Jered Weaver

L.A. Angels ace Jered Weaver was officially named to the American League All-Star team this afternoon, according to MLB.com and confirmed by the Angels.

Weaver will be replacing New York Yankees ace CC Sabathia, who manager Joe Girardi says will not be able to pitch due to the way their rotation schedule is playing out.

Weaver will probably not be able to pitch for the same reason, unless tonight's game against the Chicago White Sox is postponed. The game is currently in a 45-minute rain delay.

Fun fact: Who has the best winning percentage of any pitcher in baseball over the past five seasons?

Here's a hint. It's not C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, Josh Beckett or any of the other pitchers the East Coast writing establishment loves to go on endlessly about.

It's Jered Weaver at .663.

Weaver has clearly taken his game to another level in the absence of former Angels ace John Lackey, and has managed to single-handedly carry his team through a horrific stretch in the process.

When a town's citizen receives the call to the Bigs, his hometown usually goes crazy.

He gets a parade, streets are named after him, the whole deal.

But what happens when the local neighborhood kid is playing for the local favorite team? Everyone goes crazy.

The standard for a hometown hero was set long ago, when Lou Gehrig, a young man from the Yorkville neighborhood of New York City, began his career with the New York Yankees.

The grades are in as we approach the halfway mark of the 2010 season.

What teams have lived up to the hype in the American League West, and which have laid an egg and why?

Here is a team-by-team breakdown recapping the first 81 games (almost), and what to watch for in the second half.

Who will be the movers and shakers in the second half?

A fistful of names in baseball this year are steadily producing, but not necessarily gaining the recognition that they deserve. Many of these performances that are flying under the radar are overshadowed by those of early Cy Young and MVP candidates.

By now, Ubaldo Jimenez, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and others are household names this year.

At 26-27, the L.A. Angels have been a disappointment thus far. Although they haven't lived up to popular expectations, the Angels only sit 2.5 games behind the first place Oakland A's in the AL West.

A large reason for the Angels lack of production this season has been their inconsistent hitting, led by sub-par pitching. The Angel's pitching staff currently sits at 24th in the MLB with a 4.63 ERA. Their starters have produced a combined 4.56 ERA and gathered 18 of the Angles 26 wins.

The Angels pitching hasn't been awful, but they certainly haven't lived up to expectations.

Fox News and The New York Daily News are reporting that yesterday afternoon Jered Weaver and Matt Palmer of the L.A. Angels witnessed a 39-year-old man leap to his death from the top of Le Parker Meridien Hotel on 56th Street in midtown.

Both players are said to be shaken by the event.  Weaver would not talk to the Daily News reporter after the incident.

Palmer, however, spoke briefly and told the reporter that Weaver actually saw the man hit the pavement.

The Angels won the A.L. West again last season after posting a record of 97-65, but the team that takes the field on Opening Day will be substantially different than the one that eliminated the Boston Red Sox in the 2009 ALDS.

There are always warning signs to addiction.

Addicts often experience mental and emotional instability, changes in physical appearance, and a sudden rejection of family or friends.

Fans, then, are addicts.

First and foremost, we are fanatics, the root of the term “fan.” We cheer wildly in large groups of strangers for players most of us have never met. We dress up in costumes like children on Halloween to show our team pride.

And, for a brief few hours, we push away everything in our world that doesn't revolve around that day's game.

Friends, family, work?

My last article looked at the Texas Rangers' rotation. I gave their group a C+ overall, dragged down mainly by a D rating for Colby Lewis.

Next up is the Los Angeles Angels' rotation, an interestingly balanced yet unspectacular group.

At the end of this article, I'll compare the Angels to the Rangers and see who has the better rotation.

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