Grahe Creates Precious Memento in Debut : Angels: In his first major league start, the rookie right-hander strikes out Jose Canseco twice.

Joe Grahe stood on the mound and stared down at Jose Canseco.

His triple-A meal money and eight dollars of his own would buy Grahe an autograph.

Grahe was making his first major league start, and until Saturday he was eating on $14 a day with the Edmonton Trappers.

Canseco owns a $23.5-million contract, the largest in baseball, and he shares the lead in home runs with Detroit’s Cecil Fielder.

Canseco was the third batter the right-hander faced Saturday in the Angels’ 6-5 victory in 12 innings against Oakland at Anaheim Stadium.

Canseco got ahead in the count, 3-1.

And then Grahe struck him out swinging.

It was a mental memento, one more precious than an autograph--and a lot cheaper than Canseco’s $22 fee.

In his second at-bat, Canseco fell behind, 0-2, but worked back to a full count.

Grahe got him swinging again.

Before the evening was over, Canseco struck out four times.

Three is a hat trick. Four make a golden sombrero, the grand slam of strikeouts.

In his fourth at-bat, reliever Cliff Young struck him out swinging, to the strains of “We’re in the Money,” from the stadium organist.

Canseco had only one other four-strikeout night this season, June 3 against Kansas City. Mark Gubicza struck him out three times. Jeff Montgomery took care of the fourth, and the A’s lost, 8-2.

In his third at-bat Saturday against the Angels, Canseco flied out to the warning track.

Canseco led off the ninth inning against Bryan Harvey, with the A’s trying to break a 5-5 tie. He fell behind, 0-2, then got back to 2-2. He fouled off a pitch.

And then he went down swinging, flailing at a low pitch that skipped in the dirt just behind the plate.

Four strikeouts. By coincidence, Fielder struck out four times in the Tigers’ game Saturday against Boston. Neither homered, and their home-run race remained tied at 34.

Canseco’s futile night at the plate dragged on, just as the game did.

He grounded out to second in the 11th inning to go 0 for 6, the crowd delighting in his every failure.

Canseco accepts that. He knows they come to see him either way. There is as much drama in greatness thwarted as in greatness realized.

They cheer and they boo, and Canseco says, with a certain pride: “I’m probably the most controversial player in baseball.”

Canseco has owned the Angels in recent games, going 7 for 14 with four home runs. Twice in the past 11 days, he hit two in a game against the Angels, most recently Thursday in the series opener.

He left Friday’s game in the early innings with an upset stomach and a migraine headache.

And he didn’t own them Saturday. This time, 4K wasn’t just slang for Canseco’s pocket change.