Ill will in three easy games

Last season was a train wreck by Angels standards. The offseason threw gas onto the fire. But as the months passed, I began to look forward to baseball once again. Surely, the many issues which plagued the 2010 Angels would be muted by regression to the mean. A bullpen once renowned for greatness would rebound from a depressing year, a sputtering offense would regain its best hitter, and an admittedly terrible offseason signing would still improve the team with better-than-Abreu defense. Birds would sing, the Rangers would flounder, and I'd again have a reason to watch baseball in the fall.

Opening day was a pleasant affair. The odor of failure had already begun to leak from the bullpen, but, masked by some good defense and a home run by Jeff Mathis, it was easily ignored as the fetid scent of yesteryear. But that which is ignored so easily during a win is acutely inhaled in a loss. The essential failures of 2010, notably a bullpen with a disturbing propensity to take on earned runs from offenses with questionable skill, continue today. Fernando Rodney, another example of a signing inspired by an Angels management structure that lacks any insight into valuable, realistic player evaluation, has successfully provided below replacement-level production for the mere sum of 5.5 million dollars per year. Meanwhile, the only capable arm in the bullpen belongs to Jordan Walden who, despite showing flashes of brilliance, is still young and coming off a major surgery which should force Scioscia to limit his innings count.

The bullpen failures are perplexing because they seem unique to the Angels. Nearly every other team routinely calls up AAA relievers and earns league-average production for the pittance of an entry-level MLB contract. LA, on the other hand, signs disproved statistics (saves, holds, ERA) to multiyear, multimillion contracts and exclaims "this is our year!" while quietly booking time at Augusta for the first week of October. Someone, be it Arte Moreno or Bill Stoneman or another "advisor to baseball operations" must recognize the incessant failure of Tony Reagins and suggest an alternative. Or perhaps not.

Meanwhile, the starting rotation which looked so promising a week ago is already showing some very obvious defects. Scott Kazmir, whose signing I resolutely defended, is undoubtedly weeks away from retirement. His new found inability to throw 95+ could be overlooked if he learned to manage the strike zone, but his poor command leaves him without a single worthwhile pitch. Some pitchers manage the transition from power pitcher to finesse junkballer, but Kazmir has not, and will not, and thus must not occupy a space on the Angels roster.

Joel Piniero continues his time on the disabled list with a sore shoulder. When this malady inevitably turns to a season-ending surgery, the best top-4 in the majors turns into a mediocre top-3 with a still-tepid offense.

The Rangers managed to sweep the Red Sox, again allowing Boston to trample my wishes and desires, this time several months earlier than usual. The Angels, already in last place and 2.5 games back of Texas, will need to play better baseball against much better teams than the Royals if they wish to avoid a second straight year of fall golf and offseason injuries.

Fire Rocky Hager

First, let's look at the American League Angels.

Angels 2, Kansas City 1
Angels 2, Kansas City 1

I've been kinda expecting this type of production from the Angels' offense. I'm sorry, but they clearly aren't the second-best offense in the AL, and they've been scoring runs at a historic pace for reasons which completely defy modern baseball reasoning. Regression has been due for quite some time, and it's coming at the expense of the Angels' lead in the West.

And yet, it's still Kansas City. It's gotta suck to be a Royals fan. Two days in a row, the Royals have the lead entering the 8th inning and both games, they end up losing 2-1. It's not as if the Angels didn't try to let them win...they just sucked less. Sorta. LA managed to win on Friday despite being outhit 11-3, something I don't think I've ever seen before.

Luckily, starting pitching has been substantially improved over the last few weeks, despite the tepid offense. Lackey was great tonight, going 9 innings and giving up just a single run in the first before settling down and earning a no decision. Win/loss records for pitchers are unbelievably dumb.

What has been failing, however, has been baserunning. I swear, more Angel baserunners have been thrown out in the last week than, seemingly, the entire month of June. This needs to stop. Chone Figgins leads the league in caught stealing, something which should adequately describe how often he should be trying to rip off bags.

But the Angels have won two games. How about some college football?


