ANAHEIM, Calif. - Somewhere in heaven, an Angel in a cowboy hat was singing last night.

Perhaps Gene Autry, late owner of the Anaheim Angels, even got together with Queen's Freddie Mercury and belted out that ballpark hit he never got to sing during his days on Earth.

You know the one: "We Are the Champions."

That's what the Angels are for the first time since Autry made the team an expansion reality in 1961.

After staging a remarkable rally in Game 6 Saturday night, the Angels received brilliant work from a trio of rookie pitchers and a three-run double from Garret Anderson in Game 7 last night to claim the World Series with a 4-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

"It's an incredible lift to this whole community," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "Everyone talks about a curse, the demons [of the Angels]. I've only experienced the last three, and they've been incredible."

None more so than this one.

The Angels, a team known for its excruciating postseason failures, were 6-14 and 101/2 games out of first place by April 21. It was the worst start in the franchise's history, and yet the Angels recovered to win 99 regular-season games.

They were down by 5-0 and eight outs away from watching the Giants celebrate Saturday night at Edison Field and they came back and won.

This story about Scioscia and the Disney-owned Angels is no more believable than that tale about Snow White and those dwarves.

The happy ending came compliments of the rookie pitchers and the three-run double in the third inning by Anderson, the team's regular-season MVP.

John Lackey, Brendan Donnelly and the incomparable Francisco Rodriguez covered the first eight innings for Anaheim, holding the Giants to one run on five hits.

Troy Glaus, whose two-run double in Game 6 completed the Angels' rally, was named the World Series MVP.

It was another unhappy ending for Barry Bonds and the Giants.

"It's a difficult time right now," Giants manager Dusty Baker said. "You're heart is heavy, your stomach is empty. You know, your head and your brains feel full right now. It's going to be very difficult to go back to the hotel and hear people hollering and screaming out there for Anaheim."

The Giants have come up empty in three trips to the World Series since moving to San Francisco in 1958.

Though Bonds didn't win it all, he silenced all his critics who said he never had come up big in the postseason.

Bonds, who went 1 for 3 last night, batted .356 in 17 postseason games and set a postseason record with 27 walks - 13 intentional - and eight home runs. In the World Series, he batted .471 with four home runs and six RBIs. He set a World Series record with 13 walks - seven intentional - and posted an incredible .700 on-base percentage, the highest in a World Series of more than four games. He was on base 21 times in 30 at-bats.

Yes, the Giants definitely had the best player, but the Angels had the better team.

Lackey, going on three days' rest, became the first rookie to win Game 7 of the World Series since Pittsburgh's Babe Adams in 1909. He allowed just one run on four hits in five innings.

"It wasn't long ago that I was in the minor leagues," said Lackey, who joined the Angels on the final day of June and won 11 games, including two in the postseason. "I was given an opportunity. I just wanted to step up and help these guys out."

Donnelly, a 31-year-old rookie who spent 10 seasons in the minor leagues, followed with two scoreless innings before Rodriguez, 20, completed a postseason that was every bit as amazing as Bonds' by striking out the side in the eighth inning.

Rodriguez, who made his major-league debut in mid-September, finished the postseason 5-1 with a 1.93 earned run average. He allowed just 10 hits and struck out 28 batters in 182/3 innings.

Veteran closer Troy Percival recorded the final three outs, triggering a red-and-white celebration among the crowd of 44,598.

While answering questions about Saturday night's devastating defeat, Baker was asked whether he at least had confidence in sending the veteran Hernandez to the mound with a 6-1 career playoff record.

"We feel comfortable with Livan," Baker said without conviction. "But we're going to go with everybody."

Hernandez left his manager open to every second-guesser in San Francisco from now until the start of the next millennium.

The veteran who had pitched so well in so many big games dating to his days in Cuba came up smaller than ever.

He went two scoreless innings, then didn't get an out in the third, when the Angels scored three times. Only 24 of Hernandez's 53 pitches were strikes.

Kirk Rueter came on after Chad Zerbe pitched out of Hernandez's third-inning jam and gave Baker four scoreless innings, allowing just two baserunners.

"We didn't wrestle with that decision because Kirk was going on three days' [rest] and Livan was on his regular day," Baker said. "Kirk gave us all he had in those four innings. I don't know how much further he could have gone. Livan was strong. He could have gone nine innings."

The Giants scored first for the fifth time in the seven games, and they did so even after Bonds opened the second inning by making a rare out on a liner to second base.

Benito Santiago and J.T. Snow followed with consecutive singles, and Reggie Sanders lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, putting San Francisco in front, 1-0.

That lead didn't last through the bottom of the second.

Hernandez retired the first two batters, then walked Scott Spiezio.

Bengie Molina followed with an RBI double into left-center field, and the game was tied.

Adam Kennedy made the final out of the second inning and became the final batter retired by Hernandez.

Lackey pitched a perfect third for the Angels and David Eckstein started the bottom of the inning by dropping a single into left field. After Darin Erstad singled, Hernandez hit Tim Salmon in the right hand with a 2-2 pitch.

Up stepped Anderson, who had a major-league-leading 56 doubles during the regular season, but just eight singles in the World Series.

With the count at 1-1, Hernandez delivered a fastball up and in. Anderson jumped on it and sent it down the right-field line for a three-run double.

Baker ordered an intentional walk to Glaus, then walked to the mound himself and stripped Hernandez of the baseball.

By then, it was too late for the Giants.