It’s About Time!

After dropping 6 of their last 7 games and being outscored 35 to 13, the Halos decided to play to their potential Friday night in their win over the Atlanta Braves.

The first game of interleague play this year gave life to the Angels offense, who scored more runs in the 3rd inning of yesterday’s win than they had in any of the previous weeks worth of games.

In a postgame interview, first baseman Mark Trumbo told reporters that the team had rallied together before the game, and decided that after being swept in Oakland and Seattle they had admitted not playing to potential.  The Halos had agreed as a team that they would turn that around this homestand, and on Friday night that is exactly what they did.

It is no surprise to me that the one player exceeding everybodys expectations for Anaheim is Alberto Callaspo.  Not only do Angels fans generally lack confidence in players they aren’t familiar with, but to see a player come over from the Royals and be productive for the Halos is almost unheard of.

Like most fans, I too would normally be skeptical of such a move, but the fact is… Callaspo is batting .306, and he is currently 2nd on the team in hits (49), tied for 3rd in team doubles (9), and is the team leader in RBIs with 23.

Before the season started, I would have been surprised to find a dozen fans walk thru the gates at the Big A that even knew Callaspo’s first name, let alone anything else about him.  The only thing they know about him now is that he keeps driving in runs for the Angels, and to be quite honest, as a fan myself… that’s all we care about!  Halo fans, he may not be Troy Glaus, but he does have a better carrer batting average… look it up!

We were also reminded last night of one very important bit of information that most Halo fans may have forgotten… Ervin Santana has some NASTY stuff!  He came to the ballpark Friday night and gave the Braves a look at his notorious chinstrap beard, his great big inviting smile, and his magnificently unhittable slider.

If you ask me, I’m still not sure which I liked the most, but I can guarantee the boys from the ATL were not all that impressed with the slider.  In fact, I don’t think very many of them even saw it when he was gracious enough to show it to them… it does have a habit of dropping right out of sight that way.  Santana looked on top of his game though, going all nine innings to get the CG shutout, and a very important W for a struggling to stay healthy Angels team.  Ervin showed no signs of struggle, no signs of fatigue, and absolutely no signs of walking away from that game without a win last night.  He was consistent with a 92-94 mph four-seamer and a 81-84 mph slider, and the Braves bats were consistently fooled to match.

Unsure of what was ultimately said in the behind closed doors team meeting Friday, one thing is certain… It worked.  Bourjos showed some pop and some speed, with a double and his 4th stolen bag.  Abreu went 2-3 with a double, raising his average to .267.  Most notable was Trumbo, who went 3 for 4, a triple shy of the cycle… just another reason the bandwagon fans in SoCal can rest assured that all is not lost with the loss of Morales.

The local kid Trumbo is among the league’s best rookies, among the Angels best hitters, and is clearly a leader on this team.  No doubt the power and presence of Kendrys’ bat is missed, but rather than grieving the loss, fans need to realize what a special player Mark Trumbo is, and what a blessing the Angels depth has been.

Last night’s W was a great beginning to a very important series here in Anaheim with the Braves, but nothing is more important than winning this series and looking ahead to the next.

A hot and charged up Oakland team is looking forward to coming into our town and roughing us up, so Braves beware.  You all are just the standing in the way of the Angels redemption series with the A’s.  Pinerio and Chatwood will be throwing the next two games for us to get Atlanta out of the way, so please oh please… will everyone come out and see Jered Weaver put the A’s in their place and get W #7 already!  Light the Halo up already… I’m feeling a sweep!