ANGELS REPORT : Maddon Getting an Opportunity

Joe Maddon, the Angels’ interim manager, doesn’t dwell on it, but each night is more or less a job tryout for him.

Maddon is one of the candidates to replace Terry Collins, who resigned Friday. Each game until the end of the season could count as part of his resume.

“That’s part of it,” Maddon said. “I would be foolish to think otherwise. If I was the person doing the hiring, I certainly would be paying attention to what is going on.”

Maddon could be part of a short list. The Angels will likely interview only a few candidates, possibly only two or three. They interviewed 12 in 1996 before Collins was hired in 1996. A few of those will be considered again, but there is no needed to interview them again.

“We won’t hire anyone until the season is over,” Angel President Tony Tavares said. “Whoever it is, we want to give them a fresh start.”

Still, the Angels will probably contact former Milwaukee Brewer manager Phil Garner, considered a strong candidate, early to beat the rush.

The Denver Post reported that Garner was the leading candidate for the Colorado job. There is speculation that Garner will be considered should there be openings in Detroit and Baltimore as well.

Two other strong candidates, New York Yankee coach Chris Chambliss and Atlanta coach Don Baylor, are with teams that should make the postseason. Angel officials won’t seek permission to talk with them until their seasons are over.

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The hardest ball Darin Erstad hit Tuesday night was snagged by Chicago White Sox third baseman Craig Wilson.

“It’s a crazy game sometimes,” Erstad said.

It’s a little easier to say that when you had hits in four other at-bats, as Erstad did Tuesday. It was his first four-hit game since last season.

His average hasn’t topped .269 since April 17 this season. Still, Erstad didn’t view Tuesday’s performance (four hits, two runs, two runs batted in) as important, other than the Angels won, 14-1.

It is the losing, not the lack of production, that has taken a toll.

“I miss the feeling when you get up in the morning and you can’t wait to get to the ballpark,” Erstad said. “But the good thing about it is it’s still a game.

“Regardless of what your record is or what your average is, we still get to play baseball for a living. And I tell you what, I’m not sure there is anything better you can be doing.”

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Something was missing from Brian Cooper’s first major league victory Tuesday: the White Sox’s Frank Thomas.

“I was disappointed not to get to face him,” Cooper said. “I grew up watching him and that would have been something to pitch to him.”

Then he paused.

“Of course, not facing him made it a little easier for me,” Cooper said.

Cooper was the second Angel pitcher to win his major league debut. Ramon Ortiz won his first start, also against the White Sox, on Aug. 19.

It was the first time two Angel pitchers have won their major league debuts since Minnie Rojas and Clyde Wright in 1966.