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October 2008
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Angels: October 2008 ArchivesThree Angels players filed for free agency Thursday, the first day players were allowed to do so. Garret Anderson, Mark Teixeira and Jon Garland submitted the necessary paperwork and will become free agents. The Angels have 15 days of exclusive negotiating rights with all three, after which, Anderson, Teixeira and Garland may negotiate with other teams. The Angels have said re-signing Teixiera would be their top priority this offseason. They will also try to re-sign Anderson despite buying out his contract on Tuesday for $3 million. Juan Rivera, Darren Oliver and Francisco Rodriguez are eligible for free agency this offseason. They have until Nov. 13 to file. The rain-suspended Game 5 of of the World Series is planned to resume tonight in Philadelphia. Two days after the Phillies and and Tampa Bay Rays were suspended after 5 1/2 innings because of rain with the score 2-2, the game was set to resume at 5:37 p.m. tonight (Fox Ch. 11), baseball spokesman Rich Levin said, as reported by the Associated Press. Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven series, 3-1, and would win the its first title since 1980 with a victory. If the Rays win, Game 6 would be Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
The Angels exercised team options on Vladimir Guerrero ($15 million) and John Lackey ($10 million) and declined the team option on Garret Anderson. That doesn't mean the Angels won't try to renegotiate with Anderson, the longest-tenured player on the roster, for a smaller contract. Also, Guerrero underwent successful surgery on the medial meniscus in his left knee on Oct. 10 in Colorado. He's expected to be healthy by spring training, the team said. Catcher Mike Napoli will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on Friday. Gary Matthews Jr. will have surgery on his right patellar tendon in his left knee today.
With rain still falling in Philadelphia, the suspended Game 5 of the World Series is now tentatively scheduled for Wednesday at 5:37 p.m. Monday's Game 5, played in increasingly heavy rain, was suspended following a 30-minute delay with the Phillies and Rays tied 2-2 after 5 1/2 innings. It was the first time a World Series game that began wasn't played to completion on the same day. Philadelphia leads the best-of-seven Series 3-1 and is hoping to close out its second title, its first since 1980. There has never been a rain-shortened game in Series history, and this was the first suspension. "While obviously we want to finish Game 5 as soon as possible, the forecast for today does not allow for us to continue the game this evening," commissioner Bud Selig said. "We are closely monitoring tomorrow's forecast and will continue to monitor the weather on an hourly basis. We will advise fans as soon as we are able to make any final decisions with respect to tomorrow's schedule." The forecast for Wednesday called for clearing skies by the early afternoon, with temperatures in the upper 30s by night. Tuesday was supposed to be a travel day, if necessary. Instead, the teams will stay in the area and then head back to Tropicana Field if the Rays win. -- ASSOCIATED PRESS Torii Hunter was recognized Saturday for making a $500,000 donation toward a baseball, softball and little league complex in his hometown of Pine Bluff, Ark. A 1993 graduate of Pine Bluff High School, Hunter was honored at halftime of Arkansas-Pine Bluff's win over Lincoln University, according to the Pine Bluff Commercial. Earlier in the week, Hunter was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, the newspaper reported. This isn't the first time Hunter has made a sizeable donation toward a baseball facility. In September, Hunter attended the groundbreaking of Torii Hunter Field in Placentia. The Angels did some tinkering with their 40-man roster today, outrighting RHP Darren O'Day to Class AAA Salt Lake and selecting RHP Rafael Rodriguez. An MRI during the final week of the regular season revealed a torn labrum for O'Day, who began the year on the Opening Day roster. Rodriguez went 2-4 with 11 saves and a 1.86 ERA in 42 relief outings with Class AA Arkansas and 2-0 with a 6.28 ERA in nine relief appearances with Salt Lake. It will be a busy offseason in Anaheim. The Angels have five free agents and three guys with club options. Here's the roster breakdown heading into the offseason... Free Agents (5): Arbitration Eligible (5): Under Contract or Club Option for 2009 (8): Under Control (11): The Angels will not have an unlimited financial budget this offseason. Several of their stars are eligible for free agency. Who do you