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Chicago White Sox (14-22) @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (20-16)
Pitching Probables: CWS – John Danks (0-5, 3.83 ERA) LAA – Joel Pineiro (1-0, 0.71 ERA)
Game Info: 7:05 PM PT; TV – Fox Sports West; Radio – KLAA 830 AM
Could this be the beginning of this decade’s version of the Rally Monkey?
The Angels are handing out Angel-themed luchadore masks to everyone in attendance tonight as they seek to break a world record in a thinly veiled attempt to garner media attention and some extra ticket sales. But this gaudy marketing effort could be more than meets the eye. We’ve already gotten a sneak preview of what magical powers these masks hold when a very punchy Victor Rojas and Mark Gubicza donned them in the Angels’ extra-inning win over the BoSox:
One can only imagine what will happen if the Angels win big tonight with the entire stadium rocking the masks, especially if it is a comeback victory. It took me a long time to begrudingly accept the Rally Monkey and I have even come to love it (thus the name of this blog), but these masks? As goofy as they are, they are much more palatable and my imagination is already running away from me, conjuring up images of a raucous and masked Angel Stadium crowd intimidating the opposition in late-October.
Monkey See, Monkey Do – Do wonder what the Angels will do to replace Vernon Wells. They have no real reserve outfielder, so they might be forced into using Bobby Abreu in left, even if it hurts them defensively since he has negative range. Or they could go with Trumbo or Amarista out there despite neither of them having much actual experience in the outfield. Whatever they do tonight may just be temporary though. Until we know just how long the Angels expect to be without Wells, they’ll likely stick with a rotating cast of characters filling his shoes.
Monkey See, Monkey Don’t – Don’t discount John Danks just because he is 0-5. The fact that he is winless has a lot less to do with him and a lot more to do with the weak White Sox offense. Danks still is sporting a very respectable 3.83 ERA, which is right on par with his performance the last several years in which he has been one of the better starting pitchers in the AL. Honestly, the guy just hasn’t had a chance to win, really. His lineup has only scored 19 runs for him in seven starts this season. Dan Haren might be jealous of that kind of run support, but for everyone else, that is pretty pathetic.
The Monkey’s Bananas Prediction of the Game: Nothing directly related to the game today, no, this time my Spidey Senses are tingling with the notion that these masks aren’t entirely good things. I can’t help but prognosticate that some liguored-up buffoon is actually going to try driving home while wearing the mask tonight and getting himself into the most embarrassing fender-bender of all time.
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