A Futile and Stupid Gesture

With their backs against the wall, did the Angels turn to "Animal House" for guidance?

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“We gotta take these bastards. Now, we could fight ’em with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, no, no. No, in this case, I think we have to go all out. I think this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part!”

- Otter, “Animal House”

Good for the Angels. Nothing is over until they decide it is!

As much as trading Shohei Ohtani would have been the right thing to do — as judged within the constructs of an industry in which winning games is often secondary to fiscal responsibility, perceived-and-promoted process, and player development in the name of long-term viability — sometimes you just gotta go for it. Many will disagree; many will claim that not selling off the greatest player of all-time for potential cornerstones of tomorrow sets the franchise back years. They might be right. But what if we are experiencing a moment of purity, peering together into an endangered corner of the game that prioritizes the present and dares to be great in the face of diminishing odds?

The Angels embraced the moment.

While we know that all Ohtani decisions run through (or start and stop at) owner Arte Moreno, I choose to believe that Angels GM Perry Minasian was watching “Animal House” in the lead up to the trade deadline. Gazing down upon his team, five games over .500 on July 27, Minasian turned to a couple of his key lieutenants and asked: “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?”

The Angels made as many deals as they could to fortify the roster. They covered for injuries and underperformance (Anthony Rendon has no grade point average; all courses incomplete) and upgraded the team wherever they could. Perhaps the problem with supplementing a undermanned roster is that marginal gains are just enough to make the losses more excruciating. Ohtani pitches once a week; he bats but once every time through the lineup. Then what? Even with a healthy Mike Trout, these Angels were fringy. Each addition to the team fortified its fringiness.

August began with a seven-game losing streak. Many of those losses were close games, tagged by some combination of bad luck, bad calls, and bad plays.

If only there were a punch card for managerial ejections, something to track Phil Nevin’s loyalty to denouncing an umpire’s poor judgment of the strike zone. Perhaps then a card that has been stamped 10 times could be redeemed for one call to go the Angels’ way.

A recent stretch of tight games has given way to blowouts. The Angels have been outclassed this weekend by a more talented Astros team. The playoff hopes for Ohtani & Co. are forbidding. But there are more than 40 games to be played, and somebody has to win them.

C’mon, Angels. You’re just the guys to do it.