Salmon Looks for Positives Amid a Season of Negatives

This was not the September Tim Salmon was anticipating.

The numbers are clear: another solid season.

The big picture is fuzzy: a disappointing season.

Salmon had four hits Tuesday in the Angels’ 10-2 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Anaheim Stadium. He drove in three runs, including two in a six-run fifth that broke the game open.

Yet it meant little beyond individual achievement.

Even with the victory, the Angels remained 14 1/2 games behind the Texas Rangers in the American League West. They stayed 10 1/2 games behind the Chicago White Sox, who lead the wild-card race.

In the last nine days, Salmon has seen teams who are in the thick of the playoff races come through Anaheim. The Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and Orioles all are battling for a playoff spot.

“We’ve seen those teams come through and they are all playing for something,” Salmon said. “We could especially see that with New York. They had this intensity. Every inning meant something to them. You want to duplicate that.”

Thus far, the Angels haven’t done so on a nightly basis. They were favorites to win the West this season, but that goal has been downsized to finishing third in a four-team division.

The offense, which carried the team most of last season, has sputtered. The Angels scored 801 runs in 145 games in 1995. They have scored 680 in 139 this season.

As with almost every big-run game this season, the Angels hope Tuesday’s performance will be followed up by more outbursts.

“I think the offense has been better,” Salmon said. “We’ve had injuries. We played half the season without [Jim] Edmonds. But the last three weeks to a month, things have been clicking.”

Salmon singled and scored in the first and doubled home Todd Greene in the third, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead. In the third, he looped a bases-loaded single into center field to score Greene and Randy Velarde.

His infield hit in the seventh gave Salmon his third four-hit game this season.

“Shows you don’t have to hit the ball on the barrel to get four hits because I didn’t hit the ball good,” Salmon said.

Nevertheless, his four hits ended a four-for-25 streak and raised his average to .282. Salmon has 29 home runs and 84 runs batted in.

At this point, about all the Angels can do is pad their statistics.

But Salmon has never been one to crave that type of attention. He was the American League rookie of the year in 1993 and has had solid seasons since.

Yet he has always played with the big picture in mind.

He was averaging 29 home runs and 90 RBIs heading into this season. But his only experience with winning came last season, when the Angels blew an 11-game lead and lost a one-game playoff to the Seattle Mariners.

Now Salmon finds himself out of the race again.

“I remember our fall last season, teams like Kansas City and Minnesota were knocking us off,” Salmon said. “You just don’t want to roll over at this point of the season.”

Even if it means living vicariously through others.

“You find yourself watching the scoreboard,” Salmon said. “You look to see how New York did because Baltimore is chasing them. But you’re an outsider.”