keep? Vote in our poll. Who do you keep? Garret? Vlady? Lackey? K-Rod? Teixeira? The Angels flew back to Southern California last night and will clean out their lockers at Angel Stadium over the next two days. Then a lot of them will go their separate ways until Spring Training. The Angels, as an organization, have some important decisions to make, such as whether to re-sign Francisco Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Juan Rivera or Jon Garland. They also hold club options on John Lackey, Vladimir Guerrero and Garret Anderson. The record will show that Scot Shields lost the deciding game of the AL Division Series between Boston and the Angels, but no one ever said baseball always rewards a skilled performance. --Gregg Patton The Angels play "small ball" more than most, and they are usually good at it. Erick Aybar's botched suicide squeeze bunt in the ninth, though, may have backfired them right out of the postseason. Pinch-runner Reggie Willits was caught when Aybar bunted air instead of Justin Masterson's fast ball. --Gregg Patton Jed Lowrie's single to right field scored Jason Bay, giving the Red Sox a 3-2, bottom of the ninth-inning victory, and ending the season for the Angels. The Angels had the chance to score in the top of the 9th but Erick Aybar missed a squeeze bunt and tagged out Reggie Willits at third base. Season over. The Red Sox scored two runs in the fifth inning on a singles by Mark Kotsay and Jason Varitek and a double by Dustin Pedroia, the MVP candidate who had been hitless in 15 at bats this postseason. Jon Lester is delivering another brilliant performance. He's allowed just four hits through seven innings. You can feel the Red Sox momentum building as we head to the bottom of the inning. We're scoreless through three and a half innings. John Lackey and Jon Lester are dueling. Lackey's given up one hit, Lester two. Whereas it took about 30 minutes to play the first inning of Game 3 on Sunday, we're out of the first in nine minutes. Six batters, six outs. Of course, this just means the second inning will run about an hour and a half. MIke Scioscia took umbrage with a question before Sunday's game, when he was asked why the Angels were unable to play their "regular season game," the same verbage Cubs manager Lou Piniella had used upon elimination. -- Gregg Patton Angels RHP John Lackey Boston LHP Jon Lester Reliever Scot Shields, who navigated the Angels through the last out of the seventh inning, and the eighth and ninth innings of a tie game -- a possible elimination game Monday night -- said he doesn't think about streaks or momentum, just who's on the mound the next day. --Gregg Patton RHP John Lackey vs. LHP Jon Lester The rematch of Game 1 starters is a must-win for the Angels and John Lackey. Otherwise, Boston beats the Angels in the ALDS for the third time in five years. 8:37 p.m. EST start. The Angels and Red Sox will play a Game 4 for the first time since 1986. Erick Aybar's single to center field scored Mike Napoli from second base. Jered Weaver pitched the final two innings to earn the win in his first relief appearance of his career. Neither starting pitcher will get a decision in this game -- tied 4-4 after 5 innings -- but you can't say they didn't put in any work. The Angels Joe Saunders threw 95 pitches and left after 4 2/3 innings. Somehow Boston's Josh Beckett made it through five innings throwing 103 pitches and putting 13 runners on base. -- Gregg Patton Mike Napoli's 2nd home run of the night has given the Angels a 4-3 lead in Game 3. It was the 32nd time in Division Series history a player has hit two home runs in a game -- the third this postseason. Angels 4, Red Sox 3, Bottom of 5 Mike Napoli tied Game 3 of the ALDS with one swing, sending a 3-2 pitch from Josh Beckett in the third inning over the Green Monster and into the light fixture. The home run was the first for the Angels in 68 postseason innings, which dates back to Game 3 of the 2005 ALCS. Angels 3, Red Sox 3, Top of the 4th In his pregame press conference, Mike Scioscia seemed to make an inadvertant prediction of victory, when someone asked him about the three-and-out Chicago Cubs and his 0-2 Angels having trouble playing like "they did in the regular season," and if there was a reason that may happen. --Gregg Patton Jacoby Ellsbury - 9 RHP Josh Beckett LHP Joe Saunders (17-7, 3.41 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Beckett (12-10, 4.03) Saunders is making his first playoff start. Beckett's known as being a playoff machine, a juxtaposition examined in today's preview story. Chone Figgins - 5 LHP Joe Saunders As expected, Torii Hunter will play in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Red Sox despite a hyperextended