Angels first baseman Mark Teixeira’s powerful swing has provided an extra jolt to the American League West champion’s batting order.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Ask the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim the difference between their American League-leading, 100-win team in 2008 and the group that was soundly routed out of the playoffs by the Red Sox last October and virtually everyone rolls their eyes.

“Dramatic,” answers veteran outfielder Gary Matthews Jr.

“Huge,” says closer Francisco Rodriguez.

It is clear that the Angels team that hosts the Red Sox in Game One of the American League Division Series tonight at Angel Stadium is very different from any other in the history of the franchise.

This group won a team-record 100 games and cruised to the A.L. West title by a whopping 21 games. The next few weeks will tell the story but many players say this team could be better than the one that won the 2002 World Series.

“This team has it all. Hitting, speed, starting pitching, a dominant closer. We’re ready,” said Matthews, who’ll start in right field tonight.

The Angels were far from ready last October. Scarred by injuries and unable to receive quality starting pitching, the Angels were swept in three games by the Red Sox and outscored, 19-4. The sweep extended the Red Sox’ playoff win streak over the Angels franchise to nine games, a stretch that began all the way back in Game Five (hello, Dave Henderson) of the 1986 ALCS.

Helped by the off-season free-agent signing of center fielder Torii Hunter and a midseason blockbuster trade that brought All-Star-caliber Mark Teixeira to Orange County, the Angels say they couldn’t care less about Boston’s long October mastery of their franchise. They’re more impressed with their eight wins in nine games against the Sox this season.

“Twenty-two years? Some of these guys weren’t even born so I don’t think we’re going back that far,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. “This isn’t a challenge as much of playing the Red Sox as it is us being able to bring our game onto the field and that’s what we’re going to focus on. I think we’re a deeper club now and hopefully we’re going to see it. It’s tough to lose when you’re not bringing your best game on to the field. If you’re bringing your best game on to the field and another team steps up and beats you, that’s baseball, and you tip your cap, but we haven’t been able to do that and that’s important to us.”

Even as the team was cruising through one of baseball’s weakest divisions, the Angels did not rest. As the trade deadline approached in late July, the Angels traded veteran Casey Kotchman for Teixeira, a supreme talent who had languished on bad teams in Texas and Atlanta.

Teixeira’s provided a superb jolt, hitting .358 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 54 games. His full-season totals are .308 with 33 homers and 121 RBI but he says numbers don’t mean anything now that he’s finally in the postseason after six seasons and 904 major-league games.

“I was sitting on the back porch with my wife last night and saying this is supposed to be the end of the season. Now I can start playing golf and doing the things that I’ve been doing for the last five years,” Teixeira says. “But it was like, hey, tomorrow you’re going to work.”

“I think when you end a season and you have the great stats, it’s done. You move on to a normal life and you wait until spring training next year. When you finish a season and you go to the playoffs, you could care less what the back of your baseball card says.”

The Angels slotted Teixeira into the third spot in their order, just ahead of star slugger Vladimir Guerrero. He’s rebounded from some late-season knee problems with three homers in his last eight games and finished with another stellar season (.303, 27 homer, 91 RBI). Hunter is a premier defensive center fielder who hit 21 homers and knocked in 78 runs. Ageless left fielder Garret Anderson enjoyed his 15th major-league season with 15 homers and 84 RBI.

Scioscia called last year’s team a “skeleton club,” in the postseason because of injuries and depth issues. This Angel team is much more prepared.

“Well, I think it’s night and day,” he said. “I don’t think there is any doubt that we’re a deeper club right now, and I think we’re doing a lot of things well and hopefully we’re going to bring to the field the style of play that we have had all summer that we really haven’t been able to see in our past couple of times in the playoffs.”

Teixeira was almost giddy at the prospect of playing a meaningful October baseball game. He’s taken some advice from Hunter, who played in 21 postseason games with the Twins.

“I’ve talked to Torii about it and the first thing he said is you don’t need to drink coffee in the morning when it’s the day of a playoff game. I think that’s going to be a welcome time for me. As the season goes on you get tired, you get worn down a little bit. This season I haven’t felt that one time because I knew I was getting to the playoffs. I knew that energy was still going to be there.”

kmcnamar@projo.com