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Posts tagged los angeles

Runyon Canyon Trail

View of Hollywood Hills and Griffith Observatory from Runyon Canyon Trail

Metal Monday

2112 gothenburg mammoth wvh sofi stadium Jon Jourdan-clear

Jon Jourdan of Mammoth WVH @ Sofi Stadium repping Göteborg‘s 2112 (run by two members of In Flames)

@InFlames_SWE @JonJourdan87 @MammothWVH

Master of Puppets

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Metallica performing Master of Puppets @ Sofi Stadium (August 25, 2023)

@Metallica #metallica @SoFiStadium

Back in the early to mid 1980s I was a huge fan of Metallica. Ride the Lighting and Master of Puppets will always remain masterpieces in my opinion. Kill ‘Em All is also very good. Justice is just OK and then I lost all interest in everything that followed.

The last time I saw them live was in the 1990s. I’ve had numerous chances to see them since and have passed. I’ve even been staying at the same hotel they were at a couple of times while traveling and still didn’t bother to attend. So seeing them in 2023 wasn’t exactly my idea, but I did finally get roped into seeing them again on the M72 World Tour–two nights with two totally different setlists. Tonight is night two.

The good news is I still adore the Cliff Burton era stuff. The other good news is that if I need to pee, I have opportunities that I don’t have with bands that play only songs that I love.

Happy birthday, Albert Pujols!

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Albert Pujols (April 2012)

Today’s photo comes from one of the first games Pujols played for the Angels. The Cardinals really got the best of Albert. The Angels were fools for thinking he would be as good for them. He only played one more season for the Cardinals as he did the Angels, but he hit more than twice as many home runs for the Cardinals. His on-base percentage was 109 points higher for the Cardinals! His average WAR with the Cardinals was 7 and it was only 1 for the Angels. The Cardinals paid him just over $100M and the Angels? $240M. Ouch! Sometimes you don’t get what you pay for.

Home run swing?

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Matt Kemp with a big swing for the Dodgers (April 2012)

This follow-through looks like a home run (or strike out) swing. I checked the box score, and Kemp did not hit a home run on this evening, but he did strike out.

Mike Trout

mike trout mlb angels

Mike Trout

Trout doesn’t have four MVPs yet, but in his nine seasons he has three MVPs, four second-place finishes, and two others in the top five. He has led the league in runs four times, OBP four times, and OPS four times. That must be what home plate umpire, Manny Gonzalez, is alluding to.