Weekly Rundown 2- Angels Summary 5/2-5/8

Well the first thing of note during the Angel summary for this week would have to be the record. The Angels went 4-3 with 4 games on the road against the Red Sox and 3 at home against the Indians. The Angels took revenge on the Sox for the 4 game sweep in Anaheim and split the series in Boston 2-2. At home the Angels beat the American League leading Indians twice with only one loss making their record against the Indians 4-2.

Angel ace Jered Weaver took his first loss of the year on the road in Boston giving up 3 runs in 6 innings in his first start since missing his previous scheduled start due to illness. When the Angels returned home Weaver again took the mound but was issued his first home loss lasting 6 innings giving up 4 runs. Weaver failed to strikeout a single batter for the first time in his Major League career having gone at least 6 innings.

With his next expected start to be against the Texas Rangers at Arlington Weaver will need to regain the movement on his fastball or could take his 3rd consecutive loss in the hitter friendly park.

Fernando Rodney picked up a pair of wins in relief work against the Indians but still did not leave fans happy this weekend. Rodney was credited with the win Friday off a bases-loaded single by Torii Hunter in the 11th inning. However, on Sunday Rodney entered in the 8th inning with a one run lead to hold onto. He proceeded to be credited with Blown Save number 2 after giving up 3 hits to the Indians, giving them a 1 run lead. His grasp on the set-up role is tenuous at best at the moment with free agent acquisition Scott Downs becoming healthy and pitching well out of the pen.

The Angels countered the Indians with their own 3 run rally lead by the youth movement again with Peter "Gorgeous"Bourjos driving in the tying run on an infield chopper to the pitcher and Erick Aybar continuing his hot hitting streak to double the go-ahead runs in. Rookie Jordan Walden entered the game, giving up a run but his only save in a week number 6. The game's starter Dan Haren remains stuck at 4 Wins with his last win coming against the Chicago White Sox on April 17th.

The Angels improved to 20-15 leading the AL West by 2 games. With the Angels win on Sunday, manager Mike Scioscia collected his 1,000 win. Mike "Sosh" is the 56th manager to hit the 1,000 win plateau and only 23rd to reach the milestone with a single team. During his tenure the Angels won their first franchise World Series, and he won the AL Manager of the Year Award in 2002 and 2009.

RBI (7) A shortstop who came up short...

So today I went to the Living Spaces furniture store in Irvine for an autograph signing by Erick Aybar. Unfortunately the speedy little shortstop did not make his way over to the signing quickly...or at all. That's right, despite the Angels and the store advertising for more than a week that he'd be signing he no showed and no one called the store to inform them he wouldn't be able to attend. By 11:10 more than an hour after the scheduled start the store managers called it quits and officially informed the crowd it was canceled. I was more than disappointed to not have the opportunity to get Erick's Spring Training Jersey signed that I had bought a few weekends ago at the Angel's Yard sale.

While Erick may be having a hot month with some multi hit games, he burned through some fan respect and is not a hit with us at the moment. Rumor has it that he had previously no showed for the same event in a prior season, and Juan Rivera agreed to sign as a replacement. It's pretty disappointing that he didn't show up for the event, but it's even more disappointing no one from the Angels team or Erick's representation contacted the store to let the fans know.

So on the flip side I'll talk a bit about a consistent signer for the Angels. That'd be former Angel pitcher Clyde "Skeeter" Wright who was taken by the Angels in the 6th round of the 1965 Draft.

Wright pitched for the Angels from 1966-1973 and accumulated an 87-85 record with 3 Saves. With a 3.28 ERA and 571 strikeouts Wright proved to be a reliable Angel arm after the 1969 season when teammate Jim Fregosi convinced him to play winter league ball and develop a screwball and changeup.  As mentioned before, Clyde was an All-Star in 1970, the same year he threw a no-hitter. Finishing the season with 22 Wins set the Angels franchise win record for a left hander, only tied once by Nolan Ryan in 1974. His efforts earned him the American League Comeback Player of the Year Award in 1970.

Since retiring from baseball Clyde opened the Clyde Wright Pitching School in Anaheim, California and he is a fixture at Angel Stadium.

As an Angel Alumni, Clyde took part in the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Angels franchise. The Angels have former alumni coming to each game to throw out the ceremonial first pitch with a golden ball embossed with the anniversary logo. After the pitch the alumni proceed to sign an autograph for some lucky fans. I was lucky enough to get his autograph and it's a beauty.

Thanks "Skeeter" for being so consistently great for signing autographs to Angel fans. It's nice to know some players/alumni appreciate the fans and will sign.

RBI (6) I better keep the blog from going wayward...

