Confident Scioscia believes it's their time

ANAHEIM, Calif. - He can't hide it; he just can't.

Mike Scioscia loves his team, and he loves its chances, not just against the Red Sox in the American League Division Series that begins at Angel Stadium tonight, but against anyone, anywhere. He just does.

"I don't think there's any doubt we're a deeper club right now," says the Angels skipper. "Hopefully, we're going to bring our style of play that we've had all season to this series . . . We played with a skeleton club last year against Boston, and we didn't play well."

The Angels were the only team in baseball to win 100 games this season. They did it despite some injuries, and now they're all healed. The aching hamstrings belonging to shortstop Erick Aybar and second baseman Howie Kendrick have stopped barking. The irritating kidney stone (ouch) hanging around lefty starter Joe Saunders has passed, and he celebrated by dominating the Rangers in his final tuneup.

This is the best roster Scioscia has had in his nine years as manager of the Orange County representative and that most definitely includes the 2002 team that beat Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

Under Scioscia, the Angels have always stood for something. The '02 squad was a selective, work-the-count team. Scioscia knew what he had, and he preached patience and plate discipline from the first day in spring training.

That philosophy has continued over the years, but with one conspicuous exception.

It makes no difference whether the home country language is Spanish, English, or French; Vladdy doesn't do plate discipline. Vladdy hacks.

"I've said it numerous times," Sox manager Terry Francona explains. "There is not a pitch that you throw that Vlad doesn't think he can hit. You throw it off his shoe tops, you throw it head high, and he can leave the ballpark with one swing . . . When you talk about missing off the plate with him, you better miss off, because he's swinging that thing and, you know, he's not a hitter you can set up."

Anyway . . .

Anyway, while Vladimir Guerrero has been busy being Vladimir Guerrero all these years, the rest of the team has been establishing a reputation as the most aggressive team in the AL, if not baseball. They bunt, they steal, they take the extra base, and they just generally apply pressure. And every once in a while, someone other than Vladdy would pop one.

"They play an aggressive style of baseball," agrees Francona. "If you're not prepared for it, they can run you into problems . . . You know, when they're on third, they're going to go on contact. There is not a lot of 'Well, be ready; they're going to go.' That's the way they play. They push and push and push, and if you're not prepared they can push you into problems."

There is no mystery about where this stuff comes from. Scioscia spent his entire playing career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. In his day, at least, that's the way the Dodgers were taught to play.

But now, in addition to the pesky wabbits, the Angels have added some thump. They dipped into the free agent market for longtime Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter, and, while he's somewhat on the decline, he did hit 21 home runs. And they made the biggest individual position player move during the season when they picked up impending free agent Mark Teixeira, a switch-hitting first baseman with serious power and run-producing capabilities.

Now they can hurt you every which way. Teixeira's lineup presence has had a ripple effect, with Guerrero and veteran left fielder Garret Anderson putting up significantly better numbers after he arrived. You can even throw the name of catcher Mike Napoli into the mix. Meanwhile, pesky wabbits Chone Figgins and Reggie Willits remain.

Scioscia downplays the style thing, especially when someone tries to say the Angels are an American League team that plays National League baseball. "I think it's just baseball," he maintains. "The makeup of our team has definitely shifted [since '02]. We have a little less power, a little more speed. We've adapted, because we've had to. If I had eight 'Texes,' [Teixeiras], we could play a different style."

The fact is his ideas work. The Angels are in the postseason for the fourth time in five years, and the fifth in seven, all with Scioscia as manager. The turnover since that '02 championship season has been dramatic, with Anderson and Figgins the only position players still where they were six years ago.

The Angels are a very different organization than they were at the turn of the century. There's a new owner, a new general manager, and just about all new players. The one constant, and the face of the organization, is the 49-year-old Scioscia, now on every short list of the game's best managers. It's getting to the point where it's impossible to think of the Angels without thinking of Mike Scioscia.

He did not enjoy seeing his team get swept by the Red Sox in 2004, and he did not enjoy seeing it happen again last year, when it was not a fair fight. Unfortunately for the Red Sox, it may not be a fair fight this year, either. The Red Sox have some major personnel issues, whereas the Angels are loaded.

"I think we're a deeper club, and I think we're going to see it," he says. "If you bring your best team to the field and the other team beats you, that's baseball, and you tip your hat."

When this series is over, Mike Scioscia expects his hat to be sitting right on his head. Capice?

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com.