Elimination Doesn’t Stain Halos Superb Season

First off, Congratulations to the New York Yankees.

The Yankees were clearly the better team when both of the AL’s best wrapped up the ALCS on Sunday night with the Yankees winning 5-2.

That being said, the Angels didn’t exhibited their A game against the New York Yankees in the ALCS, which is unfortunate.

The Angels played pooly on defense which was a strength coming into the series. They ended up losing Game 2 on a throwing error and what could have come of Game 6 without Kendrick’s and Kazmir’s errors in the bottom of the 8th?

The Angels also had success against southpaws, but were beaten by CC Sabathia twice and Andy Pettitte in Game 6.

The Angels road record was 48-33 during the regular season but they couldn’t win one game in New York.

Be that as it may and while it’s never fun to get beat in the playoffs, there’s too much good to talk about when discussing the Angels 2009 highlights. The way they played their hearts out after the Nick Adenhart tragedy for a teammate they loved. The evolution of a good hitting .300 club that we saw in Cleveland on August 18th. The Joe Saunders vs. Zach Grienke duel. The Angels capturing their third straight AL West Division after stomping on their division rival Texas Rangers’ for an 11-0 home victory and of course, the triumph of beating our postseason nemesis — the Boston Red Sox in sweeping fashion in the ALDS in front of Boston’s fans after management had Dave Henderson throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park.

What’s not to like about the way the Angels played this year?

Nick Adenhart must be looking down on his fellow teammates with a smile on his face after witnessing their efforts this year.

A big thank you to the editors at USA Today for choosing AngelsWin.com to represent the Angels in the playoffs on their website. It truly was an amazing experience that we’re grateful for. We’re equally as grateful for the Los Angeles based NBC News network for having us on their show to talk about the Angels on two different occasions in the playoffs, the latest having Chuck Richter on to talk about the mood of Angels fans a day after being eliminated from postseason play. You can watch the video of that interview here.

So Angels fans — be proud, wear red and don’t dread, the Halos will be back in 2010 in full force with more exciting Baseball for you and its spectators to enjoy. I for one am exciting for the Hot Stove to begin and of course, Spring Training. Be sure to check out our AngelsWin.com message board on a daily basis during the offseason for all of the Hot Stove rumors, signings and trades.

Go Phillies.