The Magic Carpet

By Matthew Storey

Five long years for the Yankees. Four for the Angels.

In 2009, both are BACK in the ALCS.

NY returns after choking on the 3-0 ALCS lead, historically, to the Boston Red Sox in '04, winning AL Eastern Division titles the next two years only to be bounced '05, by these Angels and '06, by the Detroit Tigers, than managed to close out the Joe Torre era with an '07 Wildcard and another 1st Round ouster at the hands of the Cleveland Indians and the wings of Lake Erie fauna.

The Joe Girardi era sputtered to an 89 Win opening in '08 when kid Starters Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy spit the bit and stud rotation stalwarts Chien-MIng Wang and Joba got hurt and joined Jorge Posada on the DL.

In '09, they reworked their bullpen in season and found a deep group of converted starters and homegrown power pitchers, overcame Alex's hip surgery, Chien's failure to recover, Joba's regression and a blown out elbow to Abreu's handpicked successor in RF, Xavier Nady. The Newcomers all contributed, the oldtimers all did as well, homegrown role players and veterans alike played their roles to perfection and it combined for a magical, best in MLB Regular Season of 103-59 and a first round Sweep of the red hot Minnesota Twins.

For their part, the Angels have also dominated their AL Western Division regular season but have failed to advance to the World Series since winning in '02. They lost to Boston in '04, '07 and "08 and to the White Sox in '05, their last shot at the ALCS. This season they weathered the emotional tumult of kid Pitcher Nick Adenhart's death, injuries to Vlad, Lackey and Scott Shields and a season long renaissance from the Texas Rangers to grab the West and sweep away the nemesis Red Sox.

It's time to get it on. Yankees. Angels. Best of Seven. The Bronx.

Tonight. It'll be 40 Degrees, damp, windy, 50,000 screaming neurotic New Yorkers.

Yes!

Lets take a look;

Infield

NYY
1B Mark Teixeira
Tex replaced Giambi ('08/32HR/96RBI) with (39HR/122 RBI) and played sterling 1B, with wild range to either side on grounders and into RF on pop-ups, soft hands on all throws and hit balls, and a QB arm that can throw runners out in any situation, at any base. He combined with Switch-hitters (Posada, Melky, Swisher) to give the Yankees a lineup that is never vulnerable to pitcher shuffling by opponents. He played in LA last season, knows the personnel and the pitchers well, and has enjoyed playing in Anaheim throughout his MLB career.

LAA
1B Kendry Morales
After Angels lost Mark, they promoted Kendry and he made it pay off with a huge 1st season as 1B starter (Yankees have a similar, ready to pop, Cuban defector in 1B Juan Miranda who, like Morales, only needs a chance to play, having dominated AAA and now blocked by Teixeira). Like Teixeira he hits for average and power from both sides of the plate (both have more power from LH side) and joins his OWN group of Angel Switch Hitters (Figgins, Aybar, Izturis with WIllits, Matthews as well) to give the Angels flexibility against any pitching. Defensively, he is less fluid and has a less powerful throwing arm than Teixeira and is a free swinger who will walk less.

LAA
2B Howie Kendrick
2B Maicer Izturis
Kendrick platoons with Izturis, both of them are capable offensively, but Kendrick absolutely KILLS the Yankees (along with Figgins) to the tune of .426 in his career! Both will play in the ALCS and are contact .300 hitters with occasional pop (Kendrick had 10HR, Izturis 8), they will avoid big swings against Yankee strikeout pitching and put the ball in play. Both will run in the Angel scheme. Izturis is the better 2B with a glove.

NYY
2B Robinson Cano
Cano had a huge year (.320/25/85) and is probably the most complete 2B, offensively and defensively in the AL. He has line to line pop, can pull a big HR and makes all the plays with a big arm at 2B. He has struggled, however, in cold weather throughout his career and in the 1st Round was a non-factor.

