Angels Fans Should Be Rooting For Texas
The Angels path to the World Series gets easier if Texas wins the Wild Card.
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Angels fans should root for more of this, and more Rangers wins, too.
We should all give some props to the Angels — after a slow start they are going to make the playoffs (barring a complete meltdown). They did it differently than they have the last couple seasons, this year it was the bats that have propelled the Angels to the top of the division again.
But if Angels fans want to see their team in the World Series, they should be rooting for the Texas Rangers.
No, you don’t want the Rangers to catch your team and pass them in the standings (let’s not be crazy here), but Angels fans do want Texas to catch and pass Boston in the Wild Card race. As of today, the Rangers are three games back of the Red Sox.
Why? Because the Angels would rather face Detroit in the first round of playoffs than the Red Sox. The Yankees are going to have the best record in the American League at the end of the season, so they will play the Wild Card team — unless that team is in their division. Basically, unless that team is Boston. Then the Yankees would face the division winner with the worst record.
Bottom line: If Boston is the Wild Card they will face the Angels. If Texas is the Wild Card, the Angels will face Detroit in the first round (The Tigers are 6.5 games ahead of the Twins).
The Red Sox knocked the Angels out of the playoffs last year. Look at it this way, if the Angels face the Red Sox in the first series they are going to get to see Josh Beckett on the mound twice. They will see John Lester, who has a better ERA than Beckett. They will have the knuckleballer Tim Wakefield in the middle of that to throw them off. Angels pitchers will face a great lineup that includes Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and the veteran bat David Ortiz. And they have to face the rabid fans at Fenway.
The Detroit pitching lineup of Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and Rick Porcello do not really intimidate. At the plate, Detroit has Miguel Cabrera but after that it is Placido Polanco and Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge. Not exactly a murderer’s row.
Eventually, the Angels will have to beat a very good team in the playoffs (see, Yankees, New York). But an easier first round series would make things look a lot better in Anaheim.
