by Brent Hubbard - AngelsWin.com Feature Columnist
After football finishes its season, before the country goes into the madness of March and before the basketball playoff begin, something spectacular occurs.
I've never taken the time to analyze just how truly essential sponsorship is in baseball. At the major league level its important, but in the minor leagues, especially at the single-A level, its a matter of survival. That may seem a little dramatic to say but it's the truth, and it's reality for many single-A ball clubs around the country. Fortunately for the Angels single-A affiliate the Inland Empire 66'ers, they have a long-standing relationship and tremendous support from one of Southern California's most generous entities, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians. This past Wednesday the long-standing relationship between the 66'ers and San Manuel grew even stronger as the two came together for a joint press conference announcing a 5-year sponsorship and the renaming the home of the 66'ers to San Manuel Stadium. The ball park had previously been called Arrowhead Regional Credit Union Park. The setting seemed perfect, a sunny day, a slight breeze and temperatures in the high 70's. Approximately 150 spectators congregated for the big announcement, including members of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, members of the local media and San Bernardino city officials. Oh, and I cant forget Bernie, the team mascot, who was already in mid-season form as he playful joked with all in attendance.
By Robert Cunningham - AngelsWin.com Feature Writer
In 1987, two notable Oakland A’s sluggers, Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, took the baseball world by storm combining for 80 home runs and 231 RBI’s. The two of them were so strong and powerful (and sadly we know why today) that they were given the combined nickname, “The Bash Brothers”. Sometime later this Summer, Angels fans are going to witness an equally fascinating pair of players, Peter Bourjos and Mike Trout, showcase a display of speed and base running not seen since the likes of Rickey Henderson and we might end up calling them, “The Dash Brothers”!
Typically when scouts are grading a player’s tools (power, speed, arm, etc.) they use a scale of 20-80, with a score of 50 meaning that the particular tool is average. An example might be Mark Trumbo’s power tool that graded out at an 80 which is very impressive. Equally as impressive is the fact that both members of the Dash Brothers grade out at a score of 80 in the speed tool and that makes a manager like Mike Scioscia salivate at the chaos that his team can wreak on the base paths.
By Geoff Stoddart – AngelsWin.com, Director of Social Media
By now, you have probably heard about the OC Register’s “Angels News Mob.” We are excited to announce that AngelsWin.com has been asked by the OC Register’s Keith Sharon to “occupy” the OC Grill on Opening Day, April 6th as part of this event! Members of the OC Register Sports team will be there to conduct interviews, take photos, videos and record audio from members of the AngelsWin.com community! So come be a part of this exciting event, which will kick off what is sure to be an amazing Angels Baseball season! AngelsWin.com’s Occupy Opening Day at the OC Grill, April 6th at 3pm!!!
The OC Grill is located across the street from the stadium at 450 North State College Boulevard Orange, CA 92868.
For
years Howie Kendrick was touted as a future batting champ and
rightfully so, Kendrick did hit at least .360 at every level of the
minors. That promise however, never seemed
to materialize at the major league level. The reason you ask? Hard to
say, injuries have certainly played a role. Kendrick has also just been
flat out inconsistent at times. Whatever the reason though, the stars
seem to finally be aligning for him as he appears
poised to have a breakout season for the Angels in 2012. One might
argue though that Kendrick’s 2011 season could be classified as a
“breakout” campaign:
By Scott Stedman - AngelsWin.com Minor League Writer
By now, I am sure you all are somewhat familiar with Mike Trout, Jean Segura, and Johnny Hellweg, and seen their rosy projections. But how about Daniel Hurtado, or Abel Baker? Here are 5 under the radar Angels prospects going into the 2012 season.
The Angels approached AngelsWin.com founder Chuck Richter in the fall of 2010 with interest in using their Top 50 Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball for a historic book at which that time had no name. Chuck Richter agreed and worked with the Angels project manager for the book Doug Ward and AngelsWin.com's own Geoff Bilau who was the senior editor on the Top 50 Greatest Moments feature, making sure all of our write ups were worthy of being used in a published book.
A year and a half later, the book is published, available to be purchased and AngelsWin.com writers get to see their names listed in this historic book for a lifetime and many generations ahead.
A BIG THANK YOU goes out to Tim Mead, Doug Ward and the entire Angels organization for recognizing our work and including it in the Angels' first ever published history book by the Los Angeles Angels and its contributors.
Below are some details of the book 'Under the Halo' from Amazon.com. You you can purchase the book for the current price of $31.95 here.
Generations of Angel fans can relive their favorite team moments in Under the Halo: The Official History of Angels Baseball. From the team’s inaugural season in 1961 under the ownership of film legend Gene Autry, Under the Halo traces the memorable moments, personalities, and accomplishments of this remarkable franchise.
Through first-person accounts by Angels past and present, Under the Halo brings the reader into the dugout with an all-star roster, including: Garret Anderson, Bert Blyleven, Rod Carew, Dean Chance, Doug DeCinces, Brian Downing, David Eckstein, Chuck Finley, Troy Glaus, Vladimir Guerrero, Wally Joyner, Albie Pearson, Troy Percival, Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana, and many, many more!
With more than 300 images, a vintage scorecard and program guide reproductions and a removable timeline of the Angels recent success, Under the Halo is a grand slam for Angel fans and baseball historians alike!
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If you haven't yet, see why the Angels hit up the internet home for Angels fans and check out our Top 50 Greatest Moments in Angels Baseball online here.
Interview Conducted by David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
So you want to write about the Angels, eh? While a lot of people would like to do that, not many of people actually get to do that—especially for a living.
Meet Alden Gonzalez, the newest professional Angels blogger. Taking over for Lyle Spencer, Alden joins the crew that covers the Angels to bring fans all the content that they crave about the team.
Growing up in Florida, Alden is still learning adjusting to life on the West Coast, but he’s settling in fast. Make no mistake about it, though: Alden is a knowledgeable baseball writer who speaks both English and Spanish—giving him a distinct advantage when interviewing Latin players. The other beat reporters are already coming to rely on him for that skill, especially in translating for interviews. Coming from a Cuban family, he’s always on the lookout for a good traditional meal, and I have already steered him to Felix’s on the Orange Circle. But if you have other suggestions, he’s open to hearing them.
AngelsWin.com recently caught up with Alden Gonzalez to find out more about our latest blogger. No, we didn’t ask him to weigh in on the Mathis/Napoli debate. But, we did ask him about his jacket—he loves it when people comment about it (especially his fellow fashion experts in the press corps). During Spring Training, he has yet to be spotted without it. AngelsWin.com is offering a prize to the first fan who can email us a picture they take with Alden at the ballpark while he’s not wearing the jacket seen in this video.
Click below to listen to our interview with Alden Gonzalez. We think that Angels fans are going to like the content he will provide this year.
Los Angeles Angels Beat Writer for MLB.com interviewed with David Saltzer from AngelsWin.com on March 10th, 2012 in Tempe, AZ.
Alden Gonzalez’s Pro MLB Blog is called Gonzo and ‘The Show’ and can be viewed at http://aldengonzalez.mlblogs.com/. Alden can be reached by email at Alden.Gonzalez@mlb.com, and can be followed on Twitter at @Alden_Gonzalez.
One of the greatest joys in following the Minor Leaguers in the Angels organization is watching them develop and mature into Major Leaguers. That’s why AngelsWin.com goes to such lengths to develop our Top-50 Angels Prospect List. We take pride in watching their successes, and take solace with their struggles.
