Just because the Angels demolished the rest of the American League West, turning a six-game lead at the All-Star break into a 12 1/2 -game bulge by July 31 and clinching the division Wednesday, by no means has 2008 been a breeze.
"There has been nothing easy at all about this season," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "People have a tendency to minimize the difficulty and demands of the schedule . . . but the season is a bear. We've held up well, and we've needed every bit of the 40-man roster to do so."
The Angels lost No. 2 starter Kelvim Escobar (shoulder injury) for the season and ace John Lackey (elbow injury) for the first six weeks. Ervin Santana and Joe Saunders stepped up and became All-Stars, each now sporting 15 victories.
Gary Matthews Jr. struggled for four months, in large part because of a knee injury that could require surgery after the season, and Juan Rivera filled in, hitting all 11 of his home runs since July 2.
Setup man Justin Speier (1-8, 5.03 earned run average) has been unreliable all season, but rookie Jose Arredondo came up in mid-May and has emerged as one of baseball's best young relievers, with a 7-2 record and 1.38 ERA in 45 games.
Infielders Maicer Izturis, Erick Aybar, Howie Kendrick and Chone Figgins have all missed significant time, but rookies Brandon Wood and Sean Rodriguez have filled in capably, especially over the last two weeks, when Aybar and Kendrick were sidelined by hamstring injuries.
"That's part of the game, and we tried to prepare in the off-season for those scenarios," General Manager Tony Reagins said amid Wednesday's postgame celebration, his head soaked in beer and champagne. "Fortunately we had the depth in the minor leagues, and those guys did the job for us."
Wednesday's division-clinching, 4-2 win over the New York Yankees at Angel Stadium was a perfect example.
Starter Dustin Moseley, filling in for injured Jered Weaver, rebounded from a rocky first inning to go five innings, giving up two runs and three hits, striking out six and walking three, to earn the victory.
With first baseman Mark Teixeira (infection) and Figgins (bruised right elbow) out, the Angels fielded an entire reserve infield of Kendry Morales at first, Rodriguez at second, Wood at shortstop and Robb Quinlan at third.
Quinlan, who has only 136 at-bats on the season, provided the game's key hit, a two-run single to key a three-run fifth inning.
