Comparing Apples and Oranges

Those six New York Yankee scouts who had been following the Angels through the agony of a collar-tightening trip that was 2-7 before Thursday must have been wondering if they were wasting time and money. After all, the Boss will have to cough up about $55 million next year in increased revenue sharing and luxury tax toll under the new bargaining agreement.

Every dollar is important now, and maybe they were tracking the wrong team. Maybe they should have stayed in Seattle.

Well, the Angels finally put the doubts to rest Thursday--their own, perhaps, and those of the Yankee analysts.

With a 10-5 victory over the Texas Rangers, the Angels finally showered in the champagne that has been on ice for almost a week, finally staggered past the last of the relentless ghosts and finally qualified for their first playoff appearance in 16 years.

Now, of course, they face a challenge as daunting as any of those demons: a wild-card engagement with the playoff-tested Yankees, winners of four of the last six World Series and back with a team possibly deeper in pitching and as formidable on offense as any predecessor during this run of October domination.

Can the Angels regroup and refocus, putting the trauma of the trip behind them during this final Anaheim weekend before heading to New York on Sunday night?

Can they ultimately beat Roger Clemens, whose 27-8 career record reflects more wins against them than any other team and seems certain to pitch the Tuesday night opener at Yankee Stadium, where he has a 19-2 career record?

Can they control most-valuable-player candidate Alfonso Soriano at the top of a lineup that includes five players with 20 or more home runs and five with 90 or more runs batted in and that, while leading the American League in runs and ranking second in home runs, maintains a characteristic discipline reflected by league-leading totals for walks and on-base percentage?

Can they beat left-handers David Wells, who is 18-7 and 9-2 since the All-Star break, and Andy Pettitte, who came back from early-season elbow problems to go 10-2 since the break (including two August wins against the Angels) and ranks third in postseason wins?

Well, anyone looking to Vegas for answers is likely to conclude they can’t do any of that, but who would have believed that the 75-87 Angels of last year would even be playing in October of this year, let alone shadowing the Yankees for the best record in the league?

Of course, the Angels of the last week didn’t exactly blast the cork off the champagne. But in an immediate response to the aforementioned questions, it can be pointed out that the Angels lead the league in team batting and pitching, have baseball’s best record (30-15) against left-handers, restricted Soriano to a .231 average and .286 on-base percentage in seven regular-season games and will oppose Clemens (providing he starts the opener) with left-hander Jarrod Washburn, who has continued to show his toughness in a season of 18 wins, including a 2-1 August victory over the Yankees in Anaheim.

The Angels had only begun drying off (and drying out?) from the champagne when an American League scout tabbed Washburn as the probable key for Anaheim in a five-game series in which the Yankees host Games 1, 2 and 5.

Few teams can survive a Yankee Stadium playoff without a quality left-hander to counter the shallow dimensions in right field and the left-handed power of the Yankee lineup, the scout said, and the confident Washburn has a 2.93 career earned-run average in four starts against the Yankees and a 1.85 ERA over his last 35 innings of this season, including one start on three days’ rest and another coming off a police investigation for alleged sexual assault.

As a left-hander, he forces switch-hitters Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada to swing from the right side, where they have considerably less power, and provides a potential impediment to Jason Giambi, who has hit only nine of his 40 home runs off left-handers, and Robin Ventura, who has hit only eight of 27 off left-handers.

“If Washburn continues to pitch like the ace he is, I think the Angels have a legitimate chance,” the scout said. “Let’s face it, until recently they had been having one of those years where they’ve played well, and just about every blooper and dunk has fallen in.

“It’s one of those years like the Dodgers had in ‘88, except the Angels are far better, and I can’t say enough good things about Mike Scioscia.”

Characteristically, the Angels also have played the Yankees tough.

They won last year’s season series, 4-3, before losing this year’s, 4-3, and they are one of only two teams (Seattle the other) to have a winning record (35-34) against the Yankees during Joe Torre’s tenure as manager.

Of course, none of those games were in the postseason, none in the madhouse that is Yankee Stadium in October.

“Say what you want,” the scout said, “there’s no place more intimidating than Yankee Stadium for a night game in the fall.

“It’s intimidating even for us scouts.”

The Angels may not fear to tread in the Bronx, but only three--Kevin Appier, Aaron Sele and Dennis Cook--have postseason experience, and only Appier will be on the roster for the Yankee series.

Is that a concern, given the Yankees’ familiarity with the playoff microscope?

Well, even spinmeister Scioscia acknowledges that the playoffs represent a new season and there isn’t a lot he and his playoff-tested coaching staff can say or do to prepare the Angels for the challenge.

“As much as we try to point them in the right direction,” the manager said, “as often as we tell them how important it is to stay consistent and have fun with it, they’re really at a point now where they’ve got to go out and experience it for themselves.”

Amid the tabloid frenzy of the playoffs, the issue of postseason experience is likely to produce considerable coverage, but there are issues on both sides that seem more important--some more obvious than others.

If, for instance, the left-handed Washburn is pivotal to the Angels’ success, so is the inconsistent Scott Schoeneweis, who will be the only left-hander coming out of the bullpen in spot situations.

If the switch-hitting Scott Spiezio, whose .364 emergence from the right side was a key factor behind the 30-15 record against left-handers, is potentially pivotal to the Angels’ chances against Wells and Pettitte, the awakening Brad Fullmer, .381 over the last 10 games, is similarly important against the right-handed Clemens and Mike Mussina, who will be reluctant to pitch to the left-handed Garret Anderson.

If Ramon Ortiz, who gave up only one run in the seven innings of an Aug. 21 start in the Bronx, must avoid adding to his major league leading total for homers allowed while facing a team second in the league homers, rookie John Lackey must demonstrate the consistency and composure that marked his initial starts if he goes in Game 4.

As the Angels mull all of that and more, it can be construed as a measure of the disparity in experience, depth and payrolls--the Yankees being at $135 million and the Angels at $60 million--that there are only two basic issues facing Torre.

* Whom does he start in left field--underachieving Rondell White, hamstring-plagued Shane Spencer or rookie Juan Rivera?

* Can closer Mariano Rivera, recently back from two stints on the disabled list for shoulder tendinitis, pitch with the regularity required in the playoffs?

Torre has vowed not to use Rivera more than one inning at a time, and it is not as if he doesn’t have options.

Steve Karsay, Mike Stanton and Ramiro Mendoza did the job with Rivera out, and now Jeff Weaver and Orlando Hernandez will be joining them for the division series.

It’s an impressive cast on an intimidating stage, but then the Angels had won 96 games before finally giving those six scouts a 97th to write home about.