Kuzul

Sunday afternoon’s game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago White Sox may have had no bearing on the playoffs, but it was certainly historic in nature.

In the first inning, right fielder Bobby Abreu stepped to the plate and hit his 40th double of the season, marking the fifth time in his career that he has surpassed 20 HR, 20 SB, and 40 doubles. No other player in Major League history has reached this trifecta more than three times.

It’s an extraordinary achievement for Abreu, who continues to provide speed, power, and timely hitting at the age of 36.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the Angels, who eventually lost 4-3 to complete the sweep of the weekend series by the White Sox.

Halos manager Mike Scioscia started four rookies in this game, who combined for five hits, four strikeouts, and two errors. Both errors were committed by rookie shortstop Andrew Romine, playing in just his second big league game.

One of his errors was a pop-up that he lost in the sun, leading to a costly unearned run that denied starter Jered Weaver a chance at his 14th victory of the season.

Rookie catcher Hank Conger collected two hits and an RBI and continues to look more comfortable behind the plate; as Scioscia ponders the future catching prospects, Conger is certainly not hurting his cause during his September evaluation.

Sunday was Family Day at Angels Stadium, and although the team lost, Weaver was impressed with what he saw.

“Things aren’t always going to go your way with things like that,” said Weaver. “But this time of the year, when the playoff chances are done, it’s fun to give those guys a chance. I was one of those young guys at one time, and I was just itching to get out there too.

“It’s fun to see those guys work. But you know they’ve got some pressure on them too.”

With the Angels out of playoff contention and playing out the string, the rookies should get more opportunities to show their worth over the last week of the season, and Scioscia will be watching.

“We had a lot of young guys on that field, and there’s going to be some growing pains. I think we saw them this afternoon,” Scioscia said. “[But] they need to get into a major league game. It’s important for their growth.

“All the stuff that separates the major leagues from triple A, those guys need to experience it. See how their talent plays and move forward.”

For continuing Angels coverage, follow Doug on Twitter, @Sports_A_Holic.

You can also follow Doug’s featured articles at Green Celebrity Network.

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In a much publicized battle of the aces, Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Dan Haren matched Seattle Mariners ace Felix Hernandez pitch for pitch. Neither backed down.

After the two aces hit the showers, Seattle capitalized, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to defeat the Angels, 3-1.

For seven innings, Haren and Hernandez gave the crowd at Safeco Field an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel, tossing goose eggs until both tired after seven innings. Haren scattered seven hits and struck out eight, throwing 110 pitches, while Hernandez threw a gem of his own, giving up just three hits and striking out eight, throwing 103 pitches.

In the top of the eighth, the Angels scratched across a run. After Peter Bourjos struck out swinging, Alberto Callaspo doubled to left. Howie Kendrick then laced a double to left field, the ball bouncing into the stands for a ground-rule double, plating Callaspo with the game’s first run.

Bobby Abreu was then intentionally walked, putting runners on first and second. Torii Hunter ended the threat, grounding into a double play to end the inning.

Seattle answered in the bottom of the frame, and then some. Kevin Jepsen (2-4) replaced Haren on the mound. After Franklin Guitierrez struck out swinging, Russell Branyan walked. Matt Tuiasosopo pinch ran for Branyan, and was moved to third on a Jose Lopez single to center.

Casey Kotchman then walked, loading the bases for Michael Saunders. Saunders delivered with a single to center, scoring Tuiasosopo and evening the game at 1-1. Adam Moore followed with a broken bat single just over the reach of Howie Kendrick, scoring Lopez, and Josh Wilson followed suit, singling to center to score Kotchman.

Mariners closer David Aardsma came on to put down the Angels in the top of the ninth, earning his 26th save of the season.

Brandon League (9-6) got the win, despite giving up the first and only run to the Angels.

