Jackson, Owen Deliver in Ninth Inning for Angels, 4-3

Starting pitcher Chuck Finley sat in the Angel clubhouse during what loomed as another Angel defeat Saturday night when Bo Jackson popped in.

“Hey, Fin, what do you want me to do?”Jackson asked in the top of the ninth inning.

Said Finley: “Get somebody on base, and hit one out.”

Jackson: “OK, I’ll be right back.”

Jackson then walked out of the clubhouse, whispered to reliever Joe Grahe that he was going to be the winning pitcher, told the rest of his teammates they were going to win the game and grabbed a bat.

Jackson couldn’t do a thing about getting someone on base, but he kept his promise, hitting a home run with one out in the ninth to tie the score before watching Spike Owen hit a two-out triple that gave the Angels a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.

“He’s one of those few athletes that come along in a lifetime,” Finley said. “There’s (Joe) Montana, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan . . . those guys with that flair of the dramatics.

“And there’s Bo.”

Jackson may be a part-time baseball player these days, and his football career is long over, but every time he steps out of the dugout, the murmur in the stands lets you know there’s no one like him.

When he came off the bench to pinch-hit for second baseman Harold Reynolds to face closer Lee Smith, the crowd of 23,371 at Anaheim Stadium stood and erupted in cheers. The fans didn’t know whether he’d strike out or hit a homer, but it was sure going to be fun watching.

“I don’t have a flair for the dramatic,” Jackson said, “people just like me here. Maybe I should run for mayor. Think I’d win?”

Smith, who leads the major leagues with 30 saves, knew he needed to pitch carefully. He fired the first pitch low and away. Home-plate umpire Ed Bean called it a strike. Jackson argued, but now he knew that he’d have to swing at anything close.

The next pitch was two inches higher, and maybe an inch farther inside. Jackson swung late. It didn’t matter. The ball hit off the end of his bat . . . and didn’t land until it reached the right-field seats, sending the crowd and Angel bench into a frenzy.

“I threw it right where I wanted,” said Smith, who has been scored upon in five consecutive outings. “It was a good pitch, low and away.”

What made it more painful for Smith to accept was that the ball came off the end of Jackson’s bat, prompting someone to ask if he broke it.

“No, not when you have them corked like me,” Jackson said, laughing.

“Not really trying to brag, but when I hit it, I knew I hit it. I knew the ball was gone.

“My only question to (Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann) when I got to the dugout was, ‘Am I going (in) to (play) second for Harold?’

Said Lachemann: “No, go get your outfielder’s glove.”

Jackson didn’t need to bother.

Gary DiSarcina, the No. 9 hitter, hit a line drive off All-Star shortstop Cal Ripken’s glove into center field. Rex Hudler popped up to Ripken for the second out, bringing up Owen.

Owen, working Smith to a 2-and-2 count, hit a fastball into the left-field corner that caromed away from left fielder Brady Anderson. Third-base coach Ken Macha watched the ball and never hesitated, sending DiSarcina home.

The ball was thrown up the line, and DiSarcina didn’t even have to slide as he ran across the plate, giving the Angels (39-53) their first ninth-inning, come-from-behind victory since May 20 against Kansas City.

While DiSarcina was slapping hands with Tim Salmon as he crossed the plate, there was Owen, leaping into the arms of Hudler. The Angels ran on to the field, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d have thought they won the pennant.

“When you win a game like this,” Owen said, “it lifts people up. Maybe we can get that (winning) feeling again. We’re six games out now. We can either jump back in this thing or get buried in it.”

If the Angels had lost Saturday, dropping to a season-high seven games behind the Texas Rangers, Owen might have been able to answer his own question.

That all changed, of course, with one swing of the bat.

“Just when you think you’ve seen it all from Bo, you see something like tonight,” first baseman J.T. Snow said.

“What can I say, the man is amazing.

“I mean, he is amazing.”