Only certainty was uncertainty

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- At some point or other during the 2005 baseball season, I believed the following things to be absolutely the gospel truth:

That the Red Sox and Yankees had better make sure to win the American League East, because the wild card would be coming from the Central, it being obvious that the White Sox and Twins were going to have better years than the AL East aristocrats. Yes, Twins.

That the Orioles could not hang because when things got sticky they had kid pitchers who had never pitched a true pennant-race game in their lives, plus Sidney Ponson, who had never won so much as one.

That the Yankees were not going to make it, period.

That the A's were clearly a better team than the Angels.

That the Indians were the best-balanced team, with a better chance of winning the World Series than anyone else in the American League.

Turns out I was right about the Orioles, sort of. They never even got to the point where they were playing any true pennant-race games. But everything else, what did I know?

The one team that never seemed even a little confusing to me was the Red Sox. Their strengths and weaknesses were sharply delineated. There was never any mystery or intrigue. We all knew they would score runs. And we all knew the pitching was, to be polite, iffy. I thought they'd find a way to make the postseason, but I certainly wouldn't have put any money on it.

I think what I'm saying is that you wouldn't exactly call this the Year of the Absolute in the American League. In the final analysis, you might call it the Year of Parity. I can make a perfectly logical devil's advocate argument for any of the four American League playoff teams, just as I can make a devil's advocate argument against any of the four American League playoff teams. It's really a four-team wash.

''Three of us had the same record," says Joe Torre, ''which tells you something." As far as the White Sox are concerned, Torre offers this thought: ''I think it's actually better for them they didn't run away and hide. Now they're refocused. I remember one time they did run away with it, and they did nothing in the playoffs."

Out here, in the Other Series, we have the whole issue of just who did get the better deal over the weekend in Fenway. The Yankees can claim the division championship, but they're the ones who had to head to Logan Airport Sunday night and fly 3,000 miles to play a team that happens to be the only AL foe to have a winning record against them in the Torre era. OK, it's 49-48. But it's still an undeniable fact.

That includes a 6-4 Angels edge this season, but what is that worth, really? Who doesn't understand that the Yankees enter the postseason playing their best ball of the season? And consider this: ''With us, we may be better off away from home, if you know what I mean," says Torre. Of course I do. It is a bit more relaxing out here.

Anyway, Torre insists he's not expending any energy worrying about the couldas and wouldas that might have kept his team home for Games 1, 2, and (if necessary) 5. ''We put a lineup out there on Sunday to win," he says. ''And the Red Sox kicked our butts. After what we needed to do to get this far, I don't think we have a problem with where the games are."

His managerial counterpart confesses that at no point at the beginning of last week did it enter his mind that he'd ever be playing Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS at home. ''In hindsight," says Mike Scioscia, ''it was the furthest thing from our minds, where you're playing in the playoffs. It was just about getting in the playoffs.

''As we went through the [season-ending] Texas series, it became evident, especially the last day, that we had a chance for it, and I think it is a pleasant surprise the way things worked out."

Now what we have in this series is a rather distinct contrast in offensive styles. On the one hand we have a Yankee team that was second in the AL in runs, that hit 229 home runs, that features three men with more than 116 RBIs and which, as tonight's starting pitcher, Bartolo Colon, says, ''has a lineup of cleanup hitters." The Red Sox may have scored more runs, but at the present time -- and no other time frame matters -- this is the toughest 1-through-9 lineup for any pitcher to get through. And on the other hand, we have a bunch of gnats surrounding an authoritative power threat in Vladimir Guerrero.

Gotta love that contrast if you're a baseball buff.

Guerrero aside, the signature Angel is the aggravating Chone (pronounced ''Shawn") Figgins, a classic speedster who can disrupt a defense if he is allowed to get on base.

''Chone is our most valuable player this year and we're not sitting here talking about a playoff game coming up if it wasn't for Chone," said Scioscia, who further gushes that Figgins has -- now get this -- ''versatility I have not seen matched by anybody." Adds the Angels skipper, ''The high level of play he brings, particularly defensively, whether he plays second, third or short or center field or any of the corner outfields, it's incredible."

And in terms of offense, Scioscia explains that ''his speed is the type of speed that, even if he's not stealing a base, can be effective in what other teams are trying to do to contain him." Figgins stole 62 bases and scored 113 of his team's 761 runs. So keeping Mr. Figgins off base will be Yankee pitching priority No. 1.

Common sense says the Angels will have to keep the scores down to win this series. But as I said before, what do I know?

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail is ryan@globe.com