MVN: Most Valuable Network

The five questions the Angels need to answer in order to win this series against the Red Sox:

1. Can Vladimir Guerrero produce in the postseason?

This is the one question that is being asked by columnists, bloggers, Angels and Red Sox fans and, I believe, was once the Final Jeopardy winning response.

In three postseasons with the Angels, Vladimir Guerrero has produced a miserable batting average and with the exception of a lone grand slam against the Red Sox in 2004, he has done diddly squat.

Now with Mark Teixeira batting in front of him and Torii Hunter hitting behind him, some of the pressure is off Vlad to produce. But, of course, now it means with such production in front and behind him, there is even more pressure for him to produce. No more excuses.

2. Can the Angels win in Fenway?

The Angels went 5-1 in Fenway Park this year but in years past the Boston stadium has been a nightmare for the Angels. The Halos – owners of the best road record in baseball – need to prove that their success away from home was not a fluke.

3. Will the Angels change their free-swinging ways at all in these playoffs?

We all know that the Red Sox are a team that is built in part on some statistical trends like on-base percentage and using HAL to compute those figures. But with October baseball, Angels batters will need to be a little bit more selective and wait for their pitches. Opposing pitchers throwing seven-pitch innings against the Angels is funny in the regular season but not so funny in October.

Remember, the Angels’ arguably most famous and productive at bat came when Scott Spiezio fouled off a few pitches, worked the count to 3-2 and belted a three-run home run. The Angels will need to find a few more at bats like that in this series and throughout the postseason.

4. Can the Angels make the plays they need to on defense?

With the news today that Vladimir Guerrero will DH in Game 1 and that Gary Matthews, Jr. will play right field – the Angels defensive presence got a little boost.

The Angels defense is not quite as good as the Red Sox defense but having Gary Matthews Jr. in right field will help.

The Angels need to play good solid defense behind the plate, as well – with the Red Sox running game one of the best in the majors. Angels catchers Jeff Mathis and Mike Napoli struggled all season to throw runners out. However, they were quite successful in throwing the ball to the outfielders in steal attempts.

5. Can the Angels keep the Red Sox - especially the rabbits like Coco Crisp, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia – off the bases in front of David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis?

The Halos starters will need to keep the number of walks they issue down and keep Ellsbury and Pedroia from getting on base in front of the big sluggers. Solo home runs by Ortiz and Youkilis will not kill you but big innings will. If the Angels can limit the number of situations where they pitch to Ortiz and Youkilis with runners on base, they can win this series.