ANAHEIM – The one-liners just keep coming, I’m afraid. And they’re not all mine.
Yes, I mentioned to a family member that maybe, instead of the ad for Foundation Building Materials that the Angels currently wear on their sleeves, they might wind up with one instead for Chico’s Bail Bonds, as in that movie about baseball futility, The Bad News Bears. (That’s the original from 1976 I’m thinking of, by the way, rather than the 2005 remake.)
But then there was this email from Bill Bedsworth, which tumbled into the inbox late Saturday night:
“Angels lost 15-2 tonight, but all the fans were talking about as they left was how good the nachos were. Thanks, Arte.”
Sometimes, a man utters words he won’t be able to live down for a while, if ever. Angels owner Arte Moreno’s comments in spring training, suggesting surveys had shown fans were more confirmed with affordability and a safe environment than a winning team, are going to reverberate for a good while, at least as long as the team’s futility continues.
Then again, what to make of this? The Angels’ third straight thumping by the Dodgers, a 10-1 victory Sunday, completing a sweep by a margin of 31-3, was also their third straight sellout of the weekend and ninth in 21 home games, for a team that is now 16-31.
Even if you scoff at the way a “sellout” is measured these days – and even if you note that the majority of those showing up at Angel Stadium this weekend were wearing Dodger blue – the crowd of 44,809 Sunday and the three-day total of 134,537 meant a good payday all around. Moreno’s club profited, of course. So did the Dodgers, with the visitors’ share of the gate.
And so did all of the scalpers – er, independent ticket brokers – who charged premium prices on the secondary market. According to TickPick, one of those outlets, Friday night’s get-in price for the first game of the Freeway Series was $59. The get-in price on the secondary market for Monday night’s game against the West Sacramento A’s, in contrast, was $4.
If you were a Dodger fan this weekend, whatever the cost was would have been worth it (and the $25 to park at Angel Stadium is a bargain compared to the prices in The Ravine). Theirs is the good life: Back-to-back World Series championships and a 29-18 record and five-game winning streak going into a divisional showdown in San Diego beginning Monday.
But if you are an Angel fan – and I know you are out there, steadfast in your loyalty to the team even as you might be discouraged, disappointed or disgusted by the state of the organization – how do you respond?
Are you encouraged that the young players who are supposed to be the future of this team are getting any better? Do you have any confidence in the organization’s player development staff and minor league system – or, in fact, the front office, period?
Our Angels beat writer, Jeff Fletcher, explored the player development issues in a three-part series in November 2022. Part I discussed the team’s struggles bringing talent into the system, much of their own doing. Part II cited a lack of continuity and technology that put the system behind others. And Part III described what was, at the time, a renewed emphasis on winning in the minors.
How many, if any, of those ideas have actually taken root?
Yes, the old saying in baseball is that you’re never really as bad as you look when you’re slumping, just as you’re never really as good as you look when you’re streaking. But the Angels have dropped six straight and eight of nine, and this followed a skid in which they’d lost 13 of 15, after briefly poking their heads above .500 at 11-10 on April 17.
From a business standpoint, most of those sellouts before Dodgers weekend came on giveaway nights (and no, cynical soul, we’re not discussing giving away ballgames). The Angels have 15 more over the remainder of the schedule, as well as 10 fireworks shows. So maybe we were all wrong, since the target audience seems to be those who like free stuff.
Give manager Kurt Suzuki credit, at least, for trying to be positive. That’s not easy to do in these circumstances, especially while managing on a one-year contract. But here was the go-to quote during his postgame session with the media, when reminded that his team had scored two runs or less in six straight games:
“I’ve played this game a long time and I’ve gone through some ruts. You wish you had a simple answer but there really isn’t a simple answer. You just got to continue to do your work, and there’s going to be one thing that is going to click and everybody’s going to start hitting and they’re going to be like, ‘Wow, this is the sixth game in a row you scored eight or more runs.’ So hopefully that time comes soon.”
Also consider that Sunday’s performance, in which the Angels had five hits and left only three on base, came against a pitcher who may be hitting his stride. Roki Sasaki went seven innings, his longest outing of the year, and gave up one extra base hit (a Mike Trout double in the first) and no walks while striking out eight.
This was his best start as a Dodger, obviously. Dalton Rushing, who caught him Sunday, said he thought much of it came from confidence.
“He needs to trust his stuff, understand how good his stuff is, and execution kind of comes with confidence, I think, personally,” Rushing said. “I thought he was very confident today. He went in the zone when he needed to, and he left the zone when he needed to. It was obviously fun to work with.”
In a stretch where not only Blake Snell has joined Tyler Glasnow on the injured list but also lefty reliever Jack Dreyer with shoulder inflammation, the Dodgers obtained left-hander Eric Lauer from Toronto for cash considerations, a transaction first reported by The Athletic Sunday afternoon. They’ve already had 23 pitchers appear in at least one game this season, but only 48 games have been played.
As majority owner Mark Walter once memorably said, “Pitchers break.” And that was before the stress on arms began to take its toll league-wide. Pitching depth is more important than ever before, especially if your goal is another World Series championship.
For Angel fans, that sort of problem must seem far, far away.
jalexander@scng.com