Why will the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim win the 2009 ALDS? In simple terms, Mike Scioscia is the best manager in baseball, that's why!!!! Terry Francona is definitely no slouch in his own right. But, the fact of the matter is, the 5 game short series is unlike any other playoff in all of professional sports. This monster requires precise managing of pitchers and players. While Francona's managing style is as fierce as it is delicate, the Angels and Mike Scioscia will feast in his mediocrity. The Halos are faster around the bases than any other team in baseball. They have the ability to manufacture runs by going from 1st to 3rd like no other Angels team has in the past. While they have a myriad of home run hitters, they live by the small ball philosophy and have taken it to another level. Under Scioscia, they take pride in stealing bases, bunting, taking that extra base and moving runners over at will. Mike Scioscia has brought that National League offensive mentality to the Angels and they have literally ran with it.
With the tendency to rise in the strikezone, the fastball sometimes gets pitchers into real trouble. All too often does a pitcher rely on that heavy cannon of a pitch that is almost impossible to keep down in the zone with great consistency. While the Angels definitely have the bats and wheels to run the score up, no lead is safe when playing the Red Sox. The Angels will need to back up John Lackey with fierce competitiveness to guarantee a Game 1 victory. Without a highlight reel night at defense, the solid offense just may not be enough. Lackey needs to try to pitch to contact, which usually is not his game, and let his fielders do their job. It is highly unlikely, considering Boston's deep lineup, that John Lackey will go double digits in strikeouts. He will need to rely on Figgins, Aybar, Izturis, Kendrick and Morales to pick him up between the bags and Hunter to run down those long fly balls in center field. It is imperative that Lackey show composure and keep that ball down. His first priority will be to sit down the top of the lineup for Boston in quick fashion. One, two, three would be a thing of beauty to see in the 1st inning for the big right handed hurler out of Texas.
The fate of Game 1 for the Boston Red Sox rests on the shoulders of southpaw Jon Lester. Lester utilizes an array of quality pitches to sit batters down. His 4 seamer tops out at around 97 mph, while averaging somewhere in the vicinity between 93-95 mph. Lester also uses a 2 seamer, a cutter, an above average change-up and a wicked curveball. Like John Lackey, Jon Lester is a powerful strikeout pitcher and relies heavily on his 4 seam fastball. The command of his fastball is impeccable. That being said, that pitch makes all his other pitches highly effective when intermingled amongst a barrage of screaming 95 mph bullets. The key to success against Lester is for the Angels to jump all over that 1st pitch fastball and drive it long and hard. If the Halos can get runners on base quickly, they have the ability to run the score up and knock Lester right out of his rhythm. Getting to the bullpen will be the goal of the Angels. In the middle innings the Halos tend to bring in the runs in multitude, while the Red Sox, well, let's just say their 6th and 7th innings are not even worth comment. The bullpen of Los Angeles will need to step it up in the 8th and 9th and not put runners on for that deep, deep Boston lineup.
The chant from 2002 World Series still resounds in my head....YES WE CAN....YES WE CAN....YES WE CAN!!!! And, you know what.....Yes we can. This is one of the deepest lineups that the Angels have put up against the Red Sox in all of their meetings. In the end, it will be how well Mike Scioscia manages his pitching staff and his baserunners that decides the outcome of the game. I hope all of you were able to get tickets to tonight's and tomorrow's games. I want to hear the thundersticks. I want to look into the crowd from my Knothole Club perch and see Angels red....a Sea of Red. I want hear the Let's Go Angels resounding over the chants for Boston...they will be there, but I don't want to hear them. All I want to hear at the end of tonight's battle is the cheers of triumph for the Boys In Red - our Los Angeles Angels.
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