The Angels finished up their first winning month of 2014 with a blowout of the Chicago Cubs on Friday, February 28. The 15-3 victory was the first in what I hope will be a successful 2014 campaign. With the sad starts the team has had the past couple of years, getting hot early will be important to this team. A good spring alone will not make the Angles happy, but the first game held many promising signs of what is hopefully to come.

Winning 15-3, the Angels showed much of what they will have to do this season to be competitive in a tough AL West. Weaver threw 3 solid innings giving up only 1 hit, and the bullpen, sitting on a 4 run lead, was able to recover after giving up a home run to the second Cub faced. With the offense running on all cylinders though, the result was never in doubt. Iannetta and Shuck were impressive with their 2 hit/3 RBI games, and Aybar showed some nice patience at the plate, drawing 2 walks and singling in a run in the second, but it was Trout who was the star of the day. The 22 year old superstar went 2 for 3 with a grand slam and 5 RBIs.

Finishing 1-0 in February is not much, but it is a start, and the Angels need a good start to erase the disappointments of the last few seasons. After finishing with over 30 losses in the past two Aprils, the Angels need to get out of the gate early to show they mean to compete in 2014.

Hopefully winning their first spring training game will be a harbinger of things to come.

The post The Angels Start 2014 Right appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Well today is going to be a little bit out of the ordinary for my blog posting. Instead of dealing with video games I am going to be dealing with fantasy football.

I am not a very big football fan, I particularly like college football better than the pros, but fantasy football is a event that occurs every year and I decided to sign up.

As part of the ritual, today is the fantasy football draft. The draft is can be a horrific day or could be a very good day. It really depends on how your picks go and it can make or break your season. I am much more familiar with fantasy baseball, having played in many leagues, but this is my first fantasy football team.

The league I am joining is a simple 10 man league that has 13 players. Nine regular starters – QB, TE, 2 RB, 2 WR, Defense, Kicker, and a flex (TE, WR, TB) and four bench players. So that means 130 picks. Hopefully it won't take too long – fantasy baseball usually has more picks and can take a long time. But then that involves 162 games opposed to the 16 games a football team plays.

I feel I am at a disadvantage because I don't know many of the players in the league this year, but I figure if I follow a standard ranking list I should do pretty well. I suppose since this is a type of game, I will track my progress through the season here on my blog. Particularly because I had been planning on writing about my new baby Druid, but I haven't had a chance to really focus on that while I've been trying to research for the draft. I did get my druid up to level 3 this morning after following a few quests and spending a few minutes, but other than that I didn't have any time to take screenshots or to put anything down on paper so I will put that off till tomorrow.

Because I am not much of a football fan, I figure getting involved in the fantasy football league will probably have me paying more attention and watching more games this season. I don't mind, I enjoy football but it's not something that I live and die by.

Sorry about the scatterbrained nature of this post, but as I mentioned in my post about Scaryboosters challenge, I am dictating this into Siri on my iPhone as I am driving to the draft.

Well I am finally arrived at the draft so I'm going to have to go. Traffic made a 7 mile journey take half an hour. I'll let you know how things progress through the draft and how I feel after I'm done. Maybe even post my team when I get it set up. Wish me luck.

…

Through 8 rounds, I've grabbed 3 WR, 3 RB, a TE, and a QB. I had last pick, but I think I've done pretty good with that.

This is post 21 in my Blaugust Challenge.

#Blaugust #FantasyFootball

The post Gaming the Fantasy Football Draft appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Ok, so here is my Fantasy Football team based on the round they were selected.

