MLB Bullets Needs Angels In The Outfield

So for everyone's mental health, I'd suggest reading MLB Bullets and seeing what teams not named the Cubs are doing this season. Or maybe checking out the Minor League Wrap. Look, I'm not saying you should read my stuff and not Al's. Al is a fantastic writer who rivals Dostoyevsky, in that, like Dostoyevsky, all Al is writing about is misery these days.

• At least we're not the Angels. Someone is going to take the fall for the Angels terrible season, and it's either going to be GM Jerry DiPoto or manager Mike Scioscia. The two apparently don't get along very well and disagree about how much say Scioscia should have in personnel matters.
• Jon Heyman says that when owner Arte Moreno tries to decide which of the two is more to blame for the Angel's mess, he also needs to look in the mirror. Several of the Angels missteps come straight from the top.
• The Angels problems go back to last season, when Torii Hunter and Albert Pujols nearly came to blows during a team meeting.
• Bob Nightengale thinks that the reversal of fortune for the two Los Angeles managers is a story worthy of Hollywood.
• It's been a year since the Dodgers and Red Sox pulled off that megadeal that sent Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford to LA. Scott Miller thinks both teams have benefitted greatly from the deal.
• Clayton Kershaw is looking at a record payday and he could be the first pitcher to sign a contract worth $200 million. Talks between the Dodgers and Kershaw broke off earlier this season.
• As good as Kershaw has been, Cliff Corcoran wonders if Jose Fernandez is the best pitcher in baseball already as a rookie.
• Vin Scully will return for his 65th season with the Dodgers in 2014. Just to give you some perspective, when Scully started calling Dodgers games, George Bernard Shaw was still alive. Scully still refused to work with him in the booth. In fairness though, Shaw's works show that he completely didn't understand the infield fly rule.
• John Kruk didn't work Sunday Night's game for ESPN because he was hospitalized for dehydration.
• More reactions are coming in on Ryan Braun's apology. Add Jerry Crasnick's name to those who think that Braun's statement was fine as a first step, but that it didn't go nearly far enough.
• Rob Neyer collects various reactions to Braun's apology and wonders why we're not more forgiving. He doesn't really defend Braun as he claims he is going to, but it is clear he's troubled by some of the reactions to the apology.
• Craig Calcaterra wonders why we even want Braun to apologize at all? He thinks that whatever Braun says to the public is pretty meaningless.
• More unfinished business from the last bullets. Jon Paul Morosi finds Pete Rose's comments on Ichiro to be partially correct but totally tone-deaf.
• Grant Brisbee tries to figure out how many hits Ichiro Suzuki would have had if he had started his career with the Mariners in 1992. He comes up with 3,898. But more importantly, Brisbee sums up the "controversy" perfectly: Some people think its "neat" that Ichiro has 4,000 hits between Japan and the US and others are upset that some people think it's neat.
• Despite reports that Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik signed a contract extension through 2014, his future with the team is very much in doubt. That extension was apparently signed in the off-season and not discovered until this month.
• Bill Baer is not a candidate for Zduriencik's job, but he has a plan to fix the Mariners anyway.
• What happens when you give up six runs to the Cubs before retiring a batter? Edinson Volquez found out. You get released.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka made his Mets debut on Friday. It didn't go well, allowing five runs in five innings against the Tigers. Despite the linescore, Howard Megdal thought there was a lot to like in Dice-K's Mets' debut.
• Roy Halladay was supposed to make a rehab appearance on Sunday, but after Saturday night's 18-inning marathon, the Phillies asked if he could start against the Diamondbacks instead. Good call as Halladay allowed only two runs over six innings and got the win.
• Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick is "frustrated but not discouraged."
• The Plain-Dealer's Bud Shaw goes out on a limb and predicts the Indians will win a wild-card spot.
• On the heels of a seven-game losing streak, the last thing Royals fans need to see is Wil Myers and the Rays. But they're coming anyway.
• Cub fans will find this awfully familiar.
• It has been noted that Metallica will play New York just a day before the Yankees plan to honor Mariano Rivera. Will Mo enter to a live version of "Enter Sandman"?
• Todd Helton is 99 percent sure that this will be his last season, but he doesn't want to go out with the fanfare that Rivera is getting. A quiet exit is fine with him.
• Jacoby Ellsbury lost track of the number of outs and got tagged out near the dugout.
• Denard Span's new hitting coach is his mother. She's pretty good, apparently.
• Somehow, Neil Walker ended up using a Cubs batting donut in San Francisco. Mike Krukow seems to think the Pirates stole it from Wrigley Field, but it might be a prank of some sort.
• These Hiroshima Carp faux-denim jerseys are the worst uniforms of all time. Or maybe the greatest. But probably the worst.
• The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City is experiencing a renaissance.
• And finally, is this Bob Hamelin baseball card from 1996 the worst card of all time? Probably.