The Freeway Series from Hell

I am a Bay Area sports fan living in Southern California.

This spring the 8th-seeded Ducks bounced my beloved President's Trophy winning-Sharks from the Stanley Cup playoffs in the first round.

The Lakers are NBA champions. The Warriors only make headlines in the Las Vegas summer league.

The ghosts of Russ Ortiz and Dusty Baker remind me - just as Angels fan do - that the 2002 World Series really did get away from the Giants, meaning they have still never won a championship by the Bay after so much success in New York more than a half a century ago.

Now the Dodgers are the best team in baseball and the Angels are once again in first place.

Which brings to mind the doomsday scenario - an all-Los Angeles Fall Classic come late October and early November (thanks Bud for pushing the season back another week, I'm sure you would love to see this thing on the West Coast after the fiasco in Philly last year).

There is plenty of baseball left to be played and tons of good teams out there to spoil it. The Yankees and Phillies come to mind with their hot play of late - but oh what a nightmare it could be.

Six weeks ago I thought the Dodgers would be a divisional series flameout. After Chad Billingsley it looked like there was no clear number two guy on the hill and starting pitching plays an integral part in playoff success.

Since then young Clayton Kershaw has been untouchable and the ever-itchy Dodgers may add another starter before the trade deadline or in August via waivers.

Their offense remained strong with Manny out and his presence in that line-up makes every other player more dangerous.

The Angels faced a rash of injuries early, and just when it seemed like they were getting healthy, managed to lose their two biggest bats. Neither situation has held them down long and they are threatening to once again run away with the AL west.

Torii Hunter has had an MVP-caliber season, Bobby Abreu's power numbers are gone but his average and speed is not. The starting pitching has been spotty but the track records of John Lackey and Ervin Santana are strong and when the team falls behind they always mount a comeback.

An Angels-Dodgers series would make Orange County practically unlivable for me and that's saying something after the Ducks debacle, Lakers parade and Giants dry spell.

Somebody better stop this or my black explorer will be like OJ's white bronco come Halloween. There will be a police chase down the 405 as I try and get away from World Series territory with a flaming bag of rally monkey's and Tommy Lasorda tied up in the back seat.

At least "Stanford 24, USC 23" happened.