During this Spring Training, one Angels prospect is really making a name for himself with his hard-nosed play and superb skills. While many fans are just now learning about Kole Calhoun, AngelsWin.com has been following him since he joined the Angels in 2010. Ranked as the 9th best prospect in the organization by AngelsWin.com, Calhoun is sporting a .361 average with 6 doubles (to lead the club) and 1 triple in 36 Abs.
AngelsWin.com recently caught up with Kole to find out what he did in the offseason and how his first Spring Training is going with the Major League club. Click below to listen to the conversation. He is definitely one prospect that you are going to want to get to know.
For an older interview (video) of Kole Calhoun conducted in 2011, click here.
Interview Conducted by Brian Waller, AngelsWin.com Feature Writer
Intensity is something you can’t teach. It’s not a pitch you can practice in the bullpen; it’s not a flaw in your swing you can fix in the batting cages. It’s an intangible that doesn’t show in stat lines on the back of baseball cards. It’s a personality trait that is found in winners and leaders throughout baseball’s long history.
Few men are more intense when it comes to the game of baseball then Larry Bowa. Bowa played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball, 12 of those seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies. Fast feet, soft hands, a quick temper, and unlimited determination characterized Bowa's years as a player in which he was selected to five All-Star games and was the recipient of two Gold Glove awards. The pinnacle of Bowa’s playing career came in 1980 however when he, along with Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose and Steve Carlton beat the Kansas City Royals in the World Series bringing the Phillies their first ever championship. Bowa would go on to play another five seasons before retiring in 1985.
Rather than enjoy retirement, Bowa instead chose to begin a new chapter in his baseball career by becoming the manager of the San Diego Padres in 1987. Bowa’s time in San Diego would be brief however as he and the Padres parted ways in 1988. Following his departure from San Diego Bowa would go on to become one of the great third base coaches in recent history as he would man the coach's box for the Phillies, Angels and Mariners.
In 2001, Bowa became the manager of the Phillies and that same year was named the 2001 National League Manager of the Year. Bowa and the Phillies would part ways in 2004 but his time off would be brief, he again found himself in the third base coach’s box, this time for the Yankees and Dodgers.
After departing the Dodgers in 2010, Bowa became an analyst with the MLB Network. Bowa draws from his years of experience as a player, coach and manager to provide viewers with in-depth analysis like only he can. I was fortunate enough to speak with Bowa recently to get his thoughts on his time with the Halos, their chances this season, and the changes that have occurred in baseball since his playing days.
On December 10, 2011, Angels fans got their first chance to meet the newest member of their starting rotation: C. J. Wilson. While Angels fans had come to know of him from his days in Texas, they really didn’t know what kind of pitcher they were getting.
Since then, Angels fans have come to know Wilson as a bit of a prankster and quite a jokester. His most recent prank, posting Mike Napoli’s phone number for fans to call, is one that will live in Angels’ lore for a long time.
However, beneath that hip exterior lies a very fierce competitor. When I met C. J. Wilson at the press conference in December, I was very impressed with his passion to excel and to be the best. He told me about his passion to succeed in baseball from his childhood, when he first realized how fierce the competition would be to play Major League baseball. With Wilson, his passion wasn’t forced or a sign of bravado. Instead, it came across as an intense desire to never settle for mediocrity.
After talking with Wilson a couple of times, I believe that the Angels truly got the right pitcher to improve their rotation for the next five years. The combination of Weaver, Haren, Santana, and Wilson will push all Angels pitchers to leave their best on the mound each and every night, and that will lead to plenty of exciting games for Angels fans.
Recently, AngelsWin.com got to meet up with C. J. Wilson for an update on his offseason and his Spring Training so far. Please click below to listen to his interview with AngelsWin.com.
Interview Conducted by David Saltzer, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer
On March 10th, 2012 at the Tempe Fiesta Resorts Conference Center, AngelsWin.com hosted several guests such as Angels' owner Arte Moreno, John Carpino, Tim Mead, OCR reporters, Rob Goldman, Halos prospects such as Matt Shoemaker, Frazier Hall, Mike Piazza and Angels 5th starter hopeful Jerome Williams and family.
Jerome Williams had a 4-0 record and 3.68 ERA last season with the Angels after impressing in Salt Lake with the Bees. Jerome talks about several topics, including living and pitching in a foreign country, perseverance, the hamstring injury and who to talk to if he wants to learn a new pitch or improve one already in his repertoire.
To watch and listen to the Q & A session with Jerome, click on part one and then part two below.
AngelsWin.com's Senior Writer David Saltzer asks Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jerome Williams a series of questions at our AngelsWin.com Spring Fanfest.
AngelsWin.com's Senior Writer David Saltzer asks Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Jerome Williams a series of questions at our AngelsWin.com Spring Fanfest. (March 10th, 2012)
Baseball fans rejoice! After several months of cold weather, spring is here and baseball is back! As baseball fans, it’s difficult to keep up on every team and every off-season move that was made, fortunately the MLB Network has its series “30 Clubs in 30 Days”. Returning for its fourth season, "30 Clubs in 30 Days", will not be resting on its laurels. In an effort to provide the viewer with the most in-depth analysis and coverage “30 Clubs in 30 Days’ analysts will be hitting the road and visiting the teams at the spring training camps. That's right, for the first time Kevin Millar, Al Leiter, Harold Reynolds, Sean Casey, Dan Plesac, Bill Ripkin and Mitch Williams will be visiting the spring training facilities and will be taking part in "Diamond Demos" with players such as the Rockies' Dexter Fowler who shows the viewers tips on base stealing. Other demos include the Indians' Derek Lowe with tips on throwing a slider and the Padres' Cameron Maybin and tracking fly balls to the wall.
Although I enjoy all episodes of 30/30, I think all Angel fans look forward to the episode covering our beloved Halos. Good news, the episode covering the 2012 Angels will air on Sunday, March 18th, at 11:00 p.m. PT. For those that miss the first showing, it will re-air on Monday, March 19th, at 12:00 p.m. PT. MLB Network does not skimp on the coverage they provide as the episode will feature interviews with Albert Pujols, Vernon Wells, Torii Hunter, Howie Kendrick, Jered Weaver, and Dan Haren. And if that wasn't enough, Vernon Wells will be giving a tour of the Angels' Spring Training facility and our very own gold glove candidate Peter Bourjos will be giving a demo on how to rob a home run. The episode will be hosted by Matt Vasgersian with analysis being provided by Larry Bowa in studio and the always fun to watch Kevin Millar who will be on-site at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Tempe, AZ. With the anticipation and hype surrounding the 2012 season, this is a cant miss episode for all Angel fans.
For those wondering just want goes into an episode of 30/30, it is no small feat. A crew of 8-10 individuals make their way out to Arizona and Florida to cover the Cactus League and Grapefruit league. The crew consists of producers, camera and lightening men, technical managers, audio managers and an operations manager. Specifically, as pertains to the Arizona crew, on-site producers Richard Savino and Mark Capalbo have worked very closely with Plesac, Reynolds, Millar and Williams to provide us, the viewers with the best possible coverage. Once the on-site crews gather the audio and video footage they send it back to MLB Network headquarters in Secaucus, New Jersey where dozens of more individuals work hard to put together the previews we've waited all winter to see.
Whether you’re a die-hard fan prepping for your fantasy draft or a casual fan just catching up on your favorite club, "30 Clubs in 30 Days" is a great way to get fans ready for Opening Day. With one of the most prolific off seasons in Angels franchise history, the analysts will have their hands full covering all aspects of the teams upcoming 2012 seasons. Once again, it's a cant miss for all Angels fans.
