It Was A Sad Day In Anaheim, The Angels Season Is Agonizingly Over

No Comments September 15, 2015 Angels By John Stellman

The 2015 American League regular season officially concludes October 4. Unfortunately, the Angels season ended September 13. On that unforgettable day they were 1 strike away from completing a 3-game sweep of Western Division leader Houston. Leading 3-0 with 2 outs, nobody on base and a 1-2 count on Astro rookie Preston Tucker, the usually reliable Houston Street unraveled. Final score; Houston 5, Angels 3.

End of season!

Instead of pulling to within 2 1/2 games of the Astros, Anaheim suddenly fell 4 1/2 games behind. Texas is second 1 1/2 games out. Houston has 19 games left. Texas and the Angel each play 20 more games. If Houston goes 10-9 down the stretch, the Angels would have to win 15 of 20 just to tie for the division title. And the Wild Card possibilities aren’t much better. The Rangers are 3 games up on the Angels with Minnesota 2 ahead. If Texas splits its last 20 games. the Angels need to go 13-7 to deadlock for the second Wild Card spot. Not impossible but very improbable.

One glitter of hope however, is that the Angels hold their destiny in their hands. They play 3 games in Houston September 21-23 and end the season with 4 games at Texas October 1-4.

But the reality of the situation is that both Houston and Texas would have to crumble for the Angels to sneak into the playoffs. The Rangers and Astros meet 7 more times. Then there are the Twins to consider. They Angels travel to Minneapolis for 4 games September 17-20.

But stranger things have happened. Those of us old enough will remember that the Dodgers led the Giants by 12 1/2 games on August 10, 1951 in the race for the National League pennant. And it was Bobby Thompson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round The World” as called by Russ Hodges, that capped a 4-run ninth inning rally in playoff Game 3 to give the Giants the pennant, 5-4.

The Angels might need a similar miracle!

October 4, 2015:

Postmortem.

Little did the Angels realize on September 13, 2015 that they were indeed, playing their MOST important game of the year. Game No. 142 would ultimately determine whether or not they’d punch a ticket to the post season. With that loss, the Angels (85-77) finished 1 game behind Houston (86-76). With a victory, Anaheim would have won 86 games, the Astros 85.

So let that familiar cry ring out, “Wait ’till next year!”

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John Stellman

I was born with sports in my blood. I began coaching little league baseball at 15. I was the sports editor of my high school newspaper. I did football play by play for the college radio station. I broadcast high school basketball for a local commercial station. But baseball was always my passion. During the 1970's I covered the Angels for the Orange County Register. And now I am back where I belong...