ALDS Game 2 - Angels vs. Red Sox

The Angels play what some call a "must win" game tonight against Boston.  While I don't think things are that dire, a loss tonight would seriously dampen the Halo's chances of advancing to the ALCS.  The main thing the Angels need to do tonight that they didn't do on Wednesday is...win.  How are they going to do that you ask?  How about by scoring more runs than the Red Sox.  Okay, don't start calling me "Captain Obvious" just yet, I'm just messing around.  What the Angels need to do tonight is relax.  Although it goes against the team's "normal" plan of attack, the hitters need to be patient at the plate.  Okay, maybe "patient" is the wrong word.  How about being more "selective".  Take some pitches that are out of the zone and make Matsuzaka throw strikes.  Work the count in the hitter's favor.  If Dice-K is throwing first-pitch strikes, then by all means swing, but don't swing just for the sake of being aggressive.  Dice-K led all pitchers in the American League in walks issued this season, and he did that in just over 167 innings.  Let him put guys on base and then make them pay.  While reading this article in the L.A. Times, Angels' hitting coach Mickey Hatcher states, "What good does it do you to take the first pitch," he said, "if that's the only one you can hit?"  WTF?!?  No one's suggesting the Angel hitters stand there and take 3 pitches down the middle, but what's wrong with being selective?  What does he want the Angel hitters do, strike out on a pitch that bounced in front of the plate like Erick Aybar did in Game One because he's being aggressive?  Is that being aggressive or just bad? 

Another thing they can do is get an attitude.  This team had the best record in baseball - act like it.  While watching Wednesday's game, the Angels looked timid.  Almost frightened.  Remember the mantra, "We Don't Take No Mess!"  Put Reggie Willits in the lead-off spot and when he comes to the plate in the first inning he should walk right up to Varitek and bitch-slap him.  Okay, that might be taking things a bit too far, but you get my point.  Show them you have some balls.  Have some swagger, you're the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for God's sake!

I'm not going to rail on about the TBS announcers again, I think I got my point across in my last post.  One thing I do want to clear up though is my comment about TBS's Jim McKay wannabe, Craig Segar.  In my post I had a typo.  I had wrote he had "rod kill" on his head when I was referring to his toupee.  Obviously I meant "road kill".  "Rod kill" would be a fish, and although a dead mackerel would probably look 100% better than the raccoon he sported Wednesday night, I wanted to clear that up. 

Game 2 ALDS Thursday October 3rd, 6:30pm at Anaheim

	vs.
Daisuke Matsuzaka		Ervin Santana

Ervin Santana - Season

Career vs Boston

The above stats for Santana are over his career against the Red Sox and may be misleading as Ervin didn't face the Sox in 2008.  His 2008 season was completely different than his previous seasons, as he was able to stay consistent throughout the season at home and on the road.  Its been written that Santana has always had #1 stuff, and this year he proved it.  He'd easily be the best starting pitcher on most clubs.

Daisuke Matsuzaka - Season

In Dice-K's only start in 2008 against the Halos in Anaheim, he lasted just 5 innings, giving up 7 hits including home runs to Torii Hunter and Casey Kotchman.  That's the good news.  The bad news is during the second half of 2008, Matsuzaka was 9-0 with a 2.37 ERA on the road.

Career vs Angels

Daily Notes:

• Okay, I know this is an Angels blog, but I have to mention something about the Dodgers.  Up until I was about 10 years-old, all I knew about baseball was the Dodgers since they were my dad's team.  So, while I don't like them, I do have a small interest in them.  And what they're doing to the Cubs is amazing.  They are completely dominating them with both pitching and hitting.  I think Manny Ramirez is a dick, but you've got to give him credit for what he's brought to the Dodgers.  They look like a totally different team than they did earlier this season.  And look like they might be hard to beat.
• Angels' owner Arte Moreno was quoted in the L.A. Times that he'd be willing to expand the 2009 payroll beyond the 2008 amount "for the right players".  I thought it was interesting that he'd be willing to expand the payroll based on this season's post-season's revenue.  Moreno said a team can net an additional $18 million to $20 million in revenue if it reaches the World Series and plays close to the maximum number of games.  $18 to $20 million?  Sounds like one year of Mark Teixeira, or CC Sabathia, or...Manny Ramirez?  Don't barf, think what ManRam would do to the Angels line-up.  With the Angels already commited to chasing Teix and Sabathia, the extra cash from increasing the payroll and adding post-season revenue (if there is any), would be enough to add another big bat.  And just look at what Manny's done for the Dodgers.
• Two of my kids will be at Game 2.  Lucky brats (just kidding, I love you and enjoy the game!)