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Mike Trout wearing braces and even more MVP talk, Scott Kazmir is still throwing baseballs and, are announcers being subtly racist? It may have been an off day yesterday, but rest assured, plenty of Angels and baseball news was found.

Scioscia: Age not part of MVP equation

Mike Scioscia is absolutely right. Age should not be part of the equation when voting for the MVP takes place, but historically, it has. Of course, historically, rookies don’t show up in late April and become the best player in the game. Mike Trout announced his presence in May, and he’s not going to go away. Good for us.

Money Quote:

"“There’s a lot of things that are in that equation that would get you to that final determination [of] who is the most valuable player to a team,” Scioscia said. “There’s a lot of different ways to slice it up, but I personally feel, yeah, where a team finishes or what a guy contributes to a club outside of what he maybe does in the batter’s box is all maybe part of the equation.“I think to Mike’s credit, I mean his numbers were just so incredibly off the charts that he deserved that recognition. But I don’t think length of service has anything at all to do with the MVP.”"

It almost sounds like Scioscia is campaigning for Trout, doesn’t it?

Angels must focus on winning a wild card

The Angels should concentrate on the Wild Card, but that would be the wrong decision. They need to play for the division until the division mathematically cannot be win. That mentality is gonna help them going forward, not playing for second place.

Money Quote:

"Two-out hits were also damaging. Of the 30 runs Angels pitchers gave up on the six-game trip, 23 were scored with two outs."

You know, last week I said to myself: “Self, the Angels have been giving up a lot of two out runs haven’t they?” Looks like I was right.

Mike Trout: Poetry In Motion — Or Fish Tale?

Should we temper our excitement over Trout’s future? Yes, we probably should. But, why? Players have come on strong before, but never has an Angel player been this consistently dominant (my apologies to Wally Joyner and Tim Salmon) out of the chute. At least none that I can actually remember watching.

Money Quote:

"What set me on edge, beyond the unctuous ESPN catch analysis, was an ESPN.com piece in which David Schoenfield opined: “Ranking the center fielders: Trout No. 1.”"

There are good arguments for both Andrew McCutchen and Matt Kemp as far as who is the best center fielder right now. But damnit, Trout is ours, and none of your fancy facts and stats and scouting reports are going to sway our belief that he is the best.

How MLB Announcers Favor American Players Over Foreign Ones

This is not a short read. So if you are thinking that you can skim through this while you sip at a cup of coffee your wrong. It is a very in-depth and well researched article. The subtle racism they are alluding too is against Latino players and how they are perceived by the audience throughthe words of the announcer.

Vin Scully will be back in the booth next season

And speaking of announcers, Vin Scully is going nowhere. I for one am absolutely thrilled for this. Scully is the voice of summer as far as I am concerned. There is a large contingent of baseball fans who consider him to be boring, outdated and too talkative and I understand their points. But Vin started on radio, where it’s a must to constantly speak so your audience can have the image of the game painted into their heads. Besides, having Scully stick around for another year means that this anchorwoman gets a pass for cussing on live TV. Vin Scully, doing good without actually doing anything.

Money Quote:

"Vin Scully is coming back. The Dodgers are expected to announce Sunday that Scully will return to the Dodgers’ broadcast booth next season."

Nothing more needed to be written.

Trout finding sledding tougher in August

We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast of “Mike Trout all the time.” Mike Trout is slumping relative to what Mike Trout has done for the balance of the season. Some players would give their right arm for the chance to have the numbers that Mike Trout has put up during his slump. Trout just needs to figure out his before it gets as ugly and prolonged as the other half of the TnT combo.

Money Quote:

"Kaline, the youngest player in major league history to win a batting title,also had a warning for Trout, saying “it will be a little more difficult in the last couple months of the season” for the rookie."

Curse your prophecy Al Kaline. Curse your prophecy.

Clemens impresses, Kazmir continues comeback

Roger Clemens threw 3 1/3 scoreless innings for the Sugar Land Skeeters in his debut for the Independent League baseball club. Pretty good for a 50 year old. More importantly, a pitcher half his age had a good performance as well. Scott Kazmir went six innings giving up four earned runs with one walk and two strike outs. Not bad for a pitcher who had a game go as bad as the one pictured below.

Yeah, that game was bad.

MIKE TROUT HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES (BRACES INCLUDED)

I’m guessing no one gave Mike Trout’s girlfriend the heads up on picture posting protocol when your boyfriend is super duper outstanding baseball player Mike Trout. Seriously, no one gave her the hand book?

Now how about you treat yourself to some Mike Trout highlights from this season so far.