ANAHEIM, Calif. - Let's have a show of hands. Who thought the Anaheim Angels had a chance of being fitted for World Series rings when this postseason baseball tournament began?

Hmmm. That's not many.

But the scarcity of hands is completely understandable.

Among the October Eight, the Angels may have been the most overlooked team - and for some completely understandable reasons.

They didn't have Randy Johnson's left arm or Curt Schilling's right arm, as the defending World Series champion Arizona Diamondbacks did.

They didn't have the New York Yankees mystique or valuable postseason experience.

They didn't have the Oakland Athletics' "Three Aces" pitching staff, the Minnesota Twins' let's-show-Bud Selig-how-warped-he-is contraction subplot, or the Atlanta Braves' Cy Young hardware.

The Angels didn't have much of America quietly pulling for them, as did the St. Louis Cardinals, who had dedicated their postseason efforts to deceased teammate Darryl Kile.

And, last but not least, the Angels certainly didn't have Barry Bonds sitting in the middle of their lineup, scaring the bejeezus out of pitchers, as the San Francisco Giants did.

But, as this most entertaining postseason tournament enters its final day - Game 7 of the World Series - the Angels are one victory away from winning it all.

Then again, so are the Giants - if they can manage to rouse themselves after last night's Game 6 disaster.

The Giants' disaster was the Angels' miracle.

Facing elimination and an end to their storybook season, the Angels returned to Edison Field and kept their season, their hopes and their dreams alive with a see-it-to-believe-it 6-5 victory over the Giants, who had taken command of the series with two wins in San Francisco - and a 5-0 lead last night.

Nothing has come easy to these Angels, who opened the season with 14 losses in the first 20 games then surged to win 99 games.

Even on the night the Angels saved their season and made believers out of anyone who'd ever doubted the Rally Monkey, they did it the hard way.

They were down, 5-0, entering the bottom of the seventh inning.

By the time the eighth inning ended, they were up by a run.

The Angels just kept coming and coming in the same relentless style they did against the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins in the American League playoffs.

No deficit fazes this Angels team. They weren't supposed to be this indomitable, not on this setting. Remember, none of their position players had postseason experience a month ago.

Now, they are postseason gladiators. After this comeback special, you have to wonder if they can be beaten tonight - by anyone.

But why worry about tonight when last night was so incredible?

"It was a pretty amazing game," said Scott Spiezio, one of the heroes. "Certainly, it was a game you sit back and say, 'That was incredible.' "

The Angels were being manhandled by Russ Ortiz when their bats finally came alive in the seventh inning, shortly after the famed Rally Monkey made his appearance on the scoreboard.

Troy Glaus and Brad Fullmer both singled with one out before Spiezio hit a three-run homer to right off Felix Rodriguez with a full count.

The crowd of 44,506, which had been silent when Bonds gave the Giants a 4-0 lead with a cannonading homer in the sixth, came to life on Spiezio's homer.

"They never give up," he said. "We couldn't have done it without them."

An inning after Spiezio's big blow, Darin Erstad pulled the Angels within a run with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth against Tim Worrell.

Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson then followed with singles, and a Bonds error put runners at second and third. Edison Field was bursting at the seams when Giants' closer Robb Nen came in to face Glaus.

With everybody in the stadium on their feet, Glaus boomed a double to left-center.

Two runs in.

Angels lead, 6-5

All of southern California went crazy.

Troy Percival closed out the Giants in the ninth inning, but no one left the stadium. They danced and sang and asked themselves if they'd just seen one of the best World Series games ever.

Surely, it was one of the best comebacks.

So now, it's down to a seventh game. One team's season will be made; another's will be shattered.

The Angels aren't in this position because of some dancing monkey. They saved their season by never rolling over, by playing the same inspired baseball they have all season.

The victory was the most important in the Angels 42-year history, and it came on Oct. 26.

Significant?

Maybe.

High above the right-field wall at Edison Field sits and huge, inflated Angels uniform top with No. 26 emblazoned on it.

Why 26?

That was the number retired in honor of beloved team founder Gene Autry, who so dearly wanted a World Series title, but never got one.

He died in 1998.

The Angels designated 26 as Autry's number because he was considered the 26th man on a roster of 25.

You couldn't help but feel ol' No. 26, the Singing Cowboy himself, was with the Angels last night, willing Spiezio's long fly ball to right to leave the park, pushing Erstad's ball out, and cheering with the fans as Glaus' two-run double touched down in left-center.

The baseball season has one more game left. The Angels have stayed alive, and if Gene Autry had anything to do with it, he might want to consider showing up again tonight.