MVN - Most Valuable Network

Angels quick hit: Angels winning on road, can Santana keep it up and why the phrase “road warriors” needs to die

Here is a stat from the Angels’ 2007 division-winning season that might surprise you: the Angels finished below .500 - on the road.

At home in 2007, the Angels were stellar, going 54-27. But on the road they were just below .500 at 40-41.

But here in the early part of 2008, the Halos are going on the road and winning - through the first 12 road games of the season, the Angels are 8-4 and just won two of three against the Red Sox in Boston. (Of course, it helps that the Angels faced three fill-in starters for the Red Sox; it was like they faced three Shemps instead of all of the Three Stooges. And of course, the Angels also did a lot of their damage against the Red Sox bullpen and not the fill-ins.)

The early road success is a good sign for the Angels but since this is April, we really can’t put a lot of weight into it. I would much prefer the Angels win in Boston in OCTOBER.

However, some measure of the Angels’ early road success is dependent on the progress of Ervin Santana who so far in 2008, is discovering that he indeed can pitch on the road and that all he needed to do was believe in himself - his Angel’s teammates words - not mine. He has won his first two road starts this year but does face a significant task in Friday night’s road game against the Tigers in Detroit.

The Tigers are playing well now and scored 19 runs the other night. On paper and based on past history, it does not look good for Santana.

Friday night is an important test for Ervin since he has not fared well in his two road starts in Detroit. Actually, that’s an understatement - Santana has been mauled by the Tigers in two career starts in Detroit - his ERA in Comerica is above 15.

So which version of Ervin will we see tonight - Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?

And I am happy to report that despite writing this blog about the Angels’ early road success, I have not mentioned the phrase “road warriors” which I think should die a merciful death and should never ever be used by any sports writer, blogger or broadcaster to describe a team’s road success ever again.

Can’t we create another term for a team’s road success? We have many, many talented writers for sports programming and entertainment but whenever a team gets streaky on the road, the inevitable sorts anchor will say a team’s players are “road warriors.” Ok, Mad Max, we get you; you are referencing a film that was made more than 25 years ago and now everybody says it.

Anyway, anyone got a new suggestion for a team winning on the road? I can’t think of anything right now but I think we can all agree that “road warriors” needs to die.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 11:14 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.