10 Reasons the Angels Cannot Win the ALCS

Much of the sports writing community has attempted to glamorize the Los Angeles Angels of Costa Mesa of San Fernando Valley of Arizona’s chances of putting on a 2004 Red Sox ALCS-esque comeback thriller against the NY Yankees this weekend as they are trailing 3-1 in the series.

Here are the 10 reasons why this is as ridiculous as Jim Zorn not getting fired this season:

10. John Lackey is not Curt Schilling of 2004- Admittedly, John Lackey is a solid playoff Ace, but in 04 the Red Sox had the best pitcher in baseball on the hill at that moment. Bloody sock or no bloody sock, Curt Schilling was a workhorse with years of playoff experience in pressure situations. John Lackey is used to losing in the playoffs since 2002.

9. Angels Bullpen- In 2004 the Red Sox had a deep bullpen with tons of experience pitching against the Yankees all through the season. When extra innings came, they were able to keep the mighty Yankees from scoring long enough to let Papi do his thing. The Angels bullpen is shaky at best, and sloppy at other times.

8. The Angels have no Big Papi- Sure the Angels have a broken down, stickball legend in Vladdy, but let’s be honest, if Vladdy comes up with 2 outs and 2 on down 2 in the bottom of the 12th, would you really EXPECT him to hit a dinger? People EXPECTED it from Papi, Angels fans would give away their kids for that kind of clutch from Vlad.

7. Edison Field is not Fenway Park- Angels fans may like their rockslide and constant fireworks, and they love 70 degree weather for every home game in October, but the fans in Angel Stadium will never match the intensity of the 2004 crowd at Fenway Park during the Sox miraculous comeback. Yankee players like Mariano Rivera aren’t shaken by dumb blondes banging balloons together while they Tweet about The Hills.

6. Brian Fuentes is not Keith Foulke of 2004- Brian Fuentes is carrying a 3.93 ERA from the regualr season with 7 blown saves. This guy has never been in an elimination situation, and rarely rises to the occassion.

5. The Yankees of 2009 are a monster- The 2004 Yankees were a pretty good squad, but AROD was mediocre and never clutch, there was no Mark Texeria, and Robinson Cano was not a star. The 2009 version is pounding away at decent starting pitchers in Anaheim, where as they were chipping away at great starting pitching in Boston in 2004.

4. The LA Angels did not sign Mark Texeria- The Yankees did.

3. There is no Manny Ramirez in Anaheim- Enough Said.

2. Errors- The LA Angels have made 6 errors in 4 games. The 2004 Red Sox made 1 error in 71 innings of baseball in the ALCS battle with the Yankees. Biiiiiig difference.

1. Rally Monkeys are for children- This is the dumbest “tradition” in baseball, and makes grown adults look foolish. A monkey will not win an ALCS.

Posted by Charles Drengberg on 10/22/2009. Filed under Other Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry