With the NHL playoffs not resuming until Friday evening, I had my choice last night of sporting events: Watch the L.A. Clippers try to keep their series alive versus the Phoenix Suns in a pivotal Game 6 matchup, or watch the L.A. Angels of Anaheim of Southern California of the United States of America continue to stumble against the Toronto Blue Jays and the rest of the American League.
My husband made that decision easy. “I can only watch basketball the last 5 minutes of the game, even during the playoffs, so we are watching the Angels.”
Guess I had no choice really, although I can’t say I blame him. I haven’t been able to watch a full game of basketball in recent years, although I must say these second round matchups have been nothing short of compelling.
So we settled in to watch the game, although in my heart of hearts, I knew the Angels weren’t going to win. They remind me very much of the NY Mets of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s- they get your hopes up, until someone makes a bad pitch or there is a brain cramp in the field that leads to a minimum of 4 runs in the inning.
Not to be proven wrong, the Angels did just that- after tying the game late on a solo home run by Mike Napoli (a recent call up from the minors in place of a dismal Jeff Mathis), the Angels had the bases loaded in the 9th inning, only to have Tim “Mr. Angel” Salmon strike out to end the inning. The top of the 10th inning led to 4 runs by Toronto and another home loss for the Angels, who sport a home record of just 8-12, and 17-24 overall. That would almost be good enough for last place, but the Seattle Mariners, having played (and lost) one more game than the Angels, currently hold that distinction.
My husband, after the game was over, looked at me and said “What happened to this team? I know they didn’t go out and get any hitting, which was stupid, but what is with all the errors? Where is the defense? Where is the pitching? What happened to being in contention?”
My poor husband. At that point, I didn’t have an answer for him. All I could say to him was “Welcome to the West Coast version of the old Mets.” Not that he would ever understand, as he was never a Mets fan, but after all the stories I’ve told him over the years, I think he might have taken a hint.
Later in the evening, while watching ESPN news, a highlight of the Devil Rays and Chicago White Sox was shown. Right before they started the actual game highlight, they showed D-Rays manager Joe Maddon, standing at the top of the dugout with his game face on.
There it was, the answer to my husband’s question, like a sledgehammer to the face.
What ails the Angels isn’t completely a lack of power, mental errors which lead to physical errors in the field, or even the injuries suffered by many of their starting players this season.
No, what ails the Angels this season is the loss of Joe Maddon, bench coach extraordinaire to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Maddon, long regarded as one of the most knowledgeable men in baseball today, took over for Lou Pinella as the manager of the perennially basement dwelling Devil Rays this season. Though his choice to move to such a club may have been questioned, the similarity between these two teams currently bears more than just a striking resemblance to one another.
Both teams sport a 17-24 record, and both have had recent struggles as of late. While this is a common practice in Tampa, the Angels haven’t been this bad since their hangover World Series season of 2003. These two teams rank 13th and 14th in the American League in team batting, with the Angels sporting a .246 and the Devil Rays a lowly .233. Their home and away records are practically identical, with the Angels having an 8-12 record at home and a 9-13 record on the road. The Devil Rays? 9-11 at home, 8-13 on the road.
Where these two teams differ is pitching. The Angels are ranked 4th in the AL in team ERA with a 4.43 while the D-Rays 5.19 ERA signifies why they are losing games at their current pace. With no real number one starters on the Devil Rays staff, and a bullpen by committee, it is understandable.
But one thing I’ve noticed is the lack of big names the D-Rays have, and given a new ownership change and lack of a significant fan base, one can easily argue that playing games at home is just as bad, if not worse, than playing games on the road.
But the D-Rays have shown, both last year and this year, that they will try and compete with anyone. While they may not have the best talent, these guys compete. Carl Crawford is probably one of the most underrated players in baseball right now, given his speed, athletic ability, and his power. The Angels heart is, well, I’m still unsure.
Maddon was the cheerleader in the clubhouse in Anaheim, a guy with a love and passion for the game, and a passion to watch his players succeed. It was Maddon’s responsibility as the bench coach to put up a quote every day over the lineup card in the dugout, chosen from many classic authors and writers, to provide inspiration. He was the reason that even though the Angels never have anybody to protect Vladimir Guerrero in the lineup, would find a way to help Mike Sciosia motivate those boys to play hard and win. He has since taken his act to Tampa, where the players, at least not at this stage of the game, have found that same place. But they will. As young as they are, there really is no other place to go but up.
Ron Roenicke took over as the bench coach in Anaheim, moving from his long time position as the third base coach. But I don’t see that same type of fire that Maddon showed for many years. He is more of what you call a quiet leader, and I don’t think that is helping a broken Angels team right now. His replacement at third, Dino Ebel, is trying hard, but has made some questionable calls with the base running early in his stint with the Angels. Only time will tell how he really handles his new position.
So to answer my husband’s question, I told him this morning that he needs to look no further than the loss of Joe Maddon to help explain away what ails the Angels. And unfortunately, at the present, it doesn’t look like there will be any suitable replacement for Maddon, and most likely, there won’t ever be.
A woman with a love and passion for all things hockey, baseball and writing. Ergo, here I am. I will primarily be focusing on hockey and baseball, but if another sport so warrants my attention, I will put my thoughts and opinions here, in this space. Well, it would actually be in the space to the left, but you know what I mean.
Allow me to apologize up front if some of my blogs are long...I'm working on that. For the record, should you see any slanted articles towards the following teams: New York Mets, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of Southern California of the United States of America, or the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, that would be cause those are the teams I'm truly a fan of. But I will try to be as fair and unbiased as possible.Than ks in advance for reading!
