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Anaheim Angels: 1938 American League Champions (2nd pennant)
1934 1938

🎙️ Bob Costas — ALCS Game 4 Recap
October 19, 1938
Anaheim Angels 13
Tampa Bay Rays 8

📍 Tropicana Field
There are sweeps… and then there are statements.
What the Anaheim Angels have accomplished over the past two weeks is something far rarer than a pennant. It is perfection.
Nine games. Nine victories.
Toronto in two. Cleveland in three. Tampa Bay in four.
Not a single blemish.
With a 13–8 victory this afternoon, the Angels completed a 4–0 dismissal of the Rays and captured the second American League pennant in franchise history. The first, of course, came in 1934 — when Anaheim defeated the San Francisco Giants to claim its inaugural World Series championship.
History, it seems, has a taste for symmetry.
From the outset tonight, the Angels played like a club determined to remove all suspense. Three runs in the first inning — Carlos Guzman’s leadoff double setting the tone, Juan Garcia driving in two, Akiyuki Amano lining a run-scoring single. Before many in attendance had settled into their seats, Anaheim led 3–0.
They would never trail.
Jared Vaught was steady rather than spectacular — six innings, three runs — but the offense rendered precision unnecessary. The decisive moment arrived in the sixth inning. Ahead 5–1, Anaheim unleashed four runs in a sequence that felt emblematic of their October dominance: Guzman doubled home a run; David Antillon launched a two-run homer; and suddenly the Rays were chasing shadows.
Corey Wright — tonight’s Player of the Game — added a majestic two-run blast in the seventh, part of a three-hit, three-RBI performance that underscored the depth of this lineup.
And then there is Antillon.
Named series MVP, he concluded the Championship Series hitting .562, with four home runs, a .632 on-base percentage, and the quiet confidence of a man who understands the larger objective. “We’re not done yet,” he said afterward — a remark less boastful than declarative.
Tampa Bay, to its credit, did not fade. The Rays homered three times and scored late, trimming the final margin to five. But even in the ninth inning rally, the outcome never felt uncertain. Anaheim’s control of this series — indeed, of this entire postseason — has been unmistakable.
Nine and zero.
Such a record speaks not only to talent, but to clarity of purpose.
Now they wait.
The National League Championship Series continues, with the San Francisco Giants holding a 2–1 advantage over the Miami Marlins. Should the Giants prevail, baseball would be treated to a compelling reprise of 1934 — Anaheim and San Francisco, once again, for the sport’s highest prize.
But that is for another evening.
For now, the Angels stand alone atop the American League — undefeated, unchallenged, and unmistakably formidable.
The American League pennant belongs to Anaheim.
And October, at least thus far, has belonged to perfection.