flowers
    71 votes
    Angels' tickets
    19 votes
    Nothing
    122 votes
    Other (comment below)
    44 votes

    277 votes | Poll has closed

    0 recs  |  81 comments

    Comments

    Other - I got him (requested) cupcakes.

    And a card. Dinner later, maybe?

    God I’m boring.

    I got her our honeymoon we're leaving for in 2 days

    So every time she has brought up “what are we doing for valentine’s day” I look at her like she is psychotic and remind her of what we’re doing just two days later.

    I wish I could say Moreno (or any GM) was smart enough to succeed with failures, however, the Pujols signing was a very lucky signing made possible by a perfect storm of ineptitude by the FO.

    My Wife Is Pretty Great

    She doesn’t want me to overspend on Valentine’s Day things. She wants something, but nothing that gets the price tripled to gouge men who are held hostage by a ridiculously overblown holiday.

    Holiday?

    You mean I don’t have to be at this desk?! Fuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!

    Health and comfort check: Anyone heard from Moondoggy today?
    No, why, what happened?

    Oh, right, Bangkok.

    Oh yeah...no Commander. That was not me losing my "other leg"

    I think this guy studied “The Wyle E. Coyote Guide to Becoming a Terrorist.”. Seriously, throwing a grenade at a cab driving away because the driver wouldn’t pick him up covered in blood? And then have the bomb bounce back after throwing it at the Thai police? You can’t make this shit up. He’s going to have fun time trying to get away from some very bad men in Thai prison.

    Glad to hear it, man!
    Pujols signing

    required the perfect storm of Fox and the Dodgers and the Lakers. $250M has to come from somewhere.

    Or maybe an opt out from the Angels current media deal?
    I got my Valentine a Kindle Touch.

    She got me this. It is the greatest Valentines Day present of all times, forever.

    Mayhem!!

    I am also going to give my girlfriend a Kindle, for Valentines day. I don’t see her until this weekend, so I’ve been lagging to buy it. But I’ve been confused, because I also saw there was a Kindle Fire… I don’t know about this stuff! Which one should I buy?!

    Kindle Fire is a tablet...so it's for surfing the web, watching Netflix, etc. as much as it is an ereader.

    My girlfriend already has a little netbook, so she didn’t need all that other stuff. But she reads a shitload of books. I think if it’s just an eReader your girl wants, then go for a Kindle or Kindle Touch. Those use E Ink and are way easier on the eyes, in my opinion. It’s closer to an actual book.

    Kindle Fire seems cool too, just depends on what she wants to do with it. Again, it’s cool for cruising the web, checking her social networking sites, Netflix. It’s probably also pretty sweet for reading magazines, if she wants to subscribe to any. But i’ve heard the lack of E Ink makes it harder on the eyes as far as reading regular old books.

    I've never had a regular Kindle

    So I can’t really compare to the E-Ink. But I have read a couple of books on the Fire and haven’t had any problem with it. I got my wife one for Christmas and she loves it.

    If she didn't already have a netbook, I probably would've got her a Kindle Fire. But I think she would've liked it more for everything BUT reading.

    The difference between eInk and the backlit LCD screen is huge, for reading puposes.

    Yeah it is!

    My jaw dropped. Congrats!

    She's lazy
    I plan on being as lazy as possible while wearing it.

    If she complains, I’ll just say “Hey, you bought me this jersey!”

    That is a flawed plan

    Based on the gift, she seems like a keeper.

    Don’t ruin this by being all GA about her

    Talk about a keeper...she said that I could have had any jersey I wanted, but in no way was she going to spend her money on a Wells one.
    done deal. lock her down
    Looong day at work! THANKS MAYHEM!

    It sounds like she would love the Fire, since she doesn’t have a tablet, and loves all that media ish! Thats for the info! Made my kife easier! Happy Vday yall!

    dude, Amy rocks!

    in the words of the great Beyonce, “…better put a ring on it.”

    I told my girlfriend to get me the Albert Pujols Topps card

    I think it’s like $140 on eBay

    Other - a wine barrel

    empty unfortunately.

    Question on Rookie League Pioneer League team in Orem

    Yesterday, the Casper Star-Tribune in Wyoming reported that an "unnamed Pioneer League" team will be visiting Casper in May to see if they want to re-locate to Casper in 2013. The Rockies’ team was there since 2001, but they grew tired of minimal fan support and moved the team to Grand Junction, CO for 2012. The location is vacant, but the team looking to move there is unknown.

    Might it be the Orem Owlz? It would make the most sense for the mystery team to be from the South Division just due to travel purposes, as the other four teams in the league are all in Montana. Has there been any noise that the Angels are displeased with their location in Orem?

    Probably unrelated, but the franchise that moved to Casper for 2001 and became Rockies property was the Butte Copper Kings, an Angels affiliate from 1997-2000.

    Got her a 6 month membership

    To one of those massage envy places. One massage a month included and discounted services beyond that.

    She sent me this...

    I will spend my day like most others

    Trying to not dwell on the fact that she will realize she is 10.5 years younger than me. I am 31.

    Channelling your inner BillyMac?
    That, my friend is my life

    Enjoy the ride

    Did Weaver take her out for breakfast, or at least cook her some eggs?
    Movie / Nice Dinner

    Weave could a lot worse, Jim.

    Go see The Grey.

    Liam Nesson in an existential fight for his life has Valentines date written all over it.

