The Yankees finished off the Twins Sunday Night doing what they do best: smacking home runs and hurling shut down baseball. The Twins walked off the field on Sunday night having not beaten the Yankees at all in 2009. The last game in the Metrodome will go down in history as a Yankee playoff victory and the final game of their seasonal and post-seasonal sweep of the Twins.

The Twins really shouldn’t have given the Yankees much trouble so it’s not surprising to see the Yankees plow through that series with such ease. The offence hit and hit well and the pitchers, from CC to Robertson, shut down opposing hitters. Nobody on the Twins scared any pitchers into a jam and besides Pavano for about 6 innings of Game 3, no pitcher on the Twins intimidated a single hitter on the Yankees squad. Everyone was involved in the series win and that’s the main reason why the Yankees looked so good.

But now comes the real test; the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim a.k.a the Yankees tear duct. The Angels are considered the Yankees kryptonite and have been since the 2002 ALDS. In that year the Bronx Bombers were looking to avenge a heartbreaking 2001 World Series loss to the Marlins, but came up very short losing games 2-4 of the ’02 ALDS.

From the moment the Yankees lost game 4 to Anaheim, every Yankee hater far and wide began thinking the Yankees were unable to beat Anaheim. And thus far, those haters would be correct. Just three years later the Yankees found themselves in a similar spot with the same opportunity. And like in 2002 they had a chance to win the series versus the Angels but didn’t.

The Yankees have yet to prove they are ready to beat the Angels when it matters. But they have figured out a way to beat them in the regular season…at least half the time. This season the Yanks split the season series with LAA going 5-5 and home field advantage didn’t seem to play as big of a part as one would think considering the distance. So although the Yankees recent history may project an unfavorable outcome for Yankee fans, I’d have to say going .500 against LAA this season is a good sign.

Alex Rodriguez is going to have to continue tearing the stitches off the ball for the rest of the post season. He has (hopefully) convinced the people of New York and of the journalism world that he can take the pressure of “big” at bat. His ALDS numbers are: .455ba, 2hr, 6 rbi and 4 r. His numbers are impressive by any means but when you throw in the fact that both home runs came late, in tie ball games, it makes it all the more impressive. He has raised the bar for himself and is going to have a hard time keeping up with his eye opening numbers. If he approaches his at bats in the same way and doesn’t get inside his own head, I think he can keep up similar numbers, although realistically not as impressive ones.

Although A-Rod has been the story this post season the key has really been pitching. During the ALDS the three Yankee starters combined to go 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 21 strike outs, each having pitched at least 6 innings. The bullpen, minus Phil Hughes, has looked just as good if not better allowing no runs (again minus Hughes) over 8 innings. With pitching like this it would be hard to believe any other team could win a game let alone a series.

However one can’t truly believe all these numbers will stay where they are with the Angels coming in. They are a better team than the Twins with more consistent hitters and stronger pitching. Every Pitcher has a notable resume and the entire starting 9 can hit. The lowest batting average on the team this season was .272 by their catcher Mike Napoli, every other player on the team hit .287 or better. They can seriously hit.

Yet with all that being said I’m not really scared of the Angels. The Yankees lineup is full of eye opening and intimidating talent that wasn’t there in 2005. The new guys have no reason to think they can’t and won’t beat the Angels. Sabathia, Texeira, Burnett, Aceves, Joba, Swisher, and Damon weren’t there in ’05 and Cano was only a rookie. These guys will not be scared of a little warped history and creative writing by the media.

2002 wasn’t that long ago so it’s a little ridiculous for people to assume the Yankees can’t beat the Angels. Because they did in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000, in fact they beat everyone those years. And if you’re willing to use 2002 as part of your stat what’s another 6 years?

Look, the Yankees have gotten over this “curse” of the Angels and you better believe Nick Swisher isn’t going to let that club house calm down or tense up. These aren’t the Bombers of 2002 or 2005. These guys are ready to play and LA better be ready for something they haven’t seen since 2000.