Favorite Angels Moment From 2013

June 20, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels designated hitter

(44) hits a three run home run in the fifth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

So, apparently, the Angels season is over. Donezo, Finished. I wish somebody would have informed me, Dave. I guess this means that it is time for a little bit of reflection, a little bit of vodka and a solid crying session. Why you cry, Mike? Well, this is now four straight seasons with no playoffs, and top it off, the team couldn’t even do “bad” right as they didn’t finish in the bottom 10 of Major League Baseball. Why does that scare me? Because who knows what Arte Moreno and company are going to do this offseason, and I would really like to see them not give up their first round draft pick.

But, I guess, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there because that is skipping step one of reflecting.

So it was bad year, that doesn’t mean that the Angels didn’t have some great moments. Mike Trout did a lot of Mike Trout things and should be the front-runner for the MVP award. He’s not, but he should. He also went and hit for the cycle against the Mariners earlier this season joining Dave Winfield, Chone Figgins, Jeff DaVanon and Jim Fregosi as the only other Angels hitters to accomplish the feat. I’m sending him flowers everyday this offseason to show my appreciation, and am planning on starting a kickstarter to go towards his extension. Time to be proactive about these things.

Jun 19, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Los Angeles Angels left fielder Mike Trout (27) celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring on a wild pitch in the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

There was a huge ninth inning comeback against the Red Sox this season. A game that ended on a Josh Hamilton walkoff home run. There wasn’t a lot of nice stuff to write about Hambone this season, but every once-in-awhile he would do something great and remind all of us why, up until this season, he was one of the most feared hitters in the American League.

Mark Trumbo (100 RBI’s! Woohoo!) tallied 11 total bases in a game against the Blue Jays. He’s also one of the Angels biggest trade chips. He’s also tougher than you, me and your best friend. A toughness he displayed when he took a Kole Calhoun foul ball off of the neck during the final series in Texas, and stayed in the game! Was it the beard? Had to be the beard.

But those weren’t my favorite moments. They were great moments. But, they weren’t my favorite.

You see, I suffer from an illness. There are certain players that I like to see deal with misery. A.J. Pierzynski is one. Ian Kinsler, another. Ditto for Nick Swisher. Among those players is one, Felix Hernandez. Felix has been dominant throughout his career, but he has had trouble against the Angels. And on June 20th, he had even more trouble.

At the start of the day, the Angels were 32-40, but were in the midst of one of their streaks where they were showing just how good of a team they could be. Except Angels starter, Tommy Hanson, was still bad. He gave up seven runs in two innings, and was done for the day. Reliever, Garrett Richards, also gave up a run in his three innings of work. The Angels got on the board in the third with an RBI groundout by Erick Aybar. In the fourth, they got another run on a sacrifice fly courtesy of Josh Hamilton. Then, in the fifth, they did this:

Five runs off of Hernandez, capped off by a three run big fly courtesy of Mark Trumbo. The teams back-and-forth’d from their until the Angels took the lead for good thanks to Alberto Callaspo‘s bases loaded walk.

It was the epitome of resiliency. A snapshot in time of just how dangerous this offense was when it clicked. That not even the best pitcher in the American League was safe from it’s potency. Not even Felix Hernandez. I didn’t get much work done that day because I was too busy losing my mind over this comeback. My boss was not happy. I couldn’t care less.

So, what’s your moment? Do you agree with me, or was there another one that tops your own personal charts? Let us know. It’s going to be a lonnnnnnnng offseason. May as well share in some of the good times that were there to be had.