• Round 1 (10th pick) WR Calvin Johnson Det
• Round 2 (11th pick) WR Demaryius Thomas Den
• Round 3 (30th pick) RB CJ Spiller Buf
• Round 4 (31st pick) RB Andre Ellington Ari
• Round 5 (50th pick) QB Matt Stafford Det
• Round 6 (51st pick) TE Jordan Cameron Cle
• Round 7 (70th pick) WR Cordarrelle Patterson Min
• Round 8 (71st pick) RB Bishop Sankey Ten
• Round 9 (90th pick) Def Rams Stl
• Round 10 (91st pick) K Matt Prater Den
• Round 11 (110th pick) WR Sammy Watkins Buf
• Round 12 (111th pick) RB Devonta Freeman Atl
• Round 13 (130th and last pick of the draft) QB Ben Roethlisberger Pit

I think I did petty well. I got a lot of compliments for picking my first 2 wide receivers with my first 2 picks. I think it gave me a leg up even though I had the 10th (out of 10) pick in the draft. Basically, this gave me the first 2 receivers on the board, and I think I got a couple of good ones.

I then grabbed the 14th and 15th running backs taken. Now 4 teams already had 2 RBs so I was not getting the best, but I think I did ok with Spiller and Ellington. Obviously, we'll see once the season starts.

At this point, with my main scorers locked in, I went for a QB since only 5 had been taken already and the Russell Wilson pick was questionable – I think he must be someone's favorite (or maybe he knows something no one else does). Stafford should be pretty good, and backing him up with a last round Roethlisberger I think works nicely. I wanted to grab one of the top tight ends, so I picked up Cameron next because I felt most tight ends might be gone by the time the pick came back around.

In all, I think I did ok for a first time draft, but as I said, we'll see how the season goes. I already know I have to find a new kicker for the first few weeks as Prater got suspended for 4 games. Compared to fantasy baseball, suspensions and injuries can play a fairly large part since with only 16 games, each one is pretty significant.

I guess I'll have to pay a bit of attention to the rest of the preseason. I only know that a couple teams won and some lost. I think I heard someone at the store complaining about Philip Rivers and the Chargers, but I haven't watched any of the games or looked at any of the stats so far. With the pennant races heating up in baseball, I probably won't be paying too much attention until the season gets underway, but I at least have to have an idea which teams my players are on.

This is post 26 in my Blaugust Challenge.

#Blaugust #FantasyFootball

The post Fantasy Football Roundup Preseason Week 1 appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Angels make the playoffs for the first time since 2009.

This may be sounding like a sports blog, having 2 days in a row of football then baseball, but since this is my team, I wanted to 'celebrate' them. They really pulled it together this season when most did not even expect them to finish 3rd in the AL West.

Today, these Angels lead the AL West by 10.5 games. They have won 11 of their last 12 games and are leading the majors in runs. And they are doing this without any hitter batting above .300 – not even Mike Trout, who many think may be the best player in the game right now. Along with that, their best pitcher, Garrett Richards hasn't pitched since August and won't pitch the rest of the season.

Right now, their bullpen is a strong point, but it is dramatically different than what they started with. Their closer did not even play for the team till a mid season trade. And now relievers are effectively starting every 5th game (since Richards went down) and have been dominating.

So my Angels are currently in the playoffs and have the best record in baseball. I am excited at the possibilities. Looking back at my last post about them, they won their first Spring training game this year, and I was optimistic. I am glad to see the team live up to where I wanted them to play. I am looking forward to the playoffs and hope to see the winning the World Series.

September Featured Link

Today I feature a post that asks a very valid question about MMO design – Grinding vs Idleness. Basically, Joseph Skyrim over at JVT Workshop wonders if it is better for games to require grinding to get to a boss encounter or if the fight should be be on a timer that players have to wait for.

I tend to prefer a timer scenario. With a timer, I can focus my attention wherever I would choose rather than spinning my wheels on inconsequential and meaningless activity. If I am going to be playing a game, I want my efforts to contribute to something. As was mentioned in the post, with a timer, I am afforded the opportunity to attend to other activities including other games or reading. Eve Onlne is particularly good at this – I've read many novels during fleet actions which typically consist of some intense action after many minutes or even hours of waiting for stuff to happen. Games that require me to perform repetitive meaningless actions in order to get to a boss fight tend to turn me off after a while.

