I have yet to have any interaction with Vernon Wells (something I hope to change at spring training), but I’m liking him already.
Why?
Well, thanks to an anonymous comment on my “Welcome to Anaheim Mr. Wells” post – I learned of a funny story involving Wells and some fans heckling him in Cleveland. Check out “V-Dub: Literate and Funny” from the blog “Drunk Jays Fans.” Looks like Wells has quite …

I’m feeling like my old self today. In fact, I’ve been saying that all day long. There’s something about spring and baseball that puts a little extra pep in my step.
Face it, the Angels off season has been one of the most volatile in recent memory. I know, I ranted all the way through it. I was becoming frustrated and extremely aggravated. During that period of time I didn’t feel …

When I said I was all in on Vernon Wells, I meant it. I also knew that being “all in” also meant that I had to get to the press conference at the stadium today and I did exactly that.
I have to tell you, this is the kind of stuff I love to blog about because when it comes right down to it, I’m a fan first and I love …

It appears that the baseball experts, columnists, pundits and assorted fans are up in arms regarding the recent Vernon Wells acquisition. They’re practically falling over one another to get in line to take their shots. I’ve read or heard phrases like “worst ever,” “laughing stock” and even “speechless” used in association with the trade that sent Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera to Toronto for Vernon Wells.
How bad were the reactions? …

Vernon Wells has made his first public statement… well, he tweeted the following today “To my new home…LA! Winning is all that matters!! Let’s do this!!”
The deal is still soaking in for me. The Angels are sending a fan favorite in Mike Napoli and a tub of goo, I call Juan Rivera to Toronto in exchange for Wells.
Pundits are blasting the deal and I couldn’t be happier. You see the …

I have a really cool season ticket rep named Arthur. He’s so cool that when he read about the Mike Napoli for Vernon Wells trade on mlb.traderumors.com, he emailed me with the news. All I knew from the email was that Napoli had been traded and I had to go to mlb.tradeurmors.com for the details. The details are that Vernon Wells is coming west… to Anaheim!
My gut …

The recession must be over. It just has to be. Why else would the Angels hand Jeff Mathis a 30 per cent raise? Yeah, that’s right – the Angels came to terms with Jeff Mathis on a 2011 contract, avoiding arbitration. Mathis goes from earning $1.3 million to $1.7 million. Wait, did I say “earning?”
It’s mind boggling.
How bad is Jeff Mathis? Well, I don’t want to rehash how bad he …

Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow. I still have a bad taste in my mouth from the 2005 ALCS loss the Angels suffered to the Chicago White Sox and the 2009 ALCS loss to the New York Yankees. In each case the Angels were so close and yet so far. Sometimes there is a fine line between victory and defeat.
One play can change the momentum and ultimately the outcome …

I’m a little dizzy today and I’m not sure if it’s because of all the spin I’ve been reading about the Angels off season so far or it it’s from watching the extraordinary contracts being handed out by teams around major league baseball sky rocket out of this world.
I need to steady myself long enough to make sense of it all and while I’m at it, blog about it.
So… let’s …

The Angels went into this off season with huge needs on offense. I’m talking about holes big enough to drive a truck through. They had to find an impact bat and a leadoff hitter. They also needed to upgrade the defense (to put it mildly) in the outfield; hopefully with players that would address those offensive needs at the same time.
Arte Moreno knew it. Mike Scioscia said it. Tony Reagins …

I’ve taken a little break from ranting… er, blogging and will be back at it in the New Year. My apologies for not putting up some content in the mean time.
Hopefully, we’ll get some news about Adrian Beltre soon and hopefully, that news will be about him signing with the Angels for a reasonable amount.
If he hasnt’ signed with anyone by the time I get back to blogging, I’ll …

Cheryl and I love to eat out and we definitely have our favorites like Jongewaard’s Bake ‘N Broil in Long Beach (which I have mentioned here several times).
Another place that we have frequented from time to time over the years is Gourmet Pie and Cafe. It’s located in Los Alamitos on Katella Avenue. When I first found this little restaurant it was located in Cypress near the place where I …

On October 5, 2010 I saw a headline in the LA Times that grabbed my attention. It read “Arte Moreno is mad, and he’s going to do something about it.” It was just the kind of thing a fan and especially a season ticket holder wanted to see from the owner.
The column, written by Bill Plaschke had some interesting quotes from Moreno. Here are several of them:
First Plaschke wrote “Did …

It’s been a few days, but I’m still reeling from the Carl Crawford news.
I know I should let it go and move on because there’s plenty of off-season left, but I can’t. Here’s the thing – the way the deal went down just doesn’t sit well with me. Sean McAdam wrote a detailed accounting of how the Red Sox acquired Crawford and it doesn’t paint Tony Reagins in the best …

When the Angels failed to make the playoffs this past season we heard how upset and angry Arte Moreno was. When the Red Sox failed to make the play-offs they got busy and did something about it.
Even though opening day is months away and there is plenty of off-season left for the Angels to do something, the news coming out of Boston regarding their signing of Carl Crawford to a …

I’ve been a little under the weather lately and thus the lag on this blog. Today, I’m a little shell shocked from all the activity that took place over the weekend. I was pretty much un-plugged and disconnected all weekend and missed the news about Jayson Werth, Adrian Gonzalez, Lance Berkman, Shaun Marcum, Derek Jeter, Mark Reynolds, etc., etc.
Rather than repeat what everyone else is basically saying about all the …

Imagine a world where Derek Jeter played baseball for another team. Hard to picture? Well, take it a step further and imagine that team being the Boston Red Sox.
Did your head just explode?
I know that when all is said and done, Jeter will most likely be back in New York wearing pinstripes and making more money than he deserves simply because he’s Derek Jeter, but it’s fun to think about …

Thanksgiving will be here in just a few days and I can’t help, but think about Torii Hunter whenever this holiday rolls around now. That’s because on Thanksgiving morning 2007, my wife Cheryl woke me up early in the morning to tell me that the Angels had signed Hunter to a five-year deal. I was a little groggy and didn’t believe her. I thought to myself that she must of …

This is pretty random stuff, so bear with me…
The Atlanta Braves made the biggest early splash this off season by acquiring Dan Uggla for Omar Infante and Mike Dunn. Shortly after the deal was announced one could hear the “I can’t believe my (fill-in-the-blank) team didn’t try to get him” comments everywhere.
Several Angel fans on message boards and even in the comment section of one my recent posts had even …

Today’s blog is going to be totally spontaneous. I’m just going to start thinking and typing (not necessarily in that order) and see what happens.
The Hot Stove season is a crazy time. Baseball fans that can’t wait for spring to roll around go searching for any little clue as to what their team might do or any team might do for that matter. We are starved for baseball news and …