Salmon Looks Like His Old Self : Angels: A three-run homer and four RBIs help outfielder break out of early-season doldrums.

Tim Salmon ended 1993 with a bang--well, actually a slam. His grand slam Sept. 15 off Seattle’s Tim Leary was a most fitting finale to a 31-homer, 95-RBI Rookie of the Year season.

Until about 9 p.m. Thursday, however, 1994 pretty much had been one two-week whimper.

In 34 at-bats before coming to the plate with two on and two out in the fifth inning Thursday, Salmon had struck out 13 times. In his previous 25 at-bats, he had managed only three singles. And Salmon was facing Toronto right-hander Juan Guzman, who has made more than his share of right-handed hitters look feeble and had already struck out Salmon in the first inning.

But Salmon, ahead in the count, 2-0, got a pitch he could handle and muscled it over the 370 sign in left field to give the Angels a 3-2 lead.

Then in the seventh inning, Salmon got the best of Guzman again. With Jim Edmonds on first and two out, Salmon turned on an inside pitch and lined a shot inside third base and into the left-field corner to send Edmonds scampering home.

On those two swings, Salmon drove in as many runs has he had in any single game of his career--you guessed it, Sept. 15, 1993--and increased his 1994 runs-batted-in output by 200%.

“I was beginning to wonder if you guys were ever coming back,” Salmon said to the crowd of reporters around his locker. “It’s great to break out of it with a couple of hits and RBIs. It’s a monkey off my back.”

Clearly, runs batted in were the three little words the Angels had in mind when they signed Salmon to a four-year, $7.5-million contract in March. Last year had been a dream season for Salmon, who set club rookie records in home runs, doubles (35), extra-base hits (67) and walks (82) and became the 19th rookie in major league history to hit 30 or more home runs.

Before Thursday night, however, the American League’s rookie of the year was on a pace to drive in 36 runs.

No one was panicking about Salmon’s slow start. In fact, Manager Buck Rodgers had predicted earlier this week that his young right fielder would soon be emerging from his funk.

“It’s nice to welcome him back,” Rodgers said. “But you could see him coming around. He’s been swinging the bat better, hitting the ball harder.

“And I’m not concerned about the strikeouts. Tim is going to strike out 100 times and he’s going to walk 100 times. You have to take the good with the bad with the RBI guys.”

RBI guy. It has a nice ring to it for Salmon, who has been doing his best to block out some of the less complimentary descriptions he has heard lately from some of the fans.

“I just kept telling myself to be patient,” he said. “I’ve been playing this game long enough to know it’s just a matter of time. I start slow every year and it’s just a matter of staying relaxed in the box and finding the rhythm.

“Guys have been pitching me pretty tough and I’ve been helping them out by swinging at some bad pitches. But perspective is the biggest thing. In the past, I’ve been able to build on each month and hopefully, this will be another season like that.”