The New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels are set to play in the ALCS. Will the Yankees make it back to the World Series for the first time since 2001, or will those “pesky” Angels continue their dominance over New York?

First, let’s look at some quick facts: The last time the Yankees reached the ALCS was 2004, also right around the time I gave up on watching baseball and SportsCenter. The last time the Angels were in the ALCS was 2005, when they lost to the eventual champion Chicago White Sox.

The Yankees have never faced the Angels in the ALCS, but the Angels did beat the Yankees in 2002 and 2005 in the Division Series.

Since 1999, the Angels are 53-38 against the Yankees. This year, however, they had an even record against each other. The Angels won four of the first six meetings, and the Yankees won three of the last four.

So how did these teams get here?

New York led Major League Baseball this regular season with 103 wins. The Angels won the AL West with a 97-65 record. Once playoff time started, Anaheim dismissed their playoff demons, beating Boston, who had knocked them out of the playoffs the previous two years. The Yankees quickly swept the Twins, who have been a perennial doormat for the Yanks the last couple of years.

The Yankees are known as the Bronx Bombers. They hit home runs, they draw walks and they certainly do not play small ball. The Yankees hit 71 more home runs than the Angels this year. Let’s dispel some myths about the Angels: they allegedly rely on small ball and good base running. Well, the Angels actually have 148 stolen bases and 63 caught stealing this year, for a success rate of 70 percent (21st in MLB). The Yankees, by comparison, had the third-best success rate.

In fact, the Angels are a more powerful team than you think. Stop fearing Vladimir Guerrero if you are a Yankee fan (with 50 RBIs this year, scouts think he can’t keep up with fastballs anymore) and keep your eyes on Kendry Morales (34 HR and 108 RBI).

However, while the Angels aren’t entirely “small ball” anymore, they certainly are aggressive. They had the most runners go from first to third on singles of any team in baseball. The Angels also had 15 more sacrifices this year than the Yankees, so they are willing to take one run.

But what will this really come down to? Just like how winning in football and basketball always comes down to defense, in baseball, winning always comes down to pitching.

The Yankees are supposedly going with a three-man rotation. That leaves Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen along with Phil Hughes and Mariano Rivera. A 7-8-9 of Joba, Hughes and Mariano might be the best in the league. Angels’ relievers, by comparison, were 27-23 with a 4.49 ERA. The Angels have a serviceable group of starting pitchers, led by John Lackey, who, in beating the Red Sox in Game 1 of the ALDS, won in the postseason for the first time since Game 7 of the World Series seven years ago. The Yankees are led by CC Sabathia, who by all accounts may be the best pitcher in baseball (my apologies to Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander and Tim Lincecum).

If you are forced to watch the games for any reason, here are some things you can do to pass the time in an interesting way:

1) Wait for Chone Figgins to come up to bat: he is batting .298 with five home runs. Nothing special, right? Now look into the eyes of the Yankee fan closest to you, did you see that twitch? Stay tuned for what happens next. He has been a huge Yankee killer these last few years; I go to bed thinking about Chone Figgins.

2) On the flip side, wait for A-Rod to come up in a “clutch” situation or with anyone on base. Some uninformed arrogant Yankee fan (they aren’t hard to find) will shout “He’s not a true Yankee! He isn’t clutch.” Quickly glance at these stats. This is A-Rod through 42 postseason games: 158 at-bats, .291 batting average, nine HR, 25 RBI. The stats of Reggie Jackson, “Mr. October,” through his first 42: 151 at-bats, .265 batting average, seven HR, 19 RBI.

A prediction for the series is that the announcers will call the Angels “scrappy” more than they reference Jeter’s “intangibles.”

As far as who will actually win this series, from one Yankee fan’s perspective who has serious bias, I have to give this series to the Yankees.