Toast of the town

Mike Scioscia actually uttered the word “playoffs” Sunday afternoon without fear of the baseball gods striking him down on the spot. The Angels manager finally canned his one-game-at-a-time mantra and began looking ahead.

The Angels will have some very big games in the very near future because they achieved their first big goal Sunday, clinching their third American League West championship in four years with a 7-4 victory over Seattle in front of a sellout crowd of 44,234 in Angel Stadium.

When Jeremy Reed’s lazy fly ball nestled into the glove of left fielder Garret Anderson for the final out, the Angels poured out of their dugout and mobbed closer Francisco Rodriguez, who at 25 has already been on the mound for his share of milestone wins.

Once the bouncing ball of humanity near the mound settled, players, coaches and front-office executives, including owner Arte Moreno, exchanged long, emotional embraces before retreating to the clubhouse, where a protective plastic bubble and large tubs of champagne and beer awaited.

Music blared, corks popped, cans flew open, and the alcohol flowed, touching off a wild celebration that was like old times for playoff veterans such as Rodriguez and John Lackey, who gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings Sunday, but an eye-opener for playoff neophytes such as center fielder Gary Matthews Jr.

“Gosh, this is unbelievable,” said Matthews, who signed a five-year, $50-million contract with the Angels last winter. “I knew champagne stings your eyes, but I had no idea it stings your skin. But you know what? This is the reason I came here, because I thought this was the best opportunity to win.”

Reviving a scene from their 2002 playoff-clinching party, the Angels lifted a rookie -- this time it was outfielder Reggie Willits; in 2002 it was Chone Figgins -- and dumped him into a tub of ice water.

“I’m kind of speechless right now,” Willits said. “I can’t control my emotions. I feel blessed to be here. It’s a great club. It’s just been a great ride.”

One the Angels hope is far from over. Boston and Cleveland have secured playoff berths, and if New York nails down the final spot this week, the Angels will open the division series against the Red Sox or Yankees next week, with home-field advantage to be determined.

“The goal in this clubhouse has not been reached,” said Lackey, who won Game 7 of the 2002 World Series as a rookie. “We’re going to have a good time tonight . . . but we have three more [celebrations] to go. I’ve been through all of them, and it gets better as you go.”

Rodriguez, who threw a perfect ninth inning Sunday for his 38th save, likes the Angels’ World Series chances.

“We have a really competitive club,” he said. “Not to take anything away from other teams, but I feel we have the best club in the big leagues.”

Seattle pitcher Jarrod Washburn agrees.

“If the Angels don’t win it all, I’d be surprised,” said Washburn, who pitched for the Angels’ 2002 champions. “They’re built for the postseason. They have awesome starting pitching, a lineup that one through nine puts pressure on you, makes things happen, manufactures runs. And they have, in my opinion, the best big-game pitcher in the major leagues.”

That would be Lackey, who stepped up Sunday as he has all season, breaking a two-game losing streak with another superb effort against the Mariners. Lackey is 4-0 against Seattle this year, and the Angels are 9-0 in games he has started after a loss.

Casey Kotchman and Maicer Izturis each hit home runs in the second and singled and scored in the seventh. Figgins had a pair of sacrifice flies, and Orlando Cabrera and Howie Kendrick had run-scoring singles, continuing a season-long theme for the Angels, who have received contributions from throughout the order and beyond.

In 2004, Vladimir Guerrero carried the Angels on the bell lap, hitting .371 with 10 home runs, 23 runs batted in and 24 runs in September to push them to their first AL West crown since 1986.

The Angels repeated in 2005 because a dominant pitching staff, led by Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon, compiled a 3.68 earned-run average and carried a feeble offense for most of the season.

This season, it took a village to raise the AL West flag.

A never-ending string of injuries forced 11 regulars to the disabled list, six for return visits, but injuries didn’t kill the Angels; they made them stronger. Every time a starter went down, a bench player or minor leaguer stepped up.

When Colon and Jered Weaver opened the season on the DL, Joe Saunders and Dustin Moseley were 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA in April. Figgins sat out all but one game in April, but Izturis filled in with a .253 average, 13 RBIs and solid defense.

Kendrick went on the DL in April; shortstop Erick Aybar played sparkling defense at second for six weeks. Anderson went down because of a hip injury in late April; Willits emerged as a force in the leadoff spot, batting .337 through June 27.

Reliever Justin Speier sat out 2 1/2 months in the first half; Moseley pitched well in late innings. Kendrick went on the DL in mid-July; Izturis moved to second and hit so well with runners in scoring position that the diminutive infielder batted fifth for most of the second half, “which still spins my head,” Scioscia said.

Catcher Mike Napoli injured a hamstring in late July; Jeff Mathis came up from triple A and played his way into a starting role. Kotchman sat out a week in August; Kendry Morales came up from Salt Lake and hit .385 with six RBIs in 12 games.

Oh, one other thing: the Angels went five months without injured outfielder Juan Rivera, their second-most productive hitter in 2006.

“We’ve gone through our fair share of injuries,” reliever Scot Shields said, “but were lucky enough where they didn’t all hit us at once.”

By contrast, Seattle did not have one regular go on the DL this season.

Guerrero, as usual, has been a force, batting .323 with 26 homers and 123 RBIs, and Anderson caught fire in the second half, hitting .314 with 13 homers and 65 RBIs after the All-Star break, giving the Angels a strong middle-of-the-order punch.

But the emergence of so many youngsters added considerable depth and gave Scioscia so many options he has used 114 lineups this season.

“These kids are young and inexperienced, but they’re talented, and they kept us afloat all year,” Scioscia said. “We had a lot of adversity this year, but the depth of this organization is tremendous, and it really showed this year.”

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mike.digiovanna@latimes.com