And get back to talking about a cards with one from Heyward. That's right folks today as I was getting ready to leave for work I heard a few rings on my doorbell. I went to the door to see who it was, and it was my friendly neighborhood spider...I mean mailman. I was a bit surprised to see him as I hadn't ordered anything that I could think of when he handed me a small bubble package to sign for. I signed, went to the counter and popped it open it by pleasantly surprised.

If you've been keeping up and remember my very first pack ever was a Bowman Platinum that contained a wonderful Mike Trout autographed refractor. Well the second pack was pretty nifty too, you see it contained this weird little card inside.

I logged onto the Topps site and filled out the redemption information and proceeded to mainly forget about it since the site informed me it expected delivery in mid-June. Well here we are in the first week of May and the mailman delivered this!

Yup that would be an Jason Heyward autographed refractor with a game worn Jersey relic numbered 53/740. I'm not very well versed in Braves gear so I'd appreciate anyone who could help me identify what it came off of. Jason Heyward's autograph is definitely a crown jewel within my collection. To say I got lucky with my first blaster of Bowman Platinum is an understatement.

Heyward is a talent very similar to the other outfielder I pulled in the blaster, by that I mean a future franchise cornerstone. Named the 2009 Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America and USA Today, and was the consensus number one prospect in all of baseball coming into the 2010 season.

Heyward was known for strong plate discipline and delivering towering home runs and demonstrated both when he joined the major league club.  During the Braves 2010 Spring Training a Heyward homer broke the sun roof of Braves Assistant GM Bruce Manno and David O'Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Manager Bobby Cox said the Braves would most likely install nets to protect the cars from $3,400 dollar damage estimates like Manno's.

When he began the season as the starting right fielder for the Braves he was assumed to be a lock for National League Rookie of the Year honors. He further fanned the flames of hype when he homered in his first Major League at bat off Carlos Zombrano. For his efforts he was elected a starter for the 2010 All-Star game, but due to a thumb injury that began to hamper his season did not play. He finished the season with only a .277 avg but a staggering .393 OBP in 142 games. His power numbers flashed with his 18 Home Runs, 5 Triples, and 29 Doubles with his 11 steals. Despite his strong numbers he was out shined for NL Rookie of the Year honors by fellow Georgian Buster Posey who ran away in the second half leading a resurgent Giants club to steal the NL West from the Padres in the final game of the season and eventually win the 2010 World Series.

In 2011 Heyward started the season the same way as 2010 and went deep off Livian Hernandez in his first at bat of the season and is helping the Braves stay in the hunt for the NL East title. In 32 games he is batting only .241 but again with a high on base percentage reaching at strong .346 clip. When he is connecting he's muscling the ball very well and has 7 Home Runs, a triple, and 4 Doubles.  While he isn't hitting for average so long as he keeps being a constant long ball threat and taking walks, it's highly unlikely many in the Braves organization will complain about having a Gold Glove All Star in the organization.

You can follow Jason Heyward @JasonHeyward on twitter at http://twitter.com/jasonheyward

RBI (5) At a trading post like a gypsy...

So today is a bit off track from the format the blog is going to normally follow. Mainly because I was out picking up shaving cream after running out this morning and seeing a "Gems Of the Game" box off to the side of the checkout stand as if some kid couldn't convince his parents to buy it, but didn't want to take it back to the rack. While waiting in line I picked it up to see what it contained and was intrigued by the prospect of a graded card being inside along with a plethora of random packs. Needless to say I added it to my purchase. So instead of the normal summary I give I'll just be posting some of the cooler cards, and no offense to the cards but they're all up for trade.

First up is the card that first intrigued me to buy the box. The graded card.

It's a 2006 Topps Mantle Home Run History Card, Home Run #170. And it's graded to be a 9 by Global. I think it's a fairly cool looking card of Mantle, and it being graded is just kinda nifty. Not exactly what I was hoping to pull, but I could have done far worse.

One of the packs inside was a weird one I hadn't heard of yet, a Goodwin Champions 2009 pack. Inside was a cool looking Justin Morneau, an Upper deck insert featuring Alex Rodriguez, and these two minis. I'm a big fan of minis so personally the money spent for the minis and Mantle was worth it just so I could get it out of my system.

The Manning is a black border with Gypsy Queen on the back. With the current Gypsy Queen set dominating the blogosphere I was wondering what all the hype was about. Reading about the price practices some hobby shops and internet retailers were using didn't really have me running around trying to track them down. Landing one randomly while out on some errands was pretty nice and I've got to admit now I understand the hype. I wish the Manning mini had been maybe baseball related, but if I had to get a non-related card his isn't one I mind.

Sometimes when I read about the other local team, the Dodgers, I forget how young Clayton Kershaw actually is. It was easy to see though considering this 2007 Tristar isn't very old and he doesn't look all that much different now than then. It may be a bit Loon-y but I think it's a nice addition (bad joke I know). 

