CHICAGO – In many ways Mike Scioscia is the new Joe Torre. He’s deeply respected by his players, he’s a winner and he’s an ex-catcher.

Scioscia’s teams find a way, like the Yankees used to find a way. Running on empty, the Angels, playing their third game in three nights in three different time zones – a major league first – beat the White Sox 3-2 last night at U.S. Cellular Field to take a 1-0 lead in the ALCS.

They did it Scioscia’s way with go-right-after-’em pitching from starter Paul Byrd. Stunning relief from Scot Shields and Francisco Rodriguez. A home run by underrated Garret Anderson and two small-ball runs produced by the rest of the lineup, and, of course, Scioscia guessed right on a key pitchout in the seventh to nail A.J. Pierzynski, who suddenly thought he was Scott Podsednik.

“I think we’re a little delirious,” said Byrd, who won his first postseason game. “The fact that Mike gave me the ball after having a shaky outing against New York, it did wonders for my confidence.”

Scioscia has appeared in two World Series as a player and won them both. He has gone to the World Series once as a manager and also came away a winner. He hit that monster home run against the Mets in the 1988 playoffs. He understands the pressure of playing, the pressure of managing and the pressure of winning.

“It starts at the top,” Anderson said of Scioscia’s winning approach. “Deal with the one day today.”

George Steinbrenner sent out one of his infamous statements yesterday, specifically congratulating “the Angels and their manager on the great job they’ve done.” He might want to listen to what Scioscia had to say about Torre, on the day after Scioscia’s Angels vanquished the Yankees in five games in the ALDS.

“Joe is the best,” Scioscia told me in a quiet spot outside the visiting clubhouse. “I hope it works out for him.”

Scioscia understands what a terrific manager the Yankees have in Torre.

“We were very fortunate to get by those group of guys,” Scioscia said. “But the recognition doesn’t fall on me. It’s very flattering but the recognition falls on the guys in this room because they played their hearts out against an incredible team.”

Like Torre, Scioscia knows the players on the field make the difference, they make or don’t make the big play, no matter how many decisions a manager makes.

“It certainly wasn’t my doing why we won,” Scioscia added. “These guys did it. You have to have the utmost respect for the Yankees and the way they run things. In many ways it’s an organization that does so many things so well that they are a model for everyone.”

It’s an organization that is trying to figure out what went wrong and that’s why Steinbrenner is on the warpath again and Torre is in the crosshairs even though Torre has two years and $13.1 million left on his contract.

The Angels are trying to figure out a way to win their second World Series, even though they are one exhausted team with a shortage of starting pitchers now that Bartolo Colon is down and out and have yet to get a postseason RBI from Vladimir Guerrero.

Scioscia gave this franchise its golden moment with the 2002 World Series victory.

The lifelong Dodger has only been with the Angels for six seasons but he saw the impact that World Championship had on the fans.

“I just know that in Southern California, the way that championship was received was absolutely along the lines of what we saw in Boston or what you might see if the Cubs or White Sox or a team that has been grinding for a long time to get that championship feel.

“Walking around town, I had people coming up to me just thanking me for their grandparents who were deceased that were Angel fans back in the early 1960s.”

That’s what winning a championship does. Scioscia knows that feeling. So does Torre, four times over.