#Angels #LAA #Baseball #Eve

The post A Heavenly Achievement appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Another week, another loss. Well, this time I have no players for Monday night and my opponent has one left. Still, I only grabbed 58.5 points this week and he's already got well over 100. Another pretty poor showing by my team.

This week was hopefully my last bad week. Many of my starters were sitting on the bench this week as 4 of my regulars had a bye week. Technically, it should all even out, but I think I may have used some sub-par substitutes as replacements.

If this were fantasy baseball, I would have to say their WAR (Wins Above Replacement) was pretty bad. Not sure if Fantasy Football has an equivalent, but essentially the statistic is a measurement of how well a player performs above a 'replacement' level player. By replacement level, it means someone who is called up from the minors or from the bench to fill in for a regular starter. Very typically, they are not as good as an everyday starter.

Well, this week, my replacement players were not that good. My defense scored -10 points for me which was a pretty big difference from last week when my normal defense scored my only touchdown. Note to self…don't pick the Falcons defense ever. Stafford decided to play this week, but he could not carry me – if he had done as well last week, I might have been able to win. He seems to be hit or miss – perhaps I should only play him on even weeks.

In any case, I need to work on my team to get better for next week. I hope these loses don't become a habit that I can't break.

#FantasyFootball

The post Week 4 and Another Loss appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Not too shabby, but I was down by 10 going into Monday's game.

Jamal Charles really had a good game though and it was over pretty early. I actually didn't even watch the game, but my app kept me updated with all the scoring.

My sports focus has been baseball where my team – the Angels – are fighting for a playoff spot. Baseball always takes precedence over football for me.

The post Fantasy Football Week 3 – Another Win appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

My Angels are on the wrong path this season and it doesn’t look good for next season either. After going 2–9 this so far in August, the team is sitting at 49–67, 19 games behind division leading Texas and 14.5 out of the wild card race. Just 2 years ago, the Angels had the best record in baseball with 98 wins and here they sit, just half a game out of last. What’s up with that? They’ll be lucky to avoid having 98 losses this season.

The Curse of Hamilton

There are so many issues with this team, it’s hard to point a finger at the primary problem, but I’m gonna call it the curse of Josh Hamilton. The “left fielder” was nothing but problems for the team and they are still quite literally paying the price – they are giving him $28 million this year and another $28 million next year to “play” for the division rivals Texas Rangers. No wonder Texas is doing so well – they have a “slugger” on their team who they don’t even need to pay for. It’s too bad this alcoholic drug user couldn’t get his act together to actually earn the millions people are paying him, but it seems he’s cursed the Angels.

So with Hamilton’s millions on the books, the Angels have been unable to find anyone even remotely capable of playing left field. Their 2 big acquisitions this offseason – Nava and Gentry hit .235 and .147 and contributed to a hole on the left side that sits so far in last place in MLB in terms of so many offensive categories it makes you wish the AL let pitchers hit rather than put these guys at bat.

Pitching on the DL

That is if the Angels had any pitchers. The count is up to 3 now – 3 young, up-and-coming pitchers who are sitting on the DL either having Tommy John surgery or praying to avoid it. What is so wrong with the training program of the team that they can’t keep any pitcher healthy? Thier veterans? Well, there are hundreds of pitchers who’s change up is faster than Weaver’s fastball – and they’re in high school, and Wilson is like the rest of the staff…sitting on the DL. The one highlight, Santiago, was shipped off to Minnesota in hopes that maybe next year the weak returns will somehow blossom.

The Future?

I really feel bad for Trout. He is clearly the best player in baseball but he is stuck on such a mediocre or dare I say, bad, team. And where is that team headed next season? With millions still owed to Hamilton, how is a team that already pushes the luxury tax limit supposed to compete? Perhaps after the All-Star break next year they might get 2 of their Tommy John pitchers back, but who’s gonna pitch in the first half? Richards should be back if his prayers are answered but even if he comes back with his ace form, the rest of the staff is 3rd or 4th starter material at best. And then they need someone to at least wear a glove in left field. It just seems like next season is gonna be a problem as well, even if people manage to stay healthy and return from injuries.

