- The Story: Announcer Buddy Blattner passed away at the age of 89. The Monkey Says: Blattner was one of the Angels’ first broadcast announcers back in the 1960’s.
- The Story: Scot Shields joined his teammates in Kansas City this weekend. The Monkey Says: No, Shields isn’t a fast healer, he was simply in town for the Angels’ annual fantasy football draft. Nice to see everyone has their priorities in order.
- The Story: Is having Aramark as a a stadium vendor bad luck? The Monkey Says: Baseball superstition goes way overboard here, but as it happens, the Angels are one of the teams that uses Aramark as their stadium vendor.
- The Story: The Angels won’t appeal the error-ruling on Chone Figgins’ smash from the 8th inning of Saturday’s game. The Monkey Says: It probably should be a hit, but really, the ruling is inconsequential to anything but personal stats for the players involved.
- The Story: The Cubs will be looking for a new leadoff man this off-season with Chone Figgins as their top free agent target. The Monkey Says: The Cubs will be one of the many teams looking to steal Figgins from the Angels this winter.
- The Story: After years of coveting him, the White Sox still hope to get their hands on Chone Figgins this off-season. The Monkey Says: I am pretty sure that GM Kenny Williams has wanted to acquire Figgy since Chone was born. The Angels are going to have their work cut out for them if they want Chone to remain an Angel.
- The Story: Buster Olney expects Chone Figgins to wind up a Yankee next year. The Monkey Says: The scary thing with all of these predictions is that none of them include the Angels re-signing Figgins.
- The Story: Erick Aybar is by far the most improved Angel this season. The Monkey Says: Thank you, Captain Obvious. Aybar has become both a defensive force this season in addition to some marked improvement at the plate.
- The Story: The Angels called up four more players from Triple-A: C Ryan Budde, RHP Rafael Rodriguez, OF Terry Evans and IF Freddy Sandoval. The Monkey Says: Rodriguez is probably the only player likely to see any action the rest of the year.
- AL West Update: The Rangers dropped two of three to the Orioles this weekend and had their Monday game in Cleveland rained out. The Monkey Says: The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader today, weather permitting. Texas dropped a game and a half in the standings over the weekend and now trail the Angels by five games.