April 2007 Archives

After Sunday's victory over the Chicago White Sox, the Angels made it official when they recalled Chone Figgins from his rehabilitation assigment at Triple-A Salt Lake. Figgins fractured the tip of his index and middle fingers while fielding a ground ball in spring training. Brandon Wood, who recorded his first career hit Sunday with a single, was sent back to Salt Lake. Figgins is expected to start at third base Monday night against the Kansas City Royals.

Just checking the Chicago Sun-Times to get an update on the White Sox and according to good friend Joe Cowley (no, not the pitcher who threw a South Side no-hitter in 1986), the Angels' opponent this weekend is a little banged up. (Note to the Tribune's Dave Van Dyck: I checked out your stuff too, just wanted to give a plug to the Sun-Times. I'm sure you understand.) Anyway, back to the program, the White Sox's Jim Thome is not likely to play tonight as he battles a rib injury. There seems to be uncertainty about Thome even playing at all this weekend. Jermaine Dye (back) and Rob Mackowiak (abdomen) also are hurting.

The Whie Sox were rained out Thursday so instead of Jon Garland starting tonight, it will be Jose Contreras. That would be the Contreras who closed out the 2005 ALCS with a victory at Angel Stadium. Mark Buehrle, who pitched a no-hitter on April 18 against the Texas Rangers, has been moved to Sunday and will pitch opposite Kelvim Escobar.

The Angels get another chance to see Darin Erstad, after two matchups against him this spring. It will be the first time Erstad has ever faced the Angels in a regular season game in his career. The veteran has eight hits in his last 21 at-bats with four RBI and three runs scored.

A day after an unprecidented three-walk game against the Detroit Tigers, Vladimir Guerrero is getting a chance to swing the bat and he's doing some damage. The Tigers were able to pitch around Guerrero Monday night, but with Gary Matthews Jr. and Orlando Cabrera each with two hits in their first two at-bats, Tigers pitcher Jeremy Bonderman had no place to put Guerrero today. So in his first two times to the plate, Guerrero has cracked singles with the second driving in two runs. Production from other places in the lineup was just what manager Mike Scioscia was looking for before the game began.

"We're more than Vlad," Scioscia said this morning. "Our offense has to be more than Vlad and I think we're seeing Garret doing the things we need him to do. He's starting to swing better. You've seen Gary, but the bats behind Vlad in particular – Kotch, Hillenbrand. If they're going to take one bat out of your lineup pitching around a guy we have to look at it as setting the table and we have to get after it and score runs. And we will. We have to make it so that if they don't pitch to Vlad, we're going to take advantage of it."

Hold off on getting those Rancho Cucamonga Quakes tickets for Wednesday to see Chone Figgins begin his rehabilitation assignment. The Angels just announced that Figgins' rehab will begin a day later on Thursday and he will head straight to Triple-A Salt Lake. No word on why the change was made, but manager Mike Scioscia did say Monday that if Figgins had any lingering soreness from an aggressive workout session, there might be a change of plans.

The Angels made it official after a 9-5 defeat to the Detroit Tigers: Tommy Murphy was optioned to Salt Lake to make room for Kelvim Escobar on the roster. Escobar will make his return from the 15-day DL Tuesday. He was sidlined with shoulder irritation but said he is completely healthy now. In fact, Escobar admitted that he wasn't too thrilled with his time off and plans on pitching through minor pain in the future. Pretty sure management is not thrilled about that one.

The Angels are leaning toward keeping 12 pitchers when Kelvim Escobar is activated Tuesday. That means the likely candidate to be sent down is rarely used backup outfielder Tommy Murphy. One reason for staying pitching heavy is the lingering soreness in Bartolo Colon's right ankle. Colon's foot rolled over while covering first base during his first start of the season Saturday.

“He can feel it a little bit in his ankle but no worse than what he pitched with,” manager Mike Scioscia said. “We'll see if he moves in the right direction. If we have to push (his Thursday start) back for a couple of days, that's an option also.”

