Erstad Knows Only One Way to Play

Angel left fielder Darin Erstad raced past the foul line in the eighth inning Sunday and tried to make a sliding catch of Lenny Harris’ pop fly just in front of the wall.

The ball nicked Erstad’s glove and hit the ground. Erstad hit the ground even harder. He missed the wall by about a foot.

The Angels were trailing Colorado, 8-2. The Angels have used the disabled list 15 times and are still missing outfielders Tim Salmon and Jim Edmonds.

So just what was Erstad thinking, throwing his body in harm’s way so late in a game the Angels were about to lose?

“It’s just instincts. I can’t play any other way,” he said. “Sometimes I get up and say to myself, ‘What are you doing?’ But I can’t change. There are no freebies in this game. I’m not going to just give a guy another hit. And a play like that might save a run for a pitcher.”

Erstad made a similar play last Monday night. With the Angels trailing the Mariners, 10-0, in the ninth, Erstad raced in and made a diving catch of David Segui’s blooper.

“There are certain guys who play this game in a way that we, as managers, would like to point to and say if everyone played the game like this guy, no matter what the score or situation, we’d be satisfied,” Angel Manager Terry Collins said. “He makes a diving catch in a 10-0 game and dives in foul territory in an 8-2 game. I hope people saw what he did and it spreads.”

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Angel General Manager Bill Bavasi never acknowledges trade rumors, nor does he talk about discussions he has with other GMs, but that never seems to prevent rumors from surfacing.

The latest involving the Angels has pitcher Ken Hill and center fielder Garret Anderson going to the Dodgers for first baseman Eric Karros, who would move to designated hitter, and second baseman Eric Young, who would move to left field.

The deal, according to Peter Gammons of the Boston Globe and ESPN, was scuttled when Hill went on the disabled list earlier this month, although several baseball sources said a trade was never imminent.

Though the Angels would be open to trading the underachieving and oft-injured Hill, who is earning $5.45 million this season and is guaranteed $5.6 million in 2000, there are no viable candidates--short of a miraculous Jack McDowell renaissance or a recall of minor leaguer Ramon Ortiz, whom the Angels say isn’t ready--to replace him in the rotation the rest of this season.

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Four days ago, Troy Glaus was fighting to get out of a 21-game slump in which he went 12 for 79. After hitting three homers Friday and Saturday, the Angel third baseman was in the cleanup spot Sunday, displacing Anderson for a day because Colorado was starting left-hander Bobby Jones.

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Hill said his arm felt fine Sunday after he threw off the mound for 20 minutes Saturday, and Collins said Hill will be plugged into the rotation after the All-Star break. Chuck Finley will oppose the Dodgers’ Kevin Brown on Thursday night at Edison Field, Omar Olivares will face Ismael Valdez on Friday night, and Steve Sparks will face Chan Ho Park on Saturday. Mike Fyhrie, Hill and Finley will start against San Diego in an interleague series beginning Sunday.