I love the Angels. They’ve been my team forever, but I feel fans are in for a tough time. 2014 was a fun year (at least during the 98 win regular season) but it looks like it may have been the high water mark for a while. The brutal 3 game sweep at the hands of KC may be the last playoff appearance the team can expect for a few years, but hopefully they can turn things around before the end of Trout’s contract. He deserves to be in the playoffs and should be setting records there as well as the regular season. I just hope the team figures out how to keep their pitchers healthy and fill the holes caused but the curse of Hamilton. This year definitely is not the year and perhaps next year may be rough as well, but 2018…hopefully.

The post Fallen Angels appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Ok, I don’t have much to say today because I’ve been watching a crazy game 7 of the World Series.

Top of the 10th inning, tied 6-6.  Neither of these teams was to let the other break their streak.  With the Indians coming back in the 8th I think I might have seen a goat running around Progressive Field, but it’s not over yet.  

I’m gonna watch the game to completion regardless of how long it goes but I figured I should post this and comment on how great a game this has been and how fun a World Series it’s been even without my Angels involved.  

Whoever wins, it’s been a fun watch.

The post Extra Innings! appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

That was one of the most exciting game 7s I’ve seen in quite a while.  I’m pretty happy the team I was pulling for won even though it wasn’t my Angels.

So the Cubs finally won the World Series for the first time since 1908.  I heard somewhere that Haley’s Comet came by twice in the time it took them to win the series again.  I certainly wasn’t alive last time they won and there maybe a handful of people that were alive back then. Quite an accomplishment for Joe Maddon and his team.

Now that this series is finally over maybe things can return to normal for me though work had been pretty crazy too.  In any case, I’m gonna try to get back to my normal post content now that the baseball season is over.

The post What a Way to Break a Curse appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

With 356 votes to 311, Mike Trout edged out Mookie Betts of Boston in the American League MVP race.  This is Trout’s 2nd Most Valuable Player award, having been granted the honor in 2014 as well.  Trout has been in the league 5 years and has either won the award or came in 2nd place in voting for the MVP each of those years.  I just wish the Angels fielded a better supporting cast for the best player in baseball.

The post Trout Wins 2016 MVP! appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

The best part was when the two guys got their helmets stuck together…
So the Super Bowl is over and the team I was rooting for lost.  

Too bad the refs had to make bad calls – those ‘holding’ calls were not the same holding calls made all season – slapping someone’s arm as they’re running into you for their route only gets called if there’s corruption. 

Too bad.

Oh well…we all knew the Patriots were in the game so there’d likely be some cheating going on. I just think it’s so funny that right before the 3rd ‘holding’ call in a row…in the same series, I told my wife that there’s no way they’d call another blatantly lame ‘holding’ call. But they did! I’m sure if we looked back at all the replays from the season there wouldn’t be a ‘holding’ call on such a non-holding play.

Too bad.

Anyway, I thought most of the commercials weren’t up to Super Bowl quality. The Bieber and LeBron James commercials for whatever were pretty bad. The Ghostly Spuds MacKenzie was horrific and the T Mobile phone sex commercial was just inappropriate. 

I did enjoy the Christopher Walken and Justin Timberlake Bai Water commercial though. And the puppies in the Eagle (whatever) commercial were cute.  

And then there was the halftime show. I loved it! I think Lady Gaga knocked it outta the park and put on a tremendous performance. Those drones were incredible too.

Finally, I really enjoyed some of the TV and Movie trailers – Stranger Things season 2 looks awesome! Ghost in the Shell looks like a must watch in the theater, and I didn’t even know there was gonna be another Transformer movie, but it looks pretty good too.  

But like I said, the best moment was when the two guys got their helmets stuck together.