Jason Brennan who you've heard on AM 830 Angel Talk and seen at Angel Stadium or at his bar Throwbacks was one of 10 candidates asked to participate in the Orange County Leukemia & Lymphoma Society 2012 Man of the Year Campaign. The campaign is a fundraising drive and his goal is to raise $100,000 in 10 weeks to have a research award named for a close friend of his who passed away 2 years ago after a battle with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.
It is incredibly important for Jason to raise money to fight blood cancers but also to have a good time doing it, so he's throwing a party. Your $100 tax deductible donation gets you into a night filled with Cocktails, Casino Games, a great Comedian in Orny Adams and a special guest host in MMA superstar Quentin "Rampage" Jackson.
If you have already made a donation Jason will apply that amount towards a ticket if you'd like to come.
AngelsWin.com has been very supportive of Jason Brennan's charity work in the past so it is my hope that we can help Jason again for yet another good cause!
Arte Moreno answering questions from Geoff Stoddart, AngelsWin.com's Director of Social Media.
TEMPE, AZ - In what was the first ever interview with Arte Moreno from a fan-run website/Blog, the owner of the Los Angeles Angels spoke for just under an hour to a crowd of 125 AngelsWin.com members on Saturday, March 10th.
The AngelsWin.com staff of writers and contributors put together several questions and presented them to Arte at the Fiesta Resorts Conference Center in what was AngelsWin.com's sixth annual Spring Fanfest. Arte answered questions for about 40 minutes from AngelsWin.com's MC of the night, Geoff Stoddart, AngelsWin.com's director of social media. Arte Moreno at the conclusion of our interview with him elected to ask if those in attendance would like to ask him any questions while the owner stood on stage in front of the podium and mic.
Of course the Angels fans got their money's worth and fired off a bunch of additional questions to the Angels owner, some really good ones in fact. There were some funny moments too, especially the exchange that Arte and Mike Sword (PercySquint) had that you have to see.
Before Arte Moreno fielded questions from the crowd, he showed just how classy and respectful he is toward those close to him both personally and in business, as he asked those who joined him at AngelsWin.com's event to introduce themselves, including the prospects, players in attendance who were sitting at a table in front of the podium. Arte called up to the stage his lovely wife Carole, President John Carpino and his lovely wife, Tim Mead VP of Communications and Jenny Price Sr. Director of Special Events. And as mentioned, the players who were in attendance who were invited to eat dinner with the AngelsWin.com group.
The night was incredible, the time Arte Moreno gave to AngelsWin.com and Angels fans in attendance was amazing. The best owner in professional sports took several pictures with fans and shook the hands of many before he departed some hour and thirty minutes after he arrived. Angels beat writer Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register who was in attendance -- along with OCR writers Ellen Bell and Jenelyn Russo -- told Chuck Richter that Arte gave AngelsWin.com more time on Saturday than he's ever given him.
I can speak for everyone at AngelsWin.com when I say, Thank You, Arte!
Look for more on the AngelsWin.com Blog from Tim Mead's speech and Q & A on Sunday morning and from Brian Waller who captured the entire weekend's events from AngelsWin.com's 2012 Spring Fanfest. But for now, it's all about Arte and what he shared on that memorable night on March 10th. Click on the video below to watch in HD and share this with every Angels fan you know. You won't get this much of the Angels owner anywhere else on the net or in print.
For those of you who are hearing impaired, or would prefer to read over watching an HD video that could take a bit to load on your PC or handheld device, here's the text transcript of our night with the Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno.
Enjoy!
Geoff: My name is Geoff Stoddart. Most of you know me as Spiritof2002. So I would like to start off by introducing the founder of Angelswin.com Chuck Richter.
Chuck Richter: Thank you all for coming and Arte, thank you for being able to come and be a part of this. Arte, I can speak for the entire group here that what you have put on the field over the years, giving us winning teams, that is something that we really appreciate from a fans standpoint. (Applause). What’s interesting is that Geoff and I were talking earlier and we realized that I put together Angeslwin.com in 2003, the same year you (Arte) purchased the Angels. So I think that’s a good omen. I can just speak again for all of us that Albert Pujols, CJ Wilson, Jered Weaver, the guys that you put on the field for us going into 2012 is just amazing and we’re still buzzing even now. You can even see that in the sold out crowds, the fans in the stands for these spring training games - that they’re buzzing as well. Thank you for showing up tonight and we really, really appreciate the product that you put on the field. (Applause)
At this time I would like to bring up Geoff Stoddart as we put together a list of questions from our staff of writers that we would like to ask you tonight and if you can do your best to answer them that would be great.
Geoff: As Chuck mentioned, the writers of Angelswin.com put together a list of about 437 questions. I guess I’ll start with number one.
When you were young, did you play baseball, and if so what was the position that you played?
Arte: I did play baseball all the way through high school and I was a second basemen and later I was a first basemen. Not good enough anywhere to get passed high school.
Geoff: Who were your favorite players as a kid?
Arte: I like Roberto Clemente a lot. Playing second base, I like Bobby Richardson a lot. But I was one of those fans that liked players from every team so I didn’t have a special player I liked to watch, but by position.
Geoff: When you were thinking about buying a major league baseball team, were you interested initially only in the Angels or were there other teams you were looking to pursue to purchase?
Arte: I started in the minor leagues like a lot of the players did. I started with A team with a bunch of my buddies, my drinking buddies, we bought a Pioneer League short A team and moved it to Salt Lake. That was in 85 I think and had it til 93. Then 95/96 I was one of the original owners of the Diamondbacks so I was a minority partner with the Diamondbacks. In 01 we beat the Yankees in the World Series. I won 3 championships in the minors and then won with the Diamondbacks. Then in 03, or 02/03, I tried to buy the Diamondbacks first and there were a couple of other teams for sale. There was 4 or 5 teams available.
Geoff: What drew you to the Angels?
Arte: A couple things. I grew up in Arizona and used to go to Southern California all the time. Not only to the beach and whatever but to catch a ball game. My wife just walked in the back. But anyways, I came from the advertising business and really like the size of my market and we can get into all kinds of argument about the name change and whatever but really the metropolitan. New York is #1 metropolitan area, Los Angeles metro area second largest and really felt that with some kind of development marketing that we could start attracting bigger crowds, generate more revenues therefore being able to put a better product on the field. Not being in a situation where you’re always open to that perfect job in the minor league system but also there was an opportunity to develop the minor league system and being able to invest in free agents.
Geoff: Speaking of free agents, this offseason you got the top hitter, you got the top pitcher on the market along with a new catcher and relief pitcher. This compares to the 2004 season when you got Vladimir, Bartolo Colon, Escobar, how would you compare those two offseasons?
