"Let's not pretend there isn't a culture clash here that adds intrigue to what promises to be a riveting series between the Angels and Yankees. Maybe it doesn't bring the open animosity of New York vs. Boston, but East Coast vs. West Coast has its own hostilities, especially as they apply to baseball.

This is about the fans mostly - the usual anti-New York sentiment you see and hear around the country - but you hear and sense grumblings from ballplayers as well who resent the perception that the world revolves around the Yankees and Red Sox because Fox and ESPN constantly shove the rivalry down their throats.

In that sense, the Angels are being widely romanticized as America's dragon-slayers, attempting to become the first team to take out both the Red Sox and the Yankees in the same postseason.

Which brings us to Bobby Abreu. If ever there was a player who personifies the East vs. West mentality, it is the man who is being glorified as an Angel for the same traits that made him a scapegoat in Philadelphia and an afterthought in New York.

Maybe it is just being in the right place at the right time, but Abreu is being embraced in southern California as a player who has taught the Angels the nuances of patient at-bats and working the count - the same skills for which he was at least somewhat dismissed with the Phillies and Yankees for being too passive.

Sipping wine vs. chugging a beer?

East coast baseball is all about the passion and intensity the fans bring to the ballpark, but out west there is a sense that the folks in New York and Philly weren't sophisticated enough to appreciate Abreu.

In truth there's room for argument on both sides, and much of it is perception. As a high-priced star, Abreu did seem too willing to blend into the background, especially with the Phillies, and he was an easy target for a team that wasn't winning enough while he was there."