Why Can't the Los Angeles Angels Get Any Respect?

It's a simple question.  Why can't the Angels get any respect?

This question haunts me as a fan and, I would think, as a player for this team.

I grew up on the west coast but moved to the east coast in '95.  I knew when I moved that I would see a whole lot less of my team on TV unless I bought an expensive package on TV.  I also thought that if they did well they would get the attention that any team doing well would get.

Boy, was I wrong and this year proves it.  Most of the coverage this team has gotten this year happened when the Adenhart tragedy happened.  After that, I think most sports publications wrote the Angels off.  They started out horribly after that but the ship was soon righted around mid-May.

Since June, this team has just plain won.  They overtook the the Texas Rangers and haven't looked back.  They were the hottest team in July even though their two star players have been on the disabled list—Torii Hunter and Vladimer Guererro.  I'd be willing to bet that most fans outside of Anaheim couldn't name three of their everyday players.

They have four guys in the top 25 in batting average and a total of 5 in the top 50.  They have three guys in the top 50 in home runs and another one who is ranked 58th. 

Their team batting average is .290 which is .013 more than the next closest team and lead the league in this category as well as runs, on base percentage, and slugging percentage.  They are second in the league in stolen bases.

They play any kind of ball there is—small ball or big ball.  This last week in Minnesota, a place they historically have not played well, and had 19, 18, and 15 hits respectively in the three-game sweep of the Twins.

If their starting pitching had been a little bit stronger, they probably would have won four to five more games in July.  Brian Fuentes, who leads the league in saves, actually blew two saves near the end of the month.

As I write this, the starters who have struggled recently might be returning to last years' form.  Jered Weaver pitched well and struck out 11 in his last outing. 

Joe Saunders, who started out the season as the team's most reliable pitcher but has had his troubles of late, also pitched six innings and gave up four runs.  I know this is one run over what is considered a quality start, but it show improvement.

When I watch ESPN, no matter what the Angels have done, they are still buried until the show is half over.  The hottest team in baseball can't get national exposure unless someone literally dies.  That's sad and pathetic.

Sports is one of those things that fans all over the country follow.  We all have our teams and when "our" team is doing well, regardless of where it is, it should garner headlines and be at the top of the show and not buried. 

I am sick of seeing every telecast start off with either the Yankees (who we swept in July), or Boston.  I am sick of seeing "Sunday Night Baseball" be either with the Yankees playing somebody, or Boston playing somebody, or both of them playing each other.

The Angels are not a team that gets on TV because one of their players was juicing way back when.  This is a team literally of Angels.  Their star players are almost as well known in the area off the field as well as on for good reasons. 

Bobby Abreu, Chone Figgins, Torii Hunter, Mike Napoli, Eric Aybar, John Lackey, Vladimir Guererro, Joe Saunders, Jered Weaver, Brian Fuentes, as well as the rest of the team do a lot of public speaking and charity work. 

We don't hear about them being a$$es on or off the field.  They don't go to strip clubs and get in trouble.  They don't shoot themselves in the butt with an unregistered gun.  They don't drive drunk.

Who sets the tone for all this?  Mainly one of the best managers in baseball who also doesn't get his due—Mike Scoisia.  It also comes from one of the best owners in baseball —Arte Moreno.  This organization is class from top to bottom.  I would match their management up with any of the top teams in this league, because they are one of the top teams in the league.

Being located in Bristol, CT, I think gives the people at ESPN a skewed view of the world of sports.  Just because 5 percent of the population lives in this combined area doesn't mean that they are the only teams on Earth.

So help me, if one day the Nats, the Pirates, the Reds, or even the Mariners, start playing incredible baseball, I hope to see it on TV because they deserve it.  Right now, the Angels deserve it.

Instead of talking about the Yankees and the Red Sox all the damn time, ESPN should realize that Gammons is a homer and so are most of the reporters they have.  I thought once they opened their L.A. studio the reporting would be more balanced but obviously those shots are called by the guys back east.

Sports is one of the few things that is decided on the field.  One may have an opinion, but the reality is that whatever the score is that decides who is better.  In this case, it's not only the score, but the record, the stats, and in the Angels case, the heart. 

I dare anybody to say that they don't play this game the way it's supposed to be played.  I also dare anybody to say that this team this year has overcome more than any team in the league, on and off the field. 

So, give them their due.  They deserve it.