Angels Dominate the West, But Can the Dodgers Do the Same?

It looks like the only drama now remaining for the Los Angeles Angels this regular season is if closer Francisco Rodriguez can rewrite the record books in the coming days by becoming the first to tally up 60 saves in a season (which is doable), or maybe even 70 saves a season. And the side story will be their push for 100 wins in a season (currently they stand at 88). 

For Mike Scioscia and those happy-go-lucky Halos, there are only seventeen games remaining in the regular season before they face what appears to be the Boston Red Sox, unless some shakeup in the East and Central (and even the West) happens. And believe me, it will. Or it won't.

Whatever the case, during these next three weeks, suddenly in LA-LA Land the attention will be focused on the Los Angeles Dodgers, and their race against the Arizona Diamondbacks for the National League West crown.

The spotlight is off the Arte Moreno's boys, and now it's up to Joe Torre to bring the boys in blue their place in the postseason.

Aw shucks. It was fun while it lasted.

These last few weeks saw the Angels march through August and September with their mission clear: another division pennant and a spot in the postseason. Not too long ago, there was a time where such talk was hearsay.

Stories of Angel squads failing to even get a winning record were the norm. Nowadays, instead of the Angels falling, they rise to the challenge.

On the newspapers, players like Garret Anderson, Vladi Guerrero, Torii Hunter, Howie Kendrick, Jered Weaver, Joe Saunders, Jon Garland, Gary Matthews Jr., Juan Rivera, Mike Napoli, the up-and-coming Brandon Wood (Gimme some kind of sign! Oh wait, wrong person), and K-Rod drive to the postseason dance as if it was some weekend nightclub for ballers on the Sunset Strip.

A day before the seventh anniversary of the tragedy in New York (which is different from another tragedy, in that it dons pinstripes, but similar in melancholic nature, if you have followed them since you were kicking and screaming), the quest for the American League West Division has finished. But across the Interstate 5, inside the Chavez Ravine, a different race goes on.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are only a few games ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks for first place in the NL West. The only year that both the Dodgers and the Angels clinched their respective divisions was in 2004. Both lost to teams that would meet each other in the World Series: the Dodgers to the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Angels to the Red Sox.

The Dodgers, fresh off a series win against the D-Backs, has a squad that has the potential to surprise in the postseason, anchored by the hitting power of Manny Ramirez, Russell Martin and Andre Ethier. The veteran leadership of Andruw Jones, Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe and Greg Maddux adds to the Blue Crew's impressive September run

Of course, the idea of a Freeway Series to decide the best team in Major League Baseball is a thought that one can scoff at. But it can happen. Joe Torre did it with the Yankees, who faced the Mets in the 2000 Subway Series for their most recent World Series ring.

Can he do it again with the Dodgers? At this part of the season, one has to believe in that old cliche: that anything, and I mean anything, is possible. And the possibility a 2008 Freeway World Series is an L.A. Story that not even Hollywood could have seen coming.