Year in Review: Los Angeles Angels 2014
- Updated: January 15, 2015
(Courtesy of @Angels)
It was quite a year in 2014 for the Los Angeles Angels. Questions loomed on a manager change, a playoff berth was clinched, a division was won, and the Angels managed to get the best record in baseball. Most importantly, we re-signed, arguably one of the best if not the best player in baseball, Mike Trout. The icing on the cake was Trout finally grabbed what looks to be his first of many AL MVP awards. He’s come very close in previous years but couldn’t quite lock it in. Lets look back on a couple of things that went down.
The Los Angeles Angels had to start off somewhere in the 2014 season and being impressive wasn’t one of them.
The Angels began the season subpar, like recent seasons. At the end of the first month, they were 14-13 and there were questions if Mike Scioscia was the right fit for the job long term. Due to his mediocre seasons of late, and his early successes he’s held to a high standard by the organization.
Since Scioscia’s arrival in 2000, the Angels were a model of consistency. They won the World Series in 2002, and through 2004-2009, the Angels reigned supremacy by winning four out of the five division titles, with ‘06 being the only year they didn’t win. Since the 2009 season it has been nothing but mediocrity. And as T.I. would say, Angels fans don’t want no mediocre. Considering the talent on the team the drought was very much noticed.
After about a month, the Los Angeles Angels got on the right track, and started figuring it out after a rocky first month. They began winning out all of their games at the end of the month; starting at 16-12, 15-10, and 19-8. They would end up with a 63-43 record with little more than half of the season left. Not mind blowing, but impressive. Being 20 games ahead of .500 sure does help your chances of reaching the postseason.
Eventually the Angels would average a win percentage of 63%. This being the percentage of total games won at the end of each month. The huge win percentage would propel the Angels to win their division title by a 10-game margin, and clinch an early playoff berth. They would also have the best record in baseball at the end of the season.
It was all sunshine and smiles for Angel’s fans. We expected a World Series visit, a parade and so forth. I mean after all, we did win our division and escape with the best record in baseball. It wasn’t too far fetch to believe that it was in the realm of possibility. Before any of that could take place the Angels would need to wait it out for the winner of the Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals series.
The Los Angeles Angels didn’t wait long. In the end, they would play the Kansas City Royals; the Royals would sweep the A’s. If that weren’t enough, the Royals would then come back and remarkably sweep the division winning, MLB leading Angels. The Angels post-season dreams ended so quickly and would not pan out as we would have liked them too.
After all of that success, we end up with nothing to show for it. It was heartbreaking not winning a World Series title this year, let alone win one playoff game in the series against the Royals, especially after showing so much pose in the regular season. As they say, the playoffs are a whole new beast and it certainly showed. There was little to celebrate and not much left to hang our hats on in all this heartbreak.
The early post-season exit showed us what we were lacking to push us to the top. However we were able to sign Mike Trout to an extension through 2020 as he would also win the AL MVP.
It did help that he had early success and accomplishments during his past season. Trout would come so close to winning it, and an argument could be made that he should have won the AL MVP the year before this one as well.
Mike Trout would not be denied this season. He was a big part in the Angels’ MLB leading record and success and it didn’t hurt to have the numbers to back it up. Here’s what the numbers say:
111 RBI, 115 runs, and an OPS of .939. These numbers show that Mike Trout led the AL in runs batted in. He also hit 37 home runs, which was third in the entire MLB. He was just four home runs behind Nelson Cruz of the Seattle Mariners who led the league with 41 bombs.
If there’s one thing to take from 2014 it’s that we’ve been more successful and had more to cheer for this year than the last few seasons. Keep your heads up Angels Nation. There’s nowhere to go but up now.
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Angels and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, All the time!
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