The Angels will look to take the rubber match of the three-game series on Wednesday night, sending Trevor Bell (1-4, 5.07 ERA) to the hill versus the Mariners’ Jason Vargas (9-7, 3.53 ERA).

You can contact Doug on Twitter, @desertdesperado.

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On the homemade page-of-the-day calendar that I made my wife as a Christmas present, today’s page reads as follows:

“On this date in 2006, Bobby Abreu was traded by the Philadelphia Phillies to the New York Yankees for, well, not much. Although the deal was heavily criticized at the time, the Phillies have since enjoyed the winningest period in their history, winning three division titles, making two trips to the World Series, and winning the 2008 World Championship.

“More relevantly, it was the day we moved to Philadelphia.”

For Philadelphia fans, that day meant the end of the misery known as Bobby Abreu, Philadelphia Phillie.

What only fans who watched him day in and day out could appreciate was that Abreu, while accumulating impressive numbers in the home runs, stolen bases, and bases on balls departments, could be a spectacularly bad fielder and could, at times, give the impression of not trying all that hard.

Or so I’ve been told. Frankly, I thought the move had been a mistake. I was wrong.

The Phillies have had no regrets.

If that day marked the end of the Bobby Abreu Era in Philadelphia, it also marked the end of the Chancey family’s own personal hell, a hell that had begun 11 months earlier with Hurricane Katrina.

As we loaded our moving van four years ago today, I was reminded of the one thing my wife and I told each other just before we evacuated the City of New Orleans with my mother and brother in tow and with the massive hurricane looming in the Gulf of Mexico:

No regrets.

We had lots of choices to make that day: whether to leave, when to go, where to go, and how to get there. We had three choices of places to evacuate to because we had people waiting for us in Dallas, Texas, Tallahassee, Florida, and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

We had no idea what lay ahead of us, and so we thought it was important that we not end up playing the “what if?” game should things turn out poorly for us.

And so we didn’t. No regrets.

What followed that evacuation, of course, was the worst natural disaster—from a financial perspective—in United States history. The Chancey family spent a brief couple of months as nomads-turned-squatters before ending up in Alexandria, Virginia just in time for Thanksgiving and the longest, most dreary winter these New Orleans folks had ever endured.

We spent roughly a year feeling out of place and out of touch, feeling as though our world had been turned upside down and we had no control over it. Don’t get me wrong: Alexandria, Virginia is a lovely place, but we didn’t chose to live there, and it wasn’t home to us.

And so it was that eight months, a law school graduation and a job offer later, that we found ourselves in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As we arrived with a moving van full of stuff we’d found on craigslist over the previous year, we looked at each other, and one truth became astonishingly clear.

For the first time since the hurricane had forced us from New Orleans, we were once again in control of our own destiny. We were back on track.

We were finally home.

So, too, did the Philadelphia Phillies finally come home that day in July, 2006.  

As it turns out, the Chancey family had moved to Philadelphia on the very day that the Phillies became a National League dynasty, and the ride has been nothing short of magical.  

After trading away Bobby Abreu (I’ll never forget my first ever purchase of the Philadelphia Inquirer , which featured a column titled “Wait ’till the Year After Next”), the Phillies went on an improbable run, and Ryan Howard won the NL MVP on the strength of matching Jimmie Foxx’s record for home runs by a Philadelphian with 58.

The following year Jimmy Rollins told the world that the Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East and then backed it up, winning his own NL MVP on the strength of becoming the fourth player ever with 20 doubles, 20 triples, 20 home runs, and 20 stolen bases.

I believe it was Shane Victorino’s grand slam against C.C. Sabathia in the 2008 NLDS, two batters after Brett Myers’ Epic Walk, when I started saying “we” when referring to the Philadelphia Phillies. The Phils got us a world championship that year and then went to the World Series again the following year.

To tell you the truth, I have no problem whatsoever considering the Phillies’ run to be my own personal reward for past ills suffered, both the acute trauma of Hurricane Katrina as well as the chronic lifetime condition of being a Chicago Cubs fan.

