BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Salmon Quickly Finds His Niche

Only about an hour after his plane landed at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Friday, Tim Salmon was wearing an Angel uniform and preparing to make his major league debut.

Batting cleanup. At Yankee Stadium.

But none of that seemed to overwhelm the 23-year-old outfielder, who was the Pacific Coast League’s leader with 29 home runs and 105 runs batted in when he was summoned from triple-A Edmonton late Thursday.

“(The cleanup spot) is where I’ve been hitting all year, so that situation is really nothing new,” said Salmon, who walked in his first at-bat, flied to left, struck out twice and reached on a force play.

“Cleanup might be the best position for me to start. It’s where I want to be ultimately, and there’s no better time to do it than tonight.”

Arthur Richman, a Yankee executive and owner of the ball that skipped between the legs of the Boston Red Sox’s Bill Buckner to win the 1986 World Series for the New York Mets, will donate to various charities his share of the $93,500 actor Charlie Sheen paid for the ball at a recent auction.

Richman, then a Met executive, was given the ball by umpire Ed Montague. In return, Richman will donate money to a fund that helps umpires such as Steve Palermo with medical expenses. Richman also will contribute to an animal shelter being built by Tony La Russa, manager of the Oakland Athletics, the Johnny Bench Scholarship Fund in Cincinnati, the Assn. of Professional Ball Players of America and the St. Louis Browns Historical Society.

Richman has never met Sheen.

“I’d like to invite him to the ballpark if he’s that much of a fan,” Richman said.

Ending confusion over whether he had agreed to a rehabilitation assignment, Hubie Brooks accepted assignment to triple-A Edmonton beginning Tuesday. Brooks has been on the disabled list since June 21 because of weakness in a nerve running from his neck to his shoulder. . . . First baseman Lee Stevens left after the fourth inning because of a strained stomach muscle. His playing status is day to day. . . . Catcher Greg Myers’ sore right wrist is progressing so well that he won’t be put on the disabled list. . . . Yankee General Manager Gene Michael said while Angel executive Whitey Herzog is watching the Yankees’ triple-A Columbus farm team, they have no trade talks going. “Whitey has never mentioned a single name to me,” Michael said. “We asked them about their pitching, but that’s as far as it went.”