Los Angeles, I’m Yours: Dodgers, Angels and Lakers Are Putting L.A. On Top

It’s a good time to be living in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers polished off a first-round playoffs sweep on Saturday, ousting the dual aces of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright on their way to a 3-0 drubbing of the Albert Pujols-led St. Louis Cardinals.

Oh, and the Angels wrapped up a sweep too. Their pitching kept David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis and the rest of the mighty Red Sox lineup at bay as the Angels paid Boston back yesterday for years of playoff persecution.

Oh, and you probably heard that the Lakers brought home an NBA championship this year. And that the USC football team is #6 in the country, and threatening to make yet another BCS bowl appearance.

Sure, L.A. has traffic, smog and crime, but boy have they got sports this year. If they still had an NFL franchise they could in the running for a straight sweep of professional sports championships.

It’s a good time for Los Angeles.

It’s rare for any city to have this kind of luck. The last time L.A. brought home two MLB/NBA/NFL championships in the same year 1981-82, when both the Lakers and the Dodgers brought home their respective sports’ ultimate prize. And it’s happened only twice in any city since: the New York Mets and Giants both won titles in 1986-87 and the Boston Red Sox/New England Patriots in 2004-05.

With two of the four MLB teams left in the playoffs calling southern California home, and since the Lakers have done their part, the chances aren’t bad of it happening again.

Even less common is two MLB teams from the same city or market meeting in the World Series. It’s happened 17 times since 1900, with most of them coming between New York/Brooklyn teams, but only twice since 1956—the San Francisco Giants/Oakland A’s matchup in 1989 and the New York Mets/Yankees showdown in 2000.

And, if the Angels and the Dodgers keep up their playoff dominance, maybe again in 2009.

The Angels aren’t too afraid of the Yankees in the ALCS, as they are the winningest team against the pinstripes in the last five years—going 35-24, or .603, in 58 games since 2004. There are only five other teams with +.500 records against the Yanks in that span, and all of them are in six games or less (not enough to count statistically).

The Halos and Yankees have split their games this season, 5-5. The Angels hold the advantage in runs 65-55, but the Yankees have the edge if it comes down to home field advantage—the Angels are 4-2 in matchups at home this season, but only 1-3 in Yankee Stadium.

The most feared part of the Angels lineup is the triumvirate of Bobby Abreu, Torii Hunter, and Vladimir Guerrero. But what has made the Angels so potent this year is the depth of offense on their lineup—and if guys like Kendry Morales, Chone Figgins and Erick Aybar continue to produce, they’ll be able to give the Yankees a real handful.

The Dodgers, on the other hand, might have an easier path.

They’ve got a winning record against the Philadelphia Phillies this year, even if only barely. The Dodgers went 4-3 in facing the Phillies and even had good luck on the road, winning two of three in Philadelphia.

And if the Colorado Rockies emerge as the other team in the NLCS, the Dodgers will have every reason to be pleased. The boys in blue have dominated the Rockies this year, winning 14 of 18 head-to-head matchups, including going 7-2 in Denver.

While the Dodgers struggled a little bit to end the season, it seems like they resumed their stride against the perhaps-favored Cardinals. If there’s anything that Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, and Casey Blake can’t do, Andre Ethier has established himself as perhaps the most clutch hitter in the league (with six walk-off RBIs in just this season).

In short, the chances of an L.A.-only, Freeway World Series are anything but slim.

Kobe Bryant and the Lakers have done what they can to bring sports dominance to southern California. The core of their winning roster is back—Kobe, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum—and with the acquisition of Ron Artest their 2009 championship this year could easily be followed by a repeat.

Los Angeles is on track to threaten Boston’s perch atop professional sports, though L.A. conspicuously lacks an NFL franchise. The Celtics-Patriots-Red Sox trio has made Boston arguably the most dominant pro sports city in the last several years. New York has boasted the Giants and Yankees, but has been failing in the NBA with the Knicks.

But let’s not go awarding any crowns yet. The Angels and Dodgers are well on their way to putting all the focus on southern California with a Freeway World Series, but they each have a taxing league championship series to get through first.

Until then, Los Angeles just has a bunch of traffic and smog.

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