Monday, April 17, 2006

Angels Dugout Splinters

The following is an excerpt from the upcoming Dugout Splinters for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, which is included in GameDay.

What’s Not Working
At the top of the list is the insanely long name - or maybe it’s working after all. The inclusion last year of “Los Angeles” was more than just a marketing move. It was a direct challenge to the little brother/big brother relationship that the Angels and Dodgers have had in the nation’s second most populous city. The Angels aren’t just the more recent of the two to win a championship. They’ve been consistently competitive for the last five years, and are poised to continue that trend with an ambitious owner, solid management, and a stocked farm system. Meanwhile, the Dodgers fired their manager, then fired their general manager because they couldn’t agree on a new manager, and then reversed his organizational philosophy. Make no mistake; the turmoil in the Dodgers this year is a direct result of the success (and the ambition) of the Angels.

Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez left Sunday’s game with a hamstring cramp. He’s listed as day-to-day, and uber-setup man Scott Shields will likely close if he has any problems during this series.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

John -

I noticed today that if you throw out the Royals, the best team in the AL is 8-4 and the worst is 5-8. With just about everyone hovering at .500. Think that will hold up through the season?

Anonymous said...

If that is the case, then it should be a fun year.