Scot Shields

The Angels had nine relief pitchers on their roster for Wednesday night's game against the Detroit Tigers, three more than they usually carry for most of the season. There is no strength in those numbers. The bullpen inherited a two-run lead to start the sixth inning and was torched for six runs over the next two innings, the latest in a string of late-game meltdowns leading to a 12-10 loss to the Tigers at Angel Stadium.

Reporting from Tempe, Ariz. — For much of the Angels' success from 2002 to 2009, when they reached the playoffs six times and won a World Series, their bullpen offered the security of a maximum-security prison on lockdown. Whether it was Francisco Rodriguez to Brendan Donnelly to Troy Percival, or Donnelly to Scot Shields to Rodriguez, or Darren Oliver to Shields to Rodriguez, Manager Mike Scioscia's key relievers routinely held late-inning leads. But sometime in 2010 — or maybe it was the end of 2009, when closer Brian Fuentes threw an ill-fated up-and-away fastball that Alex Rodriguez drove for a pivotal 11th-inning home run in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series at Yankee Stadium — the back of the Angels' bullpen, so sturdy for so long, began to buckle.

Reporting from Tempe, Ariz. ? Scot Shields , the Angels' highly efficient setup man for much of the last decade, announced his retirement Friday. Shields, 35, suffered through a knee injury and arm pain in recent years, but from 2004 through 2008 he struck out 432 batters in 435 innings, setting up Francisco Rodriguez in the team's dominant bullpen. "He evolved into the gold standard of what setup men are," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. "He could've gone a lot of places and been a closer, but he was committed to this organization and this organization was committed to him. "He accepted his role and became the best at it" Angels' Kendrys Morales is a longshot for opening day Since the "hold" statistic was created in 1999, no American League pitcher has more than Shields' 155. Shields said in a conference call with reporters that though he had an opportunity with another team to continue pitching, "Nothing seemed like the right fit. I had to talk myself into playing.

Angels assistant equipment manager and trivia savant Shane Demmitt won the MLB Network's "Baseball IQ" game show, defeating New York Mets statistical analyst Ben Baumer in the final round, which aired Thursday night on the network. By winning the competition, which began with 32 players, including one from each of the 30 major league clubs, Demmitt earned $45,000 for the Angels Baseball Foundation. Demmitt beat Chuck Morgan, the Texas Rangers senior vice president of ballpark entertainment, in the first round and Tony Blengino, the Seattle Mariners' special assistant to the general manager in the second round.

The Angels have considered putting Scot Shields on the disabled list or shutting him down for five or six days to give him a chance to ease the tendinitis in his left knee, which has bothered the right-hander since spring training. But the reliever, who has a 6.75 earned-run average in 19 appearances, remains active and available, even after being pulled from Saturday night's game in the ninth inning when he landed awkwardly on his left foot on a pitch to James Loney.

Two pitchers who might well decide the fortunes of the Angels' rotation and bullpen this season reported to spring training Wednesday in good spirits and, apparently, in good health. Ervin Santana , who struggled for most of 2009 because of an elbow sprain that sapped him of his normal velocity and command, said his arm feels "very, very good" after skipping winter ball in his native Dominican Republic. And veteran reliever Scot Shields arrived at Tempe Diablo Stadium with his usual beginning-of-camp gusto, the left-knee surgery that sidelined the right-hander for most of 2009 barely registering a blip on his radar.

The way Scot Shields bounced around the Angels' Kauffman Stadium clubhouse Friday, a spring in his step and no limp in sight, you half expected the veteran right-hander to suit up for the game and give the team two innings out of the bullpen. Shields, who underwent season-ending surgery to repair the patella tendon in his left knee on June 16, is feeling good. But not that good. "I can walk around, ride an exercise bike, I'm doing some light weight work and my physical therapy," Shields said.

And then there was one. Scot Shields returned to Angel Stadium on Thursday as the only remaining holdover from the Angels' 2002 World Series team, though he didn't exactly become misty-eyed when asked about it. "You know what? You have to turn the page," said Shields, whose career with the organization goes back to 2001. "It's not anything I think about, being the last link or anything. I want to help this team win one, the team we have here. "I had some great memories back then, but it's a whole new team now and we're just trying to get that ourselves.

Reporting from New York — Scot Shields was just beginning to regain the confidence of Manager Mike Scioscia, the veteran reliever rebounding from a rocky two months to give up one earned run in 11 innings of eight appearances from June 15 to Tuesday. Then came the seventh inning in Yankee Stadium on Wednesday. The Angels had erased five runs of a six-run deficit with the help of Bobby Wilson's two-run homer in the fifth and Hideki Matsui's two-run shot in the sixth, and they threatened to tie or move ahead in the sixth and seventh, leaving the bases loaded in each inning.

Reporting from Kansas City, Mo. -- One game, it appears Scot Shields is close to regaining the form that made him one of baseball's best relievers from 2004-2008, the next he looks so shaky he seems on the verge of being released. That's how erratic Shields has been in his return from left-knee surgery that sidelined him for most of 2009. The right-hander allowed one hit and struck out two in a scoreless inning Monday; he was tagged for two runs and three hits in an inning Friday against Seattle.

