2002 SEEMS LIKE DISTANT MEMORY.Byline: PAUL OBERJUERGE ANAHEIM - During the final week of the regular season, as they surged to the American League West The American League West is one of three divisions in Major League Baseball's American League. The division currently has four teams, but it has had as many as seven teams before the 1994 realignment. championship, the Angels divined echoes of 2002. It all was coming together again, they said. That harmonic convergence | The Harmonic Convergence was a loosely organized new age spiritual event which occurred on August 16 and August 17, 1987, when groups of people gathered in various sacred sites and "mystical" places all over the world to usher in a new era, a date based primarily on the of talent, execution and willpower that carried them to the World Series championship two seasons ago. They could feel it, yes. Turns out, the Angels were hallucinating hal·lu·ci·nate v. hal·lu·ci·nat·ed, hal·lu·ci·nat·ing, hal·lu·ci·nates v.intr. To undergo hallucination. v.tr. To cause to have hallucinations. . They stunk stunk v. A past tense and the past participle of stink. stunk Verb a past of stink stunk stink up Angel Stadium on Wednesday night, got hammered 8-3 by the Red Sox in Game 2 of the American League Division Series Just now, they might not be able to win three in a row against the Arizona Diamondbacks This article is about the baseball team. For other uses, see Diamondback. The Arizona Diamondbacks (also referred to as the D-backs) are a Major League Baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They play in the West Division of the National League. . What went wrong in Game 2? What didn't? Their pitchers walked seven, hit a batter and uncorked three wild pitches. They managed only six singles. They struck out 10 times. They were 0 for 3 trying to get down a bunt. They fielded execrably. No errors, but a series of bobbles that led to cheap hits and baserunners everywhere. A team that prides itself on execution, on situational excellence, the qualities that carried it through the 2002 postseason, were shockingly absent. What made Wednesday's defeat even more galling? The Red Sox gave the Angels some huge breaks. Left the door open. But the Angels couldn't slip through, let alone kick it down. Boston's Mark Bellhorn Mark Christian Bellhorn (born August 23, 1974 in Weymouth, Massachusetts) is a second baseman for the Cincinnati Reds. He has also played with the Oakland Athletics (1997-98, 2000-01), Chicago Cubs (2002-03), Colorado Rockies (2003), Boston Red Sox (2004-05), New York Yankees got picked off second base with the bases loaded, two outs and David Ortiz David Ortiz (born November 18, 1975 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball designated hitter who has played for the Boston Red Sox since 2003. Previously, Ortiz played for the Minnesota Twins (1997-2002). at bat in the first. The kind of brain-dead mistake that usually comes back to haunt a team. Orlando Cabrera Orlando Luis Cabrera (born November 2, 1974 in Cartagena, Colombia) is a Major League Baseball shortstop who plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He bats and throws right-handed. backed off a simple pop fly in the fifth inning. It fell for a leadoff single. What could have been a big inning turned into a modest two-run rally to give the Angels a 3-1 lead. Boston got even when Bartolo Colon couldn't get a third strike on Kevin Millar Kevin Charles Millar (born September 24, 1971, in Los Angeles, California) is a professional designated hitter/first baseman who plays for the Baltimore Orioles and is perhaps best known as a member of the 2004 World Series champion Boston Red Sox. , who singled ahead of Jason Varitek's home run in the sixth. And the Angels' bullpen - Francisco Rodriguez Francisco Rodriguez may refer to:
It was an ugly, tedious, almost unwatchable game. Even the Rally Monkey covered his eyes. Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't sugar-coat what he saw from his club. ``We've had trouble executing some of the things we need done right now,'' Scioscia said. ``We look to play better baseball than these two games.'' They have no time to waste. No margin of error left. Some of this is hard to blame on specific players. They have two raw kids (Dallas McPherson, Chone Figgins) starting in the infield, and their shortstop (David Eckstein) has a sore throwing arm. Left field is being held down by a platoon of journeymen Jeff DaVanon and Adam Riggs. The offense is shaky. Garret Anderson is 0 for 8 and doesn't look right. Figgins is struggling, at 1 for 9. Vladimir Guerrero is 1 for 8. The Angels suspended Jose Guillen, their second-best hitter, for insubordination in·sub·or·di·nate adj. Not submissive to authority: has a history of insubordinate behavior. in , and if they don't miss his attitude, they seem to miss his bat. But some of the trouble is about lapses in effort. About Jose Molina not bothering to turn his glove around on a pitch in the dirt that went for a wild pitch. Of not taking the extra base. Being passive and taking third strikes. ``The one thing that I think hurt us tonight, and it does bother us, is the fact we didn't do the things offensively that we needed to do,'' Scioscia said. ``We didn't get our bunts down. We had a chance to go from first to third a couple of times and didn't take advantage of it. Those are things we have to have in our game and we know.'' Those are the things they did so well in 2002. But that was a veteran, cohesive team, almost untouched by injuries, hitting its stride as summer turned to autumn. These Angels are younger, less healthy and not as sharp. They were good enough to get out of the AL West, but it doesn't look like they have enough to get out of this series. ``They have taken it to us these two games,'' Scioscia said. Only one more to suffer through, unless the Angels wake up the echoes of 2002 in a very big hurry. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The Angels' Jeff DaVanon, right, is one of two players trying to fill the void in left field, created by the suspension of Jose Guillen. Will Lester/Staff Photographer |
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