FanHouse Anaheim

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I don't know what's more amazing: a) that this fan was in the right spot at the right time to catch a Torii Hunter batting practice home run; b) that his non-glove hand was steady enough to catch the whole thing on film; c) that he maintained the presence of mind to call "head's up!" and save that impressed Angels player from getting conked on the head ... or d) that this is the same fan who made a nearly identical video catching an Andre Ethier double back in May?

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

L.A. Angels of Anaheim (48-33) at L.A. Dodgers of L.A. (38-42) - 4:10 PM ET

The final day of interleague play, or as ESPN has needlessly re-branded it: "AL/NL SHOWDOWN!" (like it's a western gunfight or something) will feature a good pitching matchup between John Lackey (5-1, 1.65) and Derek Lowe (5-7, 4.05). Of course, it can't be better than the one between Chad Billingsley and Jered Weaver last night, where Weaver combined with Jose Arredondo for eight innings of no-hit baseball, but lost. After coming back from an early season injury, Lackey really hasn't had a bad outing all season. So if anyone can continue the no-hit parade for the Dodgers, it's Lackey.

After taking a good chunk of last season to decide whether or not to return to the Anaheim lineup, it looks like future Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Niedermayer may be back in time for training camp next season. Here's Adam Brady from the official Ducks Blog:

I'm not going to get into the other topic on the table in Ducks land, but I will say that the buzz around here is that we will be hearing word from Scott Niedermayer as early as tomorrow morning. And while it's well-documented that I don't have a good reputation with this sort of thing, you can book it: He's coming back.

That's something that's got to cheer the Anaheim faithful. The next question has to be whether or not Teemu Selanne comes back, something that would force the team to make some difficult decision to remain under the cap -- something Battle of California took a look at a few days back. And if you're still not convinced about Niedermayer's value to the Anaheim defense, check out this analysis from fellow FanHouser Earl Sleek.

But there's more, including how Anaheim GM Brian Burke referred to the Edmonton Oilers as "dirty bastards," when talking about the compensatory draft picks the Ducks received from the Oilers after the free agent signing of Dustin Penner last year. Be sure to check out the whole post, as Brody passes along a lot of interesting comments from Burke that shed plenty of light on the situation in Anaheim.

In other Ducks news, Anaheim extended qualifying offers to four free agents, including winger Corey Perry.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman did what he had to do yesterday when he handed down an indefinite suspension of Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli after the Ducks owner pleaded guilty to lying to investigators looking into the backdating of stock options at Broadcom, a company Samueli founded.

In addition, Samueli's wife, Susan, informed the league that she will abide by the terms of her husband's suspension to avoid any appearance of a conflict. In the interim, however long that lasts, Ducks chief executive and alternate governor Michael Schulman will take day-to-day control of the franchise.

So what happens next? The next critical date on the calendar for Samueli is August 18, where he is expected to be sentenced according to the terms of a plea agreement he came to with the government yesterday. However, that agreement is subject to the approval of the court -- which explains why Schulman told the Orange County Register that "it's not over yet," when he was asked about Samueli's sentence.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Anaheim Ducks owner Henry Samueli has pleaded guilty to charges that he lied to representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission while they were investigating his role in the backdating of stock options at Broadcom, the company he co-founded. As part of a plea agreement, Samueli will serve five years probation and agree to pay a $12.2 million fine.

So what does it mean for the Ducks? Not a whole lot. Sure, this is an embarrassing and humiliating experience for Samueli -- a man who some would argue didn't do anything at Broadcom that plenty of other high-tech companies were doing at the same time -- but NHL Vice President Bill Daly has already said it wouldn't affect his ownership of the Ducks. While a $12.2 million fine would sting anybody, Samueli, whose net worth was pegged by Forbes back in 2003 at about $2.3 billion, can afford it pretty easily.

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

This week's cartoon addresses two items related to GM Brian Burke of the Anaheim Ducks. First, he has given superstars Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne until tomorrow to commit to training camp, refusing to repeat last year's set of semi-retirement distractions. I wrote a post at Battle of California that talked about the impact of each player's return to the roster, and I hope that both decide to play another year in a Ducks uniform.