NYY
SS Derek Jeter
Jeter hit .334, ran well (30 of 35 SB) with pop (18HR) and is amongst all-time Postseason leaders in hits (1st) and HR (t -4th). Made only 8 Errors in 150 Games at SS. Always thinking 2 steps ahead, as he proved again in the Twin series, baiting Nick Punto into trying to score and then relaying to Posada to snuff out their last chance. Jeter likes to make early noise coming into series and will be looking to hit the first pitch from Lackey over the wall tonight.

LAA
SS Erick Aybar
Angels let longtime SS Orlando Cabrera go in the offseason with plenty left (as he proved in Oakland and Minnesota) but promoted dynamic defender Aybar who plays a terrific SS and has proven to be a serious Offensive player (.312/93B) he will run a bit (14 of 21 SB), but does not have HR pop.

LAA
3B Chone Figgins
The Angels tablesetter is a Yankee killer, who does everything on a baseball field well. He was a Gold Glove OF before settling in to play Gold Glove 3B, steals bases (42, but caught 17), hits .298 with a good eye (.395 OBP) but strikes out too often (as does Jeter) with 101 Ks. He has no pop to speak of.

NYY
3B Alex Rodriguez
The hero of the 1st Round, Alex has been positively killing the baseball since mid-August and destroyed the Twins with clutch Power. His big arm and SS range make him a premier defender at 3B, he runs the bases well despite the loss of speed from his hip surgery (14 of 16) and has unmatched thump. Beat him to cash if you're the Angels.

Outfield/DH

NYY
LF Johnny Damon
If this series was played a month ago, Damon would have been considered a Yankee strength, but for the second straight year, struggles down the stretch turned a BIG year into a good one and he was horrible all September before bombing out of the Twin series with 1/12 and 4 K's, looking like a guy battling his vision as he struggled with at times in the regular season. Damon's resume and early season thump provide him with room to get the job done, he has pop (24 HR) and still runs well (12 of 12) in situations. He is an awful LF at this stage with no arm at all and will be replaced by Melky late, who will move from CF with Gardner into CF, OR Guzman in LF with Melky staying put.

LAA
LF Juan Rivera
Former Yankee farmhand, Rivera, has had a nice career in Anaheim, which was cemented when they went out and resigned him this offseason despite an embarrassment of OF riches. He has serious thump on a team that is not really power oriented (25HR/88 RBI) and has a big arm. Doesn't strike out OR walk, puts it in play and doesn't run at all (the only such Angel).

NYY
CF Melky Cabrera
A terrific season for Melky, who plays Gold Glove quality Defense at all three OF slots, has occasional pop (13 HR) and speed (10 of 12). He tends to hit in binges with multi hits and power from both sides and then sliding off for awhile, he looked overmatched at times in the ALDS. He had a huge HR in the '07 ALDS as well as 4 OF assists, the Angels will try and run on him and he will throw them out.

LAA
CF Torii Hunter
The charismatic Hunter is a Gold Glove CF with pop (22HR/90RBI in 119 games), who does everything well on a Baseball field or an interview show and is a leader for the Angels in the clubhouse.

LAA
RF Bobby Abreu
The great Abreu came to the Yankees in mid '07 with whispers about his decline and has proven those to be idiots doing the whispering (Billy Wagner...). He left a productive year and a half in The Bronx for LA and has continued to be the high On-Base, occasional pop (13 HR), RBI guy (103) with speed (30 of 38). He is an indifferent RF with a big arm, who can make a big error or throw out a runner at home.

NYY
RF Nick Swisher
Forced into the starting job when Nady was injured, Swisher carried the Yankees in April, leveled off and surged again late. Hits for power from both sides of the plate (29HR) with no speed, but takes lots of pitches and gets on-base (97 Walks). A big effort, low grace OF who hustles but lacks arm strength.

NYY
DH Hideki Matsui
Big power, Matsui hits bombs against RH or LH pitching, drives in runs in bushels and can hit to all fields. WIll also take a walk in any at-bat.

LAA
DH Vlad Guerrerro
The former superstar is still dangerous (as the Red Sox learned) and can hit any pitch over the wall. He can also be struck out and will not walk, unless the pitcher intends him to be.

Catchers