    Might as well have dinner for two with Schindler's List
    Hey Jerry pulled it off on that episode of Seinfeld.
    I hope you own a shotgun, WiHaloFan!
    Sweetheart?

    Bought two tickets to an Angels game

    More cupholders for beer.

    haha.

    Did you really?

    haha.

    Did you really?

    Will it disappoint you if I say no?

    Although I did end up with four tickets for two people at Fenway once. In-laws didn’t make it through traffic in time. That was fine with me, since I didn’t have to sit next to a Masshole.

    Another Pujols love-fest article

    DiGiovanna details some of El H’s charity work.
    Nothing shocking, considering we know him to be a quality guy in the first place.

    Aside from the fact that he’s doing great things for a lot of people, here’s a minor quibble: I can’t help but wonder why El H would decline to talk to DiG for this article. I can assume that he is a busy man (obviously), so it’s plausible that he didn’t have time for an interview, for scheduling reasons. But I would think that the LAT is more than the usual amount of PR exposure, so why turn down an interview? There could well be a simple explanation, but for some reason that seemed curious to me. Any journalist/PR people out there who could shed some light?

    From what i can tell.

    He rarely does any interviews at all.

    That Modern Times article is messed up

    Clearly we all remember the 2007 trade for U-Haul, which came a year after the big Torii Hunter signing.

    I’m surprised he didn’t suggest that Arte was on the grassy knoll with a sniper rifle and took out Kendrys’ ankle to open up space at 1st Base.

    And, sadly, I obviously clicked through and gave him a page view.

    I got my girlfriend

    an all red CA snapback hat so her hair can go through, which she wants me to return, and cooked swordfish with avocado fries and blackbean hummus, which she didn’t eat.

    Had you run over her dog earlier that day or something?
    Avocado fries?

    Enlighten, please.

    Sorry for the wait
    Don't under-fry them or they stay kind of floury... also they are a mess, like anything else fried. http://foodbeast.com/content/2011/06/10/avocado-fries/

    I am excited to try these. Like tempura avocado, I think? Thanks.

    Ummmm. You might want to be preparing yourself for a bombshell

    Sounds remarkably like my first marriage before the roof caved in

    Now that you mention it,

    mine too. Shit. At least this one likes avocados and has never been a fan of the prominent AL East teams. (Maybe that was more of a sign than the avocados. Whatever.)

    Dave Collins Card

    I have that particular Dave Collins card in question. I was a Cincinnati fan as a kid and remember Collins’ days with that team. I always wondered about that picture; the blond hair really had me puzzled.

    I got new Nike softball shoes that can also we be worn for Angel games...

    and I got her new Red Toms for Angels games! Yeah! Geared Up!

    Great Valentine's day exchange

    She bought me the blue Angels shirt with Pujols 5 on the back.

    I bought her a dozen roses.

    Now, I’m buying us a nice dinner.

    Im gonna just sit down

    and read a new instruction manual for my companies new data entry program, maybe with a nice bottle of wine. or whiskey

    That's more action than most of us are getting!
    I know

    especially the plural typo i made for “companies”….. thats right im not just management, im management a trois

    Love Dipoto keeping all hands on deck

    Trading one of Morales/Trumbo/Abreu only leaves the team exposed to risk. Cassevah deserves a shot to make the bullpen, and some internal competition for the 5th starters spot can only be healthy.

    Establish the team, then look to improve it.

    I couldnt agree more.

    Heres my thought on the Abreu thing-

    The guy is not dead weight, he isn’t Vernon Wells or Jeff Mathis, he is a good bat in a lineup. Its true he doesnt have the power appeal of Trumbo or the MVP optimism of Kendrys, but he does bring a lot to the table with his OBP, his presence in the club house (a nice little alternative to the hack away hatcher philosophy) and his left handedness.

    The job of Soth and Dipoto is to put a winning team on the field. If it turns out mid may that the Angels are tearing it up with Abreu playing DH and Kendrys still recovering then I will be happy that we are winning. Conversely, if the Angels are not tearing it up, but Kendrys or Trumbo is hitting well out of the DH position I will be substantially less happy.

    The two guys have all the ingredients and now its up to them to find the proper proportions to help our team even if it isnt who fans want to see playing.

    It's been so long since the Angels have had offensive depth, let's enjoy it

    People forget about late game situations. Morales hits a single to lead off the eighth in a close/tied ballgame? Pinch run and slide Abreu/Trumbo into his spot in the lineup. Down a run in the eighth/ninth? Pinch hit Abreu and hope he gets on base to lead off the inning.

    There are so many more possbilities for Sosh to explore when the guys on the bench can actually perform.

    Bought myself a 6-pack of Carlsberg.

    sweet!

    Don't Touch My Carlsberg!!!
    No sweetheart, so nothing bought.
    And for valemtines...

    I’m gonna dress up one of those fan blown “Happy Dancing Waving Guy” street ad things all sexy and we’re going dancing. Then it’ll be all Vodka and shame from that point on. Just me and my girl…. Waverly.

    You mean, "Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man"?

    Image fail

    Yep, that's him, I mean her, I mean Waverly.

    Look. I don’t have a picture of my long distance girlfriend who none of you have met on me, but I swear she’s hot.

    My wife asked for a 125 tiffany necklece

    i got her a 6 dollar herb garden

    My wife does not give a single F for Valentines Day

    In our 10.5 years of marriage, we have never “celebrated” this “holiday.”

    Treat ’em well every day of the year, or at least most of the year, and Valentines becomes irrelevant.

    You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Halos Heaven to post a comment.