Mark Teixeira remembers calling Torii Hunter last winter. "After I signed with the Yankees, I said, `You know, good luck to you guys. Hopefully, we'll see you in the ALCS,"' Teixeira recalled. And then he repeated the message when Hunter reached first base during the first series between the teams in May.
Torii Hunter emerged from the visitors' clubhouse at Fenway Park to spray champagne over the fans and family gathered there. Erick Aybar did him one better, handing over bottles of bubbly to those who came from California to see the Los Angeles Angels go for the sweep. History gave no reason to hope for such a celebration.
Right when Torii Hunter's three-run homer hit the rock pile beyond center field at Angel Stadium, two bursts of fireworks shot up from the artificial boulders. The moment hardly needed the pyrotechnic punctuation. After several years of playoff frustrations against the Boston Red Sox, the Angels finally have a breakthrough.