Angels have survived bad breaks before
It is reasonable to assume there was a fracture of faith on the part of many Angels fans shortly after Kendry Morales’ left foot hit the plate Saturday and celebration became calamity.
He was their best hitter and this was bizarre.
It would be understandable if some looked heavenward, allowing the thought of Nick Adenhart to slip back. That was tragic. This is merely traumatic.
If bad things are not supposed to happen to good people, then what is going on here? Are these the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or the Bad News Bears? If you see them in a casino, fold your hand and cash in. The coolers will have arrived.
Still, this remains a good time to take a look at the dynamics and nuances of this team, which, by all preseason ratings, should be spending time in late autumn in Yankee Stadium again this season.
They embarked on a 13-game trip Monday and entered Tuesday’s game at Kansas City still struggling to play .500 baseball.
As Morales broke his leg, he left behind a team of .250 hitters with a bullpen that brings mostly kerosene to late-inning fires. Their young third baseman, Brandon Wood, hasn’t quite figured out major league pitching. Their best defensive catcher, Jeff Mathis, has a broken wrist. Their marquee acquisition, signed to replace the powerful, yet aging, Vlad Guerrero, started fast and has faded, although Hideki Matsui shows in spurts what made him last season’s World Series MVP for the Yankees. Erick Aybar was supposed to ease right into the leadoff spot and produce Chone Figgins numbers, but he hasn’t.
So it is easy to look at the next two weeks as a likely beginning of the apocalypse. Ordinary team, minus its power-hitting first baseman, minus stability at the other infield corner, minus anybody other than Torii Hunter sniffing a .300 batting average, goes on the road. Cue the dark clouds.
But then, the Angels played a game Sunday, the final one of their homestand, that gave pause. Leave the grim reaper in the back room a bit longer.
The game was a dreadful example of baseball’s desire to provide action and entertainment. It dawdled on for nearly four hours. Pitchers for both the Angels and the Seattle Mariners seemed incapable of getting a hitter out in less than five minutes. It was like two teams of Bobby Abreu clones, taking pitches, fouling off pitches, stepping in and out of the box. You would have screamed if you hadn’t nodded off.
Just looking at the Angels lineup was enough to make you pull the covers over your head. There was Mike Napoli, looking out of place at first base. Hunter had a sore hand, so there was Reggie Willits and his long red socks in center field, next to Matsui and his 65-year-old knees in left. Maicer Izturis, at 5 feet 8 not looking the part of a third baseman, was at third.
And there was left-hander Joe Saunders, one of the corps of elite starting pitchers the Angels hope can keep them afloat until all the .245 hitters figure it out, who had the rhythm of a drummer with no sticks.
The game moved like a glacier. The Mariners took a big lead, Saunders took a seat. As the relief pitchers came in and the respective managers quickly came and yanked them, it was more parade than baseball game.
Then, a funny thing happened. The Angels started to chip away. They left runners on base and blew all sorts of big-inning opportunities, but they kept scratching and clawing. The Mariners bullpen walked in a couple of runs. Matsui even got one in when he took a swing with the bases loaded and the catcher’s glove interfered. Boring, but effective.
And then, in one huge swat, Howie Kendrick hit his second home run of the day, a walk-off, three-run winner in the ninth. The Ragtags had their second straight dramatic victory, and TV handled it perfectly. With the memory fresh of Morales’ injury in the mob scene at home the day before, TV showed home plate, empty, awaiting Kendrick’s solo step on it. This time, the celebration — as will all ensuing celebrations — began 10 feet behind home.
The game was a reminder. Last year, Adenhart died in April and the Angels didn’t start breathing again until June. On June 11, they were an unimpressive 29-29. By the All-Star break, they were 49-37, a 20-8 run that allowed them to never look back.
This season, after this two weeks away, they will have 15 of 19 at home.
The Angels play in the image and likeness of their manager, the unflappable Mike Scioscia. They just keep showing up. One-bat-at-a-time. Stone faces, except for the ever-smiling Hunter.
Other teams might have invoked Adenhart as an understandable excuse last year and packed it in by July. Other teams would see Morales’ leg as a comfortable talking point while sitting at home in mid-October.
Respectability on this trip will say a lot. So will a winning streak in the homestand that follows. A collapse would be understandable. Don’t expect one.
Clicking on Green Links will take you to a third-party e-commerce site. These sites are not operated by the Los Angeles Times. The Times Editorial staff is not involved in any way with Green Links or with these third-party sites.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
