ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With Derek Jeter's postseason performances restricted to fighting monsters in TV commercials, we now open nominations for Mr. October, 2002.

Is the leading candidate Anaheim third baseman Troy Glaus? He hit his fourth home run of the postseason Friday night, taking Minnesota reliever J.C. Romero deep in the eighth inning to beat the Twins 2-1 in Game 3 of the ALCS.

Is it veteran Anaheim closer Troy Percival? He picked up his fourth save of the postseason Friday, holding the Twins scoreless and extending a seemingly impossible streak -- he's never allowed an earned run against Minnesota.

	Troy Glaus' game-winning homer in the bottom of the eighth sparked pandemonium in Anaheim.

Or is it Anaheim 20-year-old reliever Francisco Rodriguez? He didn't even reach the majors until Sept. 15, but he won his third game of the postseason with another outstanding performance, striking out two in a scoreless eighth inning. He's struck out 13 in 8 1/3 innings this month and is the first pitcher in history to earn his first three wins in the postseason. "I'm in the right place at the right time,'' he said.

And where exactly is that? It's a place, Percival said, "we've never been before.''

Or at least not for a long time. The Angels have been so unsure of their place over the years that they've worn Los Angeles, California and Anaheim on their road jerseys. And while they've gotten oh so close -- they were one win away in 1982 and one strike away in 1986 -- the Angels have never gotten to the one place they've been dreaming about since the franchise's origin 41 years ago. The World Series.

Now, however, they are just two wins away, and as they say down the road at Disneyland, this was "the happiest place on earth'' Friday night after Glaus homered and Percival secured the victory. Anaheim fans don't get much attention or respect -- has anyone outside Orange County ever met an Angels fan? -- but they were into it Friday. Everyone was wearing red and screaming and waving rally monkeys and banging these inflatable things called "thunder sticks'' as starters Jarrod Washburn and Eric Milton matched each other inning after inning.

All the pre-game talk was about how loud the Metrodome can get, but Anaheim might have been even louder.

"It's actually really cool to sit in the dugout looking up in the stands and watch the people cheering and standing,'' Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "That's what the game's all about. We play the game for the people. Don't ever lose sight of that. They're standing up beating those things, whether you're home or on the road, that's what it's all about. That was a great atmosphere tonight.''

"This is better than I expected it to be,'' said Percival, who waited eight years for this. "I don't even remember the regular season. "Every day is a nailbiter. You're watching every pitch.''

The question for the TV executives is how many people are watching outside Anaheim and Minnesota. These two teams are a refreshing and compelling switch after the long Yankees reign, but they also are so unknown that they don't even entirely know each other. Anaheim rookie Chone Figgins failed to run home from third on a wild pitch in the seventh inning and later explained that he took a conservative approach because he knew "Koskie is a good catcher and wouldn't let the pitch get far away.''

Hmmm. Corey Koskie is Minnesota's catcher? A.J. Pierzynski is Minnesota's catcher. As Figgins could have read on Pierzynski's jersey when the catcher tagged him out on a bang-bang play a few pitches later to keep the Angels from scoring during a long and wild seventh inning.

That left the game tied 1-1 when Glaus led off the eighth against Romero, who hung a 3-1 slider.

	“	It's actually really cool to sit in the dugout looking up in the stands and watch the people cheering and standing. That's what the game's all about. We play the game for the people. Don't ever lose sight of that. ”
		— Ron Gardenhire, Twins manager

"We wanted to get it down and he got it a little up,'' Pierzynski said. "We didn't want to walk him because we walked the first batter the inning before and it seemed like we went through 12 pitchers before we got out of that.

"Glaus swings a log. He swings a 38-ounce bat. He got a little piece of it and that was enough.''

Barely. Friday was a bit cooler than normal and the ball hadn't carried well all night. So when Glaus connected, no one was sure whether the ball would wind up in the seats or in someone's glove.

"Personally, I didn't think it was going out,'' Angels shortstop David Eckstein said. "It's so hard to hit a ball out here and the night air just sucks them in.''

"We just kept watching and watching,'' Anaheim batting coach Mickey Hatcher said.

And finally it cleared the wall, landing in the first row of the bleachers.

Glaus generally doesn't show much emotion, but he pumped his fist as he circled the bases. Just as noteworthy was left fielder Garret Anderson, who homered for the game's first run, actually smiling after making a shoestring catch in the ninth to end the game.

"That's about as much emotion as he shows,'' Percival said of Anderson. "I've been playing with him longer than just about anybody and he never gets too high or too low. He's a consummate professional.''

Anderson smiles. Garbo speaks.

"Ordinarily, we don't do that sort of thing,'' Glaus said. "I don't know what made us do that but we're excited, we're happy.''

Hey, no need to feel ashamed about it. The Angels have waited a long time for this postseason. They ought to enjoy it.

As should everyone else. There are none of the usual postseason suspects this year. No Jeter, no Mariano Rivera, no Rudy Guiliani and no Yankees. But if these two teams can provide games like Friday's, it's going to be a fun ride anyway.

"My blood pressure is way up,'' said Torii Hunter, who made another great catch to rob a home run in the first inning. "It's up every pitch. Every play. My adrenaline is flying. I'm just dead tonight. I'm mentally tired and I need some sleep. But I like it. I like the energy, the closeness of the games. I like the feeling of relief when they need to get a hit and they don't. And I hate it when they do.''

Or as Glaus said, "It beats being at home right now.''

Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com.