ANGELS NOTEBOOK: WALKING ISN'T AN OPTION.Byline: Joe Haakenson Staff Writer BALTIMORE - First baseman Darin Erstad Darin Charles Erstad (born June 4, 1974 in Jamestown, North Dakota) is a first baseman/center fielder in Major League Baseball currently with the Chicago White Sox. Prior to 2007, he had played his entire career with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim franchise (1996-2006). said he could never play for the Oakland Athletics “Philadelphia Athletics” redirects here. For other uses, see Philadelphia Athletics (disambiguation). The Oakland Athletics are a professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. and their ``Moneyball'' mentality, because ``their computer would spit me out.'' Although the Angels' offensive mentality is to hack now and take pitches later, shortstop 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. said they might do themselves a favor if they were more selective at the plate and looked for more walks, a staple of A's general manager Billy Beane's philosophy in the book ``Moneyball.'' The Angels are ranked 10th in the 14-team American League American League (AL) One of the two associations of professional baseball teams in the U.S. and Canada designated as major leagues; the other is the National League (NL). in on-base percentage at .327 and eighth in the league in walks. ``If they don't pitch to you, you need to walk,'' Cabrera said. ``We don't do that here. Here, we swing because we want the RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in . It seems like we don't trust the people behind you to do their job. It's why we've had so many guys on base but don't score runs.'' Cabrera said it is a weakness that could be exploited in the playoffs, but despite their on-base percentage deficiency, the Angels are ranked fifth in the league in scoring and first in the majors with a .301 average with runners in scoring position In the sport of baseball, a baserunner is said to be in scoring position when he is on second or third base. The distinction between being on first base and second or third base is that a runner on first can usually only score if the batter hits an extra base hit, while a runner on . ``To get a walk, the pitcher has to cooperate,'' manager Mike Scioscia --Anderson in the outfield: Garret Anderson, his knee and back feeling good, got the start in left field Thursday for the first time since Aug. 9. Anderson probably will be back in the DH spot for a game or two this weekend because of the turf at Tropicana Field. --Pitching in: The Angels will focus on pitchers when they decide who gets promoted to the big club Sept. 1, when rosters can be expanded. Since the minor-league season is completed around Sept. 1, an injury to a big-league pitcher in mid-September would force a team to call up a pitcher who hadn't pitched in a while. Jake Woods, Joe Saunders and Chris Bootcheck are considerations, and backup catcher Josh Paul figures to return to the majors as well. |
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