Game Recap 8/20/12: The Boycott begins! – Rays 8, Angels 3

And so it begins.

No, not the end of the Angels season.  I'm still foolishly holding out hope that they can somehow find their way back into the Wild Card race.  Rather, I'm referring to Great Angels TV Boycott of 2012.

Well, technically speaking, it started before the game when I decided that I just couldn't stomach watching another epic Angels failure.  That turned out to be a good call.  No Angel fan should have to be subjected to watching this garbage on their television.  In fact, if they had installed all those V-Chips into our TVs like they promised years ago, I wouldn't need to boycott because the V-Chip would declare these games obscene.

So, would you care to join me in my boycott?  It is very easy to play along.  All you have to do is simply not watch the Angels on TV or listen to them on the radio (which you shouldn't be doing anyway because of the prominent involvement of Jose Mota) until ALL of the following happen in a single Angels game:

• The Angels win.  That is kind of important.
• The starting pitcher must register a Quality Start.  I hate the Quality Start stat, but it works here for ease of understanding.
• The bullpen must not allow a single run (earned or unearned).  And it still counts if the starting pitcher throws a complete game.
• No Angel pitchers can allow a home run!  This might be the hardest one seeing that it is August 21st and the Angels have given up at least one homer in all but one game this month.

The thing about the boycott is that the checklist sees nearly impossible to obtain in the moment.  But it shouldn't be.  All I am asking the Angels to do is what they were supposed to do coming into the season.  These kind of games should be happening several times a week, not once in a blue moon.

I sincerely hope that this boycott ends during the Boston series, like on Tuesday, but when I announced it on Twitter, everyone wished me a warm farewell until 2013.  So, it could be awhile.

Rays 8, Angels 3

Game Notes

• Why the hell can't Angel pitchers avoid the big inning?  I obviously wasn't watching the game, but the play-by-play recap certainly paints an ugly pitcher of Greinke losing command for that inning and that inning alone.  This curse of the big inning for the Angel starters might be the one biggest piece of evidence that Mike Butcher really does need to be fired.  Well, that and that every single pitcher on the staff forgot how to pitch this month.
• Three strikeouts in Walden's return is very promising, but he has always been pretty Jekyll and Hyde, so let's not go and get too excited.
• And here is why, because Scott Downs looks like crap.  He was supposed to be the savior and he got rocked in his second appearance since coming off the DL.  That isn't a big surprise since he never actually went out on rehab, but it still doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

Halo A-Hole

Greinke continues to be unable to shake the "bust" label.  I'm not sure we can really blame him anymore because EVERY Angel pitcher is busting all over the place right now.