SO HOW DOES IT FEEL...

... to have the best record in baseball?

Pretty damn good, let me tell you.

Finally. I've been waiting for this all season.

And after reading several articles today predicting the post-season and analyzing the strengths of each team, it's a pretty much undisputed concensus that the Angels are the most balanced team in baseball, with the fewest weaknesses. That's a really good feeling, too.

And I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Stacy, you've been bad-mouthing Kendrick all season, and here he is the hero of today's game. Do you feel stupid yet?" And the answers, ladies and gentlemen, is NO. One walk-off win, a single that probably could've been an out had the stupid pitcher not gone for it and the second basemen not bobbled it, does not make up for all I've said this season. I still don't trust the guy. I'm glad he came through today. But would I trust him to do it tomorrow, over many of the other players? No. I'd take Maicer in a heartbeat. For one, he's been much more consistent this year. For two, look at his average with men in scoring position. Kendrick doesn't rival that, not even a little. And look at how many big plays Izturis has made this season, even recently. And I'm not talking about just the home runs that everyone keeps thinking about. No, look at the singles and the doubles and the sacs he puts together to make things happen. He's gold.

And I'm not saying it can't happen for Kendrick, too. I'll give him some credit. He's still new, and he has the potential, and they hype him up. Whether I personally think he's worth the hype - not really of much importance outside of my opinion and what I write on this blog. But he has yet to definitely prove himself to me, despite his walk-off today.

I'm more and more impressed with Mathis with every game. He is incredible, and there's no denying that on any level, period. It's amazing the balls he blocks. He is the wall.

This was such a good feeling win. It took a bit too much work to get it, I think (the Angels really ought to have no problem with Texas, but it happens), but it feels great to be first in major league baseball, and to have gained yet another game over Seattle, who are all of a sudden on their longest losing streak (actually, tied for their longest, they lost 7 in a row earlier in the season). This is now the fifth straight win for the Angels, 7-3 for their last 10 games.

In Other News:

The announcers in today's game were saying something about the Athletics. From the way it sounds, the only one they have left anymore is Swisher. Kotsay is out, Chavez is out, Loaiza's already been traded, and there was someone else they said too, but the name escapes me. I know they're pretty much way out of making it, in any sense of the word, into the post-season, but are they giving up that easily already? There are still around 30 games to be played. That's a lot of baseball. You can learn a lot about your team and make the adjustments now rather than in the off-season and get a relatively good read on it. But whatever.

And I just saw today that the Red Sox traded Wily Mo Pena. I hadn't even noticed. He was traded on the 18th. Where was I? I swear I just saw him play, and it was with Boston. Weird.

So the month of August is over. On to September, where it all starts to really go down!