October 16, 2002 [LINK]

[Angels win their first pennant!]

In their 41st year as a major league team, the Anaheim Angels have won the American League pennant! Question: If they win the World Series, what famous tourist destination will they go to celebrate? Disneyland is just down the street from their home field, and being Disney employees the Angels probably get free passes anyway. Maybe they can visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. As for the NL, I find Barry Bonds a little egotistical, but he probably deserves a chance to shine in the World Series before he retires. Besides, it will be a great chance for the Giants to show off fabulous Pac Bell Park, which was built almost exclusively with private funds. Hooray! This will be the fourth all-California World Series (the others being in 1974, 1988, and 1989), and the FIRST ever in which both teams were "wild cards." (Jacqueline, being a Braves fan, has bitter memories of the 2000 postseason and hates the wild card system.) OBSCURE TRIVIA: If the Cardinals had beat the Giants, it would have been the first time since 1940 (62 years!) that both World Series teams' stadiums were built in the same year! (In this case, 1966.) This odd coincidence actually occurred seven times from 1921 to 1940, though two of those cases don't really count.