left knee. "Torii feels great," Mike Scioscia said moments ago "He could have worked out yesterday and hit. He didn't need to test it yesterday, but he was out there running and he feels good." As the Red Sox and Angels went through batting practice Saturday afternoon and evening at Fenway Park, dozens of fans -- and it figured to be more later -- set up chairs and blankets for a night under the stars (and the Green Monster) on Lansdowne Street for a shot at standing-room tickets for Game 3 of the AL Division Series. Overnight temperatures figured to drop into the 40s. --Gregg Patton The Angels were a running team all season -- stolen bases and first-to-third hustle a feature of their offense. --Gregg Patton Pencil Josh Beckett in as your Game 3 start. Write it in Magic Marker, in fact. "I doubt if he's 100 percent. I don't know that anybody is," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He threw the ball really, really well. I don't think we would pitch him if there was a worry. I don't know that it's fair to say he's 100 percent. "If we thought we were putting him in an unfair position, we wouldn't do that." The Angels landed in Boston within the last 10 minutes and should arrive here at Fenway in about 10 or 15 minutes, we've been told. Once here, Manager Mike Scioscia and Joe Saunders will meet with the media, and the team will have a workout scheduled for 7:15 p.m. J.D. Drew hit a two-run home run off Angels ace closer Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth inning, and the Red Sox beat the Angels 7-5 on Friday night for a 2-0 lead in their first-round AL playoff series. Game 3 will be Sunday afternoon in Boston. The Angels need two sweep the next three games against the defending World Series champs in order to advance. Not surprisingly, the Angels locker room was a pretty quiet place after Friday night's demoralizing loss. They battled back from a 4-0 first inning deficit, finally tying it in the eighth at 5-5 -- with five, wearying one-run innings. --Gregg Patton Chone Figgins' lead-off triple in the eighth inning was the Angels' first extra-base hit in the series, following 19 singles. Figgins celebrated with a scream and a big fist-pump once he was safe at third base. And the crowd -- led, of course, by the Rally Monkey -- went bananas. -- Mirjam Swanson With two outs in the eighth inning, the Angels have just brought in closer Francisco Rodriguez from the bullpen. It's the first time this season that K-Rod -- who set the single-season save record this summer with 62 -- has made an appearance prior to the ninth. He relieved Scot Shields, who'd walked Jacoby Ellsbury -- and promptly got Dustin Pedroia to ground out to end the inning. The Angels have six outs left, and trail 5-4. -- Mirjam Swanson The Red Sox pulled Daisuke Matsuzaka after six innings. He gave up three runs, five hits, three walks, struck out five and made 108 pitches. In his stead, Boston's got Hideki Okajima on the bump, responsible for holding a 5-3 lead. -- Mirjam Swanson Angels starter Ervin Santana was pulled from the game in the sixth inning, having allowed five runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings. Pitching now is Jose Arredondo, a right-hander. There are runners on first and second, thanks in part to a most unchracteristic plain old dropped-ball error by Torii Hunter, who came charging in on a line drive in center field. The error was Hunter's first all season, and his first since Aug. 31, 2007. Hunter appeared to tweak his left knee after reacting to a close call at first base earlier in the game, but it was difficult to tell if that played into the error. -- Mirjam Swanson -- Mirjam Swanson A couple of walks, a single, a long fly ball, a loud dose of Thunderstick treatment and the Angels have closed the gap some more (to 5-3) and run the Red Sox's oh-so-deliberate Japanese pitching star's pitch count to 107 through five inings. He hasn't gotten out either Mark Teixeira or Vladimir Guerrero. Teixeira has scored twice, after singling twice and walking. Guerrero twice has been stranded at third after singling twice and walkings once, as well. -- Mirjam Swanson
