Two California teams, two

wild card teams,

two teams that have

never won a World

Series for their cities

are going to face

each other in the

fourth All California

Fall Classic.

Something has to give…

By Amaury Pi-GonzálezSo, we know so far that one Wild Card

team will win the World Series this

October, one California team will be

on top of the baseball world by the

28th of October(barring rainouts)and

that one ex Dodger will manage his

team to victory.

Aside from those facts, nothing else

could be predicted but that a bunch

of veterans(when they win) old players

(when they loose)are determined to

win the first World Series for San Francisco

since they moved here in 1958.

While Mickey Mouse hasn’t won in

their whole history in Southern California,

the Southern California Angels is

their best true name.

As an expansion team in 1961 they

were the Los Angeles Angels then

changed the name to California Angels

in 1965 and then in recent years they

call themselves the Anaheim Angels

(take notice Golden State Warriors,

which should really be Oakland Warriors).

The Angels fans were in hidding for 40

years. Anytime I have visited L.A and

read the papers the Dodgers got 90% of

the ink, the Angels the left-overs.

Now, all-of-a-sudden, Edison International

Field is crowded with Rally Monkeys

and they have a new crop of fans.

They must have recruited all these fans

from Tupperware conventions in

Anaheim.

In the Bay Area the #1 choice for a

World Series was A’S VS GIANTS. Then

came the A’S derailment and the Giants

surge. The Giants played their best

ball after the middle of August, into

September and into October beating

favorite Atlanta and then favorite

St.Louis.

So, we have the fourth California World

Series. The first one was in 1962 when

the Yankees beat the Giants (with rainouts)

in 7 exciting games. Then the 1974 A’S

took care of the Dodgers in 5 games.

In 1989 with a 7.1 earthquake, the

A’S took care of the Giants in 4 games.

Now comes the first ever Angels vs Giants

Fall Classic, with the national media

making the Angels the favorites, which

fits Dusty Baker very well since his team

was not picked to win anything this

season, might as well be the underdog

again, against a team that finished

41 games out of first place in 2001 but

had a tremendous 2002 season with a

very explosive lineup and a manager

that would not quit, even though their

April was a nightmare and not a Disney

Fantasy.

In the ALCS Adam Kennedy hit 3 homeruns

in the last and decisive game. Only Bob

Robertson of the Pirates in 1971 against

the Giants, Kansas City’s Geroge Brett in

1978 against the Yankees, Reggie Jackson

with the Yankees in 1977 against the

Dodgers and The Bambino Ruth in 1928

against St Louis have done in a Postseason

game.

But wait…Benito Santiago who told me this

year in an “in depth”interview in Spring

Training: “I am lucky to be here, when I

visit Ponce, Puerto Rico, my hometown and

go to the barrio where I was raised, my

friends when I was a teenager are either

dead or in jail”. This new and rejuvenated

Santiago won the NLCS Most Valuable

Player, well deserved. Benito Santiago

knows that he got a wake up call four

years ago when he almost lost his life

in an automobile accident. Benito was

the target of at least 6 bottles of

Champagne that sprayed him from

head to toe right after their exciting

2-1 win in game 5 of the NLCS over

the favorite Tony LaRussa’s Cardinals.

A 119 year franchise with a total of 5

World Series Titles in New York is way

over due to win for the first time in

San Francisco. At any rate, the Giants

last World Series title was in 1954

when they swept the great Cleveland

Indians who that season had won 111

games.

A’S fans will like to see somebody

decapitate that darn Rally Monkey,

it might as well be the Giants. Since

the A’S with The Hudson-Mulder-Zito

Tejada-Chávez Inc, could not get

it done.

Larry Baer said that World Series tickets

go on sale on Wednesday October 16th

at Pac Bell Park. But 15,000 tickets are

all that the Giants will have available

for general sale. Most of those are already

allocated to thousands that have been

standing overnite in front of the Giants

box office at 2nd Street and King in

San Francisco.

The whole world will have a good look at

a really beautiful Park. Pacific Bell Park,

a natural setting next to the Bay in

comparison with Edison International

Field, where in centerfield they have

greens that are made of plastic (sounds

like L.A)and a Freeway running behind

it(sounds like L.A).

Beat L.A ! Will be the cry at Pac Bell, even

though it is not the Dodgers, the Angels

are from La..La..Land also and that by

itself doesn’t really goes well with

Bay Area fans. The rivalry between North

and South is evident.

San Francisco is as Liberal of a city you

can find in this country and Orange County

(home of the Rally Monkey presently

outranking native son Mickey Mouse) is

as Conservative as you can get in this

country.

Our water in the North is better than the

Colorado River water that is consumed

by Los Angelinos. Our air in San José,

Oakland, San Francisco and all other

communties is much more clean than

the polluted skies over L.A. Our restaurants

are simply better, our style of living is

better, our wine is better, our public

transportation is better. Our views from

Napa to Watsonville are better than

the Hollywood Hills and Ventura County.

They have Venice, we have Sausalito.

They have Randy Newman “I Love L.A.”

we have Tony Benett’s “I Left My Heart

In San Francisco”. They have plain white

bread, we have Sourdough.

So, they have better surfers, big deal !

And more Jewelry is shown, big deal !

And all TV stations are competing to

see who gets the car-running-away

from-the-cops in the freeway sooner.

Big deal ! And seems all news anchors

in L.A. are blond, big deal !

Am I bias ? You bet your life ! I have lived

and worked in Northern California since

1969. Anybody that has traveled anyplace

in this great country and can live and work

here is lucky.

Bay Area in 5 games !

_____________________________________

Amaury Pi-González is on his eight season

as Spanish Radio Play By Play anouncer

for the SF Giants over KZSF 1370 AM whgo

will carry all games of the 2002 World Series.

Amaury also worked the NLDS and NLCS

again for ESPN Radio Net(Cadena Latina)

Español. During the past two seasons

Amaury has worked as English play by

play announcer for Fox Sports International

of the Caribbean World Series each

February. Vice President of the Hispanic

Heritage Baseball Museum, a non profit

organization founded in San Francisco

in 1999. Amaury’s biographical profile was

selected for Marquis Who’s Who in America

to be published in November 2002.

His articles are available in English and

Spanish publications as well as on

www.latinobaseball.com site.