Angels in the Playoffs

It's that time again. Playoff baseball. Hanging on every pitch in the 5th inning. Cursing the k-zone that you know they tweak so the announcers don't look silly. Pacing around the room when the 5th best reliever in your bullpen gets brought in the game in the 12th inning because there's no one else left. Analyzing every move by the manager (mostly wondering why the *&^$ Jeff Mathis is playing).

I love playoff baseball.

That being said, the Angels have not been successful at playoff baseball since their run to the World Series in 2002. They've lost 3 out of 4 playoff series' and the only one they won is because A-Rod is the chokiest choke to ever choke in the postseason. Most disturbingly, they've lost 6 straight games to the Red Sox in that span.

And here come the Red Sox.

The Angels finished with the best record in baseball. They are the first team to get to 100 wins since 2005. They have a great pitching staff and solid offense. But they didn't destroy teams this year, winning a lot of games by small margins (while losing more than their normal share of blowouts). By and large, people aren't impressed. So the Red Sox are once again the favorites.

Blech.

The Red Sox are a good team, maybe still the best team in baseball. But the Angels have home field advantage. Boston is beat up (Beckett will only start once in this series, Lowell is hurt, Ortiz has some lingering wrist problems, Pedroia is short, Youkilis's face was actually eaten by his goatee, etc.). The Angels are rested, having clinched the division about 3 months ago. And still, a lot of people are picking the Sox.

Fine. We're cool with the underdog thing. We'll play with the chip on our shoulder. We have Mark Teixeira. Bring it on Boston.

Again, I know I've been remiss about posting on here, but I'm going to post a series of short Q&A's with myself. As in, what are some of the questions for the Angels in the postseason and what answers can I make up that will make them look good? First up: Why do sabermetricians enjoy clubbing baby seals? (Subtitle: Can I be a "stat guy" and still like the Angels?)