ANOTHER OFF-DAY...

I found this article on Matthews Jr. particularly interesting. I liked what he had to say about being with the Angels and about playing in Boston:

Matthews finally at home with Angels

I really like Matthews. I actually really liked him the moment he walked into the team. Not quite sure why. Maybe because he didn't put anyone out when he came in, and he filled a much needed spot in the field, and in the roster. The numbers he's put up while being here haven't been as good as his past year with the Rangers, which is arguably considers his best year. But they guy is really gold. His plays are spectacular. And you can tell the team relies on him. When he makes those diving and rolling catches and those reaching over the wall grabs, everyone feels it. It's like magic. The pitchers have no problem showing their gratitude. The looks on their faces are enough. I almost don't care too much about his hitting stats anymore. He does so much more for the team than just that. He's on a five-year deal. I'm really looking forward to seeing how his career with the Angels continues. It'll be good for him to stay in one place for a while. He may not be the big bat their looking for, but he's definitely a gold-glove.


It's coming down to the point where a lot of talk is going into the end of the year awards and stuff- Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Gold Glove, MVP, etc etc. I'm not sure how legitimate any of the talk is, but the only Angels names I've heard in any talk of such stuff are Lackey, and remotely Escobar, for the Cy Young. At the All-Star break, mlb.com posted some projections about these awards, and I'm really not too familiar with how these awards are weighed or decided or what stats they're built on. But I know that the things going on in LA are good, and some spectacular things have been done. But in all honesty, as comparable with the rest of the league, I'm not sure how well they'll be noticed, or how much more spectacular they've been in comparison.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Matthews Jr. get a gold-glove. Nor would I be surprised to see Lackey get the Cy Young. But I also know how much the league has been watching Haren, Beckett, and Sabatthia. And I've been noticing the east coast bias of the sports news media. When the Angels play on Espn, and are not broadcasted on FSN or any of their networks, I get really annoyed. Boston and New York, no matter if they're playing at that time, have played before that game, or don't play that day at all, are CONSTANTLY a topic of conversation. DURING another game. It's just irritating, to be watching the Angels, and to have to listen to commentary about New York or Boston, when I'd like to be hearing commentary on the game being played. Believe me, if I wanted commentary on New York or Boston, I'd watch their games. And when the Angels play teams like those on these networks, the vocabulary is really interesting if you pay attention. If the Angels win, it's always because the other team played surprisingly terrible that day. It's never because the Angels played exceedingly well, or are just a better team at the time. No. It's always that the Angels were lucky. And if the Angels lose, they were "smashed." And of course, I'm biased as well. But I'm not the media. I'm writing my opinion. That's to be expected. I'm just tired of the fact that there is such a slant when there isn't supposed to be.

Now that I've totally gone on a tangent... the awards. Right. I'm expecting to see Pedroia at the top of the Rookie of the Year list. He's good. No taking that from him. I just really don't expect to see Willits on that list, or high enough to really matter, which is sad to me. The guy is good. Unexpectedly good. He's become a regular, a starter, when he started off as a non-roster invitee. He's really pulled it out for himself, and worked hard. And I know he doesn't need some stupid award to be satisfied with his season, but the reenforcement is nice, I'm sure. But the chanting is probably gratifying enough. Matsuzaka is also up for that one, I think. Along with several others.

I wouldn't mind seeing Cabrera get a gold-glove either. He's been great this season too. But I think he just gets over-looked in general. Sometimes I don't even think I see how great he is. He's such a team leader. He's just always going to be shadowed by Jeter, and there isn't much he can do about it. Jeter's good. Really good. But if you ever watch Cabrera, you'll see that he's every bit as good, too.


I really need to get mlb.tv. I need to make the investment. Especially for these off-days when I am completely bored, and have little to say! To be able to watch every out of market game, all archived, ready for my one click of a button... just think how much better getting through my classes would be! And it would be so much faster than sitting there watching gameday!

In Response:

Thanks for the new comments! I love it.

... And had I ever known that they offered Dunn for Kendrick, flat deal, oh man... why didn't we take it??? Ha!

... Only problem is... they seem to see something in Kendrick that I certainly don't. So they obviously didn't go for it, unfortunately. I really hope I'm just really wrong about Kendrick and he comes back and totally blows me away with surprises. But my cynical-skeptical little self doesn't see that happening.