I was taking an after-dinner walk last night, thinking about why this very talented batch of Angel hitters appear to be playing with a sense of fear and tentativeness.

True, the Yankee$ are a formidable lot and do strike fear in the hearts of other teams, but the Angels are also a championship-caliber baseball team and should not perceive themselves as being less than that.

They are not the brute warriors like the Yankee$.

Rather, they are diligent ninjas that can wear an opposing team down with their speed, walks and basehits (and sometimes home runs), defense and stellar pitching.

Given the trauma and injuries that they've dealt with this year, I absolutely commend and respect them for getting this far.

The bottom line is that they deserve to be in the championships and the World Series....AS LONG AS THEY BELIEVE IT THEMSELVES.

Yesterday's and Game 2's loss will reveal more about the character of this team than many realize.

Are they going to play relaxed, focused, assertive, dignified baseball for the rest of the series or are they going to lay down and die tommorrow?

How would Spezio, Salmon, Anderson, Glaus, Kennedy, Erstad, Eckstein of that storybook 2002 team approach these New York Yankee$?

What kind of mindset would they bring?

How would they alter their attack?

I want them to win it all, but more importantly, I want them to play with their heart, guts and nuts, especially the young guys who will hopefully be solid position players over the next decade.

FIGHT TO THE BITTER END, ANGELS!