- The Story: College basketball coaching legend John Wooden is a longtime fan of Mike Scioscia. The Monkey Says: If you are familiar with the legendary Wooden then you know what a huge compliment that is. Too bad the piece also mentions that Wooden’s favorite baseball player is Derek Jeter and completely ruins the story for everyone. Stupid jerk.
- The Story: Yankees GM Brian Cashman thinks the Angels look down on the Yankees. The Monkey Says: I have no idea what he is talking about. What a preposterous idea. Of course the Angels fear a franchise they have dominated for the entire span of the 21st century. Why wouldn’t they?
- The Story: Rob Neyer downplays the positive impact Bobby Abreu made on the Angels. The Monkey Says: Believe it or not, Neyer is actually trying to compliment Abreu to start the story but takes it in a very back-handed direction pretty damn quick.
- The Story: Here is a pictorial of some of the wives and girlfriends of the players in the ALCS and NLCS. The Monkey Says: There is nothing remotely newsworthy about this other than I had no idea Howie Kendrick’s wife was so hot.
- The Story: Rain is definitely in the forecast for the start of the ALCS. The Monkey Says: Game 1 is definitely in danger of being postponed given the current expected precipitation pattern. This would actually be a good thing for the Angels since it would eliminate an off day early in the series, making it impossible for the Yankees to use a three-man rotation.
- The Story: Halos Heaven has a scouting report on the umpiring crew assigned to the ALCS. The Monkey Says: It looks like a strong crew and none of the umpires involved in bad calls earlier in the playoffs are on it.
- The Story: The team with the best regular season record in baseball has not won the World Series since the Yankees did it in 1998. The Monkey Says: And guess who had the best record this year? Ding! The Yankees! That means they will either win it all and bring the streak full circle or lose now and keep the streak alive. I vote for the latter.
- The Story: Walter O’Malley, then owner of the Dodgers, tried to block the creation of the Angel franchise in Los Angeles back in 1961. The Monkey Says: Keep that little tidbit of info in mind if the Dodgers and Angels end up meeting in the World Series.
- The Story: ESPN’s Keith Law breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the Angels and Yankees. The Monkey Says: The important take away here is Law predicted the Yankees to win in 6. Law had previously predicted the Red Sox to beat the Angels in five. Law is like the Angels bizarro lucky rabbit’s foot.
- The Story: Mark Teixeira had been hoping since December to face the Angels in the playoffs. The Monkey Says: Careful what you wish for, Tex.