There's been much written and discussed of late about Vladimir Guerrero's unchracteristic hitting struggles in the postseason. The Angels standout hitter famously entered this series with just one RBI in 48 at-bats. He doesn't have an RBI tonight, either, but he has reached base all three times he's been up. There were a couple of singles, followed by his most recent at-bat here in the fifth, a patient, mature trip to the plate that resulted in Daisuke Matsuzaka's second straight walk. This is how it went down: Guerrero actually laid off a pair of high fastballs to start his at-bat before he let another ball go before taking strike one all the way. He took what he thought was ball four, started to head to first base, but stopped half a step later, called back by the home-plate umpire's call: Strike Two. Vlad, not usually the least bit demonstrative, had a word or two for the blue, before fouling off a pitch down the third-base line and then, at last, drawing ball four, low and away. -- Mirjam Swanson The famous thundersticks have come out. And Chone Figgins heeded the call. With runners on second and third, two outs and the count 3-2, the Angels lead-off hitter responded to the sudden surge in energy at Angel Stadium by smacking a single to left-center field, driving in Juan Rivera, who'd led off the inning with a walk. Angels are down 5-2, but they carry a big Thunderstick. -- Mirjam Swanson So to speak. He's been all over the basepaths, yes, with two singles in two at-bats. But his name is all over the stadium, too. His jersey is, by far, the most popular with Angels fans. Just in front of me, in the not-so-cheap seats behind home plate, I count 13 Guerrero jerseys. Second-most popular? Kotchman, with two. That would be Casey Kotchman, who was traded earlier this season for talented first baseman Mark Teixeira. Evidently, Halos fans haven't embraced Teixeira quite like Dodgers fans have embraced Manny Ramirez. Ramirez -- which go for something like $280 a pop -- are everywhere around Dodger Stadium. Don't see anyone sporting a Teixeira jersey here. Yet. Teixeira, of course also is 2 for 2 today, with a run scored. -- Mirjam Swanson Torii Hunter was called out on a bang-BANG! play at first base to end the third inning. He obviously thought he was safe, and reacted by jumping up high in protest, almost as if he were jumping rope. He appeared to tweak his left knee while airborne, falling to the floor clutching it and sending a chill through the crowd. After a few minutes talking with manager Mike Scioscia and an Angels trainer, Hunter gingerly jogged back to center field, where he's standing now -- not looking especially comfy, as he rests his hands on his knees and stars at the grass between pitches. Replays weren't especically conclusive, the play was that close. -- Mirjam Swanson The Red Sox scored four runs in the top of the first inning. But Ervin Santana kept his chin up, and appears to have found a groove, getting out of the second and third innings without allowing a run. Santana would tell you that it's his style to brush it off like that. After he was rocked in his final regular-season start, giving up eight runs in 5 2/3 innings, he laughed and said he wouldn't let it bother him. "I never think of the past," he said. Not even, he added, if he gave up 20 runs. Someone asked if he had, in fact, ever allowed 20 runs in a game. Again, the 25-year-old right-hander laughed, "Not yet." That's the spirit...? -- Mirjam Swanson If you're following the Angels-Boston game and you thought you might get to bed early, well, you may want to re-think the notion. The first pitch of the second inning came 28 minutes after the first pitch of the first inning -- roughly a 4 1/2 hour pace. -- Gregg Patton
Garret Anderson pulled in a hard-hit fly ball that appeared to be headed over the short fence in left field off the bat of Dustin Pedroia for the second out of the top of the second inning. The Angels still are down, 4-1 -- thanks to Anderson's pretty catch... which came in front of a trio of Angels fans who were doing whatever they could to stay out of the left fielder's way, leaning waaay back to avoid interfering. Unlike, say, some other noteworthy fans of past postseasons -- the Cubs' Steve Bartman, who you remember got in Moises Alou's way as he was trying to coral the pop foul that led to the club's undoing that year. And that other kid, then-12-year-old Jeff Maier, who actually helped the Yankees defeat the Orioles in the 1996 ALCS when he In the bottom of the eighth inning, Maier reached over the wall in right field to scoop a ball hit by New York's Derek Jeter away from Baltimore's right fielder and into the stands. Here's guessing the Angels hope that trio in the outfield leans waaaay forward whenever one of their hits heads that way. -- Mirjam Swanson J-Bay Being Manny: So read the headline on a recent story about two of the principles in the blockbuster trade that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and Jason Bay to the Red Sox. To the Angels faithful's disdain, Bay continued to fill ManRam's big shoes with his three-run, two-out jack to straightaway center in the top of the first inning Friday, putting his new club ahead 4-0. (It's now 4-1, thanks to a trio of singles by Mark Teixeira, Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter in the bottom of the first.) Of course, Bay akso knocked out a two-run home run in the sixth inning in Boston's 4-1 victory over the Angels in Game 1 of the American League Division Series. Ramirez-like indeed. Just ask the Dodgers fans up the freeway. Their recent addition has two homers in two postseason games, as well. -- Mirjam Swanson