As I’ve said in the past, if you spent your life rooting for the Cubs and then moved to a new city and the team in that city suddenly started going to the World Series every year, you’d switch allegiances too.

And so it continues.

Tonight, on the fourth anniversary of Bobby Abreu’s departure from Philadelphia, the Phillies are two days into the tenure of Domonic Brown, the player we hope will be the next Phillies superstar. Meanwhile, newly acquired Roy Oswalt takes his first turn in the Phillies’ rotation against our NL East neighbors to the south, the Washington Nationals.

Will this be the beginning of a third run to the World Series? Will Oswalt and Brown be the pieces we need to win our second championship in three years?

We’ll see.

For my part, I could not be more pleased with this team or this city.  

Becoming a Philadelphian has meant, to me, making “Our Nation’s first…” jokes (this is the site of our Nation’s first microwave dinner, etc.), figuring out where the best cheesesteaks really are, and making fun of people who take their picture in front of the Rocky statue.

Meanwhile, my wife, my kids, and I have found ourselves in a wonderful West Philadelphia neighborhood surrounded by the best group of friends we could have ever hoped for, living a life I don’t think we could have imagined four years ago.

True to our word, we have no regrets.  

As one of my favorite movie lines goes, I’d rather be with the people of Philadelphia than with the finest people in the world.

As for the Phillies, it’s been a great run, and while all good things must come to an end, I hope that this Phillies run doesn’t end for a long, long time.  

It is crazy to think it all started by trading away what appeared to be their best player, but here we are. Now, as we watch Roy Oswalt take what we hope will be the first step towards our next World Series appearance, hopefully a couple of months from now the Phillies will be able to look back on this deal and, once again, have no regrets.

Asher B. Chancey lives in Philadelphia and is a co-founder of BaseballEvolution.com .

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This article is a look at the fascinating numbers, unexpected performances, and season projections from the first half of Major League baseball’s 109th season. 

.454 – Josh Hamilton’s batting average in the month of June.

18 – Days the NL West leading San Diego Padres have spent out of first place. Since April 19, they have been in first place for 70 out of 74 days.

82 – The number of All-Stars this season. 

.143/.238/.286 – All-Star David Ortiz’s batting line in April. Since May 1 it is .297/.420/.630

103 – Projected wins for baseball’s top team, the New York Yankees.

52-110 – Win/loss pace of the Baltimore Orioles after they ended the first half on a four game win streak. 

17 for 30 – The success rate of Oriole closers this year.

24 – Number of losses separating the Pittsburgh Pirates from their 18th consecutive losing season.  This would extend their own dubious, American professional sports record.

135 – League leading number of home runs smashed by the Toronto Blue Jays thus far (19 more then second place Boston).  The 1997 Seattle Mariners hold the single-season record with 264 home runs.  The Blue Jays could easily have eight players hit 20 or more home runs.  That would also be a major league record.

97-63 – The record of the NL East leading Atlanta Braves since they traded Jeff Francouer on July 10, 2009.

9.5 – Number of games out of first place the Chicago White Sox were on June 9.  Thirty-two days later, on the last day of the the season’s first half, they moved into first place in the AL Central. 

.990 – Tigers’ rookie sensation Brennen Boesch’s OPS.  This would be the highest OPS posted by a rookie since some guy named Albert Pujols in 2001.  Giants rookie Buster Posey, who does not yet have enough plate appearances to qualify, currently has a .959 OPS.

4.46 – Runs per game during the season thus far, which would be the lowest since 1992.  1992 is also the most recent year with a ERA lower than this season’s 4.16.

7  – Combined number of games separating first from second for the three divisions in both the American and National League. 

4.5 games – The largest division lead in baseball; held by the surprising Texas Rangers.

28 – Ubaldo Jimenez’s projected win total, which would be the highest total since Denny McLain famously won 31 games in 1968. 

