Heavenly Days! : Angels Answer a Few Prayers and Clinch the Division Title as Home Runs Spark Come-From-Behind-Rally Over Rangers

As thousands of cheering fans poured onto the field to celebrate the Angels’ victory clinching the American League’s Western Division title Friday night, John Coffey began screaming his head off.

“I knew it! I knew it!” he yelled, embracing his son, Jonny, and cheering along with 46,675 other howling fans at Anaheim Stadium.

Behind Coffey, a crowd quickly put up a “bring on the Red Sox banner,” as streamers flooded the outfield.

Despite requests that fans not storm the field after the game, about 10,000 jubilant onlookers raced onto the field seconds after the Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 8-3, mobbing players and racing around the infield for about 15 minutes.

But it wasn’t always that upbeat Friday night. Earlier in the evening, Coffey and his son had been tense as the Angels fell behind 2-0. But when Brian Downing ripped a two-run homer in the sixth inning, the Angels forged a lead that held up for the rest of the night.

It was a big night for Coffey. He had been planning for three weeks to see his beloved Angels clinch the division title.

“They gotta win--they just gotta win,” Coffey said before the game, clutching a battered 20-year-old baseball glove as he stood along the left-field fence while the Texas Rangers took batting practice.

Coffey, 27, has to work today, so he could not have returned for this afternoon’s game if the Angels had failed to win Friday night. Post-season games were also out of the question, the Garden Grove laborer added, because the ticket prices would be too steep for him.

Friday night--win or lose--this was his season. “I’ve been waiting for this night,” he said.

Early in the game, Coffey and his son cheered as Angels’ outfielder Gary Pettis slapped a single to center field. The speedy Pettis later stole third base, but he got caught in a rundown and failed to score.

“Dad,” Jonny moaned, “We should have scored. We should have scored.”

Jonny, a spirited, freckled-faced boy with a chipmunk smile framed by mustard stains on his cheeks, is an even bigger fan than his dad. He took special pride in being born the same year the Angels first won their division: 1979.

“I want him to see history being made tonight,” his proud father added.

So it went Friday for the thousands of fans who huddled in sweaters and jackets on a brisk night hoping to watch the Angels win their third western division title in 26 years. During the game, fans were asked by public announcements not to storm the field in the event of an Angels’ victory--as boisterous New York Mets fans did last week when their team clinched the National League’s eastern division title.

Out in the stadium parking lot, an hour before the game began, the mood was festive and upbeat. Sue Erwin of Brea had spread out a banquet of fried chicken, corn on the cob and homemade green bean and potato soup for her friends on a table near her car.

“This is better than what Gene Autry serves,” joked Roy Spears, sucking the last corn kernels from his teeth.

Across the street at the Catch, a neighborhood restaurant and bar, the enthusiasm mounted and the liquor flowed. Fans bellied up to the bar five deep beneath an Angels’ banner the size of a pitcher’s mound.

Steve Geary was fortifying himself for the brisk night air with a stiff drink, as was his friend, Wendy Mayer. “This is it! Big night in town! Big night in town!” Geary said, as he finished and headed to Row CC Aisle 39, his regular season seat at Anaheim Stadium.