My friend Russ predicted this. He told me on the night of the season opener that the Angels were a favorite (or potential) to have a shot at the World Series.

Of course I wanted to believe this because it would be fun to finally live in a place that had a professional team make it to the pinnacle of their sport.

Mostly because I've never been through that kind of experience before and I had developed a connection with the Angels since moving here in 1999.

My old office is located in a warehouse that sits right next to Angels Stadium off Orangewood Avenue. Since moving ten miles from Disneyland I have driven or walked by the home of the Angels every Monday through Friday and occasionally on Saturdays.

For lunch, or afternoon coffee break, I would walk across the stadium parking lot to a small food court off Katella. Each time trying to admire something different about the huge building — the large number of high powered lamps, the round bar that sits outside the stadium, between third base and home pate on the mezzanine level, and the copper home plate that is set into the concrete in front of the main entrance.

I was even there on the morning when the new team logo and uniforms were unveiled to the public as the Disneyland marching band played on.

Getting tickets to attend any of the Fall Classic games was a joke. At $900 per ticket for nose-bleed seats I thought it was a bit too much, even for a World Series. Besides I had a pretty good view of the games armed with Tivo and the Grundig worldband radio tuned to the right AM station.

But that's ok because I live close enough to Angel's stadium that I could clearly hear the loud roar and thunder of the fireworks being launched from the ballpark in celebration of the Angel's new title as World Champions. For a guy who grew up landlocked in the middle of Alaska, that was just as cool, all in itself.