ALCS Game 5 Countdown: Pride – Yankees @ Angels

Do the Angels want to make a comeback in the American League Championship Series?  Of course they do, but that shouldn’t be their primary focus tonight.  First and foremost, the Halos need to beat the Yankees tonight if only to save their pride.

Let’s hope the Angels have a little more pride than this.

Losing is one thing, but doing so shamefully is quite another and the Angels are headed into that shameful territory if they don’t put up a better fight than they did in their 10-1 Game 4 shellacking.  I am fully ready to admit that the Yankees are a superior team to the Angels, but I sure as hell am not ready to watch the Bronx Bombers celebrate winning the pennant on the Angels’ field.

For all the Angels have been through this season they owe to themselves to make the Yankees earn their World Series berth.  The lasting memory of this season shouldn’t be of a bunch of long-faced players in the dugout or batters throwing their bats in frustration after another weak at-bat or fielders kicking the dirt after another error.

I want to see passion and fire.  I want to see every last drop of blood, sweat and tears left on that field if this is really going to be the final game in Anaheim this season.  Winning tonight may only delay an inevitable post-season exit, but at least the Angels can hold their heads high knowing that they didn’t just roll over and play dead the first time they were put in a corner.  And if this turns out to be the first win in a miraculous series comeback, well, I certainly won’t complain.

New York Yankees @ Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Yankees Lead 3-1)

Starters: NYY – AJ Burnett  LAA – John Lackey

Game Info: 4:57 PM PT TV-Fox, Radio-ESPN Radio, KLAA 830 AM, KFWB, KWKW 1330 AM

THREE Questions:

• Do you realize this might be the last time we see long-time Angels John Lackey, Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero in Halo red?
• Can Mike Scioscia’s “one game at a time philosphy” keep the Angels’ chins up and confident enough to compete despite their deficit?
• Will the Angel bats remember how to work a count?  The Angels desperately need to start showing some more patience at the plate so they can get into the Yankee bullpen early.  The Yanks supposedly had a huge advantage in the pen this series, but outside of Mariano Rivera, that couldn’t be farther from the truth and the Angels need to exploit it.

TWO Predictions:

• The Angel bats come out hot early for a change and chase AJ Burnett before the end of the fifth inning.
• John Lackey does his best CC Sabathia impression and locks down a Yankee line-up that clearly is taking the game too lightly.

ONE Wish:

• I wish for the Angels to do the opposite of Snake Pliskin and escape to New York.  I really hate the Yankees and I can’t think of a more cruel fate than to see them celebrate at Angel Stadium.

ZERO Tolerance for… getting beaten by A-Rod.  The Halos need to get him out of his comfort zone and that means pitching around him.  But I don’t mean “pitch around him” as in don’t give him anything good to hit and just walk him.  I mean “pitch around him” as in literally around his person.  Lackey’s first pitch to Rodriguez needs to be within at least six inches of A-Rod’s earhole.

Leave your own questions, answers, predictions or wishes as a comment or just hang out with us during the game or even chat with us on twitter (@MonkeyWithAHalo).