so let's root, root, root for the Angels! If they don't win...
Well, as of 5 minutes ago, October is officially here, (here being the east coast), and with October comes the changing of leaf-color, the busting-out of warm clothing, Uggs (unless you're in California and you can wear Uggs year-round), and most importantly the beginning of the MLB playoffs!
Obviously I should be studying or working on engineering problems involving differentials, stress, strain, vectors, angular stuff, etc., but I'm not. Why?? Maybe it's the fact that I'm an Angels fan stuck in Boston, or because I have some residual angst from the Celtics beating the Lakers. Either way, I'm completely, 100% distracted by what happens tomorrow.
Tomorrow the Angels-Red Sox American League Division Series begins. This is the biggest thing to happen since the Lakers-Celtics series. I think we can all agree that no Lakers or Angels playoff series is complete without my wordy, lengthy, biased introduction, so here we go.
Historically, the Red Sox have demolished the Angels. Historically, the Red Sox have waaay more World Series Titles than the Angels (7 to 1). Historically, Boston and their fans have a good 60 years of existence and experience on the Angels and theirs. Historically, you could count the Angels out of this competition. Fortunately for us, history is history.
The Angels have had a history-shattering year- they reached the coveted 100-win mark for the first time in franchise history, and also have one of the league's best closers setting his own record (bye-bye Thigpen!) with 62 saves in 69 opportunities. When it comes to facing off against Boston, the Angels' season is just as impressive taking 8 out of the 9 regular season games, and sweeping 2 of the 3 series. So things look good heading into an October series against Boston.
However, as any true Boston fan will tell you in defense of this season's poor performance against the Angels- October is a different monster. And they're absolutely correct. October highlights are the stuff little league dreams are made of. October is when Josh Beckett earns his reputation. October is when K-Rod has both earned (2002) and ruined (2007) his. October is when experience becomes a factor. And October is when players bring everything they've been working their whole lives for to the table. For it's 1, 2, 3 losses and you're out of the playoffs.
So I think this year's Angels-Red Sox series is unpredictable.
The Angels, who won their only world series title as a wild-card team, are coming into this at the top of ALL of major league baseball this year:
If their batters, especially Big Daddy Vladdy (who doesn't get as much credit as he deserves), Teixeira, and Hunter, go on one of their batting sprees, as they did throughout a few patches this season, they'll be unstoppable. Even if those three fail to show up, but the other guys (GA, Junior, Figgy, Napoli/Mathis, Rivera, Kendry, Quinlan, Howie, Woods, Willits?!, etc.) are hitting the ball well, they're still pretty unstoppable. (We have a pretty solid and balanced line-up). Most importantly, if the pitchers (Lackey, Santana, Saunders, and Garland, if necessary) bring their A-game and K-Rod keeps closing the way he's been closing this season (not the way he "closed" last October), the Angels fans have little to worry about.
On the other hand, the Red Sox, coming in as a wild-card team, are always a dangerously powerful team. They have a lineup filled with baseball legends-to-be: Lowell, Yoooook, Tek, Poppy, Pedroia (MVP?), Drew, Coco Crisp, and most recently- Jason Bay (the silent but deadly Man-Ram replacement). This lineup really holds their own against the best pitchers out there, but I've seen them really frustrated by Angels pitching this season (let's hope it stays that way!). They also have a ridiculously amazing list of pitchers- Beckett, Dice-K, Wakefield, and Papelbon (they play movie soundtracks as he emerges from the bullpen!!).
Oh, another factor that's minor, but worth mentioning is the Angels having home-field advantage. The Angels are better on the road than they are at home, which may be a double negative for us because Fenway (with its raucous fans) is always a tough place to play in if you don't have a B on your forehead.
This is a tough call and likely to be one of the better and most-watched series' of October.
I'm disinclined to pick the Angels to come out on top because I personally think they do better when they're the underdogs, but I can't deny them their shot to top-off an amazing season, and so, my overall predictions:
- Whichever team wins each game will win by huge margins (3+ runs) because they'll be hot and will be winning with lots of RBIs and HRs. I predict extremes: really good pitching or horrible pitching; really good batting or horrible batting. Yes, these are both great teams, but I don't expect close games just from what I've seen between the two teams in the past.
- The series will not go to all 5 games.
- I pick the Angels to win, of course, in 4 games. The fewer the better- I DO need to get SOME studying done, after all.
Let's go Angels!! Let's bust out our rally monkeys!! Buy me some peanuts & Cracker Jack!
Win or lose, thanks for an amazing season!!!
