Top 10 Reasons Angels Are Champions

It was never about the ninth-inning, game-winning home run.

The Angels didn’t have any of those.

It was never about the brilliantly pitched shutout.

The Angels didn’t have any of those, either.

Their October search for a World Series championship ring was never about the diamonds or the gold.

It was always about the inside of the ring, the engraving, the part seen only by them, the part that makes it their ring.

Throughout their postseason, the Angels were not a team of expensive giant baubles, but priceless little messages.

Here are the most important 10, in chronological order:

* The Pitchout.

Opening game of the division series against the New York Yankees, fifth inning, Angels trailing, 3-1, everyone wondering if the new kids were already cracking.

With Adam Kennedy running from first base and David Eckstein batting, the Yankees pitched out and should have easily nailed Kennedy.

Except Eckstein leaned out across the plate and fouled off the pitchout.

We’ll repeat that for the hard of believing.

He fouled off the pitchout.

Roger Clemens stared at home plate in disbelief. Who knows how many scouts and future playoff opponents were doing the same thing?

The Angels eventually lost that game, but the message had been sent that they would were afraid of nothing, and would try anything.

* The Adjustment.

While everyone will remember Angel Manager Mike Scioscia’s refusal to bring in Troy Percival with two out in the eighth inning in their opening loss to the Yankees, do you remember what happened the next night?

There were two out in the eighth and the Angels were leading again, just as they had in Game 1.

Only this time, Percival was brought into the game and he saved the Angels’ first postseason victory.

It was a sign that Scioscia was not afraid to admit he could learn from the past and adjust on the run. It was the night a great manager became even better.

* The Groundout.

The big news in Game 3 against the Yankees was Erstad’s run-scoring double in the eighth inning that capped a comeback from a 6-1 deficit.

But perhaps the bigger news was the first run of the comeback, in the second inning on a shortened-stroke RBI groundout to first base by Scott Spiezio.

With runners on second and third and the team trailing, Spiezio could have been swinging for the fences. And early in the at-bat, he was.

But once he fell behind two strikes, he said he remembered the Angels’ mantra about scoring runs at any cost, even with an out.

With the groundout, he showed that this team was not about fear or panic, but smarts and unselfishness.

* The Slap.

The Angels’ eight-run, 10-hit, line-driving fifth inning in the clinching win over the Yankees was truly memorable.

But perhaps even more compelling was the slap that helped start it all.

With Benji Gil on first base and one out and the score tied, 2-2, in the eighth, the Angels called upon Eckstein to hit and run.

Gil sprinted to second, Eckstein fought off a pitch that he slapped into right field, and suddenly the emotional David Wells was surrounded by runners on first and third with a stadium roaring above him.

Seven of the next eight batters got hits, and the Angels were soon headed to the American League championship series -- the Yankees having been knocked out by a feather.

* The Recovery.

You’ll remember that the Angels scored four runs in the first two innings of Game 2 of the AL championship series against the Minnesota Twins, setting the tone for four consecutive wins after an opening-game loss.

But do you remember that none of it would have been possible without Kennedy’s falling on his rear between first and second base?

He fell and was apparently going to be picked off, but then he scrambled to his feet to force a rundown that allowed Spiezio to attempt to sneak home from third base.

That led the Twins’ throw to the plate, which led to a collision, which led to a run by Spiezio that helped the Angels forge a lead they never lost.

This showed the Angels were blessed even when they were bone-headed.

* The Slider.

Everyone knew that, in tough situations, Francisco Rodriguez could throw the ball 95 mph and somebody would probably swing and miss.

But who would have thought that, when he thought the hitter was looking for a fastball, he would have the guts to throw something even more impossible to hit?

It was Game 4 against the Twins, eighth inning, a runner on third, two out, tying run at the plate.

And K-Rod struck out Bobby Kielty, flailing at a pitch that registered 83 mph.

By then, the Angels weren’t just winning games, they were messing with minds.

* The Cutoff Man.

Long before the 10-run inning that clinched the pennant in Game 5 against the Twins, the Angels made a big play without ever touching a bat.

With the Twins leading, 1-0, in the second, A.J. Pierzynski knocked a line drive to left field, sending Dustan Mohr home from second base.

As the throw left Garret Anderson’s hand, Pierzynski rounded first and took off for second.

But Troy Glaus, in a play as big as any of his giant hits, cut off the throw and flipped it to Kennedy, who tagged out Pierzynski.

Yes, Mohr scored. But suddenly there were two out, the uprising was quelled, and it would be nine batters before another Twin reached base.

These Angels weren’t just storybook, they were textbook.

* The At-Bat.

While everyone will remember Tim Salmon’s eighth-inning home run that gave the Angels an 11-10 victory over the San Francisco Giants in Game 2 of the World Series, do you remember what happened moments earlier?

Erstad flied out to left. But he wore down pitcher Felix Rodriguez for eight pitches in the process.

Included were three foul balls, two throws to first base, and one step-away-from-the-plate move by Erstad to take off his batting helmet and glare.

It seemed that the entire thing took 20 minutes. Salmon then won the game in about 20 seconds, hitting the weary and frustrated Rodriguez’s first pitch over the left-field fence.

The Giants learned what others already knew -- to overpower the Angels you must first outlast them, and good luck.

* The First Pitch.

In the throes of World Series Game 6 madness, with the Angels having closed the gap to 5-3 at the start of the eighth inning, only three people at Edison Field remained calm.

Erstad, Salmon and Glaus.

With the time expiring on their season, all three batters amazingly took the first pitch from the struggling Giant relievers.

All three were rewarded with a pitch out of the strike zone.

All three then sighed, dug in, and proceeded to deliver three of the most important hits of the Angel season.

After waiting 42 years, these Angels continually proved they could wait for the right pitch.

* The Last Great Strike.

Years from now, people will forget that the Angels’ seemingly easy 4-1 victory in Game 7 of the World Series actually came down to the ninth inning, with runners on first and second and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the potential tying run, at the plate.

With an overpowering energy that came out of nowhere and everywhere, Percival unleashed a 98-mph fastball, the hardest single pitch he threw all month.

Shinjo froze at that first-pitch strike and meekly struck out four pitches later.

Moments later, Kenny Lofton flied out to Erstad, and the halo had been replaced by a crown.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]