Jason Bay's three-run home run off the rocks in straightaway center field with two outs in the first inning put the Red Sox ahead 4-0 and drew a loud round of cheers from throughout the stadium. It seems the Red Sox, long popular in Southern California, remain that way even as the Angels flourish. -- Mirjam Swanson Before the game, Angels manager Mike Scioscia dismissed any notion that any of his club's postseason losses to the Red Sox will resonate tonight. Going back past the past 10 straight losses, even... "In '04 they swept us. Last year they swept us. This year they won the first game. It doesn't make any sense to go back to 1986. A lot of guys were still in diapers then and that has nothing to do with what's going on here." Exactly, said Angels center fielder Torii Hunter: "I was 11." Exacly, said Scioscia: "You were still in diapers." -- Mirjam Swanson On a cloudy, cool Orange County evening at Angel Stadium, club owner Arte Moreno was strolling around, all smiles. Big Dave Winfield threw out the first pitch to Big Cheers. TNT/TBS commentator Craig Sager is loitering on the edge of the field, sporting a characteristically ugly mint green blazer with gold slacks. Pregame fireworks just exploded over the Matterhorn rocks out beyond center field. And red, red, everywhere red. Let's play ball. -- Mirjam Swanson Anecdotally, from strolling the stadium concourses, I'd guess there aren't quite as many Red Sox fans in attendance as there have been in past postseasons, and certainly nowehere near as many during the reguilar season. There are still plenty of telltale Sox jerseys, but it looks like Angels fans are a little more protective of their home stadium seats these days. --Gregg Patton Alex Cora will start over the ailing Mike Lowell for Boston tonight in Game 2 of the American League Division Series at Angel Stadium. Said Red Sox Manager Terry Francona: "I think there was a good chance that we would play Cora tonight, just style of pitching.... but you don't need to make that decision until you need to. "With Mike Lowell, that was a hard one for me. I think it's pretyt obvious I couldn't say he's hurtin', he did not get worse. He wants to play. So i got up and got to the workout, thought about it a lot and I realized where I wanted to get with that decision but getting to that decision was hard for me, that was a tough one." -- Mirjam Swanson Juan Rivera and Jeff Mathis are in the lineup for the Angels. Mike Lowell is out of the lineup for Boston, presumably to rest his injured right hip. Boston RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka Angels RHP Ervin Santana RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. RHP Ervin Santana 6:30 p.m. Top storyline: The Angels can't afford to fly to Boston down 2-0 in the Division Series, not only because few times have come back from such odds, but because they'll likely face Josh Beckett in Game 3. We won't have any major changes to the Angels lineup for Game 2 of the ALDS, but expect two differences from Wednesday night. 1) Jeff Mathis will catch Ervin Santana. Mike Scioscia won't go as far as naming Mathis Santana's personal catcher, but they have formed a good bond that has worked out for the Angels this year. 2) Expect Juan Rivera to be in the lineup Friday in place of Gary Matthews Jr. Scioscia wouldn't confirm this move, but he did allude to another "minor" change, and this would make sense, especially after Matthews misplayed a ball in right field on Wednesday. While Red Sox manager Terry Francona declined to say pitcher Josh Beckett was a "lock" to start Game 3 in Boston, all signs point toward Beckett being healthy enough to make that appearance. Beckett, who strained an oblique muscle last week, just wrapped up a long-toss session in the outfield here at Angel Stadium. His comments to reporters were brief when cornered in the Red Sox clubhouse today. Asked how he was feeling this morning, Beckett said, "I just woke up." He then jogged out of the clubhouse to throw long toss. An off-day between Games 1 and 2 means the Angels get to stew over their 4-1 loss to the Red Sox for another day. Here's the workout schedule... 11:00 am - Red Sox clubhouse opens Jason Bay had the big blow -- the two-run homer, but Boston rookie CF Jacoby Ellsbury showed just how important he can be to the Red Sox, and how problematic for the Angels. --Gregg Patton |