I’ve made clear I grew up a Dodgers fan. I’m old enough to remember a time when the Angels didn’t even exist, and anyone over the age of 40 remembers when the Angels routinely were awful.

Actually, they were worse than awful. They were irrelevant. They didn’t matter. Only the Dodgers did. The Angels were the colorless team over in Orange County that offered plenty of good seats a half-hour before gametime. (And if you watched them play, you knew why.)

Irrelevance was a condition of Angels baseball that lasted until 1979, when they finally got to the postseason for the first time.

But now? The Dodgers and Angels both have advanced to their league Championship Series … but the Angels were more impressive in how they did it. Grittier. Smarter. More resourceful.

Which continues the trend of the past decade … of the Angels being the more attractive and compelling franchise in the Los Angeles market.

This was a team down 5-1 at Fenway Park, against the franchise that has been death to them for a decade … and I was confident they were not out of it.

And when they scored three runs in the ninth inning — after two were out, and Erick Aybar had two strikes on him — I was not in the slightest surprised. They have that sort of gumption.

The Dodgers had a clutch win in their series with St. Louis, down a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. But they needed Matt Holliday to drop a routine fly ball in left before they got going.

The Red Sox gave the Angels no such gift. The Angels had to take the game from them, and they did.

A clutch, two-out,  two-run single by Juan Rivera made it 5-4 in the eighth. And then after the Red Sox added a run to make it 6-4, and sent Jonathan Papelbon out for his second inning of work … the Angels do what they do.

Erick Aybar dumped a single into center. Chone Figgins walked. And now the Fenway faithful were officially nervous. Bobby Abreu, a great offseason acquisition, slammed a double off the Green Monster, and Aybar scored.

And then came Vladimir Guerrero, who a few years ago was the only dangerous hitter in the middle of the Angels lineup but who has since been reinforced by Abreu,  Rivera and Torii Hunter. A few years ago, Guerrero could be pitched around, and usually was. Not now.

Guerrero rapped a single into center, Figgins and Abreu scored, and the Angels led.

Brian Fuentes pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth, and the Angels had swept the Red Sox, their official tormentors for most of a decade.

I really like this team. I really like this franchise.

I’m not a fan of the Angels in an emotional sense. I’m a fan in a professional, “those-guys-do-great-work” sense. From the owner’s box to the front office down to the 25th man, the Angels franchise seems to have laser-steady focus. There are no obvious factions on this club, no internal squabbling, no back-biting or small-timing.

Mike Scioscia is a huge figure, here.  The veteran manager has complete autonomy on the field and lots of input off of it, and his calm presence and pervasive intelligence radiate through the team. The emphasis on pitching, aggressive base-running, working deep into counts (and Abreu has been a great addition, when it comes to taking pitches, as well as walks) … the constant pressure this club wants to apply to opponents.

It’s attractive baseball. It’s Old School National League baseball … well, actually, it’s Dodger Baseball, back from when Scioscia played for the club … and it is lots and lots of fun to watch.

I like that the Angels remain mostly a home-grown club. It reinforces franchise solidarity, and keeps expenses in check.

I like that they take character into account before they make roster moves. Torii Hunter instead of Manny Ramirez. Scott Kazmir instead of Vicente Padilla. The Angels want good people as well as good players.

The Angels face a more difficult route to the World Series than do the Dodgers. They have the New York Yankees in their path, and the Yankees have the best record in baseball. But, typically, the Angels have no fear of the Yankees and have played them as well as any team in the majors for the past decade.

I like their chances. If they lose, it won’t be because they beat themselves. Another mark of a franchise worthy of our admiration and attention.