Light Up That Halo
By Brandon Marcus
September 24, 2008
They have the best team in baseball, a closer who just broke the single-season record for saves and a 19 game lead in their division. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have it all, except for a World Series ring.
Baseball experts everywhere are picking the Angels to win it all, but some are questioning if clinching the division so soon will hurt the Angels. (Just a side note: these are the same experts that said the Seattle Mariners would give the Angels a run for their money for the AL West crown. If you haven’t been following baseball, the Mariners are 35 games back.)
It won’t be an easy road to repeat the run from 2002, but this team has what it takes to beat every team in baseball, especially the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox sent the Angels home packing in both the 2004 and 2007 ALDS.
But this year is different. Just a quick glance at the season series from this year will show you the Angels are ready for the Red Sox. The Halos have taken 8 of 9 from the Red Sox this year, including seven games where the Angels scored six runs or more. This is against a team that supposedly has a pitching staff that is too good to lose in a five game postseason series.
The Angels have crushed Red Sox pitching this year. Josh Beckett, who is supposed to be one of the best post-season pitchers in baseball, has faced the Angels twice this year and has given up 11 runs in 13.1 IP. That is a whopping 7.43 earned run average.
We all know the Red Sox have a star-studded lineup that is hard to shut down, but there is no team in baseball more suited to stop the Red Sox than the Angels. The relievers for the Angels are going to be crucial this postseason. If Jose Arredondo, Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez can pitch as well as they have during the season, they will shorten the game dramatically. That means good news for John Lackey, Ervin Santana, Jon Garland and Joe Saunders.
If the Angels are going to win the World Series, they will have to put runs on the board. The Angels weren’t healthy at all last year which is a huge reason why the Red Sox beat them so easily. Big Daddy Vladdy had a bad back, Gary Matthews Jr. had patella tendonitis, Garrett Anderson could only see out of one eye and Casey Kotchman was in the hospital with a viral infection.
This year the Angels are finally healthy and have added a huge piece to their lineup, Mark Teixeira. Big Tex is expected to give the Angels someone that can get on base in front of Vlad, as well as someone who will provide some pop, since the Angels had zero homeruns last year against the Red Sox in the ALDS.
With a healthy lineup, a solid pitching staff and the best manager in baseball, the Angels won’t be stopped this year.
Come October it will be time to “Light Up That Halo.”
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