16 – Wins for the Atlanta Braves in their final at-bat.  (Read about them here —warning shameless self-promotion contained within)

2112 – League high number of pitches thrown by Diamondbacks ace Dan Haren.

16.8 – Strikeout per nine rate of Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol.

12 – The number of teams with payrolls lower than this year’s combined salaries of Alex Rodriguez (33m), Derek Jeter (22.6m), and Mark Teixeira (20.6m).  The division leading Rangers, Padres and the wild-card leading Tampa Bay Rays are among them.

148 – Projected RBI total for Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera.

5.3 – Wins above replacement (WAR) of Justin Morneau, the highest in baseball during the first half.  Josh Johnson and Roy Halladay lead all pitchers with a WAR of 4.9 each. 

-1.7 – Pedro Feliz’s wins above replacement and the worst in all of baseball.

72.9mph – Average speed of Tim Wakefield’s pitches, the lowest in baseball.  Jamie Moyer’s pitches are 8.1 mph faster.

11 – Number of times the Cleveland Indians have drawn fewer then 12,000 fans this year.  They are last in the league in attendance.

8 – Number of home runs Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista has already exceeded his career-high by (24 to 16).   

15.167 – Cliff Lee’s strikeout to walk ratio.  The record is 11.0, set by Bret Saberhagen in 1994.

3 – Home runs Alex Rodriguez needs to hit in the second half to join Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Sammy Sosa and Ken Griffey Jr. in the 600 home run club. 

.152 – Carlos Pena’s batting average if you subtract his 18 home runs from his hit total.  He’s hitting .203 this year with a .738 OPS. 

20,500 – Average increase in attendance for the Washington Nationals during Stephan Strasburg’s five home starts. 

61 – The highest number of strikeouts for any pitcher on the Washington Nationals.  The pitcher leading the team—Steven Strasburgh (a feat accomplished in only 42 2/3 innings).

26 – Number of players who have already stolen 15 or more bases in 2010. 

278 – League leading number of outs produced by the Mariner’s Jose Lopez (Derek Jeter is second with 276 outs).  

1.055/.799 – Adrian Gonzalez’s home/road OPS split in the first half.  For his career Gonzalez has produced an OPS 152 points higher on the road than at Petco Park.  Somebody needs to rescue this guy and allow him to be recognized as the major star he is.

1.29 – Josh Johnson’s ERA since his third start of the season, a span of 16 starts. 

10 – Seasons Mariano Rivera will have recorded a sub-2.00 ERA if he maintains his 1.05 ERA.

15.9 – Percentage of pitches Bobby Abreu has swung at outside of the strike zone.  The percentage makes Abreu the hitter with the best batting eye in the game. 

.071 – The National League’s batting average against Ubaldo Jimenez’s fastball.

9,000,000 – Number of dollars the normally cash-strapped Tampa Rays are paying Pat Burrell not to play for them this season. 

103.5 – Percentage of seats sold at Philadelphia Phillie home games this season. I’m not sure how this is possible. 

228 – Mark Reynolds’ projected season strikeout total after fanning 122 times in the first half.  This total would break Reynolds’ own record of 223, set just last year, and give Reynolds 663 strikeouts in the last three seasons. That’s more then Albert Pujols has in his entire career.

74 plus playoffs (if applicable) – Number of games left in the career of Hall of Fame Braves manager, Bobby Cox.  Cox has announced this will be his final season on the bench.  He is baseball’s longest tenured manager at 21 years.

3 – Number of perfect games we should acknowledge and remember as being hurled in first half of 2010.

Also if you had the Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds, and San Diego Padres leading their divisions at the midway point of the season, please post some stock picks in the comments, you’re a prophet.

Thanks for reading.  Enjoy the second half.

Please feel free to post one of the thousands of other fascinating stats from the first half which I overlooked.

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It was nice while it lasted, Angels fans.

