Songs of the Baseball Season

Post date: Oct 6, 2015 5:28:29 AM

Baseball is full of tradition, from singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the seventh inning stretch to the Phillie Phanatic, and everything in between. New traditions are established: such as the presidents' race in Washington D. C. leaving the Nationals' fans asking themselves, "when is Teddy Roosevelt going to win a race?"

Other teams such as the Angels are trying to build questionable traditions such as singing "Build me up Buttercup" by the Foundations during the seventh inning stretch, similar to the way the Boston Red Sox use to sing "Tessie" and now sing "Sweet Caroline".

I have several quarrels with "Build Me up Buttercup", first and foremost, the song is one of disillusionment, the singer is complaining about being let down by the girl that he is interested in. Although this is a catchy tune, I don't believe this song is appropriate to fire up a crowd as big as 45,000 people. The Los Angeles Dodgers use "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey which seems appropriate for the moment.

However, "Build Me up Buttercup" is appropriate for how the Angels preformed the season. After a disastrous month of August, the Halos came roaring back in September, at one point they were victorious in seven games in a row. They ultimately fell short and were knocked out of postseason contention by the Texas Rangers, losing the game 9-2.

For many people the Angels' season ended yesterday October 4. For me, the season ended in the top of the seventh inning in the game versus the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, September 30th. Mike Scioscia made a questionable move, replacing second baseman Johnny Giavotella who was a principal reason why the Angels had a 5-3 lead at the time, mainly because of the home run; in favor of Taylor Featherston who committed a costly error by mishandling and dropping the ball; a play that would've been routine for Johnny G. Featherston's error allowed the Oakland Athletics to extend the inning, and in the end win the game 8-7.

Mike Scioscia has made many questionable decisions this season; he underutilized David Murphy in the Texas Rangers series, his reason for doing so? Matchups, according to Scioscia Murphy did not provide the appropriate matchup for left-handed pitching; however Murphy had an extraordinary average against such pitching. As a former Ranger, David Murphy is familiar with that ballpark, if Murphy was in the lineup, perhaps this entry would be discussing the upcoming Wild-Card game or reflecting on back to back American League West division titles.

The seven-game win streak built a fan base up, and bad managerial decisions by Mike Scioscia let us down. This begs the question: "why do you build us up Buttercup, just to let us down?"

One thing is clear however, Mike Scioscia needs to refine his decision-making skills because he is the primary reason why the Halos lost September 30th, and by extension he is a primary reason why the Angels are not making a postseason run this year. Yes, the injury to Houston Street was a big as far as the closers role. However, the effect is minimal compared to bad managerial decisions which Mike Scioscia is clearly guilty of.

It was not all doom and gloom however, for the first time in Angels' history two players hit for at least 40 home runs; Mike Trout and Albert Pujols. I'm sure that both players would be more than willing to trade in those accomplishments in exchange for a World Series ring.

The off-season has officially begun, the Angels have officially hired a new General Manager Billy Eppler the Assistant General Manager from the New York Yankees. I will expand on his hiring as well as reflect on all season activities and personnel changes in future entries.

Which team will I be supporting on the road to the World Series now that the Angels are out? This is probably the easiest answer of all, I wholeheartedly will be supporting the Chicago Cubs, not only would it be wonderful to see their over 100 year drought end, but I would also be supporting a connection to the Angels in Cubs Manager Joe Maddon, who is formerly a member of the Angels' coaching staff.

The post season is upon us, as for the Angels' fan base, we will have to wait yet another year to put on our postseason Halo.

-ICE