What a day for the LA area baseball teams. The Angels come back in Oakland and take the AL West crown, and the Dodgers improbably come back in the bottom of the 9th to beat the hated Giants on Steve Finley's grannie (I'm sure Halx is partying hard tonight to celebrate that
).
I must say I had serious doubts last Friday night when the Angels fell 3 games behind the A's. After all, they were staring at 7 of their last 9 games on the road. Well, Vlad Guerrero had an MVP week, including a two-run jack today. With the Angels getting to the playoffs, I think he has to be the MVP favorite. The pitching was stellar as well. Bartolo Colon had two solid starts on Monday and Friday to cap a great 2nd half of the season. The Angels bullpen looked pretty good. As for the A's, well they miss the playoffs after 5 straight appearances. Mulder let them down in September. They should've pitched Rich Harden in this series with the Angels.
The Dodger game was unreal. As soon as that error by the Giants SS in the bottom of the 9th happened, I knew the Dodgers would pull it out. They must think they are a team of destiny. What is it, 53 come from behind wins?
Looking ahead to next week, I think the Angels would rather play the Yankees, despite not having home-field advantage. That sweep at the hand of the Red Sox is fresh in the Angels mind, no doubt.
The Dodgers will likely play the Cards, which is not a good matchup. The Cards have lost a lot of games lately though. They may be meaningless games, but momentum and energy are important things to have in the playoffs.