2013 OCR Sports Archive Stories

Former Lakers forward Mark Madsen, best known for his bad dancing, is looking to make leave a better impression with Los Angeles area basketball fans as a coach. Madsen was named coach of the D-Fenders on Monday. Madsen, a first-round pick out of Stanford by the Lakers in the 2000 NBA Draft, played alongside Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bry

ANAHEIM – The Ducks now turn Honda Center over to the Rolling Stones, without satisfaction or shelter. The winner-take-all game in this first-round series was hanging in their wheelhouse, and yet the Ducks took nothing except a comprehensive lesson in how to come up big. Detroit's 3-2 victory spoiled dreams of a Freeway Ser

Bob Murray, whose moves for the Ducks engineered a major turnaround for the franchise into a Pacific Division champion this season, was named one of three finalists for the NHL's general manager of the year on Monday.

ANAHEIM – The call was memorable simply because Angels play-by-play broadcaster Victor Rojas was able to make it. He wasn't rendered speechless and stuck in an agape state of astonishment with the detonation of another massive Trumbomb. "That is hammered! Oh. My. A big, big fly for Mark Trumbo. Two-nothing Halos. I've never seen a

ANAHEIM – Ervin Santana didn't hear from any of his old Angels teammates upon arriving in Orange County this week with his new team, the Kansas City Royals. The Angels signed him in 2000. He made his first major league debut with the club in 2005. He pitched in Anaheim for eight years but he wasn't expecting any phone calls.

Here are the top-performing pitchers and hitters at the top three levels of the Angels' organization, with their expected eventual times of arrival to the majors, if any. Stats listed are as of Monday. TRIPLE-A SALT LAKE Outfielder Brad Hawpe: 21 for 71 (.296), .405 OBP, 2 HR, 15 RBI, Like the

Where: Angel Stadium TV: Fox Sports West Did you know: Albert Pujols went to college about five miles from Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Numbers game: 2.79 – ERA for the Angels bullpen May, entering Monday. The relievers posted a 4.26 ERA in April.

ANAHEIM – Nancy Oshiro of La Mirada was speaking with two reporters about her fight against breast cancer while standing on the field at Angel Stadium before Monday's game. She stopped mid-sentence and let out a squeal. "Look! It's Mike Trout!" Upon meeting the Angels outfielder with her two children alongside, the

ANAHEIM — In a series defined by its momentum swings and nailbiting suspense, Friday's Game 7 matchup between the Ducks and Red Wings – one that could have led to the first-ever all-Southern California playoff series with a Ducks win – seemed to promise a back-and-forth, do-or-die classic. But as the Ducks struggled to

The Angels' momentum and good vibes were no match for Chris Sale. The Chicago White Sox ace took a perfect game into the seventh and finished with a one-hitter, beating the Angels, 3-0, tonight at U.S. Cellular Field, snapping their modest winning streak at three games. The Angels dropped 10 games out of first place for the first

ANAHEIM – So, how do we measure the Ducks' season now? By the distance gained or the opportunity lost? Last spring, the notion of this team losing a Game 7 in the playoffs would have been funnier than the video of that water-skiing squirrel. But there the Ducks were Sunday, facing Detroit in Honda Center with a bert

ANAHEIM – Players develop a reputation in the Stanley Cup playoffs depending upon how they perform when the games matter the most. And they aren't the only ones. Coaches also make their names in the postseason. Fair or not, deserved or not, their stature can be heightened or lowered by how their teams do with regard to winning titl

CHICAGO – Ernesto Frieri spoke often this spring about how he was expanding his repertoire of pitches because he felt he was too predictable when simply pumping fastballs last year. The Angels closer had recorded saves in three consecutive games heading into Sunday night, throwing 48 pitches in that span. He threw 45 fastba

ANAHEIM – As always, Pops was there, this time as a spectator standing on the edge of the Angel Stadium field before a game when the heroes weren't so obvious. Pops stood near his 14-year-old grandson, Anthony Castillo, close enough that he didn't feel alone but far enough away that Anthony knew he had this entire one-wish-in-the-w

Darrell Miller said he couldn't be happier where his post-playing career has taken him. The former Angels backup catcher and outfielder (1984-88) is Major League Baseball's vice-president of Youth and Facility Development. "I enjoy it, because I feel like I'm making a difference, every single day," said Miller, 55, who went to wo

TV: Fox Sports West Did you know: The Angels have won the season series against the Royals 14 of the last 16 years. Numbers game: 20 – HRs the Angels hit in their last 12 games, before Sunday, after hitting the same number in their first 24 games. THE PITCHERS JOE BLANTON (0-6, 5.66)

ANAHEIM – Emerson Etem doesn't speak Finnish. He did not sneak up behind Valterri Filppula and pretend he was a Red Wing teammate and yell, "Takanasi (right behind you)!" What Etem did was instinctive, not studious. And lucky, of course. He followed Filppula behind Jimmy Howard's net and was standing there for his backhand

ANAHEIM – Just how much would the Ducks and Kings meeting in the Western Conference semifinals do for Southland hockey? Not as much as it would do for Ducks hockey. Because the Ducks can't get there without another victory. Before they can advance, they must conquer Sunday night at Honda Center, in Game 7 against De

DETROIT – One captain had left his imprint on this Western Conference first-round playoff series, and the other was conspicuously quiet. Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf made plenty of noise in the first five games, but Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg was heard from in a must-win Game 6 for the Red Wings. Zetterberg scored his first

Things may be turning around for the Angels.They won their third consecutive game, equaling their longest streak of the season, with a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox tonight at U.S. Cellular Field.Jerome Williams pitched into the seventh and the bullpen made it stand up, including Ernesto Frieri's third save in three days.

CHICAGO – Josh Hamilton can't tell you when he's going to get hot at the plate, but he's pretty sure the lineup card will have nothing to do with it. As Hamilton has slumped in his first season with the Angels, there has been plenty of discussion and statistical analysis about where he hits in the batting order. Hamilton sa

Where: U.S. Cellular Field TV: ESPN Did you know: The Angels not only had the fewest stolen bases in the American League, 12, through Friday, but they had the lowest percentage. They had been successful in just 55 percent of attempts. Numbers game: 20 – Pitchers the Angels have had on the

Most sabermetric statistics ignore context in favor of overall performance. Even wins above replacement, or WAR, the supposedly all-encompassing sabermetric stat, is essentially blind to the things outside of a hitter's control – i.e., the situation in which he came to the plate. WAR thinks a leadoff homer is exactly as important a

DETROIT – Four overtime games in one thrilling pendulum of a series. All that is needed in another Ducks-Red Wings playoff classic is a Game 7 to provide the final act. The Ducks will go the distance with Detroit in their final Western Conference postseason tussle after Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg scored twice Friday night,

CHICAGO – The bright side to the injuries that have ravaged the Angels bullpen is that pitchers such as Dane De La Rosa and Michael Kohn have had a chance to excel. They combined for nine key outs in the Angels' 7-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Friday night. "I think there is no doubt guys like Michael Kohn and Dan