Northeastern 0, Boston College 54

Look, my expectations for NU football are pretty low. My baseline requested level of performance for almost any team is .500, but for Husky football, all I want is something fun to watch on Saturdays.

What do I get?

Well, let's start off with our "new" and "improved" "spread offense." This, apparently, is our idea of a "spread:"

• First down: Throw a short pass behind the line of scrimmage for no gain.
• Second down: Attempt a double reverse for a loss.
• Third down: Try a QB run for 2 yards.
  
• Fourth down: Punt the ball no more than 15 yards and then allow the opposition to return the punt at least 50 yards or for a touchdown, whichever is closer.

This is not "fun" football. This is a disgrace. Let me point out that we lost our starting quarterback, Alex Dulski, on a quarterback run on third effing down with the game already out of reach. This is the type of play call that gets NFL coaches fired immediately. Luckily for Northeastern head coach Rocky Hager, he has the ultimate in job security. Nobody else wants this job.

Now, let's take a look at defense. The best description of our defense is "guess defense." Nobody, and I mean nobody, looks like they have any idea what they're doing out there. Players watch receivers cross routes and, instead of dropping into zone, stutter around trying to figure out what to do. Meanwhile, the opposing quarterback is completing a 30 yard pass. Bear in mind, this is with a new, supposedly "head coach material" defensive coordinator. You've got. To be. Kidding.

Special teams was its own brand of bad. Punter Ron Conway couldn't figure out how to kick a football more than 20 yards for most the game. Of course, he did tie a Northeastern record by kicking 12 punts on the day. Now that's a record I'd want in my trophy case. The punt return teams couldn't figure out where to put the wedge on the first two returns, and once they fixed that, dropped the ball on the next two. Somebody get that man some stickum!

With all this said, it's become patently obvious that the head coach needs to be fired. Every season, I expect at least a moderately competitive opening game, and every year, the opposition drops 21 points in the first quarter and the team looks done 10 minutes in. It's unacceptable. You'd think that the team would get fired up for at least the first quarter when playing real programs like BC, Northwestern, and Virginia Tech. But you'd be wrong. The team has no leadership, and that's a problem that only gets fixed with coaching changes.

I mean, they called a run play when stuck at their own one and down 38-0! They punted on 4th and 1 when down by well over 20 points! For the love of god, throw the ball more than 5 yards and at least lose with some dignity.

How can Rocky fix the team in time to make this season interesting?

• Strike the QB run from the playbook. I would rather see our quarterbacks nailed to the ground than sent on insane 2 yard runs and sustaining injuries.
  
• Run an actual spread offense. Note that this requires throwing the ball at least 20 yards down field at least once a game.
• Run a vanilla zone defense until the team learns how to handle man coverage.
• Throw the ball down field.
• Bench the punter until he successfully launches two punts for at least 40 yards.

This is my last season of Northeastern football. Just once, I'd like to look at that ESPN ticker and see N'Eastern in yellow.

Game 3 + the Royals - Recap

The Lakers will win this game if these things happen:

• They find someone (Ariza? Sasha? Brown? Odom?) capable of hitting an open three. If the Lakers are hitting from beyond the arc, they win.
• Jackson makes rational rotation decisions. For example, the second unit doesn't play to start the second half.
• Kobe Bryant has more than ten assists.
• Bynum is told to focus on getting, not sending, to the foul line.
  
• Odom manages to finish at the rim and hits his foul shots.
• They play effective perimeter defense.

Let's see here. Yes (11-20 3FG), sorta, no, no, yes, yes (Houston 6-10 3FG).

I said they needed two of those to win, and they got three. The Lakers finally played to their potential and pulled out a 108-94 win in Houston. The biggest difference between this game and the first two? Three point shooting. Kobe Bryant hit some ridiculous, completely unfair shots (4-6), but Odom went 2-2 and Ariza 3-4, with Vujacic and Walton both chipping in one each. Only Farmar had on o-fer from three land, which, frankly, is fine considering his overall level of play.

Speaking of Jordan Farmar, he played great defense and had 7 assists to a single turnover. His shooting was erratic, but Fisher's has been as well, and I really think Farmar should start over Fish in game 4. Defense is important, and when your point guard isn't hitting shots regardless, choose the guy who can actually guard the other team.

Something else we learned tonight: Kyle Lowry's favorite food is pancakes. What kind of Philadelphian's favorite food is pancakes?

Yao Ming looks like he's in some serious pain out there. I'd prefer he stay healthy, although I'm not sure how the coaching staff plans to pull that off. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation, my friend. Ron Artest, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to take bad shots. He went 2-8 from beyond the arc and did a great job of helping LA win this game. Kudos, Ron.


Angels 4, Royals 1

I missed most of this game while watching basketball, but the Angels are back to .500. It'll be tough to beat Greinke tomorrow, but hey, anything's possible.

Howie Kendrick hit a 2-run "inside the parker," put in quotes because it was clearly a 4-base Jose Guillen error. In his postgame interview, Howie joked that he's been "on the treadmill, getting fit just for this one moment."

Matt Palmer is looking like the 5th starter until Escobar's return, holding a surprisingly good Royals offense to a single run over 5.1 innings. He did walk 3, but struck out 5, and gave up only two hits. Extremely promising. I'm telling you, that cutter's got a ton of movement. I wish I could back that up with some sort of PitchF/X analysis...oh wait! I can!

Image from Brooks Baseball PitchF/X tool. It's useful, even if he is a Red Sox fan.

Click on the image for a bigger version. Anybody getting a foot of horizontal cut is doing something right.

Tomorrows game is at 6:05 Pacific.

Game 3 + the Royals

Lakers vs. Houston Rockets, 6:30 Pacific

This game is going to suck. Not from a who's-gonna-win-who's-gonna-lose perspective, but from the NBA's terrible track record at officiating following a game like game 2. There's going to be a million fouls, Bynum will probably foul out in about 6 minutes, and Yao Ming will have 5 halfway through the fourth.

With Fisher suspended for a game, as expected, I think we'll see Farmar get the start over Brown, just because I maintain Farmar is better at running the point. But who knows, maybe Jackson goes nuts and decides to play Vujacic at the point. At this stage in my fan career, I really wouldn't be surprised by anything he decides to do.

The Lakers will win this game if these things happen:

• They find someone (Ariza? Sasha? Brown? Odom?) capable of hitting an open three. If the Lakers are hitting from beyond the arc, they win.
• Jackson makes rational rotation decisions. For example, the second unit doesn't play to start the second half.
• Kobe Bryant has more than ten assists.
• Bynum is told to focus on getting, not sending, to the foul line.
  
• Odom manages to finish at the rim and hits his foul shots.
• They play effective perimeter defense.
  

I think any two of those will do it. Yao's gonna get his points, but I don't see any reason why Wafer, Brooks, and Battier should have more than 10 points a piece. Artest can be contained with effective defense. Make him take Crazy Ron Jumpshots (TM) and the game is much easier.

By the way, Rockets fans whine. Our point guard knocked your power forward onto his ass. Not only does Scola now look like a bitch, but so does the fan base. Seriously. If you have a problem with Fisher's hip check, then maybe you should consider that your favorite new player once beat up a fan in the stands. And probably will again, if I ever get to a game where he's playing.


Angels vs. Royals, 7:05 Pacific

Gil Meche goes up against Matt Palmer in the first LA/KC matchup of the season. The Royals tend to decimate the Angels, but typically only in Kansas City, unless I've just been repressing memories. This is a big start for Palmer. Another quality start+ will do lots to prove he belongs in the rotation over the Moseley's of the world once Lackey and Santana return in the coming week.

I like the Angels against Meche. A win tonight puts them at .500 for the first time since the second game of the season. Seattle, as expected, has begun to fizzle. Texas is currently in first place, but the staff tRA is catastrophic. The good starting pitching they've had is pure luck. Expect massive regression.

Manny

Not surprised. The 2004 Red Sox can borrow this from the 2002 Angels (and pretty much every late-90's early 00's World Series winner): *