Arte: A lot of times you want short answer to a long situation. Obviously 02 won a championship, 03 by all star break my wife and I purchased the team in late May, we were out of the race. In our system we lacked outfielders and starting pitching. Originally what we went for we felt that they could make a deal on Guillen even though had a question with temperament, he was a hard hitter and drove in a lot of runs, home runs, and a big arm. They felt we could make a deal on Escobar, Stoneman was very familiar with Escobar making him from a reliever to a starter. So we started right there. Colon was on the market and looked like he was going to sign with the White Sox at the time but we offered him an extra year which really didn’t work out for us but he did win a Cy Young. Really on the 25th hour is when Guerrero came up. The McCourts were getting prepared to buy the Dodgers but they hadn’t closed. His brother played for the Dodgers and they could not make that deal baseball was not going to conclude it. So they called Stoneman, Stoneman said if you match the contract the Dodgers are offering we could do that. So for us at the time, we added 2 very good outfielders, 2 starting pitchers that really put us in a position to compete again and made the playoffs in 04. The last 2 years we obviously didn’t make the playoffs. Last year won 86 games, had 25 blown save. Bill Plunkett is here from the Register and can back up my numbers. We made the decision to make changes in the front office, just felt that we weren’t doing a good enough job in our system to let the players coming up weren’t as prepared as we needed to be to compete at a championship level. When Jerry came in we sat down with the baseball people and talked about our needs. We felt we need a 4 or 5 pitcher, some kind of power bat, but really believe or not focused on third base. Just left a lot of players on base last year and then something in the bullpen. We didn’t feel like we were getting the production at catching. That is what we would call the short list, those 4 positions. The baseball people looked at the menu of catchers and felt we could make a deal with Colorado. So we sent our young pitcher up there for Chris Iannetta. At the same time we were going through hitter available, infielders, outfielders, and pitching. With Albert, Jerry (Dipoto) had a meeting early on with his agent. Felt that it was just the agent shopping around who had interest. But later found out there were more connections that that. The other positive thing, this family had been in Anaheim for the all star game and enjoyed the weather, environment, etc. Mike and our baseball people over a period of time and our fans built a very good reputation in the baseball world about being a good place to play. The American league could potentially extend his career by not day in and day out situations especially as he gets older can transfer and playing DH more often. So I guess sort of kicking the tires. They were kicking our tires, we were kicking their tires but I guess at the 25th hour I probably felt he was going back to the Cardinals. The homegrown Cardinal been there 11 years, the family is a native of Kansas City, he was moved there by his aunt when he was 16. So we ended up just trying to stay in the game at that time.
The same time Jerry had dinner with Mike and Carpino, the agent (Bob Garber) and Wilson up in LA. So we just tried to keep our name in the ring there. As we moved along, kept looking at relievers and saying where we could spend the money and where we would get the best return. My wife and I at the winter meetings were going on, I was talking to the agent and I asked if I could talk to the player which was Albert. So I put my wife and myself to talk about 5 minutes but we ended up talking 30 to 40 minutes and really had a great conversation. His wife was at a Quinciera so she was on the phone. We really felt he was going to make a decision quickly so we positioned our self. Now I know this is a long answer to a short question.
Also knew that CJ was flying in that night so we knew we were going to have to games going because we had the agent there for Albert and CJ was personally coming in. I started talking to Carpino and Jerry about our position when they happen to be in I think they were in two different towers.
Everybody was sort of running back and forth. When we made the deal with Albert, I made the deal with Albert but at the end of the day you have to dot all the I’s and cross the T’s. Anytime you have a MVP type player the whole bag of goodies that come. I like to use the excuse like my wife, instead of just getting the wife you also get three families. But we made the deal with Albert started working on all the details with Albert and that night around 2 or 3 in the morning we made the deal with CJ. Both players had better offers from other teams and we felt that our package of where they were going to play, and I think CJ got a little bit of a wind that we already made the deal with Albert he was very anxious to come home. Ironically Haren and CJ played with each other in college. Apparently Weaver and CJ are all from Southern California. Anytime you get local kids, I think that always help with the fan base.
Geoff: What was it like seeing over 4 thousand fans show up to the press signing conference of CJ and Albert.
Arte: Pretty wild. John told me that early on that people were coming at 6 in the morning and it’s going to be wild out there. It looked more like a Championship celebration. It was a fun day for us and players really enjoyed it. Weaver, Haren and some of the other players showed up, Bobby Grich and some of the coaches showed up.
Geoff: One of the things we like to do on the board a lot is talk to each other about potential trades. Are you like a lot of us fans as the trade deadline nears where you’re away from the other members of the front office and coaching staff. Do you ever put deals together in your mind or thoughts of people you would like to get a how you would go about making those deals happen?
Arte: Are we talking about baseball or something else? I think it was 03 in Chicago at the All Star celebration. The Angels won the championship the year before so Mike Scioscia and his coaches were there for the American league. I think Garrett won the MVP that year. I was out on the field and I think Dusty Baker was on the other side because of the Giants. We were out there talking to Mike saying “Now this is the team I would really like”, really looking at the All Star club. I think when you’re a baseball fan, you always play fantasy baseball and look at the players and who you pitch and how you pitch, when you pull them, when you put them in, what are they throwing. I always tell people we always already know what happened yesterday, if you could tell me what is going to happen tomorrow we would be in really good shape.
Geoff: As you are going through some of these in your mind, do you ever make suggestions to the folks you have running your front office?
Arte: Yeah, I think that’s one of the benefits as owner. From my philosophy it has always been let baseball people make baseball decisions. It didn’t look this way this year, but we do have a budget. This is our ninth season so we’ve had 8 real good years of building the organization so we could compete at the highest level and we were going up pretty good but started plateauing at little bit. We felt on the financial side we needed to make an adjustment in the team. So a lot of times you can look at it as a straight expense and say he’s just spending money or what we are trying to do is position ourselves to go to the next level or the next “x” period of time. People a lot of times get mad at me because I’m always a 3, 5, 7 years in advance from an economic model and looking at players and contracts and mostly anybody else that’s on a sound bite. For us to be highly competitive over a long period of time we have to make investments and decision that are going to reflect on the organization long term.
Geoff: The last 2 years from a marketing stand point have been big opportunities for the team. There was the All Star game two years ago and last year was the 50th anniversary season. What were the hardest parts for you personally about having those two marketing year events then things on the field where the team didn’t produce as you hoped?
Arte: I was Mr. lobbyist every time we had an owner meeting trying to get baseball people to commit to bringing the All Star game to Southern California because they just felt it’s important to showcase not only the Angels but Southern California fans, little league, pony league, high school teams, the big universities of Long Beach State and Fullerton. You just have a lot of really good baseball programs and just really felt we should try to showcase the fans, the weather. I always say we do play baseball on the West Coast. We have drawn over 3 million nine years in a row and on our way for a 10th straight year. That was really important. I guess from the negative side we didn’t really realize how much major league came in and it was their show and we got to put some things in but they really controlled the tickets and a lot of the marketing stuff. So we really didn’t get as many of our fans in the park as I would have liked. But because we had a lot of season ticket holders, a lot of them got the opportunity for them and their families to go.
If I’m ever going to blame somebody I’m always going to say “we”, if anything good happens I always say “me”. Anyways, the 50th anniversary one of the things we did when we came in was trying to do is put all the little pieces together to show that the Angels have it this year. We started planning before the games, Autry and his ownership, some of the teams, some of the players, some of the divisions, to really show some of the young generations that the Angels do have this long history of 50 years. I think our people did a very good job of identifying players, every night we had an alum player throw out the first pitch and they went out and signed. Really tried to integrate a little bit of our past with what our future is, and that was really positive. The negative is when you make an investment on the team and you really believe you put the pieces together and we as a team don’t perform at the level that the fans expect, that’s disappointing. You get invested not only buying tickets but you also emotionally get invested in the ownership of the team when they don’t perform. Especially we had a really good team but lost a lot of games right late in the game and some of those things were caused by some inefficiencies and hopefully we corrected those. I’ll tell you in October.
Geoff: Between buying the team, changing the name, landing Pujols, landing Wilson, have you accomplished all of your goals in making the Angels the number one team in Southern California.
