It's That Time of Year...Again.

The mind is playing games with me.

I can't think straight.

All I can think about is time.

Time to put away everything that reminds you of them. Hats, shirts, ticket stubs. Hell, put all the baseball related stuff away- I don't want to see anything 'til Spring.

Time to think about all the money you've spent this season. But why stop there? Think of all the money you've spent the previous season, and the season before that, and the season before that. Before you know it, you've accrued a down payment on a car- maybe even a condo.

Time to think about what you'll do from now until April. Suddenly that Angels Fans Cruise in January doesn't look so fun.

Time to think about fulfilling the deposit on those 2009 Season Seats. $4,500 in your pocket sounds a lot better than a broken heart in October.

Time to compare how you're feeling to a break-up. Actually it's worse, because no matter how bad they treat you, you keep coming back for more.

Time to stop watching ESPN. Partly because of fear of catching another painfully reminding clip, and partly because no part of you wants anything to do with baseball ever again.

Time to add to your All-Time Baseball Hate List. Pierzynski, check. Papelbon, check. Jason Bay, check. Welcome to the list.

Time to hear the proverbial, "Hey, there's always next year," and "Cheer up it's only a game," quotes. News flash, it isn't only a game. It's almost 8 months of dedication for me and my wallet. If it were only a game, I'd hit reset by now.

Time to get text messages from your adversaries. Boston fans, Dodger fans- it seems like everyone else is jeering in my misery. If they're feeling sassy, they'll write you an email too, with the attached pictures.







Simply, it's time to accept that it's officially the worst part of the year.

Offseason doom.

That Wasn't an Earthquake

It was the Angels making some big moves for a push towards another ring.

My team pulled off a trade today for one of my favorite ballplayers, Mark Teixeira. Although we give up an emerging young ballplayer in Casey Kotchman, I think the trade for The Big Tex will certainly help when we play those juggernaut teams come October.

Explaining the feeling I had when I refreshed my phone and saw this goes beyond words.


And did I mention that John Lackey almost threw a no-hitter today?


Two outs to go and it was blown by that gobshite Dustin Pedroia- just another reason for me to hate the Red Sox. On a normal day I'd still be irate, but today is the day where we get Mark Teixeira, and nothing else can go wrong.

Although most of the lyrics no longer apply (this was made last year when the Braves acquired him at around the same time), this is how I feel times a gabajillionfafillion.

"C'mon, Man. I Got Work Tomorrow."

Thanks to Tom, we scored four tickets to last night's Angel game. It was a hard decision to pick who'd fill out the remaining two seats, but we settled on Danny Hearts and...

Introducing his first appearance on The Bear Den...

(drum roll)

Phil!


For those of you who don't know Phil, he's a recently graduated Engineer and overall funny guy. He's always smiling about something, and it never ceases to amaze me how much positive energy this guy brings. He's like Danny Hearts, minus the whole "I gotta work tomorrow, guys," attitude. Just kidding Dan. Maybe. More on that later...

On the 55, we notice a guy laughing hysterically to himself. We asked him what was so funny, and he replied, "I'm naked." Creep.


The hippies in Downtown Orange were out today. Matter of fact I think they're out everyday.


Apparently the Ghostbusters retired in Orange (the old ones, not the poser new ones).


After picking up the tickets, we have a bit of trouble finding somewhere to park, and decide on parking at the "Best Value Lot." Totally not under Angel Stadium jursidiction and over where the old warehouse used to be, sits a brick-walled-and-barbed-wired enclosed lot, with only a hole in the wall to walk through towards the stadium. More on the hole in a bit...

You know, the roof of the Mini is just tall enough that it's painfully awkward to eat off it. Feels like you're a kid on a booster seat, reaching for num nums on the table.


Since Danny works for a new company now, we don't get to see him often. Personally, I don't blame him, he's making a lot of money and has a sweet view from his office to boot. Needless to say, the guy's busy. Bryan though gets a little sad, and tried to make up for lost time.


And it wasn't just for a second, either. It was for a good 10-15 minutes.


All this love must have brought us the man with the beautiful bleached hair. He's the one seated to the left with the sandwich. Did I mention he would shriek every time the Angels got a base hit?


Naturally, we sit as far away from the shrieker as we can, and leave Philip (who left for a bathroom break) to take the lucky seat next to him.


The vexing, yet entertaining Halo Troop were parading on the top deck as usual.


I see this guy every time I come to the stadium. Usually he's wearing a novelty viking's hat, this particular time he wasn't. What he was doing however was dancing like a maniac- something I've seen him do at the stadium and on the corner of Katella and Stadium Way.


Unfortunately, security wasn't having as much fun as we were with him...


...and subsequently booted him out.


Angels Brass, if you're reading this; Why throw out a guy who's so pumped to be at the game, and has no other way of expressing his feelings than by interpretive dance? I haven't seen you kick out the Halo Troop, and they go around banging drumsticks for the better part of games. C'mon guys. Boo.

Quote of the night:

"Now batting, number 17, Chin-Soo Sin- ahh ahem, Shin-Soo Choo."
-Angels PA Announcer


Remember the hole in the wall? Well, there it is.


Apparently somebody died on the treadmill at the 24 Hour Fitness. Yikes.


Every chance I get, I like to bust Danny's balls for having to leave for work so early in the morning. So whenever it's past 11, I like to push his buttons and see if he'll ever complain. Normally he doesn't, but tonight....we got him.

While they think we're going to Lee's Sandwiches, we give them a surprise.



Best quotes from the video-

"Back here is where we get the subs."
-Bryan (Listen to it again, and how serious he sounds.)

"Are we going to Lee's?! I thought we were going to Lee's! Are you serious?! Are you serious!"
-Phil (I'm not sure if he's pumped, or scared out of his wits. Most likely the former.)

"C'mon man, I got work tomorrow."
-Dan (Listen to the rare, obviously ticked-off Danny. Very hard to come by.)