I think I should go to more Angels games this season. After I missed Tuesday night's game, I went both Wednesday and Thursday and the Angels won both nights. They do have an amazing team which should be winning every game. Their pitching has been top-notch, but right now, they're in a hitting slump. Over the three games with Oakland, their starting pitching had a 0.36 ERA. That's simply amazing. Last night, Ervin Santana pitched 8 1/3 innings of shut-out baseball. Wednesday night, Lackey pitched 7 innings of shut-out baseball. And Tuesday night, Bartolo Colon pitched 9 1/3 innings of 1 run baseball - that's right - he pitched into the 10th inning.
The amazing starting pitching unfortunately only got the Angels two wins after the bats continued their slump. Through the three games, the Angels only scored 6 runs - including just 3 in the first two games. Vladimir Guerrero has been sitting on 299 home runs for a couple weeks now. And Steve Finley has finally been benched after batting sub-.220 for the season.
Last night, the Angels hitters showed some signs of breaking out of the slump, despite only putting up three runs. Chone Figgins was 3 for 3 with a walk and Vladimir, Garret and Bengie all hit the ball well. Robb Quinlan even added a home run. But to make last night's game even better, I got my first (and probably only) visit to the dugout seats. If you follow the first base foul line straight back through home plate, that's where I was sitting. I was literally five feet away from all the batters as they warmed up in the on-deck circle and, for a change, they could hear what I was yelling at them. While the seats are a neat novelty, I couldn't sit in those for too many games. They're below field level, so to actually see any of the bases, you have to stand up - same thing if you want to see any of the balls hit to the outfield. It's cool to sit low like that though and just watch the pitchers and their different pitches. From that vantage point, it doesn't seem like the ball is going all that fast (which it wasn't when Kennedy was pitching for the A's), but it does give you a bit more respect for these batters. Balls break out of nowhere and the varying speeds could mix anyone up. I guess you've just got to guess right and connect to hit the homerun.
It really was a great game last night and the dugout suite also has other perks - including a private bathroom and all the good food you can eat - of which I ate just a little too much. But boy was that caramel apple good!
Los Angeles Angels Clubhouse
The amazing starting pitching unfortunately only got the Angels two wins after the bats continued their slump. Through the three games, the Angels only scored 6 runs - including just 3 in the first two games. Vladimir Guerrero has been sitting on 299 home runs for a couple weeks now. And Steve Finley has finally been benched after batting sub-.220 for the season.
Last night, the Angels hitters showed some signs of breaking out of the slump, despite only putting up three runs. Chone Figgins was 3 for 3 with a walk and Vladimir, Garret and Bengie all hit the ball well. Robb Quinlan even added a home run. But to make last night's game even better, I got my first (and probably only) visit to the dugout seats. If you follow the first base foul line straight back through home plate, that's where I was sitting. I was literally five feet away from all the batters as they warmed up in the on-deck circle and, for a change, they could hear what I was yelling at them. While the seats are a neat novelty, I couldn't sit in those for too many games. They're below field level, so to actually see any of the bases, you have to stand up - same thing if you want to see any of the balls hit to the outfield. It's cool to sit low like that though and just watch the pitchers and their different pitches. From that vantage point, it doesn't seem like the ball is going all that fast (which it wasn't when Kennedy was pitching for the A's), but it does give you a bit more respect for these batters. Balls break out of nowhere and the varying speeds could mix anyone up. I guess you've just got to guess right and connect to hit the homerun.
It really was a great game last night and the dugout suite also has other perks - including a private bathroom and all the good food you can eat - of which I ate just a little too much. But boy was that caramel apple good!
Los Angeles Angels Clubhouse
posted by Blake | 07:46
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