Arte: Umm..no. I think it’s really hard when you do that. I think when you win the world series you want to win 2, when you win 2 you want to win 4. But I think it’s a building process. We had the president of the Hall of Fame with me at the game today and stuff we were talking about and spent 3 days there in Cooperstown. If you look at baseball and look at the history, the modern day history, Tim Mead and Plunkett are looking at me at what am I going to come up with. The way I view modern day baseball is 1900 on. So this is 2012 so we are somewhere in that 112 years into modern day baseball. When you’re looking at a 8 or 9 year period, you’re only looking at a little blip on a long scale. The question is can we take that little blip and open it up so it goes up here and we stay there. So the real objective for me to obviously I want to win but to be successful, we need to be able to produce at a very high level over a very long period of time. So when anybody ever comes to our house they know they got to play. Those are the kind of things to me I’m really interested obviously in the younger generations of kids getting the opportunity to come to the ball park as see some of the best players. Get to see first, major league baseball, get to see their players and have part of that experience with their family, or mom, or their dad, brother, etc. That is very important for us. You go to the marketing stuff or the branding stuff and some of the stuff we try to do and be more consistent with that whole thing we work on 12 months a year.
Geoff: At the press conference with Albert and CJ, you announced the major of Anaheim as one of the VP’s in attendance. Does this signify a solid relationship between the Angels and the city and will you look to renew the lease in 2016.
Arte: You’re not paying me enough. I happen to like this mayor. We had a nice relationship; we had lunch 3 or 4 weeks ago. He and his wife are coming in next week. We have a lot of our sponsors coming in for a sponsors weekend. He and his wife are coming out and we are having a BBQ and get to see what we do here and meet the players and people. Is that a good political answer?
Geoff: Where do you go to read information and stories about the Angels?
Arte: I really look at a mix of information. Pretty much scan 4 or 5 newspapers. Tim and his people put the clips together and anything they believe is readable I get. Usually it’s 9 or 10 or 11 in the morning. Out here in Spring Training I’m getting them at 8 in the morning. Really all the staff gets clips from all the articles written good or bad. I happen to be on the band board which is baseball media and look at MLB.com, ESPN.com, I like other sports. The reason I delayed from being here at 6, because my alma mater was playing the PAC 12 Championship. Just got beat by 2 points. All my friends kept saying “have a beer”, I can’t talk normally when you give me a couple beers. I get real honest. I read blogs but a lot of times the same people are going through the same things and you don’t get a mix of information. A lot of the times you aren’t getting information you should be getting. I should probably have my own tweet or whatever, can you imagine?
Geoff: One of the things we have done on Angelswin.com is put together a list of the top 50 moments in Angels history. Every year after the season we tend to go through and talk about what happened in the past season and try to identify something that happened that deserved to go onto that list and what item to pull off. One of the big debates we are having on the board is December 8th, and whether or not the signing of CJ and Albert deserves to make the top 50 moment in Angels history.
Arte: I guess I met my wife in Kansas City and their motto is the “Show Me State”. Maybe we’ll talk about it in October. Over a period you can be very optimistic when you make your investment or your signing, but you have to get production. There has to be production that is going to help the team, not so much individual stats as much as performance of the whole team. For me I probably would wait and say in October “should that be in the top 50?”
Geoff: Can you tell us what you told Albert when you talked to him on the phone that convinced him to come join the Angels and make them his home.
Arte: I don’t know if it was one thing, I think it was a mix of things. I think when we first started talking of what we had to offer. He has 4 children, young children 16 and under. I think his youngest boy is 2. To really uproot a family and the wife was born and raised in Kansas City and move them west. Went through our team and how long Mike and his coaches have been here, our commitment to our system minor league, major league, went position by position to show the depth of our organization, our pitching, our infield, the outfielders, top to bottom, Bourjos and Trout and some of the young players coming through. Talked a lot about the environment weather wise and what kind of field we have. Out of the 30 teams, there are 2 teams that still play of turf, Toronto and Tampa. Weather is very important because ironically we play our first three games then we go open in Minnesota. So we go from home for 3 days then send us to Minneapolis for 3 days for the first week in April. Then go from there to New York and open New York up. So coming home to the weather is always relaxing and the fans that we’ve drawn much like St Louis in drawing 3 million a year and consistently brought fans in to watch. There’s no debt on the team and economically we are stable enough to make investments into the team in what we are doing.
Geoff: Two more questions. As you look at the youngsters on the team, what excites you most?
Arte: You look at a bunch of young players. To me it’s energy, excitement, opportunity. We get a lot of people walking up and saying “Did you really love Moneyball?” Well I said, my partner used to own some McDonalds and used to say “Great for selling, not so good to eat”. Moneyball to me was the fact that it was probably really good to watch as a movie, but not so great as far as looking at talent evaluation and the measurement of what I call heart, in Español is Corazon. Love for the game and how someone plays. A lot of times you can look at statistical analysis on a computer and got the speed and power and whatever, but really are they gonna want to show up and play every day. We were trying to design the way we run our games, where people may only come to that game one time, they may be visiting or only saved up enough money to come to one game is like going to a Broadway play. We have to perform from the time you drive into the parking lot and walk into the gates and go to your seat and those players, you know you’ve invested this money to come and you have to give them the best possible product you can. A lot of those things you cannot measure on statistical analysis.
Geoff: Last question is kind of open ended. Is there anything else you would like to say to the Angels fans here tonight?
Arte: I thank you very much. I can tell you are very passionate or you wouldn’t be here. Love the opportunity from me now that we can communicate with each other and speak your mind and talk about your likes and your dislikes and your dreams and wishes and expectations are. I think that media has given us the flexibility for that communication. It’s not always perfect obviously but we don’t always hear everything exactly that you would want to hear it but we are not going to get better unless we get the information. For us to be able to communicate back with you properly… did you hear that Bill (Plunkett)… Just recently a lot of times I get interviewed and I feel like someone makes a decision of what I’m saying and told him to write something I said a certain way from what I said so I’m not a real happy camper about that one right now. Bill got to see that about a week ago. But anyway, I think that is a real important thing because we have such great fans and I really shouldn’t do this but I’m gonna say 4 or 5 of you, 4 or 5 of you, have individual questions you would like to ask me. If I can answer it, I will do it.
Greg Pero: First of all, thank you and your lovely wife for being here tonight. Recently the players association and major league baseball made an agreement of changing the playoff format and addition to that one of the conditions of the new ownership of the Houston Astros move into the AL West, just wondering what your take is on the new playoff format and the addition of the Astros to the AL West?
Arte: I think if you’re a real traditionalist and they keep adding games, sometimes you dilute it. Sometime you’re in a situation where you do have a division that has 3 really good teams because they miss by half a game. I think we found out last year that on the last day of the year two teams lost and two teams won to go to the playoffs and the Cardinals obviously ended up winning the NL wild card with the Cardinals and Tampa ending up on the last day. I think with the sudden death one game playoff as long as it’s not extended too long, you get that sudden death feeling of watching the game and knowing that at the end of the game they’re moving on, that’s A. And D, usually to win that game you have to throw one of your better pitchers or your best pitcher because there is no tomorrow. A lot of times the wild card team, especially with TV and delaying the start of the playoffs that you get a wild card team that has no arm pitchers and all of a sudden they are in. So if you burn out a pitcher or a bullpen trying to get to the playoffs, a lot of times the team they are playing is not seeing number one. Probably the other thing that you asked me which I probably can’t remember very well…
Greg: Houston going to the AL.
