A Quiet Rise to the Top : Angels’ Salmon Eschews Spotlight in Becoming Top Candidate for AL Rookie of Year

One group of Angels was playing cards before a recent game in Minneapolis. A serious game of dominoes was going on at another table. The television was blaring near the back of the clubhouse, players making their own comments on the day’s events.

Sitting alone in front of his locker, his back to all of the commotion, Angel rookie right fielder Tim Salmon was quietly engrossed in another book, “The Firm.”

“I can’t wait any longer on this one,” he said. “I didn’t want the movie to come out and ruin the book for me.”

That hardly is considered proper for a baseball clubhouse. You can read there, but the reading material had better be the sports section, Playboy, the Wall Street Journal or the latest baseball statistics.

Besides, you’re supposed to have a chaw of tobacco in your mouth, look up occasionally at ESPN and spew obscenities from time to time so everyone knows you’re alive.

But Salmon seldom swears, drinks nothing stronger than cranberry juice and would rather talk about his 2-week-old baby than himself.

So, while everyone in baseball knows that Dodger catcher Mike Piazza is the leading candidate for National League rookie of the year, Salmon has been making his own quiet way.

Salmon has hit more homers than any Angel did all of last season, a team-high 13. He is batting .279 with 45 RBIs.

Salmon leads major league outfielders with nine assists and has scouts proclaiming that he has one of the finest arms of any right fielder in the game.

He has an on-base percentage of .393, and the only players in the league with more combined walks and homers are Cecil Fielder of Detroit and Frank Thomas of Chicago. Salmon’s 46 walks are only 15 shy of the franchise rookie record.

The runaway choice at the halfway mark for the American League’s rookie of the year is Timothy James Salmon.

“Chili (Davis) and I were talking about how strange this is the other day,” Snow said. “I got off to such a hot start, and all of the attention was on me. I got cold, and all of the attention was on me.

“But the whole time, there was Tim, just playing great without anyone noticing. My God, I’d give anything to have a season like he’s having.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to win the rookie of the year, but there’s no one better than Tim. I mean, if you took a vote, he’d be the winner in a landslide.”

Perhaps not, and that is what has the Angels’ promotion and marketing departments a little worried. Although Salmon was the minor league player of the year last season and was on the cover of Baseball America, he still is as unknown as teammate Rod Correia in many baseball cities.

The Angels, aware of their potential problem, have had recent staff meetings to discuss rectifying a possible oversight by the national media. They have never had the league’s rookie of the year and don’t want to take any chances with this candidate.

They understand Salmon’s reluctance to call attention to his accomplishments, so they figure it’s time they tell the public who he is.

Salmon soon will be featured in Angel commercials. The press notes beginning in August will run charts, comparing all of the American League rookies.

“I know people are starting to get caught up in this thing,” Salmon said. “But I’ve never been one to talk about myself, and I’m not going to change now. I just don’t want to lose my focus.

“If it happens, it’s going to be awesome. But I refuse to dwell on it. It’s not going to make or break my season, one way or the other. It’s not like I would be trying any harder just because I’ve got a chance to win this thing.”

Said second baseman Damion Easley, who has been a teammate of Salmon four of the last five years: “That’s Tim for you. If it were any of us, we’d be going crazy, thinking about having a shot at something like this.

“But to Tim, it’s no big deal. He hasn’t changed since we were together in rookie ball.”

Said Davis: “People talk about future stars in this game. Well, we got one right here in Tim Salmon. I mean, you hate to put a label on anyone this early, but this guy’s going to be a superstar.

“And the only guy on this team who doesn’t know it is Salmon.”

That sort of goes along with his approach to the game. He doesn’t bother studying videotapes of his swing. He ignores virtually all of the hitting secrets passed along by teammates and Hall of Fame coach Rod Carew. It’s even a rarity when he shows up for extra hitting practice before games.

Salmon simply is following a philosophy passed along by minor league coach Gene Richards: Don’t get caught up experimenting with everyone’s ideas. Believe in yourself, and everything will be all right.

Salmon, who survived two nasty beanings early in his minor league days, has heeded that advice. He hit 23 homers with 94 RBIs at double-A Midland in 1991, and 29 homers with 105 RBIs last season at triple-A Edmonton. Now he’s on pace for 29 homers and 100 RBIs in the big leagues.

“Early in the minors, I was too coachable,” Salmon said. “I was listening to everybody. After a while, I didn’t know what I believed in. It was a circus.

“Now, after that talk with Gene Richards, I know what works for me. It’s not being disrespectful toward the coaches or anything else, but I want to do this thing my way. I don’t want to over-analyze things. I just want to react.”

Meanwhile, he will be like every other rookie--overwhelmed at times that he’s playing alongside those he idolized as a kid.

“I don’t want it to look like I’m a rookie in awe of everything up here, but I couldn’t help myself these last couple of weeks,” he said. “I got an autographed bat from George Brett and an autographed ball from Nolan Ryan.

“These guys are going to be Hall of Famers, so you like to get them while you can.”

Said Brett: “I’ve got a feeling that one of these years, I’ll be asking for his bat, too.”