Williams Has Waited for This Chance

When Angel left fielder Reggie Williams’ towering two-run home run in the fifth inning of the first game Wednesday reached the right-center-field bleachers, Williams thrust his fist into the air and raced around the bases as if he were the anchor leg of a mile relay team.

Yankee second baseman Chuck Knoblauch stopped and stared at Williams until he reached home plate. So did shortstop Derek Jeter and third baseman Scott Brosius.

“I’m sure there are guys over there saying, ‘Who the heck is Reggie Williams?’ ” Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. “It’s a credit to the organization that no one knows about him.”

They’re learning fast, though. Williams’ first big league homer--on an 0-2 pitch from Ryan Bradley--gave the Angels a 3-2 lead in a game they eventually won, 6-4. The 32-year-old career minor leaguer is now batting .375 (nine for 24) with five RBIs since being recalled from triple-A Vancouver on Aug. 10.

“I never envisioned being in a pennant race,” said Williams, who spent 11 years in the Giant, Angel and Dodger farm systems. “It’s really exciting to be here and to contribute.”

So you’ll have to excuse Williams’ exuberance.

“He just about broke everyone’s hands high-fiving guys in the dugout,” Manager Terry Collins said. “But he should do that. He’s having fun. It’s been a long season for a lot of us, and guys like him and Orlando Palmeiro have brought some energy to the club.”

Williams was playing in Mexico last season when he called Angel player development director Jeff Parker and practically begged for a job. General Manager Bill Bavasi, who signed Williams as the Angel farm director in 1989, approved the acquisition, and Williams was promoted to the big leagues when Dave Hollins went on the disabled list.

“Bill believed in me . . . and now he’s given me the opportunity to play in a pennant race,” Williams said. “It’s a great feeling to let him know he didn’t make a mistake.”

*

In addition to his double that started the Angels’ three-run rally in the sixth inning of the first game, first baseman Darin Erstad preserved the victory with the game’s best defensive play.

The Yankees had scored twice in the seventh on RBI singles by Knoblauch and Jeter to trim the lead to 6-4 and had runners on first and third when Bernie Williams hit a liner over Erstad’s head.

Erstad leaped and got just enough of the ball with the tip of his mitt to knock it down in front of him. He scooped the ball up and beat Williams to the bag to end the inning.

“He hit it like a changeup, and I jumped a little too early,” Erstad said. “I was like, ‘Stay up, stay up.’ I felt it coming out of my glove and just wanted to keep it in front of me. Fortunately it came right down and I made the play.”

*

The rematch between Bradley, the Yankee pitcher, and Angel third baseman Troy Glaus didn’t amount to much Wednesday afternoon. Bradley, the former Arizona State right-hander, beaned Glaus, the former UCLA star, in a college game in 1996, knocking Glaus unconscious and sending him to the hospital.

Bradley struck Glaus out twice Wednesday, but he barely came inside with any pitches against him.

“There’s a history there, but that was three years ago, it’s time to live and let live, move on,” Glaus said.

Added Bradley: “That was two rival schools playing hard, and sometimes things happen. That was a long time ago, and now we’re both where we want to be.”

*

ESPN televised the second Angel-Yankee game Wednesday, but it was blacked out in Los Angeles because the Dodger-Montreal game, carried on the same primary feed from ESPN’s headquarters in Bristol, Conn., had to be blacked out here since it was televised by Fox Sports West 2.

Local cable companies could have requested the Angel-Yankee telecast, an ESPN spokeswoman said, but then they would have to make sure to switch feeds at the right time.

TONIGHT

ANGELS’ CHUCK FINLEY (10-6, 2.98 ERA)

vs.

YANKEES’ DAVID CONE (18-4, 3.58 ERA)

Yankee Stadium, 4:30 p.m. PDT

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KRLA (1110), XPRS (1090).

* Update--The teams saved the best pitching matchup of the five-game series for the finale. Finley has a 15-8 record and 3.62 ERA against the Yankees and has given up only one earned run in 15 innings against them this season. Cone, a candidate for the Cy Young Award, has a 7-4 record and 2.90 ERA against the Angels, including a 9-3 win over them on July 28 in Edison Field. Finley will be starting on three days rest for the second time this season. The first time, the left-hander gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings of a 4-3 loss to Toronto on Aug. 13.