One would think the Halos should have dispatched the Giants in 5 or 6 games. After all, the Angels won more games than the Giants during the regular season playing in a much stronger division. But, these are still the Angels we're talking about, and it was Game 4 in which the Same Old Angels made their appearance. Ahead 2 games to 1 and nursing a 3-0 lead into the fifth behind John Lackey's strong effort, Giant Kenny Lofton laid a bunt down the 3rd base line which finally went foul - only the umpire didn't see it that way. Everything came unraveled after that. The Giants scored 3 runs to tie, then won it in the 8th. In Game 5, the Giants flattened the Angels 16-4 to take a 3 games to 2 lead -- and the game wasn't as close as the score would indicate!
Game 6 saw the teams return to the Big A, but all seemed hopeless as timely Giant hitting and costly Angel miscues gave the National Leaguers a 5-0 lead with but 8 outs remaining. The rest, as they say, is history. In what I consider the greatest World Series game ever played, the Angels mounted the greatest comeback during an elimination game in the history of the Series, winning Game 6 by 6-5, then winning Game 7 by 4-1.
Now to the video, specifically the DVD. First, I concur COMPLETELY with the comments posted in December 2002 by "spark240." I own a few MLB videos of World Series from the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, and frankly like them better.
This video has its weaknesses. First, I question also the selection of Troy Glaus' home run as the Game 4 Bonus Footage. While impressive, Glaus' home run was not the high point of that game. Had the Angels played that Series like, well, the Angels, "The Bunt" would have found its rightful place in Angel lore. The bunt by Lofton, and the Halos' subsequent collapse, should have been the Game 4 Bonus Footage. Second, I could have done without all those images of Jackie Autry in the owner's skybox in Game 6. One - perhaps after Glaus' double - would have sufficed. Third, the video glossed over the performance of Angel reliever Brendan Donnelly. Donnelly eventually got the job done, but was wild and erratic getting there. While Donnelly was pitching the 8th inning of Game 6, TV announcer Tim McCarver publicly questioned Angel manager Mike Scioscia's selection of him over Percival. The video made it seem like he mowed 'em down.
Finally, there was no mention whatever of the Angels' sorry history in must-win games. I know I was not the only one watching the ninth inning of Games 6 and 7, wondering just how the Halos would find a way to lose. I fully expected a two out, two strike, three run homer in the top of the 9th in Game 7.
But, overall I liked this video. I liked the subsequent interviews that are interspersed throughout. It must have been hard for Giant players and their manager to do that. (Not surprisingly, Barry Bonds could not have been bothered.) The close-up of Giant owner Peter Magowan glowering after Darin Erstad's home run in Game 6 was just priceless, as was the close-up of Barry Bonds slumped in the back of the dugout after the final out. The DVD also contains its own music video, "Dreamville" by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, showing the Angels' clubhouse celebration, as will as clips from the team in the 1960s. Whenever I hear "Dreamville" now, I think of the Angels and their victory. There are two other music videos as well, "The Last DJ" by Petty, as well as - what else - "Back In the Saddle Again," by original Angel owner Gene Autry.
