Excellent Season Ends In Disappointment

I've watched more than 120 Angels' games this season, and I noticed that the team who showed up in the playoffs was not the same team I had watched during the regular season.  Once the calendar rolled over to October, the team who won had 100 games in a season full of clutch hits, steady defense, and smart, aggressive base running was replaced by a team so tense that if you shoved a hunk of coal up their butt they'd have crapped out a diamond.  Second baseman Howie Kendrick looked over matched in each of his at-bats, and on the field he looked apprehensive.  The biggest example of this was during Game 3 when he and Torii Hunter watched as Jacob Ellsbury's weak pop-up fell in for a 3 run single.  Game 4 was exactly what most people thought it was going to be; a pitcher's duel that came down to one or two crucial plays.  Actually, there were two situations that were pivotal in this game:

1. Top of the ninth inning, pinch-runner Reggie Willits on third, one out, and Erick Aybar at the plate.  After two pitches that were nowhere near the plate, both being thrown inside to the left-hand hitting Aybar, Angels' manager Mike Scioscia calls for the suicide squeeze.  I think the Sox were looking for the squeeze and that is why they were pitching Aybar so far inside.  The third pitch, also way inside, was missed by Aybar's bunt attempt and Willits was tagged out by Boston's catcher, Jason Varitek.  Obviously, if the play had worked I wouldn't be writing about Scoiscia's decision to put the squeeze play on.  He would have looked like a genius, and the Angels and Red Sox would probably still be playing.  In my opinion, I would have had Aybar take a pitch after the first two pitches missed the plate.  If the third pitch to Aybar was a called strike, then try the squeeze on the next pitch, but if its ball 3 (like it was) Aybar is in a better position to get a pitch he could handle and possibly get the ball out of the infield.  If he walks, Figgins would be batting and the squeeze play would still be an opinion.
2. Bottom of the ninth inning, Jason Bay on second, 2 outs and Jed Lowrie at the plate.  When watching this situation develop, I was surprised that Shields was left in the game to face Lowrie.  But when I started looking into it, I found that switch-hitting Lowrie hit over 100 points less as a left-handed batter than he did hitting right-handed (.222 LH, .338 RH) during the season.  Was leaving Shields in to face Lowrie the right decision?  Shields had pitched the 8th; easily striking out both David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis, and then striking out J.D. Drew to lead off the 9th, but he had already thrown 24 pitches Monday and 28 pitches the night before.  The other right-hand opinions in the Angels' pen were Frankie Rodriguez, Jose Arredondo (who had already thrown in the previous 3 games), rookie Kevin Jepsen, and Jered Weaver.  So, to answer my question...yes, leaving Shields in to face Lowrie was the right decision.  You have to give credit to Lowrie as he was able to do what the Angels' hitters couldn't, get a clutch hit to win the game.

It was definitely a disappointing end to an excellent season.

Daily Notes:

• As it comes as no surprise, the Angel players are angry, mad, and frustrated.  Its interesting to note that some of the players are questioning Scoiscia's decision to squeeze in the 9th.
• I've started working on some off-season projects, the first of which is a look at the Angels 2009 roster and player salaries.  Owner Arte Moreno has stated that he'd like the payroll to remain the same as the 2008 amount, roughly $120M, but would be willing to go higher for the right player(s).  Other topics for the off-season are free agent signings, a look at past Angel teams (such as the 1978 team), a season review, and possibly some "where are they now" stories.