Freeway Series!

This weekend will perfectly embody why interleague play is fun: The FREEWAY Series.

Now it isn't, obviously, that I embrace living in California, but rather the fact that watching the Angels beat the Dodgers is always fun.

And lets be honest, with Saunders starting Friday and Lackey starting on Saturday there is little to nothing to be worried about in regards to the Dodgers offense.

The real problem may be Garland on Sunday. It is a little ironic that the big name in the big offseason trade (Hunter was clearly the big offseason acqusition) has become the weakest link in the Angels rotation.

Obviously Lackey, Saunders, Santana, and Weaver are home grown talents. And with Mike Butcher as pitching coach up at the Major League level with them its easy to see why they are able to produce. Don't get me wrong, I am Buddy Black's biggest supporter, but it seems that the starters have been able to work well with someone who saw them at the early stages of their professional career.

It also doesn't hurt that Mike Napoli and Jeff Mathis came up through the same system. It means that these guys are familiar with each other now, and with the way the Angels farm system works. Really it has proven to be a winning combo in the Majors, even though our offense rarely scores.

So, Garland remains the problem. Clearly, Garland pitches to contact. But that shouldn't be a problem for a team that relies so heavily on defense, like the Angels.

In a game of "one of these things is not like the others" Galand is the odd man out. He didn't come up through the Angels system. He hasn't worked with Butcher before. And he worked with his old catcher for a long time (the ever hated A.J. Pierzynski).

But regardless of what happens this weekend I'm looking forward to watching some good pitching in the relatively recent American Tradition, the Freeway Series.