For (Chicago)Pete's Sake: Lookout Landing on OC

As an Angel, Cabrera was everything that drove me insane. He always made contact, he'd fight off enough pitches to have those really long annoying at bats, he ran fast enough to beat out infield grounders, he'd hit bloopers into the outfield because he doesn't have any power, he'd make flashy plays with the glove, he beat the hell out of the Mariners, and he had that Wizard of OC nickname that made me want to water my lawn with the blood from Steve Physioc's wrists. Plus, just for good measure, he had the lingering stench of being a folk hero for the Red Sox. In short, with Darin Erstad and David Eckstein having long since moved on, Cabrera became the face of everything I hated about that team. For three long years, he practically took up residence under my skin.

Then they traded him for a pile of crap. And while guys like Chone Figgins and Francisco Rodriguez still make me crazy, it just isn't the same. With Willits on the bench, there's no regular capable of following in Cabrera's stupid footsteps. The Angels traded away a big part of their obnoxious identity, and all they have to show for it is a guy who couldn't even strike out Richie Sexson.

I like the new Angels.

almost 4 years ago The Cheat 6 comments 0 recs |

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Your speed is amazing

Good job.

I took the "under".

by winningugly on Apr 14, 2008 9:42 PM CDT reply actions

Yeah, but isn't the point to drive the OPPONENTs fans crazy?

They already let us have Erstad, now they send us this.

''It's a grinder-type attitude, energetic attitude, confident-type attitude, and if it grinds on some people, then I need to know who those people are so we can move them on''

by ChicagoPete on Apr 14, 2008 9:55 PM CDT reply actions

The Mariners are the Angels' opponents

by 3E8 on Apr 14, 2008 11:06 PM CDT up reply actions

I realize that - he's driving ME crazy

OCab could very well have been an awesome SS at some point, but all I’ve seen so far is reputation. It’s not his fault, the guy is 33yrs old and there’s only so many Omar Vizquel’s out there who can play SS at a high level forever. I’d have preferred to see us get someone younger for Garland, and on top of that Uribe’s bat is still in the lineup every day and he’s the better SS and should be playing there instead of this guy.

For your daily Erstad fix, here’s a tribute from an Angels fanboy at Halo Heaven

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#10 Darin Erstad, OF, 1B

A few years back, columnist/sub-literate Rob Neyer couldn’t let Angel fans enjoy the World Series victory, so he twisted the knife into Darin Erstad’s back. Erstad was making $8 million a year and was not performing up to the level of his monster 2000 season. I guess the glare from Darin’s World Championship ring was blinding Rob to reality: If Darin Erstad were a Yankee, they would have renamed Central Park after him by now.

Before you yammer on with your stats and disbelief in the intangibles, the poetry and unquantifiable foggy grit that make great team players, look at your Rosetta Stone of sabermetric stats – Win Shares. Guess what Stat-Ass? Darin Erstad has the 8th most Win Shares in Angel history. So he is not overrated. He’s Top Ten material all around.

Angel Lifer Brent Carter had a few thoughts on Erstad…

Darin’s the only player in MLB history to win gold gloves in both the outfield and infield. His monster season in 2000 aside, his numbers don’t begin to tell the story of his importance to the Angels. With Erstad you either get it or you don’t, and if you don’t it’s just too bad for you....

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....and it goes on and on and on about his intangibles.

''It's a grinder-type attitude, energetic attitude, confident-type attitude, and if it grinds on some people, then I need to know who those people are so we can move them on''

by ChicagoPete on Apr 15, 2008 7:40 AM CDT up reply actions

Agreed.

O Cab has been just awful in the field, how in the world has this guy won a gold glove? I don’t think it’s just age b/c he hasn’t been great at balls that he has got to either.

by Grinder in Training on Apr 15, 2008 7:52 AM CDT up reply actions