The post Thoughts on Super Bowl LI appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Fantasy Baseball

At this point, I’ve got 4 fantasy leagues I’m playing in and two have started their draft. All four are completely different games and none are actually standard rotisserie leagues. The one I’m currently drafting for is a Scoresheet Baseball league and we’re using the entire MLB pool of players to chose our teams from. Scoresheet uses an interesting ruleset and scoring such that each week you are given the results of 5–7 games that your team played based on your player’s stats. You set up a lineup and pitching rotation and defense actually counts as errors can be very costly. Each game is scored in a manner similar to MLB where your players actually have “at bats” and perform based on what they did that week so you have to make sure you’re guys are actually playing or they don’t accumulate plate appearances. Since it’s played like a MLB game, HRs are good but not as significant as they are in Roto – though they can drive in 4 runs depending on how the players ahead of them in the inning performed. It’s kinda complicated but it’s a fun method of simulating running a MLB team. Once the season starts I’ll have to put together a post from one of the games.

The other game that’s started it’s draft is another Scoresheet league, but this one is called a Root league. In this contest, you draft players mostly from one major league team – the team you “root” for. Actually, it seems everyone wanted to “root” for Boston so they limited owners from that MLB team. Well, I grabbed my favorite team – the Angels – who are not expected to perform to well during the season. Sure everyone always wants Mike Trout, but they pretty much pass on the rest of the team these days. In the league the first 3 players had to be from your “root” team so I grabbed Trout, Albert Pujols, and Kole Calhoun. I think those are a good start and since the team isn’t strong on pitching depth, I then went out to other teams to grab my pitching before coming back to the Angels for more fielding. I think it’s a decent strategy, but we’ll see as things progress through the season.

One of the other leagues is a hybrid league incorporating Head-to-Head and Rotisserie features. It drafts tomorrow and I’m still not sure how things are gonna be scored precisely. I’ve got my work cut out for me tomorrow getting prepared for the draft.

The final league is in a different format as well called Mendoza. This league uses an auction for player acquisition and I actually took over a team that did pretty well last year. It uses both AL and NL and has an interesting scoring system. They basically use Runs Created and other higher level sabermetrics to determine how much a player contributes and then they derive a win-loss record for each team based on those stats. It’s kinda complicated but I’ve played before and it’s pretty fun.

In all, I feel I might have bitten off more that I can chew but I’m enjoying the drafts and auctions so far. Hopefully I’ll be able to put together a decent team in each league and maybe even a winner.

The post The 2017 Fantasy Baseball Season has Begun appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Three weeks in and I’m still holding on to first place in my Hybrid Head-to-Head/Roto baseball league. I’ve put together 516 points so far and my nearest competition has racked up 507 wins. 9 points is pretty close and I just put another of my pitchers on the injured reserve. This one is doubly troublesome too – Garrett Richards, the ace of my Angels was placed on the 60 day disabled list and that really hurts.

Sadly, when it comes to my Scoresheet teams, the team I have based on the Angels is performing about as well as the major league team…they’re 7–12 so far and it’s been a struggle. I did well in week one, but it’s been a nosedive since then.

My team from both major leagues isn’t doing much better right now either at 8–11. Pitching is doing ok, but I can’t seem to get any offense going. I’m gonna look to mix up my batting order next week and we’ll see if that helps. It doesn’t help if my pitchers are throwing a 3.4 ERA when I’m only scoring 2.1 runs per game.

I’m still enjoying all 3 leagues and my Mendoza league is doing pretty well, though I’m no where near #1 in my division – somehow I turned a division winner into a mediocre team – I’ve really got my work cut out for me.

The post I Love Baseball but it’s Now Loving Me appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

How many asterisks do we need to append to Bud Selig’s Hall of Fame plaque? I’m sure that when all the drug enhanced, strike reduced records are finally tallied, there’d be so many aspects of baseball that this one man destroyed to give him his own Hall of Shame. And somehow the sportswriters are honoring him?

Sure baseball is making more money now than when he started as commissioner but then it used to be America’s Favorite Sport – now it’s a sad 2nd place behind football, if not 3rd behind basketball.

People used to be able to look up to the Hall of Famer’s and record holders as athletes of incredible skill and dedication. Now we have a bunch of drug addicts, wife beaters, and reality stars that people look upon with distain rather than the honor that used to be granted when obtaining the Hall of Fame.

