SportsHubLA

Despite Sunday’s ugly end to the road trip, in which the normally sure-handed Angels allowed a shocking nine unearned runs en route to a 14-9 loss at Yankee Stadium, it’s hard to find too much fault in the results of their 10 game road trip through Baltimore, Boston and New York. Despite the tough swing, by finishing 7-3 the Halos were able to keep their closest competitors for the top spot in the American League at arms length. While LAA has the AL West sewn up (at this point, they could probably play out the schedule with the roster at Triple-A Salt Lake and still win the division) the larger crown, home field advantage in the playoffs, is no sure thing.

It’s never a bad idea to give yourself that edge, but this year home field could be as important as any playoffs of recent memory, not so much because of how the Angels play in Orange County- at 31-21, they have the worst home record of any contender, and at 38-21 have actually performed better on the road. Instead, it’s because of the incredible disparity in the home/road splits of their likely playoff contenders. To wit (all stats through Sunday night):

Tampa Bay: 43-16 at home, 23-28 on the road. 2.94 team ERA at home, 4.69 on the road.
Boston: 40-16 at home, 24-32 on the road. 253 runs in 56 road games, 314 in 56 home games.
Minnesota: 39-21 at home, 23-28 on the road. 3.29 ERA at home, 5.48 ERA on the road.
Chicago White Sox: 35-16 at home, 26-33 on the road. 297 runs in 52 home games, 256 runs in 59 away games.
New York Yankees: 36-26 in the Bronx, an even 25-25 on the road, the closest thing to a dominant road team outside of the OC. Their home/road ERA splits are pretty consistent (low 4’s, neither dominant nor awful), but they’ve also played 13 fewer roadies than home games. Lots of time for that to change. They’re also a much better offensive team in New York.

Argue all you want about whether or not historically speaking home field makes a difference (the ‘02 championship team didn’t have it in any round of the playoffs). This year, the disparity between home and road performance among contenders makes it well worth the effort. While the Angels are, as mentioned, no juggernaut at the Big A, you can see the advantage that comes with bringing the opposition out west. These are very different teams on the road.

Last year, the Angels were faced with a similar opportunity to make a run at home field, but Mike Scioscia looked at his bruised and battered squad and thought it best to get the troops healthy. Certainly the depleted squad that lost to Boston didn’t do so because they weren’t playing in Anaheim. Mike Scioscia has already said he won’t treat this year’s bunch any differently, but the good news is he won’t have to. The 2008 Angels are more sound, with better depth. They have Torii Hunter, they have Mark Teixeira. They can Vlad Guerrero and Garrett Anderson extra days off without sacrificing nearly as much offense. Players can rest without sacrificing games.

Still, given the disparity in home/road performance among the contenders and assuming good health in the clubhouse, it really would behoove Scioscia to keep his foot on the gas, at least to the point of maintaining the advantage.

Discuss: