Sparks to Savor Moment

Angel knuckleballer Steve Sparks, who has 21 victories in his career, will face what many consider one of the best teams in baseball history on national television tonight when he starts the second game of a doubleheader against the Yankees.

Is he a little nervous?

Are you kidding?

Sparks missed the 1997 season because of elbow reconstruction surgery. “I think about that almost every day, how my long rehabilitation process really put things in perspective,” said Sparks, 4-0 with a 2.54 earned-run average in his last four starts. “Success can be so fleeting, so you have to enjoy it while you can.

“I’ve been very calm this season, and I think that [attitude] has a lot to do with [my success]. I know how worse things can be.”

The same could be said of the Angels, who cringe at the thought of where they’d be had Sparks not plugged a hole in their injury-plagued rotation in June.

Though he was a combined 0-8 at double-A Midland and triple-A Vancouver this spring, Sparks has been one of the Angels’ most reliable starters since his June 15 promotion, with an 8-2 record and 4.20 ERA. He beat division-rival Texas twice and the Yankees once.

*

There was speculation among Yankee television broadcasters and some players Monday night that Yankee left-hander Andy Pettitte was tipping off his pitches and that Angel batting instructor Rod Carew was relaying signs to hitters in the Angels’ 7-3 victory.

The practice is perfectly legal in baseball but for some reason has become taboo, occasionally leading to beanballs and bench-clearing brawls. Carew wouldn’t admit to--or deny--the allegations, but said:

“That’s what hitters and I are supposed to do, look for an edge. It’s all part of the game. And it’s not so much tipping pitches sometimes as it is eliminating some pitches. Like when Garret [Anderson] hit his [seventh-inning] home run, he was sitting on something [off-speed]. But I think everyone is making a big deal out of nothing.”

TONIGHT

GAME 1: ANGELS’ JEFF JUDEN (0-2, 5.59 ERA) vs. YANKEES’ RAMIRO MENDOZA (8-2, 3.30 ERA)

Yankee Stadium, 10 a.m. PDT

TV--None. Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090)

GAME 2: ANGELS’ STEVE SPARKS (8-2, 4.20 ERA) vs. YANKEES’ DAVID WELLS (16-2, 3.26 ERA)

Yankee Stadium, 4:30 p.m. PDT

TV--None. Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090)

Update--Mendoza, the Yankee right-hander has a cyst on his buttocks and might be replaced in Game 1 today in favor of rookie Ryan Bradley.