Los Angeles Angels Blog Of Anaheim

I’m sick of hearing about the Red Sox and “Red Sox Nation”, how great their fans are and how they have finally beat the Curse of the Bambino. I mean I get it, they’re a great team with a great story, but enough already. The team and the fans definitely have a vibe of “My Shit Don’t Stink”, and all other teams are sub par at best. Let’s not forget how long that curse stood, and how many World Series chances they let slip by before they finally broke it. Let me take you back in time:

1946 Red Sox vs Cardinals : Game 7, 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 8th, Johhny Pesky hesitates throwing home and the Red Sox CHOKE!

1967 Red Sox vs Cardinals : AGAIN game 7 and with the their ace Jim Lonborg on the mound the Red Sox CHOKE in an embarrassing 7-2 loss.

Are you starting to see a pattern?

1975 Red Sox vs Mets : Red Sox force game seven with a dramatic walk off home run only to CHOKE and give up a 3-0 lead they held until the 9th inning.

1986 Red Sox vs Mets : Game 6, Red Sox with a 5-3 lead in the 10th one out from winning the World Series CHOKE and the mets force game seven. Game seven Red Sox CHOKE again and give up an early 3-0 lead.

2008 Red Sox vs Angels ALDS Prediction : With a sputtering Red Sox line up including Mike Lowell with a torn labrum in his hip, and J.D Drew’s sore back (”Yes suck it up, how much are they paying you!”) this should be a quick series. I predict the Red Sox will yet again CHOKE and the Angels will win the ALDS series in four games, yeah heck I’ll give them one win because I know Pedroia will pull out at least one big game for his boys.

If you think I’m going hard on them, let me remind you the Boston Red Sox have two World Series Championships in four years, so I believe they deserve to be taken out in round one of these playoffs and our Angels are just the team to serve it up.

This ALDS series is almost the exact opposite of 2007. Last year, the Angels definitely made me nervous going against my Sox. . . but only in the same way you get nervous about emptying the lint filter out of the dryer, or nervous about whether or not your filthy little monkey might have fleas.

This year, the matchup is flipped on its head: Vlad/Texeira is like Ortiz/Ramirez, only without the injuries or attitude. The starting pitchers are solid on both sides. . . Lester has become an ace all on his own, and Dice has finally settled down and if he’d quit dancing around the outside of the strike zone and get aggressive, he’d be lethal; but Beckett is out and don’t be surprised if he doesn’t pitch in Game 3. Matt Leach at MLB.com says the game might come down to middle relief, and if that’s the case, I’ll be screaming at Francona when he puts Manny Delcarmen in. And the only thing more terrifying than K-Rod’s heat is the victory dance he puts on after a win.

Two things keep me smiling going into this series with the Angels:

1) History. . . The Red Sox have DOMINATED the Angels in post season play. This year, the Sox got owned in regular season play. But we all know, everything resets in October. . . and the team that showed up last time in Anaheim has made huge changes to their roster since, but that being said, the big reason I smile is:

2) Dustin Pedroia. . . they chant “MVP” when he comes to bat in Fenway; he finished the season at .326, with 17 home runs, 83 RBIs, and 20 stolen bases; he’s a massive smack talker on the bench; Ozzie Guillen lives in mortal fear of him; and he wants serious revenge against the Monkey. Be afraid, Anaheim.

That is right the Angels have finished the season in style reaching one hundred wins for the first time in franchise history with a great 7-0 win against the Rangers.  Amazingly though, from what I can tell no one is talking about it.  It’s almost like it was a given considering they clinched their division so early and have been playing so amazing all season.

Let’s face it, they absolutely embarrassed all the other teams in the AL West.  Texas was the closest to the .500 hundred mark with a mere .488.  The worst was the Seattle Mariners with a .388 winning percentage finishing the season with 101 losses.  Would these teams even be competitive in the minors? I seriously doubt it. So my immediate thought is do the Angels really have the fire power to beat other tough teams in the AL and make it to the World Series?  Or have they just looked so good because they fail into one of the easier divisions in the AL this season?

If you take a look at the Rays this season they came very close to the 100 mark, ending the season with 97 wins against three other above .500 hundred teams in their division (Red Sox 95 wins .586, Yankees 89 wins .549, Blue Jays 86 wins .531).  Even the Rally Monkey knows the Rays had a tougher road to the post season this season then the Angels had.

So with a first round match up against the wild card winning Red Sox, who were definitely just as competitive this season, can the Angels do it?  The good news is, the Angels definitely have handled them well this season winning eight out of the nine games played against them.  Also with home field advantage the edge definitely goes to the Angels.