The Angels are so much fun to root for

[Clarkmeister]

Blue collar, tons of heart, never say die. Proven yet again today, battling back from two separate 2-run deficits. I love that team. On to the playoffs.

[Sooga]

Go away Clark.... no one likes a frontrunner. Go join Josh W on the Seattle bandwagon... there's plenty of room there.

[Clarkmeister]

You have no idea how hard I was rooting for them in 2002. I watched like 30 regular season games on FSN. When they came back and Yankee'd the Yankees in the first round I was so pumped it was unreal.

[Zeno]

Congradulations to the Angels. The better team Won.

-Zeno

[GuyOnTilt]

Screw the Angels and all their stupid ignoramous bandwagon Southern California fans.

GoT

[andyfox]

"Blue collar, tons of heart, never say die."

With all due respect, bullshit, bullshit, and bullshit. What's blue collar about that team? They went out and bought Colon and bought Vlad and Escobar and others. Nothing wrong with it, but it ain't blue collar.

Heart? What gives them heart? That they scored some runs when they fell behind? They have a good offense. Do the Yankees have heart? They have 60 come from behind wins. All that means is that they have bad starting pitching, good
hitting, and Mariano Rivera.

Never say die? What teams (other than those managed by Larry Bowa /images/graemlins/wink.gif) give up? Oakland has plenty of heart, they just weren't quite good enough. Any time a team hits, they looks great, and when they don't, it looks like they gave up.

Having said this, I love the way Erstad and Figgins in particular play the game, and I think they have a great manager. And they are, as a group, a lot more likable than the Red Sox.

[Sooga]

Gosh andy, you're so curmudgeonly tonight! Blue collar doesn't mean you have cheap talent.. it's just a type of personality. Vlad might have cost a pretty penny, but no one's gonna accuse him of being 'soft'. Along with Chone and Erstad, how could you forget Eckstein? He's mr. scrappy himself. He's 5'7", doesn't do anything particularly fantastically, yet without him, the Angel machine doesn't run.

[Michael Davis]

I am 5'6" and before I started bulking up this year I weighed 110 pounds. I also got way more credit than I deserved for having a modicum of athletic talent. If you are small but still belong on the field, it is almost impossible not to look scrappy. Additionally, you always have "heart" even though this is rarely used to described the bigger guys who also try hard.

-Michael

[andyfox]

Yeah, looking at that post, it's pretty ugly. And DC is a friend. I guess I've got Rick Nebioloitis: I'm tired.

The Angels are indeed enjoyable to watch. There's little if any showboating (except maybe by Rodriguez), everybody runs hard to first base, and there seem to be no ego getting in anybody's way. I'll pick them to beat the Sox.

[Dominic]

...they traded for Reggie way back in the early 80's...had my hearbroken in 82, 86, and 95...

went to the final game of the League Championship Series between the Angels and Twins in 2002 when Adam Kennedy smacked 3 home runs...also attended game 2 of the World Series...crazy game...Salmon hitting 2 homers, Angels jumping out to a 5 run lead, the giants coming back to take the lead, K-Rod retiring 9 straight, Bonds hitting that monster homer...

It was, without a doubt, the most incredible sports experience I have ever experienced...and when they won? Wow. No words. I had never had a team I rooted for win it all - I'm a Buffalo Bills fan, so winning was new!

Go Angels!

[Clarkmeister]

"Do the Yankees have heart?"

Yup. They invariably come up huge when required. They have so much heart that even beating them in a single postseason game is an accomplishment. Just look at what they did to the BoSox late this season. And this isn't the first time in recent history that the Yankees have opened a big lead, coasted and floundered a bit, only to turn it on when "it mattered". They are simply a professional team that finds ways to win games that matter. Heck, yeah they have heart. Compare them to teams I would categorize as utterly heartless - Atlanta, Boston, Oakland, Houston, Chicago (take your pick, AL or NL).

That's what I meant in a recent post when I said they "out-Yankee'd the Yankees" two years ago. The game 6 comeback against San Francisco was Yankee-esque, and that's a compliment to a team that also has tons of heart.