Fin

Let me preface this by saying there is nothing wrong with being a cheerleader. It's just not for me.

Especially for this team. The Angels have the 4th highest payroll in baseball and they need to be accountable for it. I don't care if the players didn't negotiate their contracts or the Angels added up bad contracts; they need to play every single night.

Front office, you're definitely accountable on this... but I'll get at you at the end of this rant.

There were way too many games that they lost this year to bad, bad teams. I've said it all along, you don't win a division by beating up on bad teams, but you definitely lose it by losing to bad teams.

I'll tell you what, though. The young players stepped up and played their hearts out for this team. Starting with Peter Bourjos. Any time you're replacing an annual gold glove recipient you're going to have pressure on your shoulders.

And the kid stepped up without flinching. Prior to the season I didn't see him playing as well as he did this year. Petey gets an A.

Mike Trout. What can I say. 20.Damn.Years.Old. That's all I can say. And scary, this kid is going to be damn scary in the coming years. He provided a jolt to the team that was so sorely needed and got them back in the race.

It's going to be amazing to watch this kid grow into an all-star.

Which leads us to the rookie of the year. Mark freaking Trumbo. Bourjos' pressure was nothing compared to what was on Trumbo. And he exceeded any expectations to fill the shoes of Kendrys Morales. Hell, plenty of times I saw "Morales, who?!?" on my timeline.

Trumbo was supposed to be the guy that held down first base while Morales got better. Instead, he turned into the heart of the team. Whenever the Angels needed a homerun, his named was uttered by the announcers. When no one wanted to step up, he took the job.

And the pitchers.

Without the grit and guts of Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, Ervin Santana and Jerome Williams in rotation these Angels would not have competed. And as bad as the bullpen is, Scott Downs proved to be a reliable arm (which proved me wrong; I hated his contract).

But mainly the starting pitchers kept these Halos afloat. No thanks to Kazmir, who decided to give up on the bigs.

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Bad news bear time.

First, the thing that pisses me off the most.

Vernon freaking Wells. Where's your heart, guy? First year jitters? I better not hear that during the offseason. Don't promise us fans anything, either. We just want to see results.

Get in the cages, shag balls, do some HGH, whatever. Figure it out... because we know we're stuck with your contract. Like any work situation, we know we don't like each other, let's just get the job done.

Mike Scioscia. Ever heard of consistency? For two years running now you've been playing spin the wheel-o-lineup. How about letting your players adjust to their spot in the lineup.

The injury excuse couldn't be used because you had the majority of your guys every night. You're shuffling obviously isn't working, so stop.

And don't take a "we're glad we competed" line from Tony Reagins or Arte Moreno. These guys expected to win the AL West. Don't tell let them tell you any different. They can't say different because they took on a contract from an aging outfielder they didn't need. They can't say different because they paid a lot of money to "revamp" the bullpen.

They can't say because they passed up the chance to bring back Vladimir Guerrero.

Out of all excuses I hear during the offseason, the excuses out of Moreno's and Reagins' mouth won't touch the earwax on the outside of my ear. I don't want to hear it.

With time, this team will be at the point you two expected. And the expectations you created in our minds will be met.

Until then, I'll appreciate the players effort but I won't "ra-ra" them. Not this year. Not for what's expected of them.

I'll see you at the yard.

It's Not That Bad, Angels Fans

I admit, I lost a lot of faith in Anaheim's Los Angeles squad once the Angels lost Mark Teixeira to the Yankees and stood by its stance not to sign Manny Ramirez. The team made no major moves to improve an offense that sputtered around and came to a halt for the second consecutive year against the Boston Red Sox.

Sure, they signed Bobby Abreu and Brian Fuentes, but does that make them better than when they had Francisco Rodriguez and Teixeira? Call me crazy, but I say yes.

Tony Reagins is putting his trust in the young farm players who have been raised under the Angels' mottos: work hard, run first to third, and keep the drama out of the clubhouse and dugout. And I like it.

This Angels team doesn't have a superstar who has an ego (K-Rod was a little over the top for my tastes) nor one who doesn't seem out of place (as much as I loved Teixeira, he just never seemed good teammate to be around—someone who is there cheering you on no matter what). Teixeira never sold me on the fact that he wanted to be with the Angels, even during the time he was playing with the team. He was a risky rental, but one the Angels gambled on because they had a 25-year-old Cuban ready to burst onto the baseball scene.

And as sad as it was to see Garrett Anderson, the franchise's most successful player and highly under-appreciated, leave, it was time to give Juan Rivera the at-bats to become the player he is capable of being.

Now look at their clubhouse. Young players eager to prove themselves like Morales, Howie Kendrick, Brandon Wood, Erick Aybar, Sean Rodriguez and Matt Brown. Coupled with quiet superstars like Vladimir Guerrero, Bobby Abreu, and John Lackey. Some will argue they have one of the top pitching staffs in the Majors with the emergence of Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders, and their always strong bullpen. And don't forget Kelvim Escobar is fast on his way to returning to the team, some saying as early as late April.

And most importantly of all, they have players such as Torii Hunter and Lackey who carry a clubhouse presence invaluable to a team.

Anchoring it all is the Angels rock, Howard's TVs finest, Mike Scioscia. There's a reason the Angels locked him up through 2018. He runs a tight ship, and players love his style of play and no-nonsense attitude.

I think this Angels team is exactly that, a team. A group of individual parts coming together to create a baseball atmosphere where they have one common goal. And you can see that in the team's excitement to have Abreu return from his stint in the World Baseball Classic.

I wasn't able to see that when this offseason began. All I saw were dollar signs and heard talks of contracts. And now that the season is a couple weeks away and the winter fog has cleared, it's time for the Angels to return to what they were in 2002: a quiet bunch of baseball players who play loud on the field.

On Opening Day 2009, Scioscia will have a 25-player roster to work with, and he will need all 25 of them to work together to be able to ride down Katella Avenue carrying the 24-inch World Series trophy.

1986 Dodgers Are The Boogie Bunch

These dudes make me want to go and purchase a satin jacket on ebay ASAP. Pedro Guerrero and Orel Hershiser own in this video.

Dedicated to my cousin, Grandpa Whiffer, a huge Dodgers fan that likes to go to sleep before 9 p.m.

Side note: I was at a swap a month ago and there was a sports memorabilia vendor there. Written on one of their tables? "Angles suck, Dodgers rule!"

At least Dodgers' fans can spell their own team name right... getting by in this world, one word at a time.