ALDS: ‘02 Halos sweep ‘98 Bombers in 3 straight

SERIES SUMMARY:  The Bronx Bombers had a wonderful season where the flirted with having the best record in baseball only to fall a game short of winning their division.  Their reward...they get to go on the road and face an Angels team that won 5 less games than they did, but had the good fortune of winning a division where every other team finished under .500.  On the surface this looked to be a cakewalk for New York, but historically the Yankees have had trouble with the Angels, especially in the Torre/Giradi era.  In fact the California/Anaheim/LA of Anaheim Angels are the only AL franchise to have a winning record against NY during that time frame.  As pointed out by Angels manager Douglas Zaner, his team is peaking at the correct time, which parallels their real life excursion into the post season in 2002.  Seeing the Angels win this series was certainly not a shocker, but seeing them sweep the Bombers was.

10/2-10/3 - Edison Field
GAME 1 - Angels 9, Yankees 8
The Halos had what seemed to be a comfy 9-3 lead heading into the 8th when New York began to jump start it's offense.  The Bombers would post 4 big runs to cut Anaheim's lead to 2.  In the process they knocked Jarrod Washburn out of the box.  It would come as a shock to no one that it all started with Derek Jeter working out a walk in a 10 pitch at bat.  Time in and time out Mr. Jeter has been the face of the Pinstripe franchise because of his consistent play and his ability to seize the moment in big spots.  "Jeets" AB must have softened up Washburn, because Scott Brosius followed with a 1 pitch at bat that resulted in a line single to left.  Tim Raines walked to load the bases with 1 out, but Homer Bush lined out to left while pinch hitting for Jorge Posada to record the second out.  Now it was time for Chad Curtis to double off the wall and score 2.  Tino Martinez, who was curiously batting 8th in this lineup, single to right to score 2 more and just like that the Bombers were back in business.  Troy Percival would come on to save it for the Angels in the 9th, but not without drama.  After getting 2 quick outs Percival gave up 3 consecutive singles, which made it a 1 run ballgame.  Tim Raines' RBI single scored Brosius and nearly killed the rally monkeys as the fans were squeezing them oh so tight to release stress.  Next up came the matchup of the day.  Percival vs Joe Girardi.  Percival won this battle by throwing three bullets by Giradi for the "K".  The Halos held on to a 1 run lead in a game that looked to be a blowout before the 8th.  Troy Glaus was the big bat for the Halos today.  Glaus went 2 for 4 with 5 RBI's, a double and a 2 run homer.  Brosius went 4 for 4 and almost keyed the comeback.  Ramiro Mendoza was an interesting choice to start the opener for New York.  Already the New York tabloids are second guessing skipper Ross Gottlieb for that choice.  Amazing how fickle those NY papers and Yankee fans are in general.  Gottlieb piloted the team to a 26-12 regular season, yet Mike Lupica and Steve Serby are attacking him in their columns.

GAME 2 - Angels 7, Yankees 2
"Boomer" Wells did not have his best stuff today, but he battled the Angel lineup in the hopes that a late comeback attempt like yesterday would occur.  His hopes were not satisfied.  In fact the Halos put together a late surge that turned a tenuous 3-2 lead into a more than comfortable 7-2 margin.  Anaheim unloaded on Wells and reliever Jeff Nelson to the tune of 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th.  Scott Spiezo's RBI single scored Adam Kennedy and advanced David Eckstein to third.  Garrett Anderson, who doubled in a run in his first AB, but fanned the next two times cranked a 3 run shot into the waterfall in left center to put the game out of reach.  Ramon Ortiz earned the win for the Angels by allowing just 1 run in 6 1/3 innings of work.  The Angel pen kept the Bomber bats in check the rest of the way to put the Halos up 2-0 in the series and put the Bombers on the brink of elimination.

10/5 - Yankee Stadium
GAME 3 - Angels 12, Yankees 0
With their backs up against the Bombers went to their most trusted and reliable post season performer, Andy Pettitte.  Not only is Pettitte know for his post season exploits, but he brought a 5-0 KOD10 record into his matchup against Anaheim's Kevin Appier.  Nobody in the history of Major League Baseball has won more post season games (18) than Pettitte, which should have intimidated the Halos, but in truth it did not.  This Angel team is firing on all 8 cylinders and their history of slaying the 10,000 lb gorilla from the Bronx has become legendary.  Early on it was apparent that Pettitte did not have good stuff.  By the 5th inning the fans in the "Big Ball Orchard in the Bronx" began to turn on Pettitte and his mates.  Boos and chants of "Steinbrenner S--ks" began to resonate on 161st and River.  One clown even threw a beer at Pettitte as he departed having given up 8 runs (7 earned) in 5 innings worth of work.  To disrespect a player who has given his heart and soul to the Pinstripe cause is shameful, but so is the nature of the "what have you done for me lately" attitude that we see in the Big Apple.  On the other side of the fence Appier was masterful allowing just 3 hits and no runs in 6 innings of stellar work.  Scott Schoeneweis posted a meaningless save by pitching 3 innings of 1 hit ball to close out the game.  New York's highly touted offense was only able to muster up 4 hits vs the Halos on a day when their pitchers gave up 20.  Even the great Rivera gave up 3 runs as he was pressed into action late in the game to try to keep Anaheim from reaching double digits.  Darin Erstad and Garrett Anderson had 4 hit days.  Anderson hit a 2 run shot off of Pettitte in the 6th which led to the slender Texan's early departure.

Anaheim will head to Detroit to open up the ALCS vs the Tigers, while the Bombers will remain home and ponder what could have been in a season that looked so promising.  When interviewed after the game Yankee manager Ross Gottlieb was quoted as saying, "I'm on the fence. Especially with my family's hectic schedule."  Obviously the pressure of skippering baseball's most visible franchise in the Big Apple can be a challenge as evidenced by the treatment he got in the NY tabloids.  This reporter hopes to see him back in the dugout, maybe with some other franchise that would appreciate his efforts.