The column road not taken ...

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When the Angels clinched the AL West on Sept. 10, I expected the postgame celebration in their locker room to be somewhat subdued.

I figured that after being swept out of the playoffs by Boston last year for the second time in four years -- and not getting beyond the AL Championship Series since their 2002 World Series triumph -- they’d take the approach that they hadn’t won anything yet and would hold back on the bubbly.

Instead, their celebration was a soggy, all-out, champagne cork-popping party. I put my skepticism aside and wrote about the scene and the players’ insistence that even though they’d clinched a playoff spot so early, they’d still play hard to get home-field advantage.

Sometimes, that feeling in your gut isn’t an ulcer -- it’s instinct.

Driving home Friday after the 7-5 loss to Boston that left the Angels facing elimination Sunday in their American League division series, I remembered the day they clinched. And I wished I’d written that column about their celebration being excessive for a team still far from its goal.

If they’re not shaken by the position they’re in today, they should be. General Manager Tony Reagins got them the big bat they’d lacked the last few years when he acquired Mark Teixeira in a rent-a-player deal, and still they’re one loss from going home. Their defense has been shaky and their pitching -- supposedly a strength -- hasn’t carried the load. At this point I’d let Frankie Rodriguez find someone else willing to pay him $15 million a year.

Were we fooled by the Angels’ dominance over a weak division? Blind to some psychological failing within the clubhouse?

I’m not sure, but the Angels are due for some tough self-examination this winter. And I’ll think about the column I should have written, and I won’t be fooled again.

-- Helene Elliott