They say to keep your eye on the ball, but this is rediculous. A fan sitting about 20 rows behind the Angels dugout just got drilled in the right eye by a Casey Kotchman line drive foul ball. Blood was everywhere and some fans did some on-the-spot first aid before paramedics arrived. To the male fan's credit, he walked off under his own power, albeit with a compress over the eye as blood could be seen between his fingers. It's amazing actually that you don't see more serious injuries from foul balls. Safe to say that everybody on the third-base side will keep their head into the game now.

An MRI and CT Scan on Howie Kendrick's left hand showed a non-displaced fracture on his third metacarpal and the second baseman was placed on the 15-day disabled list. Kendrick was hit by a pitch in Tuesday's game against the Oakland Athletics. Vladimir Guerrero also was examined and his diagnosis of a contusion was confirmed. Guerrero could return to action as early as Friday.

The Angels will recall a player to replace Kendrick either Thursday or before Friday's game. Since Robb Quinlan could take over at third base and Maicer Izturis can be moved to second, the Angels aren't limited as to who they recall. In other words, they don't just have to bring up an infielder. Brandon Wood is one of the candidates to join the Angels as are Kendry Morales and Terry Evans.

Everybody at the four-letter sports network seemed to weight in Tuesday on the pizza-throwing incident at Boston on Monday. As Garret Anderson tracked a foul ball down the left-field line at Fenway Park, one Red Sox fan hurled a slice of pizza at another.
Manager Mike Scioscia said the fan who was hit should have been grateful it wasn't a Chicago-style deep dish pizza.
“I tell you what, if that was Gino's East (in Chicago) that guy might have been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon,” Scioscia said. “Those things, man, you drop one on your toes, you'll be in a cast.”
Anderson, who was the closest player to the pizza incident admitted he never saw the pizza throwing actually take place. After he saw a replay, he was convinced the pizza was targeted for him, even though the thrower was quoted in a Boston paper as saying he intended to hit the fan.
“I don't know if I believe that because he could have thrown it any other time,” Anderson said. “If that's what he said, that's what he said. If I had to guess, I'd say he was throwing it at me. Why else would he throw it? Obviously he ordered it, he wanted to eat it.”

The Angels received a scare in the first inning when Vladimir Guerrero was hit by a Josh Beckett pitch on the right wrist. Guerrero left the game immediately and was relpaced by Reggie Willits. X-rays taken at Fenway Park were negative for any broken bones. He was diagnosed with a soft tissue contusion. There was no word on when Guerrero might be available to play next. An update should be available after the game.

The Angels game today has been moved to 9:05 a.m. (12:05 p.m. here in Boston) as consideration to a lingering rain storm in the New England area. It was supposed to start at 7:05 a.m.and be held in conjunction with Patriots Day activities. The Boston Marathon also takes place today. Ervin Santana will start for the Angels against Josh Beckett, if they are able to actually get the game started. A check of the weather radar shows some hope that this one will be played, although it is raining heavy now at 8 a.m. Boston time.

As expected, a heavy rainstorm moved into the Boston area overnight and caused today's Angels-Red Sox game to be postponed. No makeup date has been set but it likely will be replayed as part of a day-night doubleheader the next time the Angels are in town (Aug. 17-19). With heavy rain also projected for Monday, it is likely a decision on that contest will be made by the end of the day today since the game was slated for a 10 a.m. start locally. The Red Sox traditionally play an early morning game on Patriots Day. The Boston Marathon and Angels-Red Sox game were supposed to start at the same time. The marathon will go on but the Angels game isn't likely to be played.

UPDATE: Whenever the Angels do play again (Monday or Tuesday) Ervin Santana will get the call to pitch. Santana was supposed to start today. Jered Weaver would then pitch in the next game. If Monday's game gets wiped out also, Santana will start in the opener of a two-game series at Oakland on Tuesday and Weaver will pitch Wednesday. After that the rotation is up in the air. Joe Saunders was originally slated to start after Weaver.

Orlando Cabrera was able to start at shortstop Saturday, but he had to take swings in the batting cage before the game to know that he would be fine. Cabrera was hit on the left elbow by a Brendan Donnelly pitch Friday night. Donnelly, who was Cabrera's teammate for the past two seasons, was asked what happened.

“What do you want me to say?” Donnelly said. “It was cold and I went over and let him know ‘Sorry about that’ when I was walking off the field because the last thing I want to do in that situation is put him on base. I didn’t want to walk him, I wanted to get him out; If I get him out I get to face Vladdy.”

