John Bazemore / AP

Mark Teixeira joins the Angels with the impact equal to Tuesday's Southern California earthquake, writes columnist Michael Ventre.

The Angels have the whole package. They have the offense, and they have the pitching and defense. The starting rotation of Joe Saunders, Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver, Jon Garland and John Lackey has been superb, and the bullpen is led by saves hoarder Francisco Rodriguez.

Perhaps the unsung hero on this budding juggernaut is Tony Reagins, who was promoted to the general manager’s job in October of 2007, replacing the respected but chronically inert Bill Stoneman. Since then, the Angels have shown a willingness to spin the roulette wheel, trading shortstop Orlando Cabrera for Garland, signing Hunter and now Teixeira.

It’s uncertain whether Reagins is fully in charge, or if the Angels are run by a committee consisting of Moreno, Reagins and committee chairman Mike Scioscia, the skipper and soul of the organization. What is clear is that since Reagins — who began with the club as an intern in 1992 — has donned the GM hat, the Angels are a different franchise.

How different? They might even outlast the Red Sox in mind games.

Their most infamous collapse occurred way back in 1986 against Boston in the AL Championship Series, which the Angels lost, 4-3. That has served as a voodoo devil whammy for subsequent Angels teams. Last year the Angels meekly succumbed, 3-0, to the Red Sox in the division series. In 2004, they were also swept by the Red Sox in the division series. And in 2005, the Angels took a break from getting whipped by the Red Sox in the division series and instead got whipped by the White Sox in the Championship Series, 4-1.

But thanks to this temblor named Teixeira, the Angels will now have the extra mojo to put all doubts about themselves behind. Like the best of the Red Sox championship teams, the Angels have no glaring flaw, barring any that may emerge via injury the rest of the way. More importantly, they have a team-wide confidence that destiny is theirs.

Some of that comes from knowing that the people who run the club actually want to win rather than just try to make it look good. There is no more convincing evidence of that than what occurred in Southern California on Tuesday, which in baseball terms is off the scale.

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Tony Gutierrez / AP

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Angels win as Pujols HR streak up to 3 games

SEATTLE (AP) - Albert Pujols hit a home run in his third straight game and pinch hitter Alberto Callaspo came through with a grand slam in the sixth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Saturday.

Headlines

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