The kids have been more than all right for the Angels this season. Without the significant contributions of first baseman Mark Trumbo, 25, center fielder Peter Bourjos, 24, and closer Jordan Walden, 23, the Angels would not be in a race for the division title. But Sunday, the old guys ruled. Joel Pineiro, the 32-year-old right-hander who was demoted to the bullpen in early August, gave up one run and five hits in seven innings to lead the Angels to a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins.

Reporting from Tempe, Ariz. ? Scot Shields , the Angels' highly efficient setup man for much of the last decade, announced his retirement Friday. Shields, 35, suffered through a knee injury and arm pain in recent years, but from 2004 through 2008 he struck out 432 batters in 435 innings, setting up Francisco Rodriguez in the team's dominant bullpen. "He evolved into the gold standard of what setup men are," Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said. "He could've gone a lot of places and been a closer, but he was committed to this organization and this organization was committed to him. "He accepted his role and became the best at it" Angels' Kendrys Morales is a longshot for opening day Since the "hold" statistic was created in 1999, no American League pitcher has more than Shields' 155. Shields said in a conference call with reporters that though he had an opportunity with another team to continue pitching, "Nothing seemed like the right fit. I had to talk myself into playing.

Josh Hamilton thought back to the days when his career was derailed by drugs and alcohol. "I would say a 99% chance that this would never happen," he said. "I mean, honestly, I think a lot of people would agree with that. " In one of baseball's most inspirational turnarounds, the Texas Rangers outfielder was a runaway winner of the American League's Most Valuable Player award Tuesday. Hamilton received 22 first-place votes and 358 points from the Baseball Writers' Assn.

Everyone thought the arm would go, so it seems a bit ironic that a knee injury ultimately led to the demise of Scot Shields, the rubber-armed reliever whose durability and dependability made him one of baseball's best setup men from 2004 to 2008. Shields said Tuesday that he is leaning heavily toward retiring after this season, his inability to bounce back from surgery on his left knee in 2009 and the emergence of several young relievers pushing the veteran right-hander out of the Angels' picture for 2011.

To the growing list of off-season concerns for the Angels you can now add closer. When the team traded Brian Fuentes to Minnesota last month, they handed the job to Fernando Rodney. But in the last three weeks Rodney has made a habit of giving things up — especially leads. And that's likely to make the Angels think long and hard about trusting him with the ninth inning next season. On Saturday Rodney gave up three consecutive two-out singles in the ninth inning, blowing a one-run lead in a game the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to win in the 10th inning on a two-out, bases-loaded throwing error by shortstop Brandon Wood.

The meek shall inherit the Earth, or at least a sliver of land in Anaheim known as Angel Stadium. Last-place teams continue to embarrass the Angels on their home field, the Cleveland Indians' 6-1 victory Tuesday the latest indignity. Given what seemed like an ideal opportunity to make one final push against slumping Texas in the American League West, the Angels instead have been thrust further into irrelevance by two of the worst teams in baseball. Baltimore swept the Angels in the final three games of their most recent homestand, and the Indians have won the first two games of this series.

Angels reliever Scot Shields emerged from a closed-door meeting with Manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher on Monday afternoon and ... returned to his locker and finished getting dressed for pregame stretch. It almost seemed like an upset. The veteran right-hander's earned-run average jumped to 6.05 after he walked three, gave up two hits and three runs in 1 1/3 innings of the Angels' 9-4 loss in Detroit on Sunday. With relievers Jason Bulger and Brian Stokes close to being activated off the disabled list, Shields' days in Anaheim appear numbered.

On the plus side, none of Scot Shields' family members were in Comerica Park on Saturday to witness the walk-off home run he gave up to Johnny Damon, whose solo shot to right field in the ninth inning gave the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 victory over the Angels. The right-hander usually hits up teammates to fill his ticket requests here, but on this afternoon, the Shields clan was back at his home in Northville, Mich., a half-hour west of Detroit, for a party to celebrate the first Communion of his daughter, Kayla.

In a season that may be beyond saving, the Angels suddenly find themselves with a new closer. His name is Fernando Rodney , and he inherited the back-of-the-bullpen role Friday when the Angels traded Brian Fuentes to the Minnesota Twins for a player to be named. Expected to take over as closer next season, Rodney now gets the job a month early. "I feel great," Rodney said before the Angels played the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday at Angel Stadium. "I think I can do my job in this situation, just be the closer and try to do the best I can for my teammates.

Angels reliever Scot Shields emerged from a closed-door meeting with Manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Mike Butcher on Monday afternoon and ... returned to his locker and finished getting dressed for pregame stretch. It almost seemed like an upset. The veteran right-hander's earned-run average jumped to 6.05 after he walked three, gave up two hits and three runs in 1 1/3 innings of the Angels' 9-4 loss in Detroit on Sunday. With relievers Jason Bulger and Brian Stokes close to being activated off the disabled list, Shields' days in Anaheim appear numbered.