Arte: I was being sarcastic. This is a very, very political business we are in. I really believe that we should be in a situation where within reason you should be able to get in your car and drive and see your competition. Like for a lot of you might be able to drive here and catch a game and/or spend a few days and I think when you’re talking a couple time zones away affect us from a fans standpoint, television standpoint, there are just a lot of things. But I’ve tried to be polite about the situation.
Carlota Komp: I work for Lotus Broadcasting. Yesterday we booted the Yankees and now we are the official Angels broadcast partners. They know I’m a huge fan so they were showing me the contract and running around my office like “We’re Angels now”. The greatest gift I’ve ever gave myself quitting smoking, what is the greatest give you have ever given yourself?
Arte: (Arte turns to his wife). Does anyone have any questions for the players?
Question from Unknown Guest: How much influence did it have being a Latino owner in landing Albert?
Arte: I think objectively there should be 29 or 30 other teams that would love to have a player like Albert. I think as you’re going through the process of what your needs are and who do you have signed and who’s already in that position, I think you go through that process. But you would like to think that you’re looking at objectivity of what that player is going to mean to the team instead of just saying the owner likes this guy and we should sign him. I think anytime that happens I have the old plumber theory. All you need to do is get a plumber and “it” goes downhill and I feel that way about management. You let them make the decision you have someone to blame. I was being sarcastic.
Dave Snyder: On behalf of all of our fans, certainly the people of AngelsWin.com, thank you for what you’ve done for our team.
Eric Moses: I was just wondering if you could be a little candid with us on what you said to Albert about this whole marketing situation that didn’t sit well with him.
Arte: (Waives John Carpino to the podium)
John Carpino: You know, it’s pretty simple. What we did when we were trying to lay out our marketing campaign, we did what you guys do. We literally googled Albert Pujols nicknames and that was one of them. We put it on there and we handled it internally primarily with Albert. It was done more of a marketing campaign as it relates to “no you’re the man, no you’re the man”, not any disrespect to Stan Musial or anything else like that. I believe the fans got it, I believe everybody else got it, I believe the media took it to a different level. That’s basically the short story and the long story all in one. The process is an interesting one. Arte and I both became pseudo creative directors played around creative for weeks. We go through the whole office like what ideas you have. We did it on the Sports Lodge on Roger Loge the show in the morning on campaign ideas. We rolled them all out, we stick them on the walls, and see what looks good and what doesn’t look good and we try to narrow it down narrow it down. We’ve had some from my daughter saying OMG to everything. We just kind of go through the process to keep everyone involved creatively that ideas come from everyone. Try to do a mass appeal, try to not only market to you and make you feel proud of the team, but try to activate passive fans and go OK let’s go to a game, let’s go to 2 games, let’s go to 4 games and then build it from there. The process is pretty simple but it’s time consuming. We take our time; we believe it’s real important. That whole El Hombre thing I think got spun out of control so can say we handled it internally.
Arte: Albert understood and we sat down and talked to him. He’s fine about stuff.
Arte: Love the hat (as Percy stands up). I’m a Vietnam Vet you know; usually we were shooting at them.
(PercySquint slowly sits back down).
PercySquint: I will side with my friend over here and thanking you for your commitment to winning. My question to is that most successful corporations and businesses have a mission statement. What is the Angels mission statement?
Arte: That’s a good one. I would always say you want everyone to have a lot of fun, but at the end of the day you really have a lot of fun when you’re winning. When you put so emphasis on winning all the time that covers everything else up. When Tim said “would you do this?” (referring to the Angelswin dinner), and I said yeah I would love to go see it. You guys are so involved and to me the fans are having a good time and they like the product and they see that we are really working hard to make sure that you’re taken care of and that we’re trying to win. I know not everybody agrees with everything when you do it and how you do it but as a whole we receive high marks from the fans and we try to listen and I appreciate that, thank you.
I see one more hand back there. I used to always sit in the back of the class never wanting them to call on me but usually the toughest questions come from back of the class.
Cory Hinkel: My name is Cory from Thousand Oaks California and my question to you Arte is: What’s your personal favorite moment?
Arte: I have lot of them, we had 86 of them last year. I think there’s a bunch of them, 04 making the playoffs, 05 we had a great team knocking the Yankees out then went to Chicago on short rest. Flew all night and won the first game, the second game was you know the (Eddings call), but anyways whatever it was that was a fine year. Really felt we were a few games away. Thinking every good team you’re gonna go in and play somebody like New York or Boston. In 09 we had a very very good team and swept Boston. I really felt that we turned the corner and went to New York and gave one away minimum. Didn’t play well in the first one, the second one, and still ended up in 6 games. You get real close in getting to the Championship and really felt we were getting to the place from an organization that we were going to compete at a high level. Texas was going pretty hard from the behind and I don’t think we were prepared. Like I said, there were so many of those things that I enjoy and sometimes it’s really nice to walk around the park and everybody is polite and sometimes they tell me what they don’t like.
Wow! It’s not the greatest opening line to an AngelsWin.com write-up but it’s a fitting one. It’s the perfect one word description of a great weekend where AngelsWin.com members congregated in picturesque Tempe, AZ to share good times with one another over some ballpark food, a few brews and Angels baseball. It was a weekend that I had personally been looking forward to for a several weeks. Not only did I get to finally watch some baseball after a long winter but I had the opportunity to hang with AngelsWin.com members, which is always a unique experience. Its one thing to watch baseball but it’s a totally different experience watching it with fellow AW.com’ers. Truth be told, the annual fan fest weekend is more about the camaraderie between the members then it is about the actual games, at least in my opinion in anyway.
This was my third consecutive spring training overall and my second one with AngelsWin.com, I have to say it was by far the most memorable. For those of you that were there this past weekend, I hope this piece does the event justice and for those of you that did not attend, well…I hope this convinces you to get out to Tempe with us next year. If you are wondering, it is only about an hour and a half flight from Southern California or about a four drive depending on where you are leaving from and if you prefer to speed. I have two kids under the age of three, so if I can make that drive out to spring training while listening to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD on repeat then you have no excuse for not making the trip. Going to Arizona for spring training is a must for any baseball fan. The majority of the Cactus League teams play only a short drive from Tempe Diablo Stadium so you definitely have options as to which games you’d like to attend. In addition to the other stadiums, there are numerous hotels all within close proximity. Although AW.com’ers all stayed at different locations, the short distances between the hotels made getting together for a drink at a favorite hangout like The Tilted Kilt or a bite to eat at Aunt Chilada’s very easy.
Although there were a few AW members already in Tempe, the majority arrived Friday, just in time to catch the Angels/Padres game which unfortunately the Halos lost 6-3.The real festivities however started later that evening at Alice Cooperstown in Phoenix, AZ. We all owe a big thank you to Cassy Carlson for making the reservations and arranging the dinner. I think we all can agree that Cooperstown was an awesome venue to kick off fan fest. We had approximately 30 members show up for the dinner and by my count there were three challengers who took on the “Big Unit”! For those unfamiliar with the “Big Unit”, it is a 22 inch long hot dog weighing approximately one pound…and that’s not even including the toppings. The monster dog was actually featured on an episode of Man vs Food. Kudos to our own Chuck Richter for actually finishing the beast! In addition to the great food, AW headbands made their long awaited debut at the event; all in attendance were barely able to contain their excitement.
