The Comeback Kings

After Game 6 thriller, who wants to count out the Angels?

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The Anaheim Angels do comebacks like Barry Bonds does surly. Comebacks are second nature to the Angels. Without one you don't have the other.

Saturday night in Game 6 of the World Series, the Angels did it again. They came back like no team ever has in the Series. They came back in such a manner, in fact, that this one took even the hardened Angels aback.

Of course, this was no simple comeback. This was the King of Comebacks, a royalty of a rebound. This was one for the record books, the photo albums and the porch swing when these guys are old and gray and have 3 1/2-year-old batboys listening to all their worn baseball stories.

Saturday night is one for the Angels, and all their rowdy red-clad, balloon-slapping fans, to remember forever.

"I don't know what to say," a wide-eyed Mickey Hatcher, the team's hitting coach, said after the game. "Honest to God, I don't know what to say."

CNNSI.com's John Donovan Viewpoint: This latest comeback by the Angels was so good, they even left themselves in awe. Closer Look: Scott Spiezio turned the game -- and perhaps the Series -- around with an amazing at-bat that resulted in a three-run home run. Comeback kids Click the image to launch the clip The Angels are very familiar with the concept of the late-inning rally. Start Manager Mike Scioscia would prefer to not to have to count on a rally every now and again. Darin Erstad claims that homering wasn't what he had in mind when he stepped to the plate in the eighth. Troy Glaus believes that when the World Series comes down to one game, momentum goes out the window. Video Plus Visit Video Plus for the latest video and audio. HEROES & GOATS HERO GOAT Rally Monkey S.F. bullpen Barring another miracle in Game 7, this was the little guy's finest hour. Four relievers combined to allow four runs, three earned, in 1 2/3 innings. BY THE NUMBERS 5 Comeback wins this postseason for the Anaheim Angels, including Games 2 and 6 of the World Series. All five have come at Edison Field. 7 Consecutive World Series Game 7s won by the home team. The 1979 Pirates were the last road team to win a Game 7. 19 RBIs in the postseason for Scott Spiezio, tying the record set by Sandy Alomar with Cleveland in 1997.

The Angels have stuttered through this postseason much like they stuttered through the regular season. Nobody played in more one-run games this season than the Angels. Only a couple of teams won more one-run games.

The Angels do not quietly put other teams away. They fight for runs, they run the bases, they dive and slide and scrape out wins.

And, of course, the Angels come back. Like John Elway, they come back

The ability to come back is a wonderful trait. It shows character in a ballclub. It shows determination. Mostly, it shows that the Angels are behind a lot.

The Angels had 43 come-from-behind wins this season, which works out to about 43 percent of their 99 wins. So, it follows, that just about half of the games they won, they were losing. That's the kind of team the Angels are.

Things haven't changed in the postseason. They've won 10 games this October, over the New York Yankees in the first round, over the Minnesota Twins in the AL Championship Series, over the San Francisco Giants in this World Series. The Angels have been behind in seven of those wins. They've been behind in all three games they've won in the Series.

Saturday night was just the latest, greatest example. With the emphasis on greatest.

"I think there's probably been a couple of dozen games all year [like this]," slugger Tim Salmon said after the Angels' 6-5 win over the Giants. "The best just keeps getting better."

What made Saturday's comeback so special were the circumstances. The Angels, down three games to two in the Series, were facing elimination. They were behind, 5-0. It was the seventh inning. There was one out.

They were just about dead. In the dugout, Hatcher walked up and down, pushing his guys to get a hit, to get on base, to make something happen. The players were, for the most part, silent. Across the field, the Giants were practically strutting with confidence.

But things started stirring with one out in the seventh. A single. Another single. Then Scott Spiezio, the heavy metal first baseman, blasted a three-run homer to make it 5-3.

A hatless Hatcher jumped up and down outside the dugout. The players stirred. They believed, again.

"I knew, this team, all it needs is a little spark," Spiezio said.

The next inning, the Angels kicked it into full-fledged comeback mode. Darin Erstad slammed a home run to start the inning, bringing the Angels within a run. Salmon singled. Garret Anderson, who has struggled in this Series, took a pitch out of the dirt and blooped it down the left field line. Both runners moved up when Bonds misplayed the bounce.

And then Troy Glaus took a high fastball from reliever Robb Nen and blasted a double into the gap in left-center field, driving in the tying and go-ahead runs. It finished the biggest comeback in an elimination game in Series history.

Afterward, everyone was amazed. Everyone.

"This, to me, was the most amazing," Hatcher said.

"You don't' want to dwell on it," Spiezio said, "but it was so amazing that you have to sit back and say 'Wow, that was incredible.'"

Game 7 in this now close-to-classic World Series is Sunday night at Edison Field. If the Angels get behind, if they fall back by three or four or even five runs, they will know. All the 44,000-plus fans at Edison Field will know, too. Maybe most importantly, the Giants will know.

There is no lead safe with the Angels lurking. There is no comeback they can't make. They proved that Saturday night.

"I can't imagine it will be like this tomorrow," Hatcher said late Saturday night.

"But," he added. "you never know."

John Donovan is a senior writer for CNNSI.com.

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