No Angels in the Outfield

Yogi Berra once said, "I never said most of the things I said."  While that may defy the laws of grammar, he does take credit for this telling gem:  "Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical."

Yup, Yogi, after watching the Red Sox play the Angels last night, I know what you mean. 

The Angels made very few mistakes...really only one pitching and one base running.  But when you are in the playoffs facing a pitcher who may very well turn into the ace of the playoffs, one or two mistakes can cost you the game, as it did for the Angels last night.

You have to wonder, are the Angel players sitting around today thinking, "What do we have to do to beat these guys in the playoffs?"  The Angels took 8 out of 9 regular season games this year, only to have their playoff record against the Red Sox bump up to 0-10.  Ten consecutive playoff loses to the Red Sox.  There's Yogi's 90% mental right there.

If you're the Angels, how do you not go into the second game of this series with a sense of doom and gloom?  How do you not think there is something cosmic working against you, that if you were to beat the Red Sox in the playoffs, the universe would implode?

Please don't take this for cockiness.  I know it's only one game and there much baseball to be played between these two teams.  I know that in American League history, the team that wins the first game of the ALDS loses the series more often than they win it (teams that won the first game of the ALDS series are 12-14 for the series...go ahead, look it up if you don't believe me!).

But getting the first win guarantees the Sox come home with no less than a split; they have also turned home field advantage to their favor, at least for now.  Game 2 will be telling, as it is as close to a "must win" game for the Angels that you can have, both for the sake of the numbers but more importantly, so they can feel like they can actually beat the Sox in the playoffs. 

If the Angels lose Friday night, they may not even bother flying east for Sunday.