ANAHEIM, Calif. -Somewhere in heaven, an Angel in a cowboy hat was singing Sunday night.
Perhaps Gene Autry, the late owner of the Anaheim Angels, even got together with Queen’s Freddie Mercury and belted out that hit he never got to sing during his days on Earth.
You know the one: “We Are the Champions.”
That’s what the Anaheim Angels are for the first time since Autry made the team an expansion reality in 1961.
After staging a remarkable rally in Game 6 on Saturday night, the Angels received brilliant work from a trio of rookie pitchers and a three-run double from Garret Anderson in Game 7 on Sunday night to claim the World Series with a 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.
Rookies John Lackey, Brendan Donnelly and the incomparable Francisco Rodriguez covered the first eight innings, holding the Giants to one run on five hits.
The Giants, who 24 hours earlier had watched a 5-0 lead disappear, remained winless in three trips to the World Series since moving to San Francisco in 1958.
Troy Glaus, whose two-run double the night before had completed the Angels’ rally, was named the World Series MVP.
Barry Bonds, despite putting together one of the greatest postseason and World Series performances in history, still does not have a ring. Bonds, 38, has been to the playoffs six times.
Though he did not win it all, he silenced all the critics who said he never had come up big in the postseason.
Bonds, who went 1 for 3 on Sunday night, batted .356 in 17 postseason games and set a postseason record with 27 walks – 13 intentional – and eight home runs.
In the World Series, he batted .471 with four home runs and six RBIs. He set a World Series record with 13 walks – seven intentional – and posted an incredible .700 on-base percentage. He was on base 21 times in 30 at-bats.
Yes, the Giants definitely had the best player, but the Angels had the better team.
Lackey, with five strong innings, became the first rookie to win Game 7 of the World Series since Pittsburgh’s Babe Adams in 1909.
Donnelly followed with two scoreless innings and Rodriguez, 20, completed a postseason that was every bit as amazing as Bonds’ by striking out the side in the eighth inning.
Rodriguez, who made his major-league debut in mid-September, finished the postseason 5-1 with a 1.93 earned run average. He allowed just 10 hits and struck out 28 batters in 182/3 innings.
Veteran Troy Percival recorded the final three outs for his seventh save of the postseason. Darin Erstad clutched a Kenny Lofton fly ball in center field to end the World Series and trigger a wild red-and-white celebration.

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