Surprise! Angels Beat Yanks

Just another Halos series victory over the Yankees. An amazing feat seeing that the Yankees have the best offense ever! Seriously. If there is a game when the chips are off the table, and the pressure of winning has been removed, the Yankees are fearsome. The Angels had silenced the Sultans of Squat Friday and Saturday as New York lost its second consecutive series to start the season. With the heat off on Sunday, the Yankees were dominant. Luckily, Yankees fans have selective memories and pretended like they just won the World Series.

But it�s been so long since the Yankees have won a title, you can forgive their fans for not knowing how to behave.

• The Angels, despite losing on Sunday, have defeated the Yankees seven times in their last 10 games at Angel Stadium. That is a consistent beat-down.

• Had the chance to talk (yell from the stands) to general manager Bill Stoneman on Friday before they unfurled the latest American League West Divisional championship flag. Just wanted to let him know that Troy Glaus hit a bomb earlier in the day. Funny, he didn�t seem to care. Why should he, Dallas McPherson is hitting .167 at AAA.

• Steve Bisheff had an interesting point about Friday�s game. Why not start Tim Salmon in the home opener? Sentiment is surely more important than winning baseball games. Why stop there, Bish? Why not ask for Wally Joyner (who threw out the first pitch) to play first base? Heck, he may have� its not like you can make it past the fourth graph of a Bish column.

• Imagine how dominant Ervin Santana would have been if umpire Joe West hadn�t squeezed him on Saturday. Derek Jeter was the only player to get a hit off Santana. Nice way to rebound after Joe Torre pulled a bush-league maneuver by having Santana change his undershirt. Torre should have just rented a plane to fly above the stadium with a sign that said, �The Angels Rattle Us.� Weak move.

• The Angels are obviously not intimidated by the Yankees, but the umpires seem to buy into the mystique. Announcers like to say that the Yankees have good �plate discipline.� It�s easy to be selective at the plate when umpires never call strikes against the team.

• Jason Juicambi looks like he is begging for a walk every time he gets to the plate. The last thing he wants to do is swing the bat.

• Yankees lefty Randy Johnson was impressed by Santana�s composure, especially for a young guy. �I have illegitimate kids older than (Santana), but he was dealing like a pro.�

• It�s time to end the �Jeter Swallows� routine. A-Rod�s choking, Juicambi and Sheffield�s steroid abuse, and Noodle Arm�s sell out are open game. Jeter plays the game the right way and doesn�t deserve the scorn. Although, the way he watches the ball into the catcher�s glove is pretty annoying.

• If it wasn�t for Bartolo Colon, the Yankees might never beat the Angels.

It�s hard to imagine what went so wrong for the Angels on Sunday. Outside of Colon. But it�s obvious�the team saluted the UCLA basketball team. Oh well, at least the Angels weren�t the biggest losers in the stadium.