Disclaimer: these are just my amateur opinions. There is a reason I am not a sports analyst for a major sports network- and the odds of my predictions coming true are slim. Still, this is what I think and I will own-up to it if and when the time comes.
Obviously I should be studying or working on engineering problems involving differentials, stress, strain, vectors, angular stuff, etc., but I'm not. Why?? Maybe it's the fact that I'm an Angels fan stuck in Boston, or because I have some residual angst from the Celtics beating the Lakers. Either way, I'm completely, 100% distracted by what happens tomorrow.
Tomorrow the Angels-Red Sox American League Division Series begins. This is the biggest thing to happen since the Lakers-Celtics series. I think we can all agree that no Lakers or Angels playoff series is complete without my wordy, lengthy, biased introduction, so here we go.
Historically, the Red Sox have demolished the Angels. Historically, the Red Sox have waaay more World Series Titles than the Angels (7 to 1). Historically, Boston and their fans have a good 60 years of existence and experience on the Angels and theirs. Historically, you could count the Angels out of this competition. Fortunately for us, history is history.
The Angels have had a history-shattering year- they reached the coveted 100-win mark for the first time in franchise history, and also have one of the league's best closers setting his own record (bye-bye Thigpen!) with 62 saves in 69 opportunities. When it comes to facing off against Boston, the Angels' season is just as impressive taking 8 out of the 9 regular season games, and sweeping 2 of the 3 series. So things look good heading into an October series against Boston.
However, as any true Boston fan will tell you in defense of this season's poor performance against the Angels- October is a different monster. And they're absolutely correct. October highlights are the stuff little league dreams are made of. October is when Josh Beckett earns his reputation. October is when K-Rod has both earned (2002) and ruined (2007) his. October is when experience becomes a factor. And October is when players bring everything they've been working their whole lives for to the table. For it's 1, 2, 3 losses and you're out of the playoffs.
So I think this year's Angels-Red Sox series is unpredictable.
The Angels, who won their only world series title as a wild-card team, are coming into this at the top of ALL of major league baseball this year:
If their batters, especially Big Daddy Vladdy (who doesn't get as much credit as he deserves), Teixeira, and Hunter, go on one of their batting sprees, as they did throughout a few patches this season, they'll be unstoppable. Even if those three fail to show up, but the other guys (GA, Junior, Figgy, Napoli/Mathis, Rivera, Kendry, Quinlan, Howie, Woods, Willits?!, etc.) are hitting the ball well, they're still pretty unstoppable. (We have a pretty solid and balanced line-up). Most importantly, if the pitchers (Lackey, Santana, Saunders, and Garland, if necessary) bring their A-game and K-Rod keeps closing the way he's been closing this season (not the way he "closed" last October), the Angels fans have little to worry about.
On the other hand, the Red Sox, coming in as a wild-card team, are always a dangerously powerful team. They have a lineup filled with baseball legends-to-be: Lowell, Yoooook, Tek, Poppy, Pedroia (MVP?), Drew, Coco Crisp, and most recently- Jason Bay (the silent but deadly Man-Ram replacement). This lineup really holds their own against the best pitchers out there, but I've seen them really frustrated by Angels pitching this season (let's hope it stays that way!). They also have a ridiculously amazing list of pitchers- Beckett, Dice-K, Wakefield, and Papelbon (they play movie soundtracks as he emerges from the bullpen!!).
Oh, another factor that's minor, but worth mentioning is the Angels having home-field advantage. The Angels are better on the road than they are at home, which may be a double negative for us because Fenway (with its raucous fans) is always a tough place to play in if you don't have a B on your forehead.
This is a tough call and likely to be one of the better and most-watched series' of October.
I'm disinclined to pick the Angels to come out on top because I personally think they do better when they're the underdogs, but I can't deny them their shot to top-off an amazing season, and so, my overall predictions:
- Whichever team wins each game will win by huge margins (3+ runs) because they'll be hot and will be winning with lots of RBIs and HRs. I predict extremes: really good pitching or horrible pitching; really good batting or horrible batting. Yes, these are both great teams, but I don't expect close games just from what I've seen between the two teams in the past.
- The series will not go to all 5 games.
- I pick the Angels to win, of course, in 4 games. The fewer the better- I DO need to get SOME studying done, after all.
Let's go Angels!! Let's bust out our rally monkeys!! Buy me some peanuts & Cracker Jack!
Win or lose, thanks for an amazing season!!!
Disclaimer: these are just my amateur opinions. There is a reason I am not a sports analyst for a major sports network- and the odds of my predictions coming true are slim. Still, this is what I think and I will own-up to it if and when the time comes.
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