And while I'm talking about random I finally was going through my Topps 2011 Heritage and was trying to figure out what was a short print. Now if I'm right and know how to read the annoyingly confusing 2011 Heritage SP guidelines these are the #473 and #478 short prints. I know there are a few readers who collect the set and I thought I'd post these two as long as I was in a Gypsy trading mood while writing. And needless to say the cards look cut on the side, they aren't it's just how they lined up on the scanner. I'll send perfect scans if anyone is interested.

 It wouldn't take much to get pretty much any of the cards posted today. To be honest I'm starting to get a lot of Upper Deck and I'm not overly in love with them and prefer Topps. Perhaps I'll post the lot of them sometime soon so someone can take them off my hands. Leave a comment and/or shoot me an email at RJWritings At Gmail Dot Com

RBI (4) A speedy return from a speedy Petey

Well while the Angels are on the road in Boston I think it's a good time to bring up my first TTM success. On April 19, 2011 I popped a few letters in the mail, but I was most anxious over the one to my favorite Angel on the roster. This is a player with not only more nicknames than the average player, but pretty awesome ones. I'm referring of course to Peter Bourjos aka "Gorgeous Bourjos", "Speedy Petey", "PB n' J", and "Peter Rabbit".

Bourjos was the Angels' 10th round selection in the 2005 draft and has proven to be quite the prize for the Angels scouting department.

When he initially came up with the club in 2010 some were concerned over moving 9-time Gold Glover Torii Hunter to right field, but Bourjos' play is absolutely stellar and he has quieted all those concerned. Baseball America has ranked Bourjos as the Angels "Best Defensive Outfielder" as well as "Fastest Baserunner" and he has already accumulated an impressive highlight reel of would be doubles turned into outs. Despite being known mainly for his speed, Bourjos proved his arm is also an asset and has provided 10 Outfield Assists.

In 2010 Bourjos played in 51 games and had only a .204 avg over 181 at-bats with 40 strikeouts. However he showed signs of making the proper adjustments toward the end of the season and his average began to climb while he used his speed and surprising power to hit 6 Home Runs, 6 Doubles, and 4 Triples with 10 Steals.

Despite the addition of Toronto Blue Jays Gold Glove center fielder Vernon Wells the Angels kept Bourjos with the Major League club as the starting center fielder. I decided that my first batch of TTM attempts would have to include the speedy youngster and I sent a letter as well as two cards to him. Bourjos kept with his fast play and in only 8 Days I was opening my mailbox to find the 2010 Bowman Platinum Rookie Card I sent signed "Pete Bourjos 25".

Building off the 2010 success Bourjos is batting .297 with 2 Home Runs,  5 Doubles, and 4 Triples with 3 Steals in only 29 games. In the April 26, 2011 game against Oakland, Peter tied the Angels franchise record for triples in a game with 2. Despite a few errors initially as he adjusted to being flanked by two Gold Glovers he is learning to field the position well at the Major League level and continues to add to his reputation as one of the best new out fielders in the game. Without a doubt he's going to be a top competitor for the Rawlings Gold Glove in Center Field for years to come. Here's one image of his slick fielding on the second card he signed, his 2011 Topps card.

Peter Bourjos signed these two cards sent to him at Angel Stadium along with a letter asking him a few questions, which wasn't included in the return envelope. I just mailed out my thank you letter to him, sorry Pete, but I wasn't able to pick up stamps quite as fast as I wanted to but I appreciate your autograph.  

You can follow Peter Bourjos @pbourjos on twitter at http://twitter.com/pbourjos

RBI (3) Before the Buzzer?

Okay okay, there's no buzzer in baseball (unless Joe West is calling your game and you play for the Red Sox), but I had some technical difficulties and almost wasn't able to make a post today.

Continuing with the goodies found at the Angel Yard Sale I'll switch gears a bit and go to a subject very familiar to the readers of this blog, cards. I was able to purchase 2 Topps 2007 Series 2 Bonus Boxes with 11 packs of 6 cards, and 2 Upper Deck 2008 Series 1 boxes with 75 cards per box PLUS a 3 card superstar pack. The grand total for all four nifty little finds? 4 dollars. While I'll likely put up some of the cards I like from the packs, there is one that absolutely must be highlighted.

Buried for 4 years in the storerooms of Angel Stadium was this ironic beauty.

I'm going to have to take it as a continued blessing by the Angels for this blog despite the slight reservations Tom of The Angels, In Order has due to the purity of my support to the Angels as a Red Sox fan. And to answer a question a few people have already asked, yes I did take the photo used as my header at the 2010 All-Star Game, and I did so in a Dustin Pedroia jersey. But to be fair I wore my Angels jersey to the Celebrity Softball Game/All-Star Workout Day.