After leaving Fenway Park in a huff Friday night, Cabrera said Saturday that he isn't upset with his former teammate. He went out and got two hits off Curt Schilling.

Following his plunking of Cabrera in Friday's game, Donnelly was replaced by Jonathan Papelbon, who struck out Vladimir Guerrero on a 97 mph fastball. Guerrero was representing the tying run at the time. Donnelly pitched again Saturday, recording the final three outs in the Red Sox's 8-0 victory. Two of the three outs were ground outs from Guerrero and Garret Anderson.

It it's not one thing it's another for Kelvim Escobar. The right-hander was examined in Milwaukee on Thursday for irritation in his right shoulder and it was decided today to put him on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to April 9). Escobar was supposed to start against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on Saturday but that assignment now will go to Hector Carrasco.

Last season, Escobar dealt with elbow and knee pain. The knee still bothers him so it is likely that compensating for the bum knee caused the shoulder to flare up.

To take Escobar's place on the roster, Greg Jones has been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake.

It has been confirmed that Angels director of travel Tom Taylor actually won the Sausage Race after the sixth inning Thursday while running in the hot dog costume. Media relations member Eric Kay finished second in the bratwurst outfit. It was not a finish that manager Mike Scioscia expected.

"Eric Kay all the way. Tom Taylor, if he even finishes on his feet it's going to be a monumental accomplishment.," Scioscia said before Thursday's game.

A brief video snippet of the race might be available on youtube.com soon, but the videotaker is having computer problems. Doesn't it figure? If the video makes it on the internet we will update with a link.

Angels media relations member Eric Kay and director of travel Tom Taylor are about to take part in the sausage race. It still isn't known what processed meat they will be. One hint they did get was to not be the chorizo. The newest member of the sausage race is said to be more top heavy than the others and does not win as often.

Joe Saunders will find himself without a spot in the rotation once Jered Weaver and Bartolo Colon return, which would come as a shock to at least one member of the Cleveland Indians. The left-hander held the Indians to one run in 6 2/3 innings to pick up the victory Wednesday.

“He was different than what I remember of him from last year,” the Indians' Casey Blake said. “I don't remember him throwing inside at all to me. It was fastball away, changeup away. On the video, you could tell he was throwing inside a lot more this year, especially with guys in scoring position. He was moving his fastball in and out, even moving his changeup in and out. He was just throwing fastballs and changeups to right-handers, but when you can locate those pitches, you're going to be effective.”

Two members of the Angels' traveling party have just worked out the details to take part in Thursday afternoon's sausage race at Milwaukee's Miller Park. Media relations member Eric Kay and director of travel Tom Taylor both will don a sausage costume and race against three Brewers emplyoees.

It can't be too reassuring that both were required to sign waivers, excusing the Brewers from liability should any injuries happen while in a sausage costume. It gets you thinking that maybe the sausage companies should make you sign a waiver so you can't sue for any damage to your insides. But that's another topic.

One media member who has taken part in the sausage race in the past, said the trickiest part of racing in the sausage costume was trying to run while holding your shoulders back. An up-and-down posture prevents the bulky costume from getting top heavy. Seems even better if one or both actually fell.

As for what sausage to look for in tomorrow's race, neither Kay nor Taylor knows whether they will be the hot dog, bratwurst, Italian, Polish or chorizo. To make sure we're not looking at shoes to tell who is who, we'll try to get an update before the race that takes place at the end of the sixth inning Thursday.

A wet spring snow is currently piling up on the streets of Milwaukee which makes the retractable roof of Miller Park all the more important. In Cleveland, rain will be followed by snow this evening, meaning that Major League Baseball's plan to send both teams here has been justified. The Cubs and Astros already had their game snowed out just 90 miles south of Milwaukee.

The only problem now is that this storm should be in Boston by Friday, when the Angels open a four-game series at Fenway Park. In fact, poor weather is in the forecast for Boston on Friday, Sunday and Monday. There might be some long days at the ballpark this weekend.

