BONAFIDE CLOSERS ARE REALLY HARD TO COME BY. Despite that, the Angels have had good success in the past with guys like Troy Percival, Francisco Rodriguez (aka, K-Rod) and now Brian Fuentes, but the journey to each save has seemingly been anything but lights out. In fact, K-Rod's tightrope acts may have been the reason why the Angels let him walk. 62 saves is phenomenal, but 50-something of his saves were like heart attacks served up on a plate to Halo fans. In his arsenal were bouncing balls in the dirt, passed balls that advanced runners, and walks galore. Percival also had a knack for teasing the fans by regularly putting multiple runners on base before closing it out. And now they have Fuentes, who loves pitching to contact. Problem is that sometimes it doesn't work very well against great hitters, like yesterday when he hit the first batter, gave up an RBI single to Big Papi, and a sharp single to Kevin Youkilis before finally getting JD Drew on a called third strike to end the game. One thing's for sure: an Angels lead going into the ninth inning is nail-biting, heart-pounding entertainment, but it doesn't have to be does it?
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