In the end, the one thing the Angels were missing, above all else, was poise.
The team that played so well, with so much confidence, in the regular season and the ALDS never showed up in the ALCS. Instead, we were forced to watch these tentative impostors dressed in red.
Where was the Chone Figgins who had a near .400 on-base percentage and regularly kick-started the offense all summer? Nowhere to be found.
Where was Kendry Morales and the explosive offense that had them showcasing all nine in the lineup averaging .300 at one point? They never appeared in this series.
Where was the excellent defense they displayed all season? It disappeared in the pressure of this championship series, blowing up terribly, first in Game 1, then even worse in the bottom of the eighth in Game 6.
The bullpen wasn't sharp, the managerial decisions were sometimes strange (the latest: why not Jered Weaver, instead of Ervin Santana, to open the eighth?) and the mistakes were unfathomable (The good Vlad Guerrero hit well, the bad Vlad got doubled off first base on a short fly to right.).
All that, and the strength of the team, the starting pitching, was overshadowed by the Yankees' overpowering CC Sabathia.
The Yankees closed it out in six games, winning 5-2 in Game 6, because they had the best pitcher in Sabathia, the best hitter in Alex Rodriguez and the best relief pitcher in Mariano Rivera. But they also won because they maintained their poise and confidence.
In other words, they acted as if they'd been here before. The Angels did not.
-- Steve Bisheff