Playing in Milwaukee was the next best thing to being at home for Scot Shields, who has a large contingent of family in the area. Shields said his father, who now resides in Florida, grew up in the Milwaukee area and he was able to round up 20 tickets for aunts, uncles and cousins.

“I was pumped up as soon as I found out,” Shields said. “I found out yesterday morning when I dropped my bag off at the bus. I called my wife and let her know that whoever I couldn't get in touch with to tell them that I'm playing. As soon as I got in last night I went over their house and everything.”

Robb Quinlan, a native of neighboring Minnesota, said his parents were able to make the five-hour drive from the Twin Cities to see his second start of the season and first at first base.

Vladimor Guerrero was just named co-AL player of the week with the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez. Angels pitcher John Lackey was also considered with a 2-0 record and a 0.75 ERA in the opening week. Here is a copy of the MLB release. It probably would be half as long without all the corporate sponsorship ties:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 9, 2007
GUERRERO, RODRIGUEZ SHARE BANK OF AMERICA PRESENTS
THE AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim outfielder Vladimir Guerrero have been named co-winners of the Bank of America Presents the American League Player of the Week for the opening period of the 2007 season, ending April 8th. Bank of America, the Official Bank of Major League Baseball, is the presenting sponsor of the American League and National League Player of the Week Awards, which reflect Bank of America’s long-standing tradition of promoting and recognizing higher standards of accomplishment.
Rodriguez hit .381 (8-21) with a 1.095 slugging percentage, three doubles, four HR, 11 RBI and 23 total bases. On Opening Day, he went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI, two runs scored and a stolen base. In three games against the Baltimore Orioles April 6-8, Rodriguez went 5-for-11 with three home runs and eight RBI. In the April 7th game, the two-time American League Most Valuable Player hit a two-run shot in the first inning. Then, trailing by a run with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth, the 10-time American League All-Star hit a walk-off grand slam home run, marking the third game-ending grand slam home run of his career. This is the 11th weekly award of Alex’s career.
Guerrero batted .440 (11-25) with a slugging percentage of .880, two doubles, three homers, 10 RBI and 22 total bases. The Angels right fielder went 4-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored against the Rangers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on April 3rd. In the April 5th game against the Athletics, Vladimir went 2-for-4 with a home run. On April 6th, he was 1-for-3 with a home run and three RBI. The 2004 American League Most Valuable Player is beginning his fourth full season with the Angels. This is the third American League weekly award of Vladimir’s career and his 10th weekly award overall.
Other candidates considered were Minnesota pitcher Johan Santana (2-0, 2.77 ERA, 13.0 IP, 15 SO), Angels righthander John Lackey (2-0, 0.75 ERA, 12.0 IP, 11 SO) and Cleveland’s Grady Sizemore (3 G, .429, 1.071 SLG, 3 HR, 4 RBI).
In recognition of this honor, Tourneau, the world’s largest watch store, is proud to award the Bank of America Presents the American League Co-Players of the Week Alex Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero with a Tourneau luxury Swiss timepiece.
# # #

The Angels are ready to play their first road game of the season, if they can find the site. It seems that because of snow and cold that wiped out all four of the Indians-Mariners games at Cleveland this weekend, no chances will be taken this time. Milwaukee's Miller Park, a retractable roof stadium, will be pressed into service to make sure the Indians don't have any more postponed games.

The games between the Angels and Indians still are slated for Tuesday and Wednesday nights, as well as Thursday afternoon. Then it's off to Boston. Not sure what dome the Red Sox might use if necessary. If weather does hit the Boston area over the weekend, it won't be a disaster like the Mariners-Indians series. At least the Angels return to Boston later in the season. The Mariners and Indians now have to figure out how to reschedule four games when Seattle doesn't even come back to town.

In an update of the previous Bartolo Colon entry, the right-hander hit 95 mph on the Rancho Cucamonga radar gun during his rehab start Thursday. He retired the last 10 batters he faced.

“It was encouraging,” Angels farm director Tony Reagins said. “He was crisp. He was sharp. He threw the ball where he wanted to, when he wanted to. The arm strength was there.”

Said Colon in a statement released through a Quakes spokesperson: “I felt good. I’m looking forward to my next start, whether it’s here or in (Triple-A) Salt Lake.”