Sure every team honors Jackie Robinson now by retiring his number but then we also had every team with players embroiled in the steroid abuse era. The joke of home run records and strikeout kings that were crowned throughout Selig’s tenure is a stain on the glorious history of the sport.

Player strikes, cancellation of the World Series, shortened seasons, and All-Star games that don’t mean a thing but then do mean something and now they don’t mean a thing again.

I still haven’t attended a Padre game since they named one of their terraces after Bud Selig because I think the man was horrible for baseball. Now I suppose I’m going to have to avoid visiting Cooperstown because of the man.

I really don’t see how a sport can deify someone who nearly destroyed it and tore it down from its pinnacle – this is despicable and I can’t say it enough.

The post Hall of Shame appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

After 3 losses to the Rays and 5 straight overall, the Angels finally put things together and pulled off a victory.

With their 2-way star, Shohei Ohtani, on the mound the Angels put up 5 runs on only 4 hits but it was enough. Ohtani held the Rays to 2 runs while he struck out 9 over his 7 2/3 innings of work. It was the most runs the team has scored since May 10th when they scored 7 to beat the Twins and it put an end to a horrible home stand.

The 5–2 victory marked only the 4th win in 11 games the Angels played at home over the past week and a half and all 11 games were a struggle. I’m not sure what it is about playing in Anaheim but the team really hasn’t been playing well at home.

Gladly though, they head out to Toronto on Tuesday to start a 10 game road trip. At 14–4, the Angels hold the best road record in baseball and it’ll be a welcome trip after the disaster of this 4–7 home stand.

The game was an interesting one as it marked the first time the Angels have ever faced the same starting pitcher on back-to-back days. Sergio Romo started the game on Saturday and again on Sunday and in the 2 1/3 innings between the 2 games, he struck out 5 and got both games off to good starts for the Rays. By the time he left both games, the table setters of the Angels were off the board and Tampa Bay was set up to score the first run. I’m not sure why the Rays are working things this way or how they came up with this plan but it is an interesting concept, particularly since on Sunday, they actually just put relievers out on the mound all game.

Even with the unconventional pitching, the Angels were held to 4 hits all day, one of which was a home run by Martin Maldonado. But while that was an important development, I have to say that my Player of the Game goes to Mike Trout who really made the most with what the Rays gave him. He walked 3 times, after striking out in the first, and stole 2nd and 3rd in the 5th to set himself up to score on a Zack Cozart sacrifice fly. That insurance run proved the difference in the game.

The Angels get a day off on Monday and start up a 10 game road trip in Toronto on Tuesday with Garrett Richard pitching. Hopefully the road will be a nice change of pace for a team that plays well out of a suitcase.

Daily Ramble 241.1

The post Finally A Win at Home appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

When your team is batting just above the Mendoza Line for the past 11 games they really can’t afford to commit many errors. Too bad that’s exactly how they’ve lost 2 outta their last 3 games.

On Saturday, the Rays beat the Angels 5–3 when they gave up 4 unearned runs and Tuesday, the Blue Jays beat the team with the same score and number of unearned runs.

Angels Lose 5–3 to the Blue Jays

When the offense isn’t even scoring enough to overcome runs that are gifted to opponents things are definitely headed in the wrong direction.

Garrett Richards yesterday and Heaney on Saturday both pitched well but the guys behind them didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. But I suppose the people committing the errors were not expected to be everyday players. The underlying problem is that the Angels have been forced to turn to non-opening day starters to perform because the regulars are injured or playing like crap. Even the vaunted Mike Trout is in on the slump as his average has fallen over 50 points…but he’s still at .289. When you look at how bad Kinsler (.197) and Calhoun (.160) are performing it really makes me sad. Even Zack Cozart who had been hitting well at leadoff in the early days of April is down to .223. That’s 3 of the main, everyday players that are closer replacement level than the major leaguers they are expected to be.

What is up with these guys?

