It’s not so much that I don’t like the Red Sox; it’s that I absolutely can’t stand anything about the Red Sox, their fans, or the entire city of Boston.  Seriously.

In April of 2006 my family surprised my brother and I with a trip to New York and Boston to see games at both Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.  The trip to New York was incredible as we watched Yankees vs. Red Sox with front row seats along the left-field wall.  In fact, our seats were so good that we could hear Hideki Matsui’s wrist break as he slid trying to catch a pop-up.
   
After two games at Yankee Stadium and more “DER-EK JE-TER” chants than we could possibly count, we took the train on a short jaunt over to Boston to watch the entire Red Sox series versus the Rangers.  Now, I was not a Red Sox fan at that time by any means.  I was born in New York so I preferred the Yankees in that rivalry and was die-hard Angels fan to boot, but I wouldn’t deny that I was excited to be stepping into the oldest and greatest ballpark in the Majors.  As our train rumbled to a stop and I awoke from my slumber I noticed a few rain drops falling outside of the train-car.  “Probably just a sprinkle”, I said in a half-hearted jest to my brother.  Shawn, ever the master of communicating a Gettysburg address-like speech with a simple facial expression didn’t look too encouraged.
    
For three straight days and nights the sky opened up and dumped buckets on us.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s games were washed away, much like my dreams of setting foot inside Fenway Park.  Instead I found what little solace I could by standing outside Fenway acting like the bitter, defeated tourist I was and to this day I have not forgiven the Red Sox or the City of Boston for that cursed weekend.
   
The Red Sox owning the Angels the last two years in the Post-Season might also have something to do with my fierce hatred.  Nevertheless this last week was a good one if you’re an Angels fan, as the Halos went into hostile territory and won their series against Boston and Detroit and looked really sharp at the plate, on the field and on the mound.

–    Howie who?  Yes, my man-crush on Howie Kendrick has subsided as I’ve watched Erick Aybar and Macier Izturis both hit well over .300 in his absence.  Kendrick has started taking ground balls and jogging and is expected to be activated April 29th when he is eligible to return from the DL.

–    The Angels are 10-5 on the road this season which is tops in the Majors.  This is due in part to strong pitching on the road, especially by Ervin Santana who has struggled for years away from the Big A.

–    Garret Anderson isn’t getting the job done batting clean-up this season and Angels skipper Mike Scioscia has finally recognized that.  I guess he hasn’t heard me screaming that all season.  On Sunday, Anderson was moved from the 4-hole to the 6-hole in a switch with the hot-hitting Casey Kotchman.  As of Sunday evening, Anderson is hitting .235 with 11 RBI in 98 abs.  What’s particularly interesting is that Anderson is only hitting .105 against lefties this season, which is something that he’s done quite well throughout this career (.290).  

–    John Lackey returned to the mound for the first time this season.  Pitching for the Angels’ Single-A affiliate Rancho-Cucamonga, Lackey threw two-innings, striking out 5.  He threw 41 pitches including 30 for strikes and was able to locate all of his pitches effectively.  Only two more starts until Lackey is back in the big leagues doing what he does best … err, I mean, this.

–    BOLD PREDICTION OF THE WEEK – (LAST WEEK) Well, this is a Bold Prediction after all so I’m going to say that the Angels win both of their series this week on the road and finish the week with a 16-10 record.

Another fortuitous pick for the Ev-meister, meaning I’m 2-1 on Bold Predictions this season.  This week the Angels come home with 7 straight games against Oakland and Baltimore.  Both teams were expected to be cellar-dwellers of their respective divisions, but each team currently clings to a portion of 1st place (The Orioles with the Rays and the A’s with the Angels).  You never want to play a team you should normally beat when their hot, but it looks like the Halos will need to do just that.  This week’s Bold Prediction rests of the broad shoulders of Big Daddy Vladdy. 

Although Vlad is driving in runs, he has yet to go on a typical Vlad-like tear, but I think that starts this week.  During this week’s series Vlad will hit over .400 and raise his average well above the .300 mark.