Man if this much energy was put into the John F. Kennedy assination, there might actually be a conclusion acceptable to the masses. One internet blog posted pictures and a pitch-by-pitch account of Francisco Rodriguez's save on Opening Day suggesting the Angels closer was doctoring the ball, or at least cheating by supplying a foreign substance to his fingers. One blog after another picked it up, including the always-interesting deadspin.com (note the compliment deadspin braintrust). Major League Baseball admitted it is conducting an investingation.

Well, Rodriguez showed his cap to reporters before Thursday's game and the spot in question seems to have been caused by rosin. I assure everybody that I am no white powdery substance expert but the spot was dry and the only conclusion that is going to come out of this investigation is that rosin is culprit. It certainly seems doubtful rosin will earn a 10-game suspension since a bag of the stuff sits behind the mound at every game.

There is no timetable for Bartolo Colon's return to the Angels lineup but Thursday's rehab outing at Rancho Cucamonga sure looked promising. Colon, who is rehabbing rotator cuff damage suffered last season, didn't allow a run and gave up just one hit in four innings against Lake Elsinore. The right-hander walked one with five strikeouts in his 61-pitch outing.

Now Lake Elsinore will have to face Jered Weaver, who is much more major-league ready than Colon. Weaver should be even more dominating but it never does work out that way. Weaver's goal is just to get in some much-needed work.

"I'm not really worried about what happens out there," Weaver said. "If I give up five or six runs I'm not going to be worried. It's more of a touch and feel thing for me. I just want to go out there and get some work in and build up my arm strength."

If Vladimir Guerrero's third-inning home run doesn't come off in print like it actually looked, you can blame Tim Salmon. Nearly all of the print media was in the press box dining room at the time Guerrero went deep to give Salmon an award. Salmon was presented with the "Good Guy Award," given on occasion by the Baseball Writers Association of America L.A./Anaheim chapter. Hey, if you make the media's life a little easier and forge a decent relationships with the writers, it is possible to get a tacky wooden and brass momento than can be hung on your wall. We really don't expect it to hang in the Salmon residence, but he's such a good guy, you actually never know.

OK, it's about 24 hours late to be contemplating the season opener but let's just say it was a busy day on Monday in the info-gathering business. Here are some of the interesting tidbits from the locker room before the first pitch was thrown.

Chone Figgins couldn't be more frustrated with his two broken fingers. Not only do they not hurt, they aren't even sore. Figgins will get the injury re-examined on Monday and more info might be available then. As for when he gets back into baseball activity, the first thing he wants to do is bunt from the right side. "When you bunt, you get that vibration on your hand and that will be a really good test for it," Figgins said.

Kelvim Escobar pitches tonight against the Texas Rangers, a team that has pounded him in the past. He is 2-8 in his career against the Rangers with a 4.52 ERA. "I think sometimes there is a group of hitters that might give a pitcher trouble from tie to time and right now those guys can be a challenge for a lot of pitchers.

Tim Salmon throws out the first pitch tonight so don't expect the show that was put on when Troy Percival handled the job Monday night. Percival not only ran in from the bullpen, he threw his first pitch as hard as he could. Maybe Salmon will ride in in his new red Ferrari. Then again probably not. It's a shock that the stoic pro even has a red Ferrari.

The future almost arrived for Opening Day, as manager Mike Scioscia confirmed Sunday that Brandon Wood was this close to making the roster. When Erick Aybar was slowed by a sprained ankle in a Cactus League game last week, the Angels were left considering their options for a backup infielder. There weren't many choices.

"We had Wood, who would probably have been a strong candidate to make the club," Scioscia said. "You also would have had Wood ... and possibly Wood."

In other words, until Chone Figgins comes back from two broken fingers, Wood is the next in line should anything happen to an infielder.

Scioscia added that Aybar is feeling no effects from his sprained ankle and will be ready to go if needed Monday night against the Texas Rangers.

The Angels have just taken the field for their final workout before Monday's season opener. Manager Mike Scioscia promised that some things will be fine tuned and true to his word, the first thing the Angels are doing is a defensive bunting drill. The outfielders, meanwhile, are getting in some work charging ground-ball base hits and rollers into the gap. This should come as no surprise as Vladimir Guerrero just booted one.