Angels Play Head Games With Yankees By Insisting They Aren't In Their Heads

Since 1996, the Angels are 78-63 against the Yankees. The opposite of a small sample size, this stat courtesy of the LA Times' Mike DiGiovanna is a way too large sample size. A stat that has no bearing on the teams currently. Sensing this in his article about a possible psychological advantage LA may hold over the Bombers, he gives us a more useful 32-17 in their last 49. DiGiovanna posits that after being ousted by LA in 2002 and 2005, they'd rather face almost anyone else in the playoffs. So of course, the Angels players agree with this, right? No? Gasp! Do the Angels have some kind of mental hold on the Yankees? "No," third baseman Chone Figgins said. "They've slugged it out and beat us. It's always a battle against them, and we've had our share of success, but I don't think it's because we're in their heads. "We run the bases aggressively and we put pressure on you, but because it's New York . . . that stuff doesn'...