COMFORTABLY NUMB ANGELS.ANAHEIM - The Anaheim Angels ... wait, don't run off. Not so fast. It's time It's Time was a successful political campaign run by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under Gough Whitlam at the 1972 election in Australia. Campaigning on the perceived need for change after 23 years of conservative (Liberal Party of Australia) government, Labor put forward a to give them their due, to sing their praises. The Angels - I said hang in there - bring us comfort. They bring order to our world. Something solid you can count on. The Angels - see, you can do it - almost always are exactly what you expect. Mediocre. There is something comforting in the historic predictability of this franchise. It transcends managers, general managers, stadiums, even ownership. It transcends curses, September chokes, Rally Monkeys and logic. They normally are so normal, so ordinary. Occasionally they overachieve o·ver·a·chieve intr.v. o·ver·a·chieved, o·ver·a·chiev·ing, o·ver·a·chieves To perform better or achieve more success than expected. o before fading down the stretch, and sometimes they completely roll over. But mostly they're average. Good, but not so good you really care. Bad, but not so bad to work up any true disgust. They are vaguely competitive but seldom serious contenders. A lot like this year's version. These Angels are a few games over .500. A decent enough team but not one to capture our imaginations, to tweak our interest. The mere word ``Angels'' can be a column-killer. Say it and people are liable to start thinking about something else, say, doing the laundry. Write it, and they start thinking maybe it's time to check out that Bishop fish report. The Angels simply don't generate passion. After 41 years of mediocrity, they're the spouse dry of romance. Except there weren't a lot of good years left behind. ``It has not been pretty,'' said Angels broadcaster Rex Hudler Rex Allen Hudler (nicknamed the "Wonder Dog") (born on September 2, 1960, in Tempe, Arizona) is a former Major League Baseball utilityman. He played a total of thirteen seasons after being a first round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 1978. , who spent 21 years playing professional baseball, including three in Anaheim. ``It's very difficult. I can't explain it. It's been painful.'' In over four decades of baseball, the Angels can claim three division titles and enough heartache to make Harlequin envious. No World Series titles, no World Series losses. Not one pennant. For their lifetime, they are 3,143-3,349. What's to get excited about? Orange County has been just like the rest of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, . The fans show up when the team wins and pays scant attention when it doesn't. This year the Angels are averaging 25,272 fans a game, 20th out of 30 major-league teams. Like the team: not good but not really awful. The fans here, of course, aren't like those in most major-league cities. They're just so terribly polite. Passion won't start in the stands. Struggling Tim Salmon
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. enough to boo. ``I think I'm the club's best salesman,'' Hudler said, ``but it's hard to sell these people here because of what's happened in the past. 'They fade, they fade. Every year they fade.' They're going to have to get over that fade. They're going to get guys who get down and dirty. ``You need horses. The horses they've had here over the years have been happy grazers. The fire is difficult here. You need horses that have been in the race, that have been out there, that grazed a little, but they had someone whipping them. They went, 'Oh, gosh, I don't have time to graze. I've got to go.' It's an atmosphere here.'' Hudler believes the Angels are headed in the right direction under current management. The young core of stars has been signed to long-term deals. The farm system is showing strength. And Mike Scioscia That means the Angels actually would have to be willing to pay for free agents, which would be a shock along the lines of a Bill Stoneman n. 1. A clever, witty remark often prompted by the occasion. 2. A clever, often sarcastic remark; a gibe. See Synonyms at joke. 3. A petty distinction or objection; a quibble. 4. . There was great hope that when Disney bought the Angels, money would be injected into the apathetic ap·a·thet·ic adj. Lacking interest or concern; indifferent. ap  a·thet franchise. Mo Vaughn was signed for
$80 million before the 1999 season and silly people thought a new era
had arrived.
Disney hasn't signed anyone of note since. Mostly it reverted to the team's old practice of signing aging pitchers on which others have given up, a bunch of wishfuls and hopefuls. It hasn't made a significant trade in more than a year. Meanwhile, Disney almost sold the team to a dot-comer, still could be tempted by the right price, and is rumored to be interested if the majors should decide to go for contraction. Now there's a commitment to winning to build passionate fans. So the Angels stay out there, just below the baseball radar, just beyond real appeal. That plain kid in class you never really noticed. They have modest aspirations, modest goals, modest everything. Maybe what's most unnerving un·nerve tr.v. un·nerved, un·nerv·ing, un·nerves 1. To deprive of fortitude, strength, or firmness of purpose. 2. To make nervous or upset. is that, like too many of us, they settle for it. Only there's something to be said for being dependable, even if it is at being mediocre. Bless our little Angels, they're so comfortably predictable. |
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