"I Don't Take No Mess"

Torii Hunter has got to be the coolest.  "I don't take no mess".  Man, that's a classic.  Ivan Rodriquez thought he could give Hunter a little extra shove after a play at the plate during Monday night's game, but you don't screw with a guy who quotes James Brown.  Hunter gave a shove back and the throw down was on.  Video here.  "I don't take no mess" can become the rally cry the Angels should take to heart.  Led by Hunter, the Angels should play like a team who won't take any crap from anyone.  They're the best team in the American League, they should act like it.  Show some bravado, have some swagger.  Make other teams fear them, when they see the "Angels" on the upcoming schedule they should think to themselves "Oh shit!".

But then Tuesday night rolls around and the Angels face-off against another pitcher making his first major league start.  What happens?  The Halos take some mess; they get pushed around by Alfredo Aceves who held them to 5 hits over seven innings, Gary Matthews, Jr. makes a weak ass play in center, Reggie Willits muffs one in left, Johnny Damon goes yard twice, and the magic number stays at 2.  Hopefully, once the play-offs start, whoever the Angels get in the first round doesn't notice how crappy the Angels' offense does against AAA pitching.  Here's a break down:

That's a 4-0 record and a 1.85 ERA.  Not really a concern, but it makes one wonder what these rookies do that makes the Angels' bats go quiet?  Obviously, no team is going to start a pitcher making his major league debut in the play-offs, but it kind of worries me if the Halos make it to the World Series and face a National League pitcher they've never seen before.  In last night's game, Aceves retired nine of the first 10 Angels batters he faced, while not allowing a baserunner past second base until the sixth inning.  If the Angels face a Cubs pitcher such as Carlos Zambrano or Ryan Dempster, excellent pitchers who know what their doing, Aceves is going to look like Carlos Silva and the results aren't going to be pretty.  Rich Harden will be the only familiar pitcher to the Angels, but only Garrett Anderson is hitting over .300 against him.  All of this is moot since the Angels have to get past two tough A.L. teams first, but unless they get their swagger on, we fans could get treated to another early play-off exit.

Daily Notes:

• Torii Hunter left Tuesday's game in the 6th inning due to tightness in his left quadriceps.  Hunter is listed as day-to-day and Angels' manager Mike Scioscia says the injury isn't serious.  Hunter might expect to also miss some time if he is suspended after fighting with Yankees' catcher Ivan Rodriguez during Monday's game.  Rodriguez wasn't in Tuesday night's lineup because of what Yankees Manager Joe Girardi called "whiplash." Rodriguez said his neck was sore, but his feelings weren't hurt.  Someone get that guy a hanky.
• There's speculation in this article that John Lackey had a cortisone shot prior to last year's play-off start against Boston.  Lackey said, "Let's just say there were some things needed for me to get out there every five days. It's a long season, and when you throw more than 200 innings several years in a row, it adds up."  He also added that since he started the first 6 weeks of this season on the DL, he's feeling better now than at this point last year. 
• There was an interesting graphic shown during last night's game.  It said that the earliest an A.L. West team had clinched the division title was September 17th (by Oakland).  With a 16.5 game lead over second place Texas, the Angels can break that record by a week if they can finish off the Yankees and Seattle can win against the Rangers today.
• Magic number:  stuck at 2 (with 18 games remaining)