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Many of you are aware of the recent article by Buster Olney of ESPN. To start, my article is not a knock on ESPN or its writers. ESPN and its writer do a wonderful job of presenting us with all of the sports information we could ever need; however, the lack of objectivity in this column was pretty upsetting.
The article quoted an unnamed scout which is the first problem. Why should we care what one unnamed scout thinks about the Angels? That’s like finding one employee of a company who is upset with the company’s product and taking it as truth.
The article also stated that the entire Angels lineup consists of bad fastball hitters, and that the Red Sox wealth of fastball pitchers will make them look silly. I would like to ask this scout how an entire lineup of bad fastball hitters manages to hit nearly .300 for the season and .296 with runners in scoring position.
This scout’s conclusion was that the Angels don’t stand a chance.
Typically, opinion like this does not bother me. It’s the trend of bad information regarding every West Coast team, other than the Dodgers, among the top baseball commentators of not just ESPN, but every national sports news network.
I heard Steve Phillips say there is no doubt the Angels will start Scott Kazmir in game one of the playoffs. Keith Law said Ervin Santana would likely not make the playoff roster. Have they ever even watched an Angel game? I know its on late on the East Coast, but come on, do some research.
Again, ESPN is a great network, but there needs to be some accountability for their writers, and I don’t think the network will create that kind of accountability. It’s up to us to email, comment, and call in to these networks, and let them know how we feel.
In the end the Angels will have their chance to prove them wrong, and I think they will. But to set the record straight, the Angels can hit fastballs, and Josh Beckett allows nearly 4 runs per outing to the Angels. Go Halos!
Fastball Pitchers ERA vs. Angels
Josh Beckett – 4.50
C.C. Sabathia – 6.08
A.J. Burnett – 4.26
Justin Verlander – 5.30
Matt Garza – 10.80
-Tony C
East coast bias is nothing new from the Eastern Sports Propaganda Network. The Angels top-to-bottom hitting is reminiscent of the 2002 team. Don’t know where the urban legend about the Angels not being able to hit fastballs, came from. I guess if you repeat it enough, people accept it as fact. The hex has to end sometime, it might as well be now. Angels in 5.
I too have noticed the east coast bias at ESPN. It is quite apparent and irritating. I have a special hatred for Boston though. The sports fans there are arrogant, over-bearing, and dorky. They pretty much dislike LA based on unsolicited comments I have received. The problem is very few successful athletes come from New England. The are mostly paunchy, unathletic spectators, expert at opinion and commentary, but hardly able to throw a baseball.