With the stunning acquisition of Cliff Lee by the Texas Rangers from AL West rival Seattle, it is time for the Angels to cut their losses and let the fire sale begin.

Not only should this be the nail in the coffin for the Angels, but maybe for the rest of baseball as well. Texas just assured themselves not only a trip to the playoffs, but a real chance to take it all.

Angels fans, don’t feel bad.

Three years in a row was a good run, but now the Angels have a chance to heal, re-tool and try to come up with a plan for next season.

The following players need to be sold to the highest bidder in the next three weeks: Brian Fuentes, Fernando Rodney, Scott Kazmir, Mike Napoli, Brandon Wood (if someone would be willing to give us a fungo bat for him), Bobby Abreu, Hideki Matsui, and Torii Hunter.

Get on it Tony Reagins, and make sure to get a third base prospect that can actually play this time.

Those eight players account for roughly $60.1 million in payroll. None of them have a future in helping the Angels win a championship due to age, performance or injury.

The Angels should trade them all. Get at least one draft pick in each deal and completely reload the organization with talent for another decade.

The Angels should then turn around and sign $60 million in young free agents with which they can build new chemistry around their nucleus.

Congratulations to Texas on that amazing acquisition.

Angels fans can take comfort in the idea that Nolan Ryan may finally get his ring.

An entire nation, with the exception of one certain city, can take even further comfort in knowing that he didn’t go to the New York Yankees—as was reported eminent by Buster Olney of ESPN earlier in the day.

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They may have beaten Toronto to win their latest three-game series, but many of the same problems that have plagued the L.A. Angels through their first two months of the season were still evident Wednesday.

Horrible defense. Horrible bullpen. Horrible intensity.

* Juan Rivera forgets how many outs there are, and almost gets picked off in a key part of the game.

* The underachieving Howie Kendrick almost hits into a double play, when all he had to do was hit the ball in the air to win the game. The man that has been touted as the “future batting champion” for the past five years is now hitting .257.

* Bobby Abreu commits his fifth error of the year by slowing up on a fly ball to shallow right and dropping it—putting the tying run on second base in the ninth.

Let me just repeat that: Five errors in two months of playing right field. That gives him a .938 fielding percentage through 45 games—the worst among outfielders in the majors.

* Brian Fuentes ultimately blows another save—only to thieve another win away from Joel Piñeiro. 

Abreu atoned for his defensive sins with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth, which really cloaked another sloppy game for the Halos.

Here is the good news.

The Angels get to play virtually nothing but horrible teams for the next month.

The bad news is, their opponents are probably thinking they are lucky to get to play the Angels, who have now managed to pull within three games of .500.

The Angels had an unusually tough schedule to start the season. They have already played Boston, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Minnesota, St. Louis, Texas and the New York Yankees a total of 29 times in their first 49 games.

In those 29 games against contending teams, the Angels had a record of 8-21. Against all other opponents, they are an amazing 15-5.

Considering that lopsided statistic, June might be just what the doctor ordered for the Angels—a steady prescription of anemic teams to find their stroke against. In fact, their next 14 games are all against Seattle, Kansas City, and Oakland.

The only teams they will play in the next 29 games with winning records are the Dodgers, and Colorado. The Angels always play their cross-town rivals tough, and Colorado is playing at two games over .500.

The June finale will be against first place Texas before the Angels begin July with another light stretch against Kansas City, Chicago, and Oakland.

Given that schedule, don’t be shocked if you see the Angels emerge from June with a record that is at least 10 games over .500.

That being said, the Angels are going to have to beat a good team sometime. They miraculously won a three-game series against the Yankees, but wins against teams with winning records have been few, and far between this season.

Hopefully June can help them get their groove back, since they have proven they are at least still good enough to dominate second-rate ballclubs. They are going to need to find their swagger soon if they have any interest in seeing their seventh playoff appearance in nine years materialize.

Too bad they won’t get to play Kansas City if and when they get there.

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