Burke also has been connected with rumors that once he has finished this season with the Ducks, he will take over the GM duties for the Toronto Maple Leafs. I can't say that this idea pleases me as a Ducks fan, but I'll save judgement until his decision has been made. At this point, Burke has at least created a lot of flexibility with next year's roster, which I certainly can appreciate.

Predictions on the futures of Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, or Brian Burke are all welcome in the comments.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (38-24) at Oakland Athletics (33-28) - 9:05 PM ET

Not that your L.A. Angels of A. were in any real trouble anyway with Vladimir Guerrero and Scot Shields suffering nagging injuries. But even through that, the Angels have won their last six games, and did so with Guerrero back in the lineup last night (Shields seems to be on his way back soon) in their 3-1 win over Oakland, who's now four and a half games back of the Halos in the A.L. West.

Oakland's been just as hot, following up a four game losing streak by winning four in a row before last night's loss. But the way the Angels have been going, the swingin' A's had better do some swinging before the Angels make a mockery of this division.

Despite being three and a half games ahead of the competition in the American League West, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have a big problem - their players keep getting hurt, and nobody knows why. Vlad Guerrero and Scot Shields are getting check out for health issues and Chone Figgins has a hamstring made out of velcro. In unrelated stories, Kendry Morales was gored to death in a bullfight and Jose Arredondo had a bomb stuffed in his mouth, was blown up from the inside, and tumbled into a pit of lava where he was then burned to death.

So.

Today's Dugout examines the problems in Los Angeles (or Anaheim?) and using the in-depth baseball analysis Fanhouse has become famous for, blames the problem on the 1990s remake of a 1950s movie. Here's to hoping they come out with another Pirates of the Caribbean movie so we can get Pittsburgh in a few of these.

Angels inside of the Outfield, after the jump.

The Angels are three and 1/2 games ahead of their closest competition in the A.L. West and have the best record in the American League. It there was anytime to have an injury setback that would probably be it. But who am I kidding? There's no good time to have injuries ... especially when two of the most important players on the team are the ones who are nicked up:

Vladimir Guerrero and Scot Shields left the team in Seattle and flew back to Southern California this morning to be examined by team orthopedist Dr. Lewis Yocum.

Guerrero has not played since suffering a hyperflexion of his right knee Sunday, jamming it into third base on a hard slide. Shields felt tightness in his left side while warming up Saturday. He pitched a scoreless inning that night but has not pitched since. (...)

"They're making progress but before we ramp them up to playing in games again ... you want to make sure there's nothing in there that will set them back," Scioscia said. "With the off day tomorrow, Ned (Bergert, Angels' head trainer) thought it'd be a good idea to send them back and get things checked out."

Especially when Guerrero is your meal ticket, Shields is one of your more dependable relievers, and Chone Figgins is already in a never-ending battle with his hamstring. Yeah, caution is always a good idea.

Every Thursday, Earl Sleek will conspire with his pen and scanner to bring you another installment of PuckToons. Hopefully you will find these amusing, relevant, well-drawn, or you're a person who is tolerant towards mediocrity.

Well, I had better do some explaining on this cartoon, which laughs at the legal issues surrounding various members of the Anaheim Ducks organization. Yesterday, team owner Henry Samueli was named in a civil fraud complaint against Broadcom Corporation, though the Ducks have stated that the complaint will not affect team operations. Of course the Ducks players have other legal issues of their own:

• Todd Bertuzzi is still involved in the civil suit with Steve Moore's career-ending injury, back from his days in a Vancouver Canucks uniform. I've actually never written about this (and don't intend to start today), so instead I'll direct you to the capable blogging hands of Tom Benjamin for this story.
• Ryan Getzlaf has found his way into a bit of scandal with the California Highway Patrol. A CHP captain has been placed on leave while authorities investigate allegations he "fixed" a ticket for the Ducks' all-star center.
• Brad May, so far as I know, isn't involved in any official lawsuit, but if you believe the comment left at Battle of California (featured at the bottom of this post), at least one Phoenix lawyer is trying to collect on a judgment.
• Chris Pronger is probably clean on the legal front, but he's so widely despised by non-Duck fans for his on-ice elbowing and stomping suspensions that I had to throw him in the penalty box with the other guys.

Quite the collection of legal issues facing these Ducks (did I miss any?). I sure hope Wild Wing has brushed up on his courtroom etiquette.