New enemies and old friends

Ah, interleague play!
It's the time of the year to go out there and make some new enemies. As much as I like to watch the Angels match up against the A's, Rangers and Mariners, none of these rivalries compare to what the Red Sox and Yankees have. It's just not the same kind of intensity and I think it's because they play each other so often, all these incidents and arguments fade in the sheer number of games. So it's nice to see the Halos go to Atlanta, knock out their catcher, have some bean balls thrown and leave with a lasting impression made on the Atlanta team and their fans. Or invite the Washington Nationals for a little equipment checking. Of course, it helps to have fallen Angels with a little anger management deficit on the other team.
The Angels won't play Washington or Atlanto anytime soon (Unless one of these makes it to the World Series), so the memories of the incidents can thrive and grow and won't be washed away by a series of eventless games. Can't wait 'till next year. :)

Last year, when the Angels suspend Guillen for the rest of the season, I thought they were a little harsh on him. I saw him as an emotional guy who couldn't always control his emotions, but good at heart, and I was sad to see him getting traded (and yield relativly little). Now I totally understand Bill Stoneman's decision. I guess Guillen still had some supporters in Anaheim until yesterday when he made comments about Scioscia, saying that his former manager "can go to hell" and was "like a piece of garbage" to him. I'm not sure the Nationals check Donnelly's glove because Guillen told them something, but I think this explanation is more likely than their official version that they spotted "unusual movement on Donnelly's pitches" when watching video tapes.

So Donnelly had pine tar on it, which is not allowed, and faces suspension for that. I understand so far. What I don't understand (because I only played a year of softball and never pitched) is whether this helps the pitcher get additional movement on the ball or not. My guess would be yes, but it seems like pine tar is regularly used by pitchers to get a better grip on the ball in cold weather. Why is it banned then?

Some sports now:
It's hugely disappointing that the Angels now lost a series that they should have swept had everything went normal. After winning game one in a season record 20 hit outbreak, the Angels led 3-1 when "glovegate" happened. Had Donnelly pitched (well), Shield would have had to pitch only one inning and the Angels should have won the game (Okay, that's not really a given, but still...). Also, it's a shame that this whole "pine tar incident" overshadowed Santana's great outing (6.1 IP, 4H, ER, 4BB, 7K). The kid now sports a 3.26 ERA (in only 3 games, of course), about 10 runs lower than after his first outing. I can't decide if he's really that good or if the hitters just are unfamily with him now. Some batters missed his pitches by miles, so I guess he is for real, although there surely will be rougher outings as the season continues.
Even more disappointing was the loss last night. Colon pitched a complete game, 8H, 1ER game (only 2K but 0BB) and took the loss (his second CG loss this season) because the Angels couldn't muster more than 2 hits and 4 walk in 8 innings against Drese (DRESE!!!). The Rangers released that guy because he allowed 50 ER in less than 70 innings for them this year. The Angels had seen him once before this season and he was solid in this outing, going 7 inning with 3ER, but lost. Ok, so the Angels couldn't hit Drese, things like that happen. But then, the Nationals brought in their closer Cordero, who leads the majors with 21 saves and sports a 1.06ERA. The Angels loaded the bases with no (zero, nill, null) outs on two hits and a walk and then failed to score as they struck out (Finley), poped up (B. Molina) and struck out again (McPherson). Arg! I couldn't believe it.
I checked on Tangotigers Win Expectancy List and found out that home teams that had the bases loaded with no outs, one behind in the bot 9th have won the game 73,9% of the time. What does this mean? Nothing probably, I just wanted to look that up.