The following day, Saturday, was the day of the big event, the fan fest dinner. As you all are aware by now, the event grew so substantially that it had to be moved to a larger venue, the Fiesta Resort and Conference Center. Before the event though, AngelsWin.com Senior Writer David Saltzer checked in early to claim his full access press credential to cover the game, interview a bunch of the players, talk to Dipoto and take video of Trumbo fielding groundballs at third base in pregame drills. The Halos took on the San Francisco Giants who brought a pretty decent fan following with them. Unlike the previous day, the Angels managed to get a win. Led by a Mark Trumbo home run, the Halos beat the Giants 9-5 in front of another packed house. The crowds were definitely a lot bigger this spring and that is putting it mildly. All three games over teh weekend were sold out, as was Monday's contest against the Dodgers.
The fan fest dinner kicked then off at 5 p.m., I think it is safe to say that it was definitely nothing like Hail Marys. Brian Ilten was brave enough to man the sign-in table, with over 100 paid guests it was no small feat. With waiters in ties, water glasses with slices of lemon and an actual podium and PA system it became pretty clear that this year’s fan fest was setting the bar high and that isn’t even taking into account the guest speakers. Geoff Stoddart performed admirably as the master of ceremonies and handled the PA system like a pro. The headliner of the night was Angels owner, Arte Moreno. To be quite honest, I was surprised at how candid Arte was. I don’t want to get to in-depth into what he said or the questions that he answered because I know we have awesome footage of him speaking and I don’t want to ruin it with my commentary. It was almost kind of surreal though seeing the owner of our beloved team fielding questions from our group. We’ve spent countless hours on the board debating Jeff Mathis vs Mike Napoli, criticizing Vernon Wells’ 2011 season and critiquing any and all front office moves but I don’t think any of us would have ever thought we would be able to ask Arte anything we wanted. Another speaker that I, along with others in attendance, really enjoyed was Jerome Williams. After listening to Jerome in front of the group, it’s hard not to pull for the guy. He came across as very modest and down to earth. He also has set some pretty ambitious goals for himself in 2012 and I have to admit, I like the drive he has. As always, we were able to hear from up and coming prospects which was a fun experience. This year Frazier Hall, Matt Shoemaker, Carlos Ramirez, Mike Piazza and Matt Oye were kind enough to attend. AngelsWin.com Fan Fest continues to grow and if you are an Angel fan it truly is becoming a “can’t miss” event.
The AngelsWin.com crew met up again at Tempe Diablo Stadium bright and early Sunday morning. The group gathered in the lower seating section while Tim Mead stood atop the Angels dugout addressing a variety of topics ranging from Jeff Mathis leaving, the recent “El Hombre” misunderstanding and December 8th, the night the franchise changed forever. There were no softball questions from those in attendance and I have to give Tim Mead credit he didn’t dodge any of them. Like Arte, Tim was very candid and honest with his answers and he provided some great insight into how the organizational philosophy is changing with the arrival of Jerry Dipoto. After the Q & A had concluded we were able to stay and watch the Angels take batting practice. There was a totally different vibe in the stadium with only 100 or so of us fans watching the team as opposed to the thousands that attend during the game, yet another perk of being apart of the AngelsWin.com group (by the way some noticeable long shots during BP came from the bats of Peter Bourjos and Mark Trumbo, man can Trumbo jack ‘em). Multiple players were kind enough to take time out of their pre-game routines to sign autographs for the on looking fans. Those players included Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar, Vernon Wells, Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, Jered Weaver and the king himself, Albert Pujols. The Angels went on to thump the Cleveland Indians 17-2, led by Wells’ 5 RBI’s. Unfortunately it was after the game the AngelsWin.com crowd started to thin out and head back home. Sunday was the unofficial end to the fan fest weekend, but what a way to end it.
A weekend of this magnitude required a lot of hard work from many different people, for all involved we thank you. For all the fun that was had at the ballpark watching Angels baseball even more fun was had simply having a drink while debating topics like who our fifth starter should be or how many games should Trumbo start at third base this season. Its events like this that make you appreciate AngelsWin.com and the opportunity to be a part of a great community of people. Special thanks to Chuck Richter for not only creating the site several years ago but putting in all the hard work required to make fan fest such a success.
Here's some pictures to wet your appetite for now, but we'll be adding a bunch more over the course of the next several days as they come in.
TEMPE, AZ - On Sunday morning Tim Mead, VP -of marketing and Communication spoke to us from the Angels dug-out for about one hour. He told us that Arte speaking with us for an hour the night before was very special for us and for him. It was a rare time for us to hear Arte in a non-spin, no nonsense discussion where he openly discussed his background, desires as an owner and thoughts.
Mead spoke of the team's clubhouse chemistry this year and how he as an Angel employee for 22 years is like the players - they cannot wait for this season to begin. The addition of Albert Pujols has brought an aura of "team first, individual second" attitude to the club.
Mead shared with us what had happened with the "El Hombre" billboard episode this year and how the media overstated the event. His candor continued about the media and cautioned us on AW.com to be very careful about what a rumor can quickly do in today's environment with the explosive communication tools that exist today.
After his remarks, Tim fielded questions for another twenty minutes or so covering everything from the ticket sales, east coast bias, Morales update and where Mike Trout will likely start the season.
Click below to watch and listen to the man who bestowed so much knowledge and information of the behind the scenes operations of Angels Baseball and his thoughts on the upcoming 2012 Halos season.
Tim Mead, Angels VP of Communications, gives his State of Angels speech and answers questions at the 2012 Spring Fan Fest, 3/11/2012 at Tempe Diablo Stadium.
TEMPE, AZ - In what was the first ever interview with Arte Moreno from a fan-run website/Blog, the owner of the Los Angeles Angels spoke for just under an hour to a crowd of 125 AngelsWin.com members on Saturday, March 10th.
The AngelsWin.com staff of writers and contributors put together several questions and presented them to Arte at the Fiesta Resorts Conference Center in what was AngelsWin.com's sixth annual Spring Fanfest. Arte answered questions for about 40 minutes from AngelsWin.com's MC of the night, Geoff Stoddart, AngelsWin.com's director of social media. Arte Moreno at the conclusion of our interview with him elected to ask if those in attendance would like to ask him any questions while the owner stood on stage in front of the podium and mic.
Of course the Angels fans got their money's worth and fired off a bunch of additional questions to the Angels owner, some really good ones in fact. There were some funny moments too, especially the exchange that Arte and Mike Sword (PercySquint) had that you have to see.
Before Arte Moreno fielded questions from the crowd, he showed just how classy and respectful he is toward those close to him both personally and in business, as he asked those who joined him at AngelsWin.com's event to introduce themselves, including the prospects, players in attendance who were sitting at a table in front of the podium. Arte called up to the stage his lovely wife Carole, President John Carpino and his lovely wife, Tim Mead VP of Communications and Jenny Price Sr. Director of Special Events. And as mentioned, the players who were in attendance who were invited to eat dinner with the AngelsWin.com group.
The night was incredible, the time Arte Moreno gave to AngelsWin.com and Angels fans in attendance was amazing. The best owner in professional sports took several pictures with fans and shook the hands of many before he departed some hour and thirty minutes after he arrived. Angels beat writer Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register who was in attendance -- along with OCR writers Ellen Bell and Jenelyn Russo -- told Chuck Richter that Arte gave AngelsWin.com more time on Saturday than he's ever given him.
I can speak for everyone at AngelsWin.com when I say, Thank You, Arte!
