The Tide Is Turning

The overwhelmingly lopsided rivalry between Boston and Southern California could be taking a turn in favor of the good guys.

Even before the Angels notched their seventh consecutive win over the Red Sox, the team improved with the acquisition of Mark Teixeira for Casey Kotchman. There certainly is some sentiment over losing a player of Kotchman's caliber.

Before moving on, the Braves got a great player. You will read some unintelligent comments from people who don't believe that Casey can be a great player. (Yes, imagine a bunch of stupid comments from sports fans who live in the South.) Don't believe it. The Braves certainly got a good one. But when you consider what Atlanta first gave up to get Teixeira, that might not be the best deal that they could have received.

However, the Angels need somebody who can put a crooked number on the scoreboard. The Angels have been scoring a lot of runs lately. But consider the teams you are playing. Besides, the Angels offense always looks good in the heat of the summer when those summer quails seems to find a spot in the outfield. The Halos' bats, however, always seem to freeze up when the calendar turns to October. When a big-fly is needed instead of three duck farts and three LOBs. This was a move made for the postseason, make no mistake. If the Angels win the World Series, the trade is a success even if Teixeira leaves a free agent. (Hell, the Adam Kennedy trade was in the Angels favor because of his three home runs in the 2002 ALCS.)

Imagine the Angels aggressive, first-to-third offense with a guy like Teixeira to clean up the bases? When you third baseman weights 150, your three-hole hitter is a 120-pound shortstop, somebody is needed to push the runners across in bunches. Seeing Kotchman go is tough, but sometimes you have to give up something to get something.

The Angels certainly have gained some confidence against the Red Sox recently and the addition of Teixeira validates that confidence. Even more than regular season wins. And a quick note on that -- the Boston fans applause of John Lackey's performance seemed a little forced. Can't you give him a little credit? And who else, other than Keith Youkilis hits a two-run home run when the game already has been decided. He's like a modern day Rod Carew in that respect.

This is a good day for Southern California sports. Maybe this leads to the Chargers finally beating the Patriots and the Lakers getting over the Celtics next season. That might be getting ahead of ourselves, but this was a good start.