It’s a Good Thing Angels Aren’t Running for Office

There are no Angels in the outfield. Or the infield.

What more do the Angels have to do to earn fan recognition in All-Star balloting?

Before Tuesday night’s games, only seven teams in either league had won more games than the Angels. They were 11 games over .500 and only a half-game behind American League West leader Texas.

Thanks to Disney synergy with ownership of a team and a network, they no longer suffer from underexposure.

No team except Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick has ever appeared on ESPN more often.

As individuals, Tim Salmon is featured in an ESPN commercial and Jim Edmonds won an ESPN Espy award for “The Catch” last season in Kansas City.

Maybe Angel fans in Orange County don’t watch ESPN.

They are, however, going to the ballpark more often. The Angels, who expected to surpass 1 million in attendance for the season Tuesday night, have attracted 200,000 more fans than at this point a year ago and, for the first time in the ‘90s, have higher attendance than the major league average.

But Angel fans aren’t voting for the Angels, not in high enough numbers to place any member of the team among the top eight at his position.

Not first baseman Darin Erstad, who is establishing himself as a star, if not an all-star, by hitting .322 with 15 home runs and 45 RBIs. Not Edmonds, hitting .315 with 13 home runs and 42 RBIs. Not Salmon, who, even though he has sat out 19 games because of injuries, is batting .274 with 15 home runs and 54 RBIs. Not Gary DiSarcina, batting .317 and fielding brilliantly.

No one is saying they should be leading the balloting. But they should be receiving some honorable mention. How is it that Toronto’s Jose Cruz Jr., recently demoted to the minor leagues, has more votes than the Angel outfielders?

Maybe Orange County voters have been turned off by that ugly mess with Loretta Sanchez and Bob Dornan.

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Somebody had to pay in Anaheim when Ron Wilson reached the Stanley Cup finals. . . .

Oxymoron of the day: Mighty Duck management. . . .

The Mickey Ducks let go one of the NHL’s brightest coaches without explanation. . . .

They replaced him with Pierre Page, whose only outstanding credential was his close friendship with General Manager Jack Ferreira. . . .

They couldn’t reach a contract agreement with their best and most popular player, Paul Kariya, for the first 32 games of the season. . . .

They raised ticket prices for next season despite failing to reach the playoffs. . . .

Then they fired Page because he didn’t agree with close friend Ferreira on the team’s direction. . . .

That’s the best recommendation I’ve heard for Page. . . .

The Ducks could do worse, and probably will, than hire the Ice Dogs’ John Van Boxmeer, who is talking to them about the job today. . . .

The Kings raised ticket prices, but at least there’s a chance their fans will get what they pay for. The team promises to raise its payroll by $8 million to $10 million before next season. . . .

That means they will pursue unrestricted free agents such as Steve Duchesne and Ron Francis. . . .

First, they need to take care of Rob Blake. . . .

He commands more than the $15-million, three-year deal St. Louis recently gave Al MacInnis. . . .

The Mets are amazed the Dodgers didn’t do more to correct the flaws in Hideo Nomo’s technique. . . .

According to the New York Times, the Mets also are pleasantly surprised to find out Mike Piazza is more adept at receiving and calling pitches than they had been led to believe, even if he still is no Charles Johnson at throwing out runners. . . .

Ratings for the Mets’ local telecasts in New York are up 30% since the Piazza trade. . . .

Tiger Jam I, a concert last week at the Universal Amphitheatre featuring the Eagles, Hootie & the Blowfish and Babyface, raised more than $500,000 for the Tiger Woods Foundation that assists at-risk youth through golf and study programs. . . .

Woods hopes his play at the U.S. Open this week also features eagles. . . .

Bob Gansler, who coached the U.S. national soccer team during the 1990 World Cup, played defensively against Italy and lost, 1-0. . . .

Bora Milutinovic, the team’s coach in ‘94, played defensively against Brazil and lost, 1-0. . . .

Steve Sampson, the current coach, played a more honest game against Germany on Monday and lost, 2-0. . . .

Still, I’ll take Sampson’s approach. . . .

Germany’s Jurgen Klinsmann would look good in Galaxy colors. . . .

It could still happen before the end of the season, unless Klinsmann plays as well as he did Monday and attracts huge offers from European teams. . . .

With Klinsmann and Carlos Hermosillo up front, the Galaxy would be virtually a cinch to play in the MLS Cup on Oct. 25 at the Rose Bowl. . . .

The Lowsman Trophy will be awarded tonight at the Hyatt Newporter to Weber State tight end Cam Quayle, the 241st and last player selected this year in the NFL draft. . . .

It’s part of Irrelevant Week XXIII in Orange County. . . .

The Chicago Tribune reported Tuesday on speculation that the Bulls will sign Scottie Pippen and trade him to the Lakers for Elden Campbell, Nick Van Exel and either Kobe Bryant or Eddie Jones. . . .

The same newspaper reported Tuesday that the Bulls will offer Pippen a two-year deal valued at between $35 million and $40 million in an effort to keep the team intact. . . .

All the Angels had to do to have a player voted into the All-Star game is go after Mark McGwire or Piazza. They are 1-2 in NL voting.

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While wondering which team Page will coach into the Stanley Cup finals next season, I was thinking: It was thoughtful of the Ducks to play such a leading role in Irrelevant Week, they should hire Craig Hartsburg if it’s really not about winning and losing, the best thing about the ’94 World Cup in the United States was that England didn’t qualify.