Same Old Story for Angels in End

The Oakland A’s snuffed out the flickering embers of the Angels’ playoff hopes with a 7-2 victory Friday night, clinching the American League West championship for the Texas Rangers.

The Angels spent a chilly evening in the Oakland Coliseum kicking themselves, because the Rangers got hammered in Seattle, 15-4, leaving a crack in the door for the Angels to trim the deficit to two and make this weekend’s final two games interesting.

But A’s left-hander Kenny Rogers (16-8, 11-0 at home) slammed it shut with a complete-game, seven-hit, six-strikeout gem. While the Rangers were spraying champagne up the coast, the Angel locker room was filled with dead silence and blank stares.

“It’s a somber moment,” Angel designated hitter Tim Salmon said. “We knew the possibility [of elimination] was there, but when it actually happens, it’s a weird feeling. You play seven months together, and all of a sudden there’s nothing left to play for.”

It could have been worse. At least the Angels didn’t have to suffer through the indignity of another division-clinching celebration or smell the bubbly flowing in the other clubhouse.

The Angels watched then-Seattle pitcher Randy Johnson thrust his arms toward the Kingdome roof after the Mariners whipped the Angels, 9-1, in a one-game playoff for the 1995 West title.

They were in Texas late in 1996 when the Rangers clinched the division and partied until 4 a.m. And the Mariners beat the Angels in Seattle last September to seal the West, turning the Angels into wallflowers for the third straight year.

There was no such scene Friday night before a mostly ambivalent crowd of 22,861, but that hardly eased the pain for the Angels, runners-up in the West for the third time in four years.

“There’s no solace in that,” Angel shortstop Gary DiSarcina said. “It doesn’t take away from the frustration.”

Nor is there much comfort in the perception that this team overachieved all season, overcoming numerous injuries to key players, and that fans should be happy the Angels remained in contention until the final days.

Yes, there is plenty the Angels should be proud of--the many contributions from their farm system, their determination not to let injuries deter them and to play through pain. But their 1998 epitaph reads the same as it has the last 11 years: Did Not Make the Playoffs.

“It’s frustrating when you’re so close like we’ve been in three of the past four years,” DiSarcina said. “You keep thinking, ‘What do we have to do? What do we have to do?’ I don’t care if you hit .340 with 40 homers and 120 RBIs, you can’t be happy finishing second.

“There comes a point in time where finishing second is the same as finishing last. There’s a danger here. You hope the team and the organization don’t become satisfied with finishing second. You don’t want them thinking, ‘Whoop-de-doo, we finished second!’ We didn’t make the playoffs.”

It’s hard to tell how high winning is on the Walt Disney Co.’s priority list. They had a chance to acquire Mark McGwire in 1997 but backed out of a potential deal for the slugger because they didn’t think they could afford to re-sign him.

They made no significant moves before the July 31 trading deadline this season, while the Rangers bolstered their team significantly by trading for pitcher Todd Stottlemyre, shortstop Royce Clayton and third baseman Todd Zeile.

The nucleus of this Angel team is still young and very talented, with the likes of Darin Erstad, Tim Salmon, Jim Edmonds, DiSarcina, Garret Anderson and Troy Percival secured with long-term contracts, but you can only be patient for so long.

“I don’t know if I can stand three more years of this--I want to win,” said DiSarcina, who is signed through 2001. “I want to jump on someone in the middle of the field, go wild in the clubhouse. You play every day, you put your heart and soul into it, you leave your skin out on the field, you want to win.”

Maybe they wanted it too badly Friday night.

“It seemed like the bigger lead Seattle got over Texas, the more frustrated we got,” Manager Terry Collins said. “I hate losing, but I know in the next few days I’ll realize this has been a tremendous team effort. . . . We’ve had a remarkable year in a lot of ways and went a long ways when we weren’t expected. We just couldn’t get it done in the end.”

The Rangers did, beating the Angels five times in the last 10 days, and to the victors went the spoils.

“So, they’re drinking on us now,” Oakland Manager Art Howe said, watching the Ranger celebration on television. “I’ve never seen a team so happy losing, 15-4.”

The Races

NL WILD CARD: Red-hot Giants tie Mets and Cubs for final spot with two to go. C4

AL WEST: Rangers get rocked by Mariners, but still wrap up division. C6