If there is one play that can sum up the Angels’ season, this is it:
The home run. It was close. "I just ran out of room. If I’m an inch taller, maybe I get to that ball.” pic.twitter.com/HKXl0BAtjr
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) September 13, 2015
If the 5-foot-10 Kole Calhoun were an inch taller; if his glove were an inch longer; if Jed Lowrie pulled it a foot more, the Angels’ season might have been different.
The Angels, in case you missed it, blew a 3-0 lead with two strikes and two outs in the top of the 9th inning Sunday in Anaheim against the Houston Astros. Closer Huston Street got two outs, and then he allowed a solo home run, triple, two singles and then the 3-run home run to Jed Lowrie to make it 5-3. After having the life sucked out of them with that inning, they went down 1-2-3 in the bottom half to lose 5-3.
Keep in mind that the Angels beat Dallas Keuchel on Friday and Lance McCullers Saturday by 3-2 scores. They were poised to pull a 3-0 shutout Sunday for the sweep. After a dismal late August that saw the Angels swept by the White Sox, Blue Jays and Indians and fall to a game under .500, the club regrouped in September. They took two of three from the Rangers last weekend, and they were about to win all three vs. Houston to get back into the division race. And then they imploded.
It wasn’t just that the Angels lost; it’s how they lost. And it’s not just that they lost being one strike away from a shutout and the sweep, it’s that the ball was just inches out of their reach. Kole Calhoun down the right field line, unable to haul in a 340-foot home run from Lowrie.
Calhoun, on the HR: "It might’ve tipped my glove, I’m not sure. I just kind of ran out of room."
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) September 13, 2015
The batter before that, Taylor Featherstone made a great stop and could have gotten a force out to end the game, but the ball got stuck in his glove.
Lastly, here's a look at the ball that got stuck in Taylor Featherston's glove … pic.twitter.com/PQcTAI7mBr
— Alden Gonzalez (@Alden_Gonzalez) September 13, 2015
Home runs going an inch out of the outfielder’s reach and a foot inside the foul pole. Balls getting stuck in players’ gloves. What more do you need to tell you it’s just not the Angels’ year? They need some freshness in there. A new voice and some new Karma. And yes, I’m talking about changing managers. Do it already, Arte.
