Red Sox vs. Angels Postmortem

Several thoughts on the Boston Red Sox defeat of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League Division Series...

The Angels turned a 2-0 deficit into a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning, and you have to say that Sunday night’s marathon played a part.

Hideki Okajima and Justin Masterson—who both pitched in Sunday’s loss—were unable to put away Mark Teixeira, Vladimir Guerrero, and Torii Hunter in the eighth inning, even after going to two-strike counts on all three. Teixeira and Guerrero walked and both scored on Hunter’s two-out single to tie the game.

Much was made by the media about the Red Sox’s postseason win streak over the Angels, and Anaheim players and coaches tried hard to defuse such talk.

Yes, the Angels were able to end their skid, but not until the Sox ran the streak to a record 11 games, and even then it took a 12-inning marathon to do so. Still, it bears some consideration that many Angels players seem to have it in their heads that they simply can’t beat the Red Sox in the postseason.

The only two Angels players to make significant contributions throughout the series were Hunter and Teixeira—and neither one has been an Angel for long. Both were making their first postseason appearances in an Angel uniform, and they didn’t play like they were carrying the weight of past Anaheim playoff failures against Boston.

More evidence that the Angels have it in their heads that they can’t beat the Sox could be found in Anaheim’s fielding during the series.

From the three-run “single” by Jacoby Ellsbury in Game Three to miscues by Angel infielders and outfielders throughout the ALDS, the Angels appeared to be playing like they hoped they wouldn’t make mistakes.

That’s not the fundamentally sound Mike Scioscia ballclub that won 100 games during the season; it’s a team that was collectively thinking, “How are we going to lose yet again?”

If the “predestined to defeat” attitude appeared familiar at Fenway Park, it’s because the Red Sox suffered the same anxiety until 2004, when they faced the New York Yankees.

Game to game, series to series, year to year, Boston players seemed to be wondering which Red Sox player would make the crucial gaffe or which Yankee would be the new hero…and the fans and media took that attitude to the extreme.

It took the historic comeback from three games down in the 2004 ALCS to turn the tide, and the Red Sox haven’t looked back since.

The question is, what do the Angels have to do to break through? Or will they?

The Red Sox broke "The Curse" to win two World Series titles. The Texas Rangers of the late '90s were unable to get past those same Yankees and ultimately their window of opportunity closed.

The AL West is Anaheim’s for the taking, as long as Seattle keeps getting duped on the free-agent market and the Rangers can’t learn how to pitch.

However, as their lone World Series championship falls further and further back in the rear view mirror, will the Angels have to watch out for a reputation of playoff futility that Red Sox fans were all too familiar with for years?

Boston entered the series with two of the best clutch postseason performers in recent memory on their roster—and neither one made a significant contribution in the ALDS.

Despite his age, Josh Beckett is arguably the best playoff pitcher of his time, yet he was hurt and pitched like it in Game Three.

David Ortiz has returned from his wrist injury to the third spot in the Red Sox's order, but he is hardly the commanding presence of years past.

For the Sox to have any chance of repeating, the two are going to have to be the players fans remember, not the players that took the field in the ALDS.