Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Angels Clinch AL West

With a 4-2 victory over the Yankees and Texas losing to Seattle 7-8 the Halos have officially clinched the AL West - September 9, 2008. Earliest in their history and tied for third earliest date in MLB history (The earliest date was September 7 by the 1975 Reds). Four Division titles over the last five years, and K-Rod gets his 56th save of the season with a full three weeks left. He'll be breaking the record in no time flat, and one has to think that he has the Cy Young sewn up. Dan Patrick earlier said that he might even get some MVP votes, which in my mind would be fantastic.

Of course the L.A. Times has to rain all over our parade and point out that early clinching is no guarantee of playoff success, as only the aforementioned '75 Reds and '98 Yankees have gone on to win the World Series after clinching on September 12 or earlier.

I'll have a look at the Halos' playoff fortunes later, as I am actually old enough and a big enough fan to remember them all.

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