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good job howie kendrick

Who the hell is putting a curse on the Angels ???

This story should have been titled: Howie set to host "DL or No DL."

Probably the most underappreciated young hitter in the game. Angels are hurt without him.

But hey, he doesn't play for the Yanksox, so why should we talk him? We've got Melky Cabrera's below average bat to chat up as if he's the next big thing instead.

Probably the most underappreciated young hitter in the game. Angels are hurt without him.

But hey, he doesn't play for the Yanksox, so why should we talk him? We've got Melky Cabrera's below average bat to chat up as if he's the next big thing instead.
skelley | 04/14/08, 01:42 PM

If the Angels had a more passionate fan base, they would be on here talking about this guy. Cant blame the east coast fans for not caring when their own fan base is no where to found

That wasn't my point at all. I was sarcastically saying that SI.com/ESPN.com shouldn't report on west coast baseball because it "doesn't exist." I wasn't saying fans should be posting more on this specific thread, because there's really not much else to say other than "yup, he's injured all right."

My main "issue taking" is actually with an espn.com list a few weeks ago of the top 50 players in baseball over the next 5 years in which Kendrick was absent from the list, but somehow Melky Cabrera made the cut. There was one AL West player on the entire list. The slant in coverage by sports networks is pitiful. See: faux yanksox rivalry headlines from this weekend, ie the David Ortiz jersey plant. **** like that is likely pure fabrication, and is at best, worthy of a blurb on the back page of a New York rag...not of ESPN special coverage and long articles.

Oh, and for the record, I'm a Mets fan.

I read that article and I take no issue with it all....but thats only because they had 3 Mets on the list:). Don't really know enough about Kendrick to know whether or not he should have cracked the top 50. There were representitives of many teams on that list though.

Assuming that they are. Why do you think the media is biased towards the east coast teams?

Because the country developed east-to-west, and baseball on the west coast is still, relatively speaking, a young practice. Also, sports media is a financial interest, and they have to serve it. There are more fans of the yanks and sox (as you noted), and catering to their desires is a better way to ensure a profit line than doing so for west coast teams. It also helps that places like ESPN are located geographically in the dead center of New York and Boston (Bristol, CT).

What happens is, in serving the financial interest of their company, ESPN HAS to ignore the west coast...larger fan bases aren't gonna stick around to watch Angels highlights or Dodgers highlights, or hear about how some piss-on like Howie Kendrick is better than their fan-favorite like Melky Cabrera who is, realistically, no where near a top-50 player. This isn't really a matter of "maybe he's close, but not quite there"...he is just legitimately not a good player, and is not going to be. Just average at best. And most of all...the east coast is ASLEEP when half of west coast teams are playing. The best players in the west coast don't seem to get half the attention of the good/above-average ones on the east coast (more people know Kendrick than Pedroia, but I can tell you right now who is better by a mile).

Howie Kendrick is a career .360 hitter in the minor leagues, who has never hit below .320 at any level. He was baseball-america's #12 player in the country for 2006, and would be a household name if not for fluke injuries (HBP) last year. He makes contact almost every time at the plate, and every scout who has ever written a report on him agrees that he'll spend his entire career winning batting titles, with 15-20 homer power, and 20+ SBs. Given his track record, its not unreasonable to see him, if healthy, push .400 at some point, or be going for 3,000 hits before his 40th birthday. All he needs is health...the rest follows. His skill set is essentially that which suggests it would be EXTREMELY unlikely for him to bust out like some of the high-K/low-BB power prospect (see: Chad Hermansen).

Say it isn't so!All I can say is GET WELL SOON,but don't push it! We will miss your bat ,But I think we have enough gloves to cover you .WE need you for the long term not just the right now. Best of luck buddy on coming back strong from your recent injury and on the remainder of the season!

Howie rakes! If you East Coast fans haven't seen this guy hit you should stay up late to do so....this guy squares up as many balls as anyone I ever seen. He's got a great work ethic/attitude as a few years ago he was 'all bat' and now he's really strong with the glove as well.

I just hope Kendrick doesn't end up like Dallas McPherson.
If Melky Cabrera played in the West Coast, he wouldn't have been raved about. He's just average right now, but I think he can improve. Pedroia on the other hand is a pretty solid player. I still think the Dodgers though probably have the best stack of young players with Ethier, Broxton and especially Kemp and Loney. If Kemp played for the Red Sox or Yankees, people would be calling him the next Ken Griffey Jr. with Broxton getting the attention that Joba does.