Angels snakebit? 7-5

For. A. Moment. I. Had. Hope. Then the Red Sox Jinx kicked in. You can't say the Angels didn't get enough hits, but when you leave 11 on base, six in scoring position, it's tough to win. So Frankie Rodriguez, who set the major-league all-time record for saves this year with 62, gives up a homer in the ninth, after the Angels had scratched out a tie. It's got to be playing with their heads.

I did my part, wearing my Vladimir Guerrero jersey through the whole game (and he did get three hits), but it obviously wasn't enough. We Southern Californians have been dreaming of a Freeway Series for 45 years or so, and based on regular-season records it seemed as if the Angels would do their part but we weren't so sure about the Dodgers. So much for prognostication. Now the Dodgers are 2-0 and the Angels are 0-2.

Ah, well, there's always Sunday. By the way, in the middle of the season we were wondering if Joe Torre might be having second thoughts about leaving the Yankees. I doubt if he is now. I first became aware of him in the '80s, when he was an Angels "color" announcer and I thought this guy knows so much about about baseball and he can explain it so well that he ought to be managing somewhere. At least that was a good call.