I had the pleasure Friday night of listening to the people sitting behind me and Halo Hughes at the Stadium yell at him for Angel fandom. And I let them have at it as much as possible.
But Angels fans these days are cute and funny with how amazing their team is. They cling to 2002 like it was their first-born child. Oh wait, it kinda was. Sure, they tend to beat the Yankees handily -- they were the only team to have a .500 record or better in the Joe Torre era -- but they've been doing that for years. In the 1980s and early '90s, West Coast road trips were the worst for Yankees fans and it had nothing to do with the 10:30 p.m. start time.
After one measly World Series title -- one! -- Angels fans walk on water. Here's an email Halo Hughes wasted cyberspace with on Sunday night:
"so when does the 'We actually beat the Angels' party end? Lots of crying and group hugging i would imagine. Congrats on this early august feat!"
Here's what I have to say in response to Halo Hughes and how amazing his Angels are:
1) Your biggest deadline acquisition, Mark Teixeira hit a go-ahead grand slam in the 8th inning and your team still lost.
2) Your team gave up a home run to Jose Molina.
3) Your team scored ZERO runs against Sidney Ponson. Sidney Ponson!
4) K-Rod will break the saves record because your offense is sketchy as best.
Now let's take a look at the greatest game the Angels ever played (note: we'll leave the Dave Henderson jokes to the Beans):
Halo Hughes, you're dismissed.