Look for more on the AngelsWin.com Blog from Tim Mead's speech and Q & A on Sunday morning and from Brian Waller who captured the entire weekend's events from AngelsWin.com's 2012 Spring Fanfest. But for now, it's all about Arte and what he shared on that memorable night on March 10th. Click on the video below to watch in HD and share this with every Angels fan you know. You won't get this much of the Angels owner anywhere else on the net or in print.
If you'd like to view in HD in a larger window, proceed to our Vimeo page and check out the interview and night with Arte Moreno here: https://vimeo.com/38365575
For the text transcript of this interview, click here.
Jordan Walden will be the reason the Angels either succeed or fail in 2012. It’s just that simple. Is it fair to put your season hopes on the shoulders of a 24 year old closer? Absolutely not, but it is the reality. Believe it or not, no player on this team is more important to the success of the Halos then Walden. Think about it, if Vernon Wells or Torii Hunter flop it is not a huge problem because we can just plug Mike Trout or Mark Trumbo into a corner outfield position. If the unthinkable happens and Pujols gets injured, or fails to perform, we can go with Kendrys Morales or Trumbo at first base (for the record, even if Pujols does not perform well I don’t think there is any way he would be benched…ever). If Weaver fails to come close to his 2011 numbers, well guess what . . . we have two other aces named Dan Haren and C.J. Wilson to fill the void. The fact of the matter is that this team, for the most part, has tremendous depth. So much depth that it will allow the Angels to not miss a beat if an injury occurs or a player just flat out doesn’t perform as expected; this team is built to win. To win however, the Angels need consistency and effectiveness from their bullpen, specifically Walden.
Vernon Wells will have a productive season in 2012. He will improve on his career low numbers from last season and he will win Comeback Player of the Year. Mark my words and bookmark this article (if for no other reason than to make fun of me if he fails to do so). For those of you that forgot how he did last season, here is his stat line:
Avg. HR RBI’s 2B’s SB BB’s K’s OBP. SLG. OPS.
.218* 25 66 15* 9 20* 86 .248* .412 .660*
*Career Lows
I’m not going to extensively break down Wells’ atrocious 2011 season because, well, that would take far too long and it’s been pretty well documented already. I’m also not going to try and explain why his production declined so sharply, fact of the matter is, there are probably numerous contributing factors. I am however going to explain why I think Wells will improve and have a rebound season. There is cause for optimism people!
Reason #1: Revamped Swing
During the offseason Wells reached out to highly renowned hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo to help him overhaul his swing. Jaramillo, like Wells, resides in the Dallas, Texas area during the offseason so the pairing seemed logical. For whatever reason in 2011, Wells got into the habit or trying to pull the ball with every swing which resulted in numerous groundouts and weak pop flies. To remedy this, he dedicated himself this offseason to getting back to basics, specifically staying inside the ball and hitting the ball up the middle. Wells himself said that because he was so pull happy his numbers took a nose dive, specifically his doubles. During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Wells explained that Jaramillo helped him with his balance, stance and timing as well as getting a more consistent swing path. In addition to the physical changes, they worked on preparation, with an emphasis on knowing whom you're facing and what that pitcher did in his previous starts. Granted this has yet to translate to on-field success but let’s be honest, the old Vernon Wells swing obviously wasn’t cutting it. A revamped swing and approach at the plate developed by one of the league’s best hitting coaches is definitely a step in the right direction.
Reason #2: He won’t have to be Batman
Having the best baseball player on the planet batting third on your team makes a lot of things better doesn’t it? We’ve heard it said multiple times, inserting Albert Pujols into any line-up instantly makes everyone better. Even if Pujols’ presence in the line-up has zero affect on what pitches Wells sees during his at-bats, his presence on the team will greatly help Wells by taking the spotlight off of #10. With all due respect, Wells has never been the “big bat” of any line-up; he has always played the supporting role of Robin to someone else’s Batman. Don’t believe me, take a look below at his three most productive seasons in which he was selected to the All-Star team and compare that to the big bopper he had in the line-up with him during that season:
2003
Avg. HR RBI’s 2B’s SB BB’s K’s OBP. SLG. OPS.
Wells .317 33 117 49 4 42 80 .359 .550 .909
Delgado .302 42 145 38 0 109 137 .426 .593 1.019
2006
Avg. HR RBI’s 2B’s SB BB’s K’s OBP. SLG. OPS.
Wells .303 32 106 40 17 54 90 .357 .542 .899
Glaus .252 38 104 27 3 86 134 .355 .513 .868
2010
Avg. HR RBI’s 2B’s SB BB’s K’s OBP. SLG. OPS.
Wells .273 31 88 44 6 50 84 .331 .515 .847
Bautista .260 54 124 35 9 100 116 .378 .617 .995
The Angels had no Batman last season, this year they do. Albert Pujols takes the spotlight off of Wells and allows Vernon to play more of a supporting role in the offense. Vernon now doesn’t have to be THE guy. I know people say that numbers can be twisted and used to prove any point, but judging by the ones listed above I’d say the addition of an elite slugger will greatly improve Wells’ production.
Reason #3: Big Fish / Small Pond
The Angels have arguably the top prospect in all of baseball with no place to play at the Major League level. Mike Trout will most likely begin the season in AAA, that’s not a horrible thing however since it most likely delays free agency a season for him but that’s beside the point. At only 20 years of age, Trout seems poised to make an impact in the big leagues. He has had success at each stop in the minors and truth be told, if he were on another team without so much depth he most likely would be breaking camp with the big league club. If Trout performs well in AAA and Wells is putting up numbers like he did in 2011 then the front office’s hand may be forced. With such big contracts being issued this offseason one could argue that the Angels are in a “win now” mode. Even if Trout is not performing at a level high enough to displace Wells, Mike Scioscia has other options, he could play either a disgruntled Bobby Abreu who is seeking playing time or Mark Trumbo, who was displaced himself this season by Pujols.
Let’s be honest, the Wells trade was basically a panic move made by former General Manager Tony Reagins. No matter how you analyze it the trade just didn’t make sense for the Angels. You may or may not agree but in my opinion Wells went into last season with a tremendous amount of pressure on him, pressure from the organization and even more pressure from us…the fans. The talent is there, for one reason or another it didn’t translate to on-field success in 2011. Can an argument be made that Vernon Wells is an elite top-tier batter, no. An argument can be made however that Vernon Wells still has the ability to put up productive numbers. There are fans that expect superstar numbers because Wells gets paid superstar money, to those fans I say you are setting yourself up for disappointment. I feel confident in saying that Wells won’t live up to that monster contract; let’s get over the money people. He has a bloated contract that one GM mistakenly signed him to and another GM traded for, it is what it is. It’s not like his contract prevented the team from making any big additions (cough cough..Pujols and Wilson). Wells does not need to put up superstar numbers; he simply has to put up productive numbers. A return to his career norms listed below would be a tremendous addition to this team:
Avg. HR RBI’s 2B’s SB BB’s K’s OBP. SLG. OPS.
.274 25 87 34 9 42 82 .323 .469 .792
Needless to say, it’s going to be important for Wells to get off to a fast start this season and that begins in Tempe, AZ. I know there are stat heads out there that will be able to use advanced numbers to show why Vernon Wells’ 2012 season will be a bad one, I for one am going to be optimistic and assume that last season was just a horrible aberration. With a season under his belt wearing a Halo’s uniform, a revamped swing and a Batman he now can play Robin to, I think 2012 might just be a Comeback Player of the Year type season for one Vernon M. Wells III.
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