But back to the card. It's a nice Angels team card Gold Parallel #1374/2007 that has me smiling for a few reasons. The location I purchased the card from makes it pretty cool already, but I like the little things about baseball. For instance while waiting in line to go to the sale a few people noticed some John Lackey left over items being set up for sale, and the employees were booed for bringing them out by the crowd. Who led the team in ERA in 2006 according to this card? Current Red Sox pitcher John Lackey.

Keeping with the Red Sox theme, apparently if you look closely to the back of the card, the Angels finished in the same division. Yup, just for Topps/to confound my loyalties even more, the Angels finished 2nd in the AL East.

This incarnation of the Angels went on to win the AL West with a 94-68 record only to be swept in the American League Division Series by....yes readers, you guessed it. The Boston Red Sox. Here's a photo I took at the series clinching ALDS Game 3, and yes once again I was in Red Sox gear. It was nice to see one of my favorite pitchers ever, Curt Schilling, pitch a gem, while Jered Weaver took the loss after a pair of homers given up to David Ortiz and Manny Rameriz.

If memory serves me right, after sweeping the Angels the Red Sox went on to win the 2007 World Series. I'm fairly certain that happened, but I'll have to double check the photo I took while at Game 1 of the World Series where the Rockies were trounced by the Sox before eventually being swept.

But I'm getting away from the real purpose of this post. The card. It's a pretty nifty pull especially coming from Angel Stadium itself so many years later, so it's pretty gratifying to add it to the collection. It's nice to see a few players still with the team pictured such as a young Weaver pictured next to Lackey in the top row, and Erick Aybar wearing his old number 32. I sure do love having team cards, perhaps I should include a few future posts with a little more about them...

Weekly Rundown 1- Angels April Summary

Well April is officially over and today is the first day of May. Angel fans happily are winding their weekend down with the knowledge that their team starts the month tied for 1st in the American League West while the Red Sox remain in the AL East cellar at 5th.

The Angels went 14-12 with a 6-6 home record and a 8-6 road record. Jered Weaver and Dan Haren led the club with 5 and 4 respective wins, while rookie Jordan Walden took over closing duties from Fernando Rodney and went a perfect 4 for 4 in Save opportunities.

Rodney ended April with the same woes as he began it with taking the Loss against Tampa Bay to drop his record to 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA after opening the month with a Blown Save against Kansas City. Despite picking up an errant Save and 3 Holds, Rodney continues to allow too many base runners with 8 Walks and 6 Hits given up in 11 appearances.

The Angel line up continues to have massive ups and downs with Maicer "Mighty Mouse" Izturis leading the club with a .314 average over 21 games followed by Peter Bourjos at .309 in 27 games. Howie Kendrick is hitting a robust .306 with a club leading 6 Home Runs in 27 games. Kendrick is tied for 2nd in RBI's behind rookie Mark Trumbo's 13, but even more importantly Kendrick is not only hitting homers but also has 11 walks good for 3rd on the club giving him an outstanding .380 OBP.

While the youth movement is helping the club rack up the wins Angel veterans continue to struggle. Torii Hunter is ending the month with some signs of life in the last week but sits on a .214 average going 22/103 for the month with 10 Walks vs 26 Strikeouts. Hunter's problems are only slightly lessened when compared to teammate Vernon Wells who is batting .171 after going 18/105 with only 5 Walks and an alarming 21 K's. With both veterans batting in the 4-6 hole the Angels will need Hunter/Wells to figure out someway to improve their approach at the plate if the Angels are to maintain their success.

Catcher Jeff Mathis is hitting only .180 while rookie Hank Conger continues to provide offense with 2 Home Runs and a .273 average in 14 games apiece. If not for the success of the pitching staff and manager Mike Scioscia's preference for his experience handling them Mathis could feel a serious pinch to his playing time.

Kendrys Morales the slugging first baseman has still yet to see playing time and has seen yet another specialist in his rehab on his journey to return to active playing time. Morales would provide a much needed power threat to the line up, but his return could provide some issues as far as keeping hitters in the line up with rookie Mark Trumbo performing well at first and DH Bobby Abreu leading the team in walks and OBP at a .400 clip.

The Angels travel to Boston and then return home for Cleveland this week and will have a serious test to their position atop the AL West after being swept by the Red Sox at home and the Indians sporting the American League's best record at 19-8. With ace Jered Weaver losing 9 pounds due to a stomach virus and missing his first scheduled start of May, the Angels will need their veterans to provide steady leadership and hope the return of Joel Pinero will provide the boost needed to pull away from their tie with the Rangers.

Big Thanks to Tom from The Angels, In Order for the cards featured in this post.