There seems to be something different about the Angels offensively this year. Although the last few nights have been a struggle, the Angels went through a stretch where they were scoring 9 runs a game. They have been putting up runs in bunches much like we saw in 2002. Some would say that the Angels have had some breakout power performances from the likes of Torii Hunter(16HR’s), Juan Rivera(10HR’s), and Kendry Morales(12HR’s). This is true, but I think it is something deeper. A culture change you might say.

Since the Angels lost Tim Salmon, Troy Glaus, David Eckstein, and Darin Erstad they have been known throughout baseball as free swingers, possibly due to the influence of Vladimir Guerrero. This year however the Angels are working counts and getting on base. There on-base-percentage is 12 points higher than it was last year. They are even breeding their minor leagues to take a few pitches which is why we have yet to see Brandon Wood permanently in the Majors.

I attribute the Major League version of this to the resurgence of Chone Figgins, and the addition of Bobby Abreu. Angel fans can be pretty confident that with those two at the top of the order one of them will likely get on base. This season Chone Figgins is sporting a .403 on-base-percentage, and Bobby Abreu’s is at .390. This is something that I have never seen from the Angels. The organizational change is something Mike Scioscia has implemented out of necessity.

With the end of the steroid era, baseball games are going to be won by getting on base, getting over, and getting in. To date the Angels have been missing the former, but things have changed and league will notice come playoff time.

-Tony C