I had hopped they would shake things off as they headed out on the road since they seem to like playing elsewhere this season, but not on Tuesday.

So what happened against Toronto? Well, the first run was all Richards’ fault. He gave up the double to Josh Donaldson, let him get to third on a wild pitch, and then gave up the single to Teoscar Hernandez – all his problems. But then he gets Kevin Pillar out to make it 2 away. Then the fun happens…ok, perhaps there may have been a questionable call that allowed Smoak to walk instead of strike out, but…

Chris Young then missed a simple catch in Right Field and that’s all she wrote. 2 runs scored and it was 3–0. Kendry Morales finished off the scoring with a 2 run home run and that was all Toronto needed. The anemic Angel offense could barely muster 4 hits and somehow managed to get 3 runs outta that to make the final score seem slightly competitive.

With the way the Angels have played lately it’s becoming harder to pick my Player of the Game when they are pretty much not doing much. I could give it to Richards who only gave up the 1 earned run or to any of the guys who knocked in runs on outs. I think I’m gonna give it to Shohei Ohtani who hit the ball into the upper deck during batting practice though. At least during warmups these guys look like professionals.

It’s still early in the season since we just past the 1/4 mark but I wonder when it might be time to start looking at who’s coaching the relievers and offense. Right now, neither is functional for a team that wants to make the playoffs.

Hopefully Wednesday’s game will see the Angels play more like they have been on the road this year.

Daily Ramble 243.1 | Sports – Mendoza Line Offense

The post Mendoza Line Offense appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Sometimes the defense can inspire the offense and other times defense wins games. This game yesterday was a case where it was clear the defense wins games.

This game featured the pitcher who I think is the Angel’s ace right now, Tyler Skaggs. He may have been 3–3 heading into this game but he’s got a 2.88 ERA and has pitched pretty well – if only the offense scored him some runs. Speaking of offense, the Angels had to try to break through on Aaron Sanchez who’s 2–4 with a 4.47 ERA.

What a Throw

Actually, I started thinking about putting this post together as I was on my drive home from work and I was trying to figure out how to comment on the fact that less than 2 weeks ago the Angels were tied with Houston for 1st place. Then as I was headed home yesterday, the Angels were down 0–3 to Toronto and were looking at falling to 5 1/2 games behind the Astros.

So, yeah, the game started as many of the others recently with the Angels falling behind. They went down 0–3 after giving up solo runs in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th, but then they finally scored. After scoring a run in the 6th, with the offense performing so poorly lately, I expected they wouldn’t manage to put anything together to catch up. Thankfully I was surprised.

It wasn’t until the 9th but my team actually performed a comeback. With one out, Trout, Upton, and Pujols were walked to load the bases for Shohei Ohtani. He had been hitless in 3 at bats on the evening but he smacked a line drive to center to tie up the game 3–3. Andrelton Simmons followed with a single to center that scored another 2 runs and…surprise…the Angels were winning.

At 5–3 the bottom of the 9th started as expected – with Blake Parker trying really hard to lose the game. He gave up a single, a double, and a run scoring single to end up with a 1 run lead and runners at 1st and 3rd and no outs.

But then something special happened. Teoscar Hernandez, who had an RBI in Tuesday’s game smacked a fly ball to right field. Kole Calhoun, who’s been so bad at the plate hitting barely above .150, played the ball and made the catch for the out. Then in a picture perfect play, threw home to nail Curtis Granderson as he tried to score. Boom Boom…double play and 2 outs.

Parker intentionally walked Donaldson to put runners in 1st and 2nd but then he struck out Justin Smoak to end the game.

They actually won! And in comeback style.

My Player of the Game is the 0 for 5 Calhoun who hopefully will shake off his offensive woes soon, but who continues to make incredible defensive plays. This was his 7th outfield assist this season and his 3rd double play.

My hope is that with this dramatic victory the offense will break outta their slump and start performing because while defense can win games, offense wins more.

