Is there a better team in the MLB right now then the Anaheim Angels? Someone please tell me if there is because right now, the Angels are playing like the team they should’ve been all season long. Let it be clearly documented that I selected the Anaheim Angels to reach and win the World Series. I have written it down in many of my articles, and have been speaking about the subject boisterously since the beginning of the season. Now I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but I’m living this moment up to the fullest. Shower me with love, for I, at age 14 and barley through puberty, am truly a sports genius.At the start of the 2004 season, as I rummaged through stat books and pondered around ESPN.com, I managed to stumble across a team that nobody was paying attention to, the Anaheim Angels. While everybody else was raging about the Yankees and Boston, I was formulating strong opinions about the Angels. Hitting, this team seemed elite, pitching, much improved with Colon and Escobar, fielding, superb with All-Star quality players scattered all around the diamond. Yet nobody was paying their respects to Anaheim. Except for me. I made sure my pick was secured so I made certain to document and record my opinion on this tea. Check the records, look back at my articles, I have stuck by this team the entire way and now can finally claim my glory as the Angels are currently tied with the Athletics as of September 29, 2004.
In my opinion, Anaheim has had an underachieving season due in large part to the numerous injuries they have been struck with. But somehow, throughout the hardships and struggles, this Angels club has persevered and is now in prime position to overtake a struggling Athletics team that has played poorly in September. If Anaheim had managed to stay healthy for the entire season, I would have probably proclaimed myself a genius a long time ago.
Now it’s not just my brilliant pick of the Angels that has sent me on rampage of self-promotion, at the beginning of the season I also said that Miguel Cabrera, outfielder for the Marlins, was going to have a breakout year and emerge as one of the most dangerous forces in the game. And am I wrong, no way. Cabrera has had a colossal season with the Marlins: 30 plus homers, over 100 RBI’s, 100 runs scored, and a batting average sitting around .300. And if I can remember correctly, don’t hold me to this, Sporting News said in one of it’s issues that Cabrera was a potential bust in 2004. Hey, Sporting News, a 14 year old high school kid schooled you, the “experts”, on a baseball subject. You must feel pretty ashamed, but don’t worry, it happens to everybody.
Now I usually won’t brag when I get something right about sports, but these two events are special. The Angels still in the hunt despite a frequent visit from the injury bug, and Jose Miguel Torres Cabrera, only 21 years of age, (but still older than me) having a truly breakout season of monstrous proportions. And as I said before, not to brag or anything, but I’m as close to a genius in the sports media world as your ever going to find, unless you fancy the talking TV heads of ESPN, which it seems we all do nowadays. And it’s a sad sight to see too, so many people with so much sports debating potential, and it all gets washed away when idiots like Michael Irvin pick the Kansas City Chiefs to be in the Super Bowl.
2 replies on “Bandwagon hopping to its fullest”
espn.com “nobody was paying their respects to Anaheim”?
found on espn.com, from an article posted March 5, 2004:
“New owner Arte Moreno did his best Steinbrenner imitation and spent $146.3 million on free agents. The Angels landed arguably the best hitter and pitcher available in Vladimir Guerrero and Bartolo Colon. As if that weren’t enough they gave depth to their rotation by signing Kelvim Escobar and re-signing Jarrod Washburn. Anaheim also strengthened the lineup by signing Jose Guillen. The Angels are the preseason favorite to win the West.”
of course the Angels had respect before the season – everyone was hyping them, even overhyping them, because of the amount of money the new owner spent and because of big name free agent signings.
found on espn.com, in a Peter Gammons column on April 4:
picked Anaheim to win the AL West. also, “Miguel Cabrera has the ability to become a Hall of Famer.”
from a preseason fantasy guide:
“The secret is out: Cabrera is going to be a superstar. The native of Venezuela showed exceptional power for a 20-year-old after jumping from Double-A to the majors, delivering 36 extra-base hits in 314 at-bats. Now the big question is whether he’ll become a .300-30 HR guy in 2004 or 2005.”
the guy was a World Series hero – not too tough to pick a “breakout year”.
nothing wrong with some egomania, but i think your crystal ball might have blurred your vision of some similar predictions.
Angels and Cabrera my point is, althiough, obviously people were noticing wat happened to the Angels team, however, they recieved far less media attention on the “front page” as the Yanks, Red Sox, Cubs,and Astros during the offseason.
And also, im not saying other ppl didnt pick Miguel Cabrera to have a breakout year, im just saying that i am one of the smart people who did pick him.