Well, What'd You Expect?

(Here's to next year!)

Well, Angel fans, we are two games away from elimination. With a firm hold on third place in the division, I imagine the collective fandome (and Angel players as well) are scratching their heads wondering what happened. There are plenty of other blog posts dissecting this year's losing season, so I'm not going to go into any fine detail here, but when a franchise lets loose those components which were its identity, you kinda have to say "what'd you expect?".

Plenty of sports nuts will tell you that letting Figgins go to Seattle proved to be the right move, and that, in the end, letting Guerrero go to the Rangers will prove to be the right move, and letting Lackey go to the Red Sox most definitely proved to be the right move, but, without a doubt, those three guys were what summed up everything that was the Angels.

Chone Figgins, that small, speedy ball of energy, able to get on base by any means, and then steal any base yet in front of him was a great lead-off hitter for the Angels. Scrappy is the word that comes to mind, and hard-working. After sliding into second for yet another stolen base he'd come up grinning from ear to ear.

Vladimir Guerrero, that slow, lumbering, lovable giant that never saw a pitch he didn't like was a man whose shoulders were more than broad enough to carry a team to wherever they wanted to go. Is he playing baseball or is he golfing? His ability to hit any pitch that got anywhere near the plate combined with his cannon-of-an-arm in right field made him a powerhouse.

And finally, John Lackey (cue up the music "Big Bad John"). John's attitude always seemed to be that the more difficult the situation, the more he wanted the ball. His 'take no prisoners' attitude was inspiring, as was his quickness to protect his team-mates, especially if it meant a benches-clearing brawl. Lackey was the man you trusted on the mound.

On paper, the Angels are a better team without them. On paper, their replacements have out-performed them. But baseball is much more than lists of statistics on paper. Sabermetric nerds can roll their eyes at this next statement, but, you can't rip out the heart and soul out of a team and still expect to get a pulse.

But, hey, what'd you expect? Next year, however, now that will be different!