Daily Ramble 244.2 | Sports – Sometimes Defense Wins Games

The post Sometimes Defense Wins Games appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Hopefully this game was evidence that the offense is breaking outta it’s slump because it was fun to see the Angels score some runs.

I’d sure like to see more games like Thursday’s since the Angels seemed to have everything go their way for a change. Actually, it was more like the games they played in April before this recent slump hit them. As a team they put together 12 hits with 2 home runs and 8 runs. That’s the team I expect them to be and the one I think Artie Moreno paid for in the off season.

Eight is Enough

To add to the good showing of the offense, Nick Tropeano pitched a good game scattering 4 hits over 7 1/3 innings to pick up the win.

Back to the offense though, Trout and Pujols hit homers and 5 diffferent Angels had multihit games. It was certainly fun to watch and I have to give my Player of the Game to Shohei Ohtani who reached base 4 times – 2 by walk and 2 by double. He didn’t grab any RBIs but he did score twice and was a good catalyst for the team. Maldonado had a good game as well picking up 3 RBIs on 2 hits to help power the offense.

On the whole, it’s a good game and one that I enjoyed watching.

Today, the Angels head to New York to try to stop the powerhouse Yankees. When they came to Anaheim, the Yanks decimated my team during the middle stretch of their slump. Hopefully it’s time for some payback.

Daily Ramble 244.2 | Sports – Angels – Breaking outta it’s Slump

The post Breaking outta it’s Slump appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

This was game was pretty much an Angels v. New York pitching battle and with 3 total runs scored this was a tense game. That is…opposed to how the Yankees games have been this month.

The Angels and Yankees are kinda at opposite ends of the spectrum right now. Except for the 8 run burst last night, the Angels just can’t seem to score runs while the Yankees seem to find them everywhere.

Heaney Still Pitching Well

Even without the run support, Andrew Heaney still pitched well. He only allowed one run on 4 hits over 6 1/3 innings. If only the bullpen and offense could get in gear during his outings. He’s throwing at a 1.45 ERA in his last 6 starts and hardly has anything to show for it. He really needs to get some run support.

The only real highlight for the offense was Trout who smacked a solo home run in the 5th to tie up the game. As a whole, the team left 7 runners on base and struggled to get hits once again. The only other time the Angels really threatened actually ended up in a battle of 100 MPH pitchers. After Justin Upton singled in the 8th, Aroldis Chapman came in, throwing over 100 MPH, and struck out Shohei Ohtani. While it didn’t end the way I wanted it was fun to see.

My Player of the Game goes to Heaney who deserved more support and hopefully will get some in his next start.

Daily Ramble 246.2 | Sports – Angels – Angels v. New York Pitching Battle

The post Angels v. New York Pitching Battle appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.

Finally, the offense showed up in New York and the Angels scored some runs. It seems the Angels are gonna have offense one game and none the next. Today they had offense and looked like a playoff contender. They had so much offense, in fact, it was hard to decide on My Player of the Game.

Trout was on fire but the Rookies Helped

Jaime Barria is definitely a candidate even though he was the pitcher. They 21 year old rookie pitched well enough for the win going 5 innings and giving up 4 runs in his first trip to New York…not too bad.

Catcher Jose Briceno is another rookie who performed well in this game, and even more significant, he was outstanding in his first start. The 25 year old not only got his first hit in the majors but he also smacked a home run, picked up 2 RBIs and score twice. Not bad for his first outing.

Last, but certainly not least is Mike Trout. He had a monster game and pretty much put any thought of a slump firmly in the rear view mirror. He went 5 for 5 with 3 doubles, and a home run, picking up 4 RBIs And scoring 3 times. If anyone can be said to have put the team on his back and carried them, this is the game that shows Trout can do that.

So I think with his 1st 5 for 5 game I have to give my Player of the Game to Trout but it was good to see multiple candidates. Hopefully today the offense will be able to score a bunch of runs to support Richard in the series finale.

Daily Ramble 244.2 | Sports – Angels – The Offense Showed Up in New York

The post The Offense Showed Up in New York appeared first on Beyond Tannhauser Gate.