SCULPTURE of Ted Williams in Baseball Hall of Fame.

Ted Williams – arguably the greatest hitter in baseball in the modern era – once said “Don’t let anybody [bleep] with your swing.”

That was his earthy way of saying, “You’ve come this far doing things a certain way; don’t let some temporary setbacks make you give up on what works.”

Great advice, but what do you do when nothing works? The old swing or the new one?

I’m not quite ready to surrender on the Angels’ chances for respectability yet. I mean, it’s only May 1. There’s still a lot of  baseball to be played, although probably too much for Anthony Rendon.

And yet, there’s something about the 2024 season for the Halos which feels different. The Angels have been so mediocre – and sometimes awful  – for so long that they’ve run through every common remedy for losing that exists.

Remedy One: Load up with free agents. As soon as the Big Money Men hit the dugout in Anaheim, their production slides and their ankles hurt. Last year the Angels actually had a winning record in July and had a realistic chance of perhaps making the playoffs. So they went and scrambled the lineup and picked up a bunch of players with “potential,” most of whom flamed out fast and quiet and most of which aren’t even in big league baseball anymore.

Remedy Two: Give the kids a chance. That’s this year’s Forlorn Hope. There’s a bunch of fresh-faced kids out there now and – frankly – they’re getting spanked.

Only catcher Logan O’Hoppe (I love that name) is showing any real promise and although he’s hitting .293 (as of this writing), he strikes out four times as often as he walks. And Jo Dell (four homers) might be added to that short list.

Zach Neto is showing good glove at shortstop, but is batting .213.

Remedy Three: Change managers. Get a nice-guy, “player’s manager” like Phil Nevin. Result: .444 winning percentage. Bring in a tough guy like Ron Washington. Result (so far): .350 winning percentage.

So, the team has tried changing its swing, to no avail. There’s just one way out. And I’ll share it with you in my next column.