FanPost

Why all the hostility toward the Angels?

After lurking on this site for a while, I've noticed two things:

  1. people here are pretty passionate about baseball
  2. people here hate the Angels
I don't particularly understand number 2.  Unlike the Yankees and the Red Sox, the Angels don't seem overly smug or arrogant.  Heck, the star players can barely speak English.  They have a high payroll, but it's nowhere near the Yankees and the Red Sox level.  Sciosca can be annoying and whiny, but you guys don't seem to like your own manager all that much either.  And don't say the Angels have obnoxious fans - you can find those everywhere, and the cell-phone incident with Carl Everett and the bullpen rumble with the Rangers came courtesy of Oakland fans.

If anything, Angels' fans should have more reason to hate the A's, seeing as how they won the AL West a gazillion years in a row before last year, but I don't really sense that in the Angel blogs (which are admittedly a bit lonely).  

So what is it?  Is there a rational reason for Angels-hating, or is it borne out of a simple division rivalry?  If Seattle were in first place, would you hate them with the same passion?

FYI, I've lived in the Bay Area for the past several years and went to my share of A's games, including Game 1 of the playoffs against the Red Sox a couple years ago.  I have no problem cheering for the guys in green, except when they play the Angels